City View Restaurant

Many of the dishes that were pushed around were different from what I usually see and there were some dishes that I usually see that weren’t there.
I did learn that I like baked sho pao better than steamed. They had these shrimp egg rolls that were pretty good. I tried a turnip cake for the first time which was very tasty. The texture was different, but with some chili and soy sauce, it was addicting. Shu mai is shu mai, I don’t taste the difference between other dim sum places. They had soup dumplings which was a bonus, but they weren’t as good as the ones I had in NY at the dumpling house. Sadly, they didn’t have my favorite — black bean spare ribs. I ordered their duck, but it wasn’t as flavorful as the ones I had in SSF.
Place is surprisingly packed on a weekday by 12pm! It’s the first dim sum place I’ve been too that had relatively more Caucasians than Asians dining. Service was fast and friendly (shocker). I liked this place but it wasn’t the best dim sum I’ve had.

I came here during my vacation since I read about it in the Lonely Planet San Francisco book! We were very lucky that we didn’t have to wait and got a table immediately upon entering the restaurant. Within 10minutes, there was a lineup slowly going outside the door. The place became super busy by 11:00AM on a Sunday. I love going for dimsum particularly places with the push carts! Love the sight and smell of the dishes displayed on a moving stage so it helps with deciding on what to order. This place is pricier than most dimsum joints in Chinatown but you can taste the difference in quality of the ingredients used in their dishes. Also service is attentive with zero attitude unlike some other Chinese restaurants. We were never rushed to pay and to leave even though we were seated at a table for four people when there was only two. Anyways everything was freshly made and tasty. There is quite an assortment in selection. The only thing that I was not a fan of was the shrimp and walnuts… bit too sweet for my liking BUT still enjoyed my meal here.

This place has decent food but bad service (as most dim sum places are)
and pricey. Dim sum used to be really cheap. Why are all the chinese places turning into $$$ place?
I went here with 3 other people and we spent $ 150…
Good luck dim sum on Clement St would feed 4 people for $ 30. I am not going back to this place to get decent dim sum when I have to tip for bad service.

Dining on: 5÷15÷16
Sunday brunch
3.5*
I brought my friends from out of town to City View for dim sum on Bay to Breakers Sunday. It’s clean and well-​lit, close to their hotel, and the dim sum is it too Americanized. The quiet Commercial Street is also plus as I’m skeptical of the loudness and poor hygiene of most dim sum places in Chinatown.
As my friends are from Dallas, where they normally don’t eat dim sum, we ordered a variety of dim sums to taste. This place still retains the tradition of dim sum carts. Carts full of bamboo crates with steam billowing through the lids will parade down the dining room. Customers (mostly non-​Chinese) could see what might be of their interests.
Each order (ranging from $ 3-​$ 9) usually has three to four pieces. The har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings) is good, but the siu mai (steamed pork dumpling) is a bit dry and the wrapper gooey – sticking to the top of the mouth. They have a good variety of dumplings with a mix and match of ingredients like leeks, spinach, watercress and meat.
They have good selection of steamed, grilled, and deep fried plates. My health-​conscious friends only shared a small order of deep fried egg rolls and they were crispy. But there are no shortage of calamari, fried dumplings, fried taro puffs and the like. The food we had were tasty and authentic. They also serve lunch portion of dinner entrees like the honey glazed walnut and shrimps, Peking duck (two pieces of duck with steamed buns), and spareribs.
Service is adequate enough. Empty plates and crates quickly bused. Water glasses always topped. My only gripe is that they are pushy – ready to run us out to turn the table. As soon as we put our chopsticks down and the food running thin on the table, the cashier clerk would come and ask if we need anything else with a check ready. She did it three times. But we only wanted to take a break and chatted so my friends kindly told her we are still looking forward to tasting more food. Isn’t dim sum meant to be taken at a leisure pace?
So my feelings are mixed. I like the tasty food but I don’t appreciate how they try to rush the check.

Decent quality and prices for dim sum. Clean. Allows for reservations.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here. My co-​worker asked me for a dim sum recommendation and I suggested this restaurant. A group of 7 arrived at noon (with reservations). It’s relatively on the pricey side in Chinatown (near Financial District). There’s a wide assortment of dim sum, all of which I must say are fresh (hot), beautifully plated and of course, delicious. Most of the dim sum are delivered by moving carts which come pretty frequently. However, if you want something you don’t see, flag someone down, he/​she will bring it to you. The service is prompt and attentive without the usual attitude you’ll find in most dim sum places.
Clean and spacious dining area, a good selection of dim sum, all of which made the whole dim sum experience a pleasant one. Glad I made a good recommendation for my co-​worker who ended up flipping the bill!

Dim sum here was delicious and was served in carts at tables, which is my favorite way of having dim sum. The craftsmanship on the dumplings is pretty remarkable if you stop to look at the patterns on the dough before popping them in your mouth.
The bill can be a surprise because they use the stamp system. Approximate cost per size next to stamps: Smallest ($ 3.85) medium ($ 4.20) large ($ 5) special 1 ($ 6) special 2,3,4 (?)

Review is for lunch, on a Tuesday with the hubs! Hooray for time that we have together during a work day!
Must haves:
— shrimp and chives dumpling (comes in 3 pieces)
— shrimp noodle (the one that comes in an oval dish with soy sauce)
— barbecue pork puff pastry
Comparisons:
— seat-​ability: easier to get a seat here than Yang Sing (Stevenson location)
— budget: less expensive than Yang Sing
— Shanghai dumpling comparison: Yang Sing’s Shanghai dumplings are better, and it costs more at YS

TLDR — Decent dim sum that’s more Americanized and lacks the normal variety of traditional dim sum, but takes reservations!
Not really your standard dim sum place. Their selection is more limited and seems a little more catered to Americans, based on both the food and the clientele. There were some very nontraditional dim sum items on the menu/​carts, like calamari, chicken skewers, egg rolls, sesame chicken and lettuce wraps. We mostly avoided those and stuck with normal dim stuff items, which were generally not bad, but the limited selection left my dim sum craving somewhat unsatisfied.
Prices weren’t too high: $ 3.85 for small dishes, $ 4.40 for medium, $ 5 for large and $ 6 for special. Tea was $ 3/​person. Service is what you’d expect from any Chinese place. They don’t have very many carts going around but they’re surprisingly good about making their way around all the tables, even the ones in the corner.
On the plus side, they take reservations even for dim sum (though it doesn’t seem to get as packed as a lot of other places). And they validate 2 hrs parking at the Chinatown Portsmouth Square parking lot nearby.
GET:
* Shrimp Siu Mai ($ 6, special) — Amazing texture! Super tender and soft. Comes with 3 siu mai.
* Mushroom Fun Gao ($ 4.40, medium) — Comes with 3 dumplings filled with wood ear mushroom and veggies. Delicious!
STANDARD:
* Shrimp Dumpling ($ 5, large) — Comes with 4 pretty large dumplings.
* Turnip Cake ($ 3.85, small) — A little greasy had a good texture
* Chicken Feet ($ 3.85, small) — Tender and flavorful
SKIP:
* Chinese Broccoli ($ 6, special) — SUPER greasy
* Beef Rice Noodle Roll ($ 5, large) — The rice noodle had a weird mushy texture and the beef tasted odd
* Stuffed Bell Pepper ($ 5, large) — Comes with 3 green bell peppers topped with shrimp. Not really a traditional dim sum dish. Shrimp was the same as the shrimp dumpling or shrimp siu mai, but each bell pepper was sitting in a pool of oil. Kind of gross.

Solid dim sum spot right on the cusp of Chinatown and FiDi. Unlike many other Chinatown dim sum spots, City View has a nice ambiance and functions as a great option for a quick business lunch. I’ve been here numerous times with coworkers and the opinion is always a resounding A-​ok.
You get to select which items you want based on the different moving carts. Some of the highlights are the turnip cakes, sticky rice and shrimp rice rolls.
Happy Eating, Unilocalers!

