SK Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Spring Valley

Our previous fave Chinese food place had closed, and I was looking for a new, quality, affordable Chinese food place in town when I found this spot with seemingly legit Google reviews. This piqued my interest.

I was looking for something specific: Southeast Asian food for Asian-Americans (me) that, most specifically, grew up in Asia, and have a certain palate. I didn't want a place with a name fashioned to attract American clientele. Nor did I want any hotel-based modern 'Asian' fusion food place with skillfully presented Insta-worthy food. Or a place with both Xiao Long Bao (Chinese) and Mango Sticky Rice (Thai). A 'Southeast Asian' food place with hardly any seafood on the menu? Hard pass. Most of Southeast Asia is surrounded by sea. Those places where...when there does turn out to be shrimp items on the menu, it's shrimp+chicken, or shrimp+pork.

As we sat down at SK, the place was packed (around 6PM, Tuesday night), and I looked around at the clientele. Apart from myself, it didn't seem like anyone else was there to post anything online, or maintain their Yelp elite status. Which was good.

We selected some items from the menu and wanted to order more, but the owner(?) stopped us, saying we'd already ordered too much. We tend to order extra because we like tasting a variety of dishes. Any leftovers, we eat for the next 3-4 days.

The limited items that we tried were exquisite. The coating for the walnut shrimp was the perfect amount, just enough to provide crisp to the outer portion of the shrimp, and at the same time absorb enough of the mayo/condensed milk. If it had been a thicker batter, this would've resulted in soggy shrimp. The walnuts tasted fresh, and were not overly sweet.

The fried rice, kailan and fried fish were likewise perfect. Nothing was excessively salted, or oily. This to me was a sign that they weren't using sodium to mask a lack of freshness, and they were proud of how perfectly they'd seasoned their food. There were no condiments as soy sauce or vinegar on the tables, and this to me said that they were aware that they'd mastered their craft. It seems food like this is a result of decades of cooking experience.

Eating at SK brought to mind the epicurious YT show that compares pro chefs, home cooks, and amateurs. IMHO, there's knowledge and precision in the works of pro chefs. Nothing is guessed; everything is intentional.

The place does seem to get packed. And when we placed an order to go and got to go boxes for leftovers, the owner(?) commented something like we're probably getting more food to go because "too much no cooking." That said, I think it's best to order food to go...

SK Seafood Restaurant is located in strip mall in Chinatown in Las Vegas, just about 4 miles away from the strip. We wanted to check out the Chinatown and this local favored Cantonese cuisine restaurant and we were not disappointed. To avoid peak hours and crowd, we arrived at the restaurant around 4:30pm (before the dinner crowd). Traditional Chinese restaurant decor with fish tank, round tables, etc. Most tables were set up for 4 people and a handful of larger tables for 8 people as well. We were seated immediately. We ordered: fish maw crab meat chowder, SK signature crispy squab, ginger and scallion Dungeness crab, garlic ribeye and stir fried string beans with Malay sauce. After we placed our order, waitstaff brought out a very lively crab in a plastic bucket to show us the crab picked out from the fish tank for us and to get our approval for the selection. Waitstaff told us when we ordered that live crab was $60 each and she promised to get us the biggest crab, and she did! We also tried to order the traditional clay pot rice dish but were told that this dish required an hour advanced reservation.

The first dish served was the fish maw crab meat chowder and we were pleased that there were lots of ingredients in this hot, delicious soup to start our meal. The Dungeness crab was so fresh as the meat was firm and sweet. The crispy squab was a bit small but very tasty and came with a side dish of flavored dipping salt and spice. Every dish came out fast, hot and tasty. Dinner included free tea and white rice. Quick refills on rice and tea. Our whole group was extremely satisfied for a delicious dinner at SK Seafood Restaurant.

This restaurant offers authentic Chinese food, extensive and diverse menu, masterful wok skills, fresh ingredients, well portioned dishes and reasonably priced food. It serves lunch specials between 11:00am - 4:30pm. Waitstaff was attentive and provided helpful suggestions. Plenty of parking are available in the plaza. When we are back in Las Vegas, we will definitely dine at this restaurant to try their other dishes as well as the...

Unfortunately my family had a very bad experience with the restaurant.

The restaurant was not full when I walked in. However, I had to wait near the door for a while to be seated. There was a lady who walked in later than me and went straight up to the desk inside. She was serviced first and I realized later that’s the only way you could get attention from the staff members.

After we were seated, I had to wait for a while to get a menu. I made an eye contact with one of the ladies. She seemed to nod yet walked away to service other tables. Unless you speak Chinese or are their regulars, it seemed to be really hard to get any service right away. All the other table were serviced first and then we finally got the menu.

As my daughter wanted water, I waved to get water. No one was giving me attention. So this time I had to come up to the desk and had to ask for water directly. And I asked if tea was extra as every table got one except us. It was free.. we were just forgotten.

If the food was delicious as I expected. It would’ve my frustration to lighten up a bit. However it was quite disappointing. The stir fry fish was too oily and not much taste. String beans.. it was not impressive at all. I was very curious why this place had such positive reviews, which of course led me to visit this place in the first place.

Again I had to come up to the desk to pay my bill as I had to wait over 5 minutes after they took my credit card.

In the end, I had to leave the place with a huge disappointment. I don’t know if my experience was so different than whoever had left positive reviews. Either I didn’t speak Chinese or ordered wrong dishes. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll ever come back to this place or...