Golden Island Cafe — Restaurant in San Francisco

Golden Island Cafe in San Francisco seems like a popular spot, but my recent visit for dessert left me wanting more. The cafe itself is quite busy, and the indoor seating area is small, making it a bit cramped. This might not be the best place for a quiet and relaxing dessert experience.

One of the biggest disappointments was the sago with lychee. The photos on their menu looked promising, but the reality was quite different. The portion size was bigger than expected, but the amount of lychee was significantly less. It seemed like the photos were misleading.

Even more concerning was the lack of flavor in the sago. It tasted watered down and offered very little beyond the sweetness of the lychee itself. Unfortunately, the lychee pieces themselves didn't seem fresh either. The avocado milkshake also fell flat. It lacked any real depth of flavor, leaving us wishing for a more vibrant and delicious experience.

While Golden Island Cafe might be a bustling spot, my visit for dessert was a bit of a letdown. The misleading photos, watered-down flavors, and lack of freshness left me feeling...

I really can’t believe what happened yesterday 6/7/24…. I will never come back to this dessert place unfortunately. We spent $30 in dessert and only ordered 3 items. Before we left the restaurant the waitress came up to my family and said “you didn’t tip”. At first we thought she said “you didn’t pay” but we paid at the front counter. Then she said “no you didn’t leave a tip” I was so shocked. This is extremely rude and made us feel uncomfortable, the store is very small and everyone was staring at us. The last time I checked tips are earned and optional and to be honest the service sucked so she did not deserve even a $1 tip. I can’t believe she confronted us like this as we were leaving. I told all of my family/friends about this and everyone was in shock when I told them about this encounter. Not to mention they automatically charge tip on the receipt! So she was asking for more?!?! I had family visiting from out of town and wanted to take them to dessert and they honestly left with a bad feelings of SF and the audacity they have to ask...

My all time favorite from golden island is Dun Lai (hot steamed almond milk pudding), the quality was pretty decent every time I order one. Tonight I wanted to give other items a shot so I ordered the mango coconut milk sago and was fairly disappointed.

I used to visit Hui Lau Shan a lot and loved the mango sago there. The mango sago here tasted more like a mango slushie. There was barely any sago in it, and the mango was too sour despite mangos are in season and sold at every grocery stores. There was barely any coconut milk in it I wouldn’t realize it was made with coconut milk if the ingredient was not printed on the menu. It was basically a bowl of mango slushie. The upside was that the to go box was adorable and their hot items were not bad.

I wouldn’t recommend any items with mangoes in it since they did not bother to buy fresh and sweet mangoes for the dish, which is the heart and soul of a fruit...