Saigon Seafood Harbor — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

We came here at 11:30 on a weekday and it was probably about 20% full when we arrived, and within 15 minutes it was 100% full and absolutely packed. They also asked us if we had a reservation, so apparently you can make reservations here.

I'm just going to bullet my thoughts, because I have quite a few:

The ratio of carts to people is unreal. There were probably about 5 total people pushing carts around and only 2-3 would be out at a given time. Looking around throughout the meal, it was apparent that other tables were having the same problem we have (lots of tables without food, just sitting there... waiting). There were times when we'd sit for a good 15-20 without a single cart coming by. They told us the baked char siu bao was sold out.... wait, sold out? This place opens at 11, so you didn't make enough to survive one full hour of your restaurant opening? Siu mai came around about once or twice.... I've never had that happen. Even worse than above, har gow actually never came around (ever), mind you we were there for 2 full hours. We actually had to flag someone down and ORDER it. A staple dim sum dish and we had to order it after sitting for over an hour realizing it was never going to come. A couple of the dishes were cold.... how hard is it to heat up pre-made food?

The carts go around in a certain order, and we happened to be last in their route as they all start at the kitchen. If you come here (which I wouldn't recommend) I'd advise sitting at the tables near the kitchen.

Honestly, the bar is pretty low for dim sum. I've only been to one or two places that differentiated themselves from all other dim sum places (City View Restaurant in SF) and this place missed the bar significantly. Most places have the same mediocre service, the exact same food with the same setup/process, etc., and this place was comically awful.

I'm not...

Listen— if you don’t like the hustle and bustle of a place with family parties filled to the brim with carts runnin everywhere— 🌞🫶move aside so I can have a seat because this is one of the best dim sum places I’ve ever been in the Bay— and there’s a lot of great places around!

This place has ruined me forever— in the best way and ppl looking to order— don’t know where to start? Gurlll I gotchu:

蛋挞Egg tart (the crust is flaky and light, with a delicious subtle sweet custard— coming together to melt in your mouth)

芝麻包Seasame Bun (sweet hot runny seasame filling in a bun— so good. Wish I was in town for a winter day to enjoy it!)

虾饺Har gow(shrimp dumplings, they are bigger than I thought they would be— and so yummy!)

凤爪 Chicken feet (comes with like the most flavorful skin, tendons, and cartilage ever— for people who enjoy tendons and cartilage in meat dishes!)

芥蓝 Gai-Lan (Chinese broccoli, the perfect veggie to pair with your meat focused dim sum!!)

I also spotted puddin? In carts, uhhh those fried crispy taro dim sum, siumai/shaomai/shumai, uhhh tossed rick-cakes which were soo tasty, umm 排骨was really tasty too, there was also dumplings 三鲜（shrimp+chives) style

This is a seafood centric place so they had options for tasty noodles plates with lobster or crab in em! (I can’t speak for how good they are cuz I am unable to eat crab-lobster) but they looked super delicious too.

There are a million other dishes here! But don’t get intimidated :)) and if you just point to what you are interested in— the servers are pretty understanding and will bring it to you. I was here for the first time but they were super nice too!

Also I think they do different tea options— I had the 菊花茶-chrysanthemum and it was tasty 👍 it was steeped...

On Father’s Day (6/15), I went to this restaurant with my family — we were a party of 3 — and we spent a total of $138.48+tips $13 = 151.48! Our meal included dim sum, 1 order of fried rice, and 1 additional dim sum to take home.

When I went to pay, the cashier handed me the receipt and I chose to pay by credit card. The suggested gratuities were 15% or $20, but honestly there was barely any service to justify a large tip. The only person who provided any service at all was the female boss, who packed up our leftovers and helped us order the fried rice.

The cashier made a comment in Mandarin, stating that my tip was less than 10%. I was surprised because gratuities are supposed to be optional and reflect the service we received. Nevertheless, I crossed out the $10 tip and chose to leave $13 instead.

The service fell far below what I’d consider reasonable. The cashier herself hadn’t greeted us upon entering, hadn’t gone around with a dim sum cart, and hadn’t provided any service aside from printing the receipt. It felt unfair and unprofessional for her to pressure me to pay more when the service simply hadn’t been there.

The restaurant should reassess its training and policy. Tips should reflect service — not a set amount dictated by the cashier — and employees should be reminded to treat diners with fairness and respect. Furthermore, it might be worth reconsidering whether automatic suggestions or pressure from the cashier are appropriate, especially when service falls short of expectations.

Not going back to this restaurant anymore for dine in is...