Ovo Cafe

I’ve only had the egg tarts from here but I can say that they are incredibly rich and oily. They’re very satisfying to eat but best enjoyed warm. They do make for a certain guilt after consumption and I think the optimal egg tart would be crisp and buttery but not overly so. These ones are also more on the expensive side. 3 stars for combination of value and taste.

When I need my HK baked pork chop fix, this place is close and hits the spot. It’s about $ 9 for a decent rice tray.
The milk tea is just how I like it with a strong tea flavor and a good amount of sweetness. And this is the closest place to work where I can get egg tarts. They have various tarts you can get, but I like the flaky egg tarts best. Try it sometime.

I liked this place. I went with my coworker at 1230 and there wasn’t a long line.
We quickly ordered and I got the beef Curry with brown rice for 9 dollars without tax.
And my coworker got the chicken. And a tart. And milk tea Hong Kong style according to him.
My order tasted really good. So I will probably come back to try out other options on the menu.

Used to be 5 stars, but they stopped making their milk tea Hong Kong style. If you’ve had the real thing you’ll know the moment you walk in, the store doesn’t smell like HK milk tea anymore. Their cashier confirmed this but didn’t give me any reason why. He did say that their sister food truck Hongry Kong is still making their tea HK style.
Their milk tea is now a watery English Breakfast tea with some dairy-​type product added to it. So sad. I used to be a regular.

Came by here today because I had heard good things about their milk tea from some co-​workers. The place is about a ten minute walk from my work. When I arrived I was saddened to hear that they were all out of Boba! I still ordered a milk tea and even ordered a pecan tart. The girl informed me their was a special if I bought an flaky egg tart I get one free too. I added that to the order as well. I’m
Not a huge egg tart fan, but this one had a really good crust to it. The pecan tart was easily the best thing I had it was absolutely crunchy and perfect. The milk tea was super disappointing. It had a really strange after taste and just felt a bit too watery for me. This place gets almost a four star rating for that pecan tart alone, but overall I was a bit disappointed!

I’ve been back a few times and I’ve noticed their prices have gone up, which is a bit disappointing. They still don’t have all their tart flavors at all times, so it’s hit and miss if you’re in the mood for a particular flavor. I recently had the chicken cutlet with curryous George sauce, which was good. However, the portion wasn’t very big but the flavor was good. I also had to enjoy some tarts (butter egg, apple and BBQ pork).

On my 3^rd visit to Ovo Café, I’ve had to revise my opinion just a bit. On my way over, I grabbed a couple egg tarts from Good Mong Kