New Sam Kee Restaurant — Restaurant in San Jose

Came here to celebrate grandma’s birthday! Kinda felt like a wedding with all the food we ordered. I’ve only come here for the lobster noodles in the past, and was excited to try a variety of dishes this time.

It was mostly empty on a Sunday evening. There was another big party, but I mostly saw takeout orders. The service was attentive. Here’s what we got:

-peking duck buns: The skin was super crispy and some meat parts were dry. Loved the fluffiness of the buns, no sogginess here. I’d recommend asking for more buns, green onions, and possibly more sauce because there’s a lot of meat.

-fried rice with fish roe: This came with shrimp (and possibly scallop?). It was mild enough to accompany the flavorful proteins on our table, although you can eat it alone too. My grandma was a fan!

-honey walnut shrimp: Battered and thinly-coated shrimp tossed in a mayo sauce that wasn’t too thick although every part of the shrimps were coated. The shrimp meat was soft and chewy.

-lobster garlic noodles: A classic lobster dish that had flavorful garlicky egg noodles tossed with garlicky-seasoned lobster. Had to use a fork to pull out the lobster meat.

-ginger lobster: Tasty sauce with ginger and spiced coating the lobster meat. Really enjoyed this one!

-fried lobster: Always love this dish; it’s better to pull the meat out and then taste some of the breading outside of the lobster shell.

-sweet and sour fried pork: Good balance of sweet and tartness coating the breaded pork. The thinness of the pork worked well, and we ate it with fried rice.

-crispy fried pork: Tasted garlicky and I liked the jalapeños that came with it. Too salty to eat on its own so we ate this with fried rice too. Same thinness as the sweet and sour pork.

-stir fried greens and shiitake mushrooms: This was the last thing I ate because I needed vegetables in me. I love bitter mustard greens. The mushrooms, however, packed such a flavorful punch that it stayed in my mouth, even after dessert. Just be aware of the strong mushroom flavor if you eat this!

The meal ended with slices of oranges on ice! The oranges were quite sour but it’s a decent palate cleanser. They also gave us plates and utensils for a cake we brought in. All in all a lovely dining experience...

My mom and I went here today to get some lunch to eat. We both had a noodle dish. My was okay but long behold my mom was about to eat her food and she found a piece of hair in her dish. YES YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT A HAIR IN HER DISH. I had to speak up and told the worker about it and they came and look at it with a face that they didn’t care and the guy that is always in the front counter answering call and taking payment came to the table and said what’s wrong. I told him there was a hair in my mom’s food and he look like he didn’t care about it and took her food and threw it away and walk back to his spot without saying anything to the kitchen about redoing the order or ask my mom if she want anything else. A lady came out and said what’s wrong and we told her the same time and she didn’t care and said you want something else or what. My mom said she want the same thing and she went to the back and told them to make it again. Waiting for 10-15 mins and no food and my mom said let’s go. Still I had my food but lost my appetite cause what I saw in my mom food. My mom said let’s go and paid for your food. I said we shouldn’t be paying anything or give tip to them cuz of what they did. I raise my voice up and said the is a health violation and that they should get shut down. All the works face looks like they didn’t care or anything until told them I’m going out this on google review and Yelps and let everything know what they did. I saw in their face that they look worries. They had a green sign on there window. That should be a red sign for safety and health violation. They need to be careful and clean with the food they serve to the customer. BE CAREFUL WHEN EATING HERE AND CHECK YOUR FOOD IF SOMETHING DOESN’T LOOK...

COVID-19 hours: they close @8:30pm - calling ahead is advised. Food isn't as tasty as it would be piping hot, eating at the restaurant. But we make due with take out and want to support a local business. This is a Vietnamese restaurant, with chinese infused flavors (not your typical chinese restaurant). My family have been coming here for 15+years and been served by the SAME waiter up until recently (I think he may have retired). We always get the clams w/thai basil (nghieu xao la que), shrimp chowfun (hu tieu xao kho), kingdom fried rice (com xao duong chau), shrimp cashew mayo (tom chien hot dieu) and a bunch of other dishes we always order (we're that basic viet family that always order the same stuff at the same place, no need for the menu ahahah).

The service here is always stellar (honestly, the best service in SE. San Jose - if you grow up here, you know it's a "get in, order, get out" customer service). But here, they're always super quick to serve you but never rush you out. And they dont mind if you BYOB (my dad always brings his red wine with him, weird, I KNOW!)

They're famous for their seafood - anything else you order that's not seafood is mediocre. You dont go to a steakhouse and order fish; same for this place - you dont go to a seafood place and order chicken (although their peking duck is pretty good - I bet they get it from a BBQ place nearby hahaha). Support local! This is a must go spot...