Amazing Kitchen — Restaurant in San Francisco

BEWARE OF THIS PLACE AND ITS PRICING!!!!

My family wanted to go to an asian restaurant for dinner, and King Kee happened to be a few blocks from our hotel. The pictures and decent pricing of the dishes outside the restaurant appealed to us so we decided to give this restaurant a try. We were seated immediately and given our menus. Everything seemed to be good.

However when we began ordering, the waitress tried to convince us to buy the most expensive dishes even though we already ordered many dishes: Peking duck, soup dumplings, Ho fun, chow mein, tofu soup, and more. We refused to buy any of the overpriced dishes, and the waitress proceeded to ask us whether we wanted anything to drink: tea or water. It is an asian tradition to drink tea, and for the restaurant to serve us either water or tea before we even ask.

The food tasted average, but what got us questioning was the Peking duck. We ordered half a duck here, since we ordered a full Peking duck just yesterday at another restaurant. The size of half the Peking duck was NOTHING compared to what we had expected. There were about 7 pieces of duck, and its taste did not surpass the other restaurant’s. Well that’s acceptable considering that it is cheaper at this restaurant by $8. However the size of the dish we were served was just inexcusable. We even had to ask for the sauce to go with the Peking duck, even though it is usually served with it.

At the end, we were given the bill. It was surprisingly expensive considering how we thought this was a cheap restaurant before we entered. So we went through the orders and cost, and we saw that they added 15% tip(service charge) into our total cost already. That happens sometimes in restaurants, but this place did not tell us at all. Most people would pay the total price and not notice that the tip had already been factored in. This makes it easier for customers to pay the tip again(double tip), without realizing it. That wasn’t the only misdeed. We saw on the order: Tea — $5.00. WHAT KIND OF TEA COSTS $5.00????

In asian restaurants, tea is usually served for free without customers even asking. But instead, they asked us if we wanted tea or water, giving us the impression that they are both free, as water is usually free in every restaurant. When we asked for tea, they didn’t even inform us that there will be a price for it. My family was so astounded that they could rip us off like that.

All in all, we DO NOT recommend this place. If you do decide to go, please don’t choose to have tea. I’m not sure about water either, it might have a price tag to it too. And it definitely isn’t worth it. Also, please check your receipt before falling for the trap of double tipping. This place should know that giving this type of service is not how you...

Overview: Food was well crafted and presented, service staff was curteous and friendly. Clean restaurant, good price point for lunches. Details below...

Food: I ordered a two piece bbq rice plate off the lunch special menu. The meat quality was surprisingly fresh and on point, but the preparation left a bit to be desired. The fried pork (right side of attached picture) was quite dry, shards of bone punctuated the experience, and not enough sauce was offered on the plate. The rice is cooked expertly, which is a rare sight these days in Asian restaurants. The small hot and sour soup offered with the combo was the true pleasure though, as the taste was unique (compared to generic hot and sour soup) and served as a great prelude to the rest of the meal. The soup honestly felt like it was homemade, and done with care and precision rather than the usual careless nonchalance Chinese restaurants usually afford their hot and sour soups.

Menu/Price Point: The menu featured a large selection for both meat lovers and vegetarians, as expected of chinese food. Prices range seemed average for SF restaurants, but some items are definitely for larger dinner-party-tier experiences. Admittedly the dish I picked was not a good measure of the authenticity, but judging from what the people around me had and from looking at the menu, I can confidently say that this restaurant does well in replicating genuine Chinese dishes.

Atmosphere: Restaurant felt very clean, and was well lit. Music was playing in the background, mostly remixed covers of American top 40 for some reason.

Service: The food took 13 minutes to arrive. The restaurant had a very light customer load when I was there at 12:30pm. Make of that how you will, but seems slow for those who are on a tight schedule for lunch. Otherwise the staff was friendly and very attentive.

Conclusion: In today's age of "Americanized Chinese" restaurants that usually rob the authenticity and soul out of genuine Chinese food, this restaurant is a pleasant surprise. I will certainly go back to try their other less Americanized...

My friend and I came to King Kee to fill our hunger with the money we could afford as college students. We couldn’t afford much so I got 1 order of shanghai dumplings and my friend had ordered the 4 piece shrimp dumpling. that was our dinner. as soon as we popped the last dumplings into our mouths, the waitress came and asked if we were done, almost like she wanted to hurry. which can be reasonable because it was 9pm when we came in and 9:17 when we finished eating (they close at 9:30pm). when we were checking out, my friend and i paid separately and when the waitress took our signed checks back, she came back to us and told my friend “you know this isn’t including gratuity”. my friend who was put in an uncomfortable situation couldn’t say anything (we had just talked about financial struggles when the waitress interrupted us). i tried to explain that we were college students and how we were financially not able to afford much, but she continued to say “so what? was the service bad? this is America. you should be tipping”.

my friend and i have both been waitresses for years so that we could afford finances while being full-time students. we understand tipping. but we also understand those who just simple cannot afford it. we never called our customers out and we never shamed them.

from waitress to waitress, i hope you can look out for signs and understand. we came in and ordered one thing each; my friend ordering the cheapest thing on the menu. the whole time we talked about our financial struggles, no one else was in the restaurant. we didn’t ask you for anything because we knew how a long day of work is draining for waiters and waitresses. but you calling my friend out like that made me pretty sad. I understand if you were tired or if the business wasnt doing as well as hoped that day, but please know that it’s never nice to...