Koi Palace

I think this is hands down best dim sum in SF, possibly Cali? Tried their pork buns, the steamed shrimp and chives, the noodle wrapped donuts, chow mein, the rice noodles that are better than Korean ddokbokgi, and their ciao long bao (which was as good as, if not better than Din Tai Fung). Everything was super yummy!!! The wait is long — the whole party must be present — and may take up to an hr especially on busy weekends, but well worth it! I would definitely come back here.

So much food and so delicious! What I liked about this place is that you can order food and there are still people walking around with food too (instead of carts). I’d recommend ordering off the menu for the majority of your food.
The xlb was disappointing after seeing the pictures and reviews. The black truffle didn’t taste that much differently. The crab was the best and if I come back I’d probably only order that vs the different flavors. The beets was just meh. All was cooked well but the flavors weren’t as distinct and flavorful as they could be.
What I didn’t like was the hour wait. Our party of 7 arrived at 10:00 on a Saturday and waited till 11ish. The waiting hour was super crowded and you can see on the wait board how many people are waiting and for how long they’ve been waiting there.

Weekends calls for some dim sum! The wait is extremely long so be there early or you can wait up to an hour or more but it’s worth it either way. I came here with my 3 friends and a baby. We got there around 11am but we probably didn’t get seated till 12 or so. We got the menu and ordered away! We ordered like several different dishes and we were stuffed. My top 3 favorites are the spare ribs, the fat noodle with shrimp and chicken feet! Nom nom nom!!! Service isn’t too bad but it does get busy so don’t get mad if they won’t get to you. Lol anyways I’ll be back!

Service was mediocre, but the restaurant was pretty busy so i’ll let it slide
We didn’t actually have to wait long, but i think that was luck
Some of the food was good, some wasn’t; we ordered abalone, tofu, the xiao lon bao, and the fish soup: those were delicious! But the do miao, fried shrimp, and duck were «eh» at best. Fried shrimp especially was disappointingly bland. Anyways, our overall experience was decent!

I have been this place over 5 times. They have pretty good dim sum around this area. It always got packed on weekends. Get there before 10:45am If you wanna avoid the long queue. The service is alway not that good because they are busy all the time.
I recently tried a dinner here. Arrived at 8:30pm on Saturday no wait but still a full house. The steam live fish was like $ 50, for a one pound and a quarter seems really pricy. The tasted of other stuff was acceptable but not that surprisingly good.

Waited for 15 – 20 minutes around 1:30pm on a Saturday. Not bad at all!
Food was delicious– my favorite were the burrito wrapped duck and xiao long baos
service was eh especially with this older gentleman in a suit when i asked him a question. He didn’t want to answer my question in the beginning about an item on the menu. At the end I asked him to wait so he can take my money when paying for the bill, he just walked away. Rude.
private parking lot is a plus

For the area I rate this a 4, if you’ve been to Oakland or had dim sum in the east bay, it’s better than this. The price point here is higher and the wait is abnormally long. Usually a 1 – 1.5 hour wait, stuck inside the lobby filled with people. The service on the other hand once you are seated is quite fast. What are my favorite dishes? Pretty much all the shrimp dishes are great. The congee isn’t that great but it is a large serving. Overall good quality is good, but it’s expected for a wait for 1 hour or more. But there are many places with shorter wait times in the east bay and just as good food for either the same price with a less wait or cheaper food too. Parking is hard to find because of the huge amount of cars that come to eat at this location. I suggest parking in the back of the store.

Despite the yummy food, I’m docking a star for wait time and the xiao long bao. Even though Unilocalers kinda rave about these soup dumplings, they’re actually not that good! But everything else is GREAT! The shrimp har gow is sooo yummy :) The dumpling skin is perfect. I’ve also tried things like their radish cake, chicken feet, and shui mai – all very good. The most recent time I came here, I tried their abalone with noodles and I loved that too!
If it wasn’t for the long wait, I probably woulda kept the 5 stars but it’s just sooo crowded. I recommend maybe coming during the off-​hours or right before they open if you want to avoid the 40+ minute wait. But I completely understand the wait! The food is very yummy and the price is pretty worth it!
Side note, I’ve tried the 5 colored xiao long bao and it’s a bit much. Not great and price is meh. However, it makes for cool pics if you want to show your friends :)

I’m originally from the city but moved to Hawai’i 10years ago and have yet to find good Chinese food, specifically good dim sum. So the first thing my family does when I’m in town is fatten me up with dim sum. We were short on time and wanted to stay in Daly City so we made a mad dash to Koi Palace, which I haven’t been to in about 15 years due to the crazy wait. Yep, expect to wait over an hour on the weekends but it’s well worth it!
It was 10:40am on a Thursday, twenty minutes until opening time, but the line was already out the door. At 11 o’ clock on the dot, the host staff-​like well oiled machines-​greeted each party and promptly seated them. We filled out an order card and next thing I knew I was on cloud nine: our table was covered with steam baskets filled of nothing but deliciousness. Over course I dove in for the xiao long bao and started my journey to the best foodgasm ever! Every bite of every dish was mind blowingly delicious, delicate, and fresh.
Oh and when you take a moment to stop stuffing your face, look around and enjoy the water fall, beautiful décor, and cleanliness of the restaurant. What? Yep, ladies and gentlemen, where is a clean Chinese restaurant with awesome food!!!
I can’t wait to go back home! I know Koi Palace has opened other locations so owners if you’re reading this – please come to Hawai’i!!!

Arrived noon on Saturday, waited 50 minutes to get a table for 2. We have studied the menu thoroughly by then and promptly ordered well too excessively. (Never do this while hungry.) We did not disappoint.
The best dish was clearly the roast pig. Durian bake was cool inside, crisp outside, and taste like ice cream and butter in the best combination. It was wonderful. The Daikon cake in a bowl was soft and must be eaten with a spoon. Very flavorful.
I think they accept call ahead for a queue position.

Hands down my favorite Chinese restaurant in all of North Bay. Whether that be for dim sum or dinner this place never let’s me down and I’ve been coming here with my family since they first opened.
I’m just not gonna comment on the wait because well, it’s gonna take some time.
Also, it’s a Chinese restaurant, so don’t expect too much about the service. Also it’s always going to be cramped during lunch and you’ll be lucky if you get a seat to move around in.
BUT THE FOOD OMG!!! Their egg tarts are amazing but it’s too bad you can’t have bird’s nest anymore. Shrimp dumpings, fried tofu, turnip cake, (seen jook gewn), shanghai dumplings, taro cake, shrimp noodle wrap, bbq pork bun, xo sauce shrimp dumpling, roasted pork with skin, all the best and all recommended.
They have this amazing garlic seasoned crab for dinner that had me licking my fingers till the end of time. Also their giant shrimp and giant soy sauce shrimp is bomb. The crab salad with whole crab is also one of my favorites.
I will be coming here forever and ever.

Koi palace is one of my family’s go to place for chinese food in Daly City. Personally, I don’t know why. Over the years the place has gone down a bit. food wise and service wise. We came in for a Mother’s Day dinner and though the place was busy, it wasn’t overcrowded. We had a reservation for 7:30pm and got seated almost right away. We ordered one of the set menus offered for Mother’s Day which was pretty pricey at $ 500+.
The food was ok, some dishes tasted better than others but a majority of the dishes were very basic for the price they were charging.
Only thing I felt was worth it was the abalone and the crab.
The service was not the best, they were fully staffed and although I understand it was hectic because it was Mother’s Day, the waiters seemed so spazzy. They would walk away from us before we were done speaking and when we asked for more water, it seemed almost like it was too much to ask for.

Some of the very BEST dim sum that I can remember having. Thank you to my brother for driving us out here for such a wonderfuL experience.
You have been warned: the wait game here is no joke. ApparentLy our hour pLus wait wasnt anything out of the ordinary… BUT… its so worth it.
Food is served exactLy how i Like it: piping hot! They come straight from the kitchen and onto your table. Keep in mind a few dishes go quickLy so our tabLe grabbed as many as we couLd just to avoid having to wait Later on.
The teapots come with a bottom piece where there is an open flame to keep it hot and i have yet to see this done anywhere eLse.
Koi PaLace, you are one of the very BEST!

Finally had an opportunity to check out the world renowned establishment for Chinese dimsum and was definitely pleased.
Koi palace is truly the gold standard for décor. With a mix between modern and traditional, you feel like you really are in a palace, but not too far removed from home.
I thought that lines would be ridiculous even on a weekday– heck we made a reservation– but if you come between 11 and 12 you’re solid.
Menu is pretty standard for a dimsum restaurant. Koi palace is known for their wide variety of items and I’ve had the pleasure of tasting their sister restaurant, dragon beaux.
They have everything you’ll want, from custard buns to the wonderful five guys xiao long Bao and luckily we had a chance to try most of the items on their menu. Check out the comments below for my experience:
Food
#pan fried taro
Taro tasted just like the one from other dimsum restaurants. It didn’t blow my mind but it was probably because it wasn’t the pan fried well enough. However it was filling and still decent.
#rice rolls
Shrimp rice rolls were bomb. You can’t mess this up and they certainly didn’t
#pork dumplings (xiao long Bao)
Pork dumplings were placed in interesting cupcake style holders. The hint of ginger in the soup was great and you know that they put a lot of care into these dumplings. I recommend getting this if you’re in the area!
#durian
I’m not a big fan of durian rolls but I wanted to try theirs. Nothing too special but it was a bit pricy– $ 8 for three pieces
#xiu Mai
Xiu Mai was really good! This is probably one of the best «most for your money» items on the menu. Get several orders and you’ll be full.
#hargow
Nothing too spectacular about the hargow but it’s there if you want it. Nothing bad either!
#egg tarts
Unlike most Dim sum places, the egg tarts are pretty small. One order gives you three pieces but they’re miniature. I actually prefer this because they’re bite sized, but be aware that you’ll need multiple if you have a big party!
#bean curd
Bean curd was good! I always enjoy a place that has delicious bean curd. Get this hot!
#baked yolk bun
I actually ordered this one on accident– I was looking for the lava yolk bun. However, this was actually a pleasant surprise. If you want a custard filled dessert, check this one out.
#sesame balls
Chinese Reese’s peanut butter cup. That is all!
#scallop dumpling
Not that good, won’t recommend it. It’s like hargow but slimier
Service
Service was pretty good. Despite the number of people, we were served quickly and respectfully. Our waiter, Gary, was super patient with us. My only knock was that some items took a while to come out, very typical of dim sum restaurants.
Atmosphere
Atmosphere was fine. As I said, décor is nice. Check out the fountains and the interior if you have a chance!
Overall, koi palace was a great experience for me and my friends. I’m glad I finally got the chance to try it. I thought the dim sum was a bit above average but didn’t blow my mind too much– I think I prefer dragon beaux but that’s my opinion. Our bill came out to be more than I thought but that’s my fault (don’t get durian). If I had a chance to come back, I sure would. But I think most people will survive with dim sum options in downtown Oakland or SF!
Eat well and prosper,

Expect to wait at least an hour if you are planning to come here for dim sum on the weekends. I came here on a Saturday at 10:30 (half an hour after it opened) and we got seated around 11:40am. Long wait but the food is worth it.
There are people pushing carts around and you get to order dim sum on the menu paper they give to you. Dim sum here is pretty darn good compared to many other places. You will have to try and be the judge!
Will definitely be back, but maybe even earlier to avoid the long wait…

Mmmm this is one of my bf and my favorite dim sum places if we want to get a little more fancy than your typical dim sum. We came at 10:30am for a table of 4 and was seated within a few minutes! This is really surprising because last time we came it was like 40 min wait! This restaurant is HUGGGE. And they really jam pack the tables, so much so that I dont’ even know how the occasional dessert carts that roll by even get through!
XLB was pretty good for dim sum xlb but pass on the colorful/​variety xlb with the beet, kale, black truffle, etc. They’re cute but not worth it. The dough was a lot thicker too. Sauce could use more ginger.
I thought the menu was organized strangely… some of it is by region and some by type of dim sum but you have to really read carefully if you’re looking for a particular type of dim sum.
Sauce was a little skimpy. They only put like a spoonful of hot sauce/​chili oil in the bowl.
Overall, this is more of a dim sum $$ splurge but I really like how they manage the lines with the texting and although the parking lot can get a little full, it’s still better than trying to find parking in SF!
Tip: They charge for tea PER PERSON so take that into consideration, especially if some people don’t even drink tea. Additional parking in the back of the restaurant but make sure you don’t have any valuables visible. Oh and watch out for workers that squat and take smoke breaks in between the cars.

PRO-​TIP: Send a friend ahead of time to grab a number or go during the late lunch hours to avoid the long lines.
Koi Palace is by far the best dim sum restaurant in the Bay Area. Expensive, but good. It’s like $ 4.60 for 4-​pieces of Har Gow. But ask any knowledgable dim-​sum lover and they’d recommend you to this place. Unfortunately, there is also a long wait. People waiting in line can be pushy. The staff? It’s a Chinese restaurant, so expect Chinese restaurant service. Make sure to double check your order and receipt. Don’t be surprised if they forgot to order something. If you need something, you should always make sure you flag the waiter or waitress as soon as possible. Waiting for them to come to your table could take days (Ok, ok. Not days, but you get the point).
I’ve been to this place about 3 times now and every single time, the food was always on point. You get seated, pre-​order off a menu and the dishes are brought to your table within minutes.
During my most recent visit, I ordered the following:
Crispy Fish Fillet in Rice Roll (4.5÷5 — it was a bit cold, but still delicious)
Whole Deluxe Abalone Tossed in Ho Fun with Abalone Sauce (⁵⁄₅)
Roasted Duck Burrito (⁴⁄₅ — It was good, but not amazing. Everyone else at my table thought otherwise and rated it a ⁵⁄₅)
Sampan Style Fried Prawn (⁵⁄₅ — delicious!)
Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) (⁵⁄₅)
Shrimp, Pork & Mushroom Dumpling (Shui Mai) (⁵⁄₅)
Whole Dungeness Crab, Steamed Dumplings & Fried Legs (⁵⁄₅)
Pan Fried Daikon Cake with XO Sauce (3.5÷5)
Sugar Egg Puff (⁵⁄₅ — PLEASE GET THIS FOR DESSERT! This was sooooooooo goood!)
Most of the dishes arrived in pretty hot temperatures, which is a plus!
Overall, I’d always recommend this restaurant to folks interested in trying out dim sum in the Bay Area. Besides the long wait, the place is definitely worth the trip. I’m going to try and order the Hand Roasted Suckling Pig slice next time!

My friends they all loved Koi Palance and they decided to grab dim sum here on the weekend. I never been here before and it was my first time eating here.
My friends and I (10 of us) arrived by 10.30AM and there was a long line already. We waited for about 30 mins, which wasn’t bad in my opinion. But make sure to come here early if you have a big party. And make sure all of your party members are here otherwise they wont seat you. Anyway, I am not sure if it’s a Chinese Restaurant thing or they are just way too busy. The attitude from the front desk is not that friendly. They could work on that? But who am I kidding, they have good business so they probably don’t care: p
As for their food, it is pretty decent and I really enjoyed. My favorites would probably be the following two items
1. Egg Tart (蛋塔)
2. Steamed egg custard bun (奶皇包)
Other food are alright. For example, their beef wrap with cucumber slices and sauce thing it was quite blend in my opinion. You cannot really taste the wrap by itself and the beef didn’t have any flavor either. Their Chicken Feet I felt like they should braised it a bit more. Usually the skin she come off really easily, but their chicken feet you need to put more work into it. The flavor wasn’t bad, but i feel they should cook it a bit more. There are a lot more of food we ordered, but the above are the one that I have more memory of.
As for the service portion, The waiters and waitress are pretty rude in my opinion. Again, not sure if this is about the Chinese thing or Canto thing (usually if you dont speak canto they are more rude in my experience for else where). They never really answered when we asked for certain items but then bring it anyway. May be they are just way too busy? I don’t know.
Overall, we ordered like 40 some items (with the same items and others) and with tax and tips, we only spent $ 350 for 10 people. In my opinion, this is pretty cheap! Because you cannot find anything like that in the south bay or in the east bay. Overall, the food was good, but not that memorable. The service suck, might just be a chinese thing or they are just busy and dont really give a damn lol…
A good place to eat, but you need bear with the wait & the rudeness (intentionally or not) from the waiter & waitress.

Never wrote a dinner review here, so here it goes!
Koi has some really great dishes for dinner, better than a lot Chinese restaurants in the bay. Some of their dishes are very unique and they will only have it in Koi. They are always bringing in new dishes to their menu!
Went to Koi for dinner today, everything was delicious, no disappointments. Ordered a few of my favorite dishes:
Steak Cube in Wine Wasabi Aioli: MY FAVORITE, must order also chef recommendations. It’s so delicious and I have to order it every time I come here. The steak is super tender and the sauce is to die for.
Walnut Shrimp: pretty good, tastes like normal walnut shrimp, nothing special
Lobster Sticky Rice: YUM! I usually get lobster noodles, but lobster sticky rice?! It was amazing, also comes with soy sauce on the side and generous amount of lobster!
Salted Fish with Minced Meat: Recommend to order! Meat is very tense and fatty and salted fish smelled amazing! Eat it with white rice.
Sautéed Bitter Melon: Pretty good, people that usually don’t like bitter melon, this dish is not that bitter at all, it is sautéed with peppers and onions and has great flavor
Dinner experience is overall 5 stars. I’ll be honest, waiters can be pretty rude and have seen better days and as usual if you ask them for recommendations they will go for the most expensive dishes, therefore just look on Unilocal ;)

I am a big fan of dim sum that is tasty, cheap and clean. Well Koi Palace is definitely tasty, but not cheap and not clean. Why? Read on…
Came here with two of my buddies today, and we orders a bunch of dimsum items including chicken feet, har gow, siu mai, beef rice roll, Portuguese egg tart, Chiu Chow style dumpling, daikon cake, among other items. All the items were fresh and tasty, but very pricy. For example, the Portuguese egg tarts were considered a large item ($ 5.80) but they were so small sized and only had two pieces! Maybe one piece was missing, but gosh… That’s expensive!
My friends and I ordered the steamed chicken feet in black bean/​red sauce (also known as «Fung jau» or Phoenix claw) and while it was quite tasty, we found a LONG strand of black, women’s hair — probably at least 12 inches long. Gross. I am not sure if the workers here wear hair nets or anything, but gross… Hair in your food is the most disgusting thing you can find in your food. I was pretty disappointed with the unsanitary condition of the steamed chicken feet dish. So eaters beware – watch out for hairs in your chicken feet and your other dishes you order here!
I don’t come to Koi Palace much to eat for dimsum or dinner, but the times I come here there’s always a wait and it’s always expensive. Today was the first time I saw a hair in my food and that made my experience very disappointing. Imagine waiting around for almost an hour for a table and you are served food that is expensive and potentially made in an unsanitary way.
I don’t think I’ll be coming here again for a while for dimsum. There are plenty of other comparable places in Daly City that are just as good quality but cheaper and cleaner and less of a wait. No thank you to hairs in my dimsum!

Ich frage mich immer wieder: warum lieben es die Asiaten so sehr, Schlange zu stehen? Hier beim Koi Palace wartet man locker schon mal 45 Minuten, wenn nicht sogar länger, um einen der begehrten Plätze beim wochenendlichen Dim-​Sum-​Gelage zu bekommen. Und… ist es das Warten wert? — Nun ja, ich komme seit Jahren hier zum Koi Palace wieder zurück und so tun es tausende von anderen Bay Area Bewohnern. Was hier beim Koi Palace einfach gut ist, ist die Qualität und die Vielfalt vom Dim Sum.
Hier ein paar Tips, um einen Besuch beim Koi Palace so reibungslos & angenehm wie möglich zu machen:
— Dim Sum oder Yum Cha, ist ja so etwas wie das Chinesische Frühstück oder Brunch und so sollte man dann auch an einem Samstag oder Sonntagmorgen um 9:45 hier vorfahren… denn sie öffnen um 10 Uhr und so kriegt man garantiert einen Platz.
— Am besten kommt man in einer größeren Gruppe, denn dann kann man viel mehr verschiedene DimSums probieren.
— Am besten bringt man einen «Insider» (sprich Menschen mit chinesischer Abstammung) mit, denn dann kann man das Bestelle jener Person überlassen und man lehnt sich einfach zurück und betrachtet das Treiben…
— Wenn man dann fertig ist, läuft man an der unendlich-​langen Schlange vorbei und freut sich, dass man früh aufgestanden ist!
Wie heißt es doch noch gleich: Früher Vogel fängt den Shumai?

Food is good. Really good. The lines and waiting, I can do without.
There is always a line here… especially for dim sum on Sundays or Holidays. They give you a number but they call numbers out in Chinese. OMG! I swear I’ve missed my number serveral times just cause I didn’t understand.
Once you are seated, you get your candel lit, and is usually asked for what kind of tea you would like (again in Chinese) and I respond with english and NEVER get the tea I asked for. But it’s ok… I suck it up.
Then the food comes around… and usually all the servers are speaking Chinese… so I never know what is going around until I gesture with my hands that I want to see what they have. Because of my experiences at Koi, I either go to dim sum with at least 1 person who speaks Chinese or order the only dim sum I know how to say in Chinese (Har gow or Doo phu fhan — did I spell that right?)
The point is… this place is for Chinese speaking individuals. But the food is really GOOD!