Not bad. The SO and I came in for dim sum on a Saturday without reservations. Mistake. City View is actually one of the few, if not only places, in SF that actually takes dim sum reservations, which is pretty nice when you don’t have all day or want to take guests to dim sum but want to eat at a notable hour. They definitely deserve a fourth star for that alone.
We however, didn’t have reservations and went into the wait queue with everyone else. The place was definitely the epitome of chaos because we were seated within a few minutes on a lucky whim that a waiter saw us standing and pointed at a random table and seated us. while neglecting everyone else. oops.
Anyways, the food here is decent! We got the typical dim sum classics — siu mai, shrimp dumplings, rice rolls with shrimp, pai gu, and some other things. The menu here is fairly limited relative to other dim sum places (no porridge, no basic fried noodles), and it’s pretty clear that the places caters to the nontraditional crowd based on a) how great everyone’s English is b) how Americanized some of their newer creations were c) the fact that they have a set menu that’s basically just various forms of chow mein lol.
That being said though, the dim sum dishes themselves were decent. The pai gu was not very good though, but everything else was quite comparable in quality. Price is decent and fair, and the place is quite clean.
tldr; most unique thing about this dim sum place is that they take reservations! and the food is decent

Ok we fell in love with this place immediately. Came here on Christmas Day at 2pm after having arrived earlier in San Francisco. It was my first true Dim Sum restaurant. I have always heard about the concept and was intrigued but there isn’t good Dim Sum in GA.
They started coming around with the carts and we were all overcome with delight at the feasts before us. Shumai, sesame chicken, buns, dumplings, potstickers, Chinese broccoli, crispy egg rolls. Absolutely wonderful. This place will always leave me wanting more. The sheer variety was astounding.
The best part is it is off the beaten path. It is an intentional restaurant. You make the effort to come here. It is worth it.

A nice respite from the hectic chaos of Downtown San Francisco is City View Restaurant.
I would never have found City View if it were not for my friends who recommended it; as it is tucked down an alley, Commercial I believe.
The restaurant itself is immaculate… as in super clean. For me this is always an indication of quality. Service was simple and succinct. Food was good not great but for the price to quality ratio… I am a huge fan now.
Dim sum carts galore with wonderful chicken feet (so good), mini bao, great sauteed greens, and more. The only dish I did not care for or thought was mediocre were the pot stickers.
As for the debate on the restaurants name: It is in an alley with no view but they have a very large painting of the lovely Chinese city Guilin. My two cents.
Highly recommend

I’m glad I don’t live near by. If I did, I’d eat here daily and turn into a dumpling. I don’t think I have anything to say, that has not already been said in previous reviews except, just eat it. Try everything. The sesame balls are sooooooo crunchy, doughy, tasty, and not too sweet. The dallop of plum inside will just finish you. They have just one wine on the list. It’s Chardonnay. Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi. Strangely enough, it goes well with dim sum.

Decent but pricey dim sum in Chinatown. There is a nice cleanliness that is a stark contrast to most of the alleyways in SF, but a lack of the authentic Cantonese soul that goes into these steamed and fried brunch bites. The menu even has only English and Japanese.
I tried the standard shu Mai, har how, xiao long bao, Chinese broccoli, and shrimp noodles. The waiters took a while to bring out some of the dishes and I think at the end of brunch they ran out of things I wanted like egg tarts. While they do the cart experience, the food was pretty average and not anything special.
It’s ok for a first timer doing Dim sum but as a veteran there’s much better around the bay.

I’m writing this review from the perspective of a tourist in the city. I grew up eating dim sum pretty often, but my wife didn’t. Because of that, I spent a lot of time online before our trip to San Francisco trying to find a good dim sum place — somewhere with good food, but that wasn’t a hole in the wall. (I’d be down for trying the dirtiest, non-​English speaking place if they had the best dumplings in town, but I didn’t think that would go over too well with the wife.)
The website for City View made it look like it would probably be good, so that’s where we headed. As we walked there I began to get nervous. The street it was on was more like an alley and there weren’t any signs that a nice restaurant would be anywhere near there. We got close to where it should be and, sure enough, there was a little wooden sign on the sidewalk with the name of the restaurant and an arrow pointing to it. The windows were heavily tinted and I figured this place must be a dump… but then we opened the doors and were greeted by a lovely, clean interior with plenty of linen-​topped tables and carts running up and down the aisles. There were also Asians and white people eating here — a good sign that we would get good food, but also be able to order (plus I saw one of the white guys with one chopstick in each hand… clearly we wouldn’t be the whitest people here today).
We ordered a ton of dumplings, sticky rice, honey walnut shrimp, and other goodies. Everything was delicious and exactly what I’d been looking forward to. I don’t want to say the food was perfect, but it was pretty great and we enjoyed everything. The waiters were all very nice and, while some spoke English better than others, none of them had any trouble understanding our orders. They did a good job coming by with the carts and seemed to always be there just as we were thinking about getting another plate of whatever dumplings we just finished. The prices were also pretty reasonable, especially when it’s possible to rack up a pretty hefty bill eating dim sum.
City View ended up being perfect for our needs. It has the delicious food and good variety that I was looking for, but was also clean and accessible for someone less adventurous (like my wife). I would definitely return here myself and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for anyone else looking for a good balance of authenticity and accessibility.

I don’t typically enjoy dim-​sum that much… maybe because I grew up eating a lot so I don’t care too much about it.
I must say this place is very decent for the quality of the food to how much it cost. This place also seems very clean.
We came here for a work lunch with about 8 – 9 people and the bill came out to be ~$ 170 which I thinks is pretty good for the amount of food we got. This is just as much for a party of 4 at yangsing.
You should always go with 3– 4 people to dim-​sum. Each dish comes with about 3 – 4 so if you want to try everything come with more people.

I am surprised at myself that I have never noticed this restaurant has good dim sum! Located in an alley, it is quite an out of sight, out of mind spot.
Their shrimp and chives steamed dumplings are bomb. Black bean pork ribs are steamed up nicely. Fried eggplants with shrimp cake tofu braised in sauce, was scrumptious.
Ladies were pushing the piping hot carts around the place.
Yum, yum for dim sum at this discrete location.

My friends and I came around 11:30am for dim sum on a Sunday morning and we definitely skipped the line because we got seated right away (table of 6) but we saw people waiting at the door within the next 10 minutes.
I’m from Hong Kong, so honestly I cannot say the dim sum here is good at all but compared to the other dim sum places I’ve had in the US this place isn’t the worst either… let’s just say I’m sure they are better dim sum places in SF, but I guess this place is okay too…
The biggest problem I have with this place is how we had to wait 20 minutes for some siu mai (pork dumplings). Siu Mai and Ha Gau are two of the most popular dimsum dishes ever, so I can’t understand why the restaurant took forever to bring those dishes out. You can’t order dim sum individually, you have to wait for the carts to come by and hope that they have the items you want. Which wouldn’t be a problem if the restaurant is good with coming out with the foods people want but it is clearly not the case for City View.
We ate a solid amount and in the end it came out to around $ 22 per person (including tip) – reasonable.
I don’t think I’ll come back again just because there are many better dim sum places in Chinatown.

City View has decent dim-​sum fare.
Our party got a variety of dishes, but some of the highlights from that day were the shrimp siu mai, turnip cake, CHICKEN FEET (okay, maybe it was good to me because I have been craving these for the LONGEST time), shrimp har gao, and stuffed three treasures (tofu and eggplant).
I was quite surprised they had calamari as an option, as I didn’t think that was standard dim-​sum food, but it was okay also.
The space we were seated in (the corner) was very cramped, and felt lacking in air flow half of the time. Other than that, I had a satisfactory experience here, though I may not come back for a while since it’s a bit out of the way.
Always come with a group to eat dim-​sum, for it’s just too expensive to eat by yourself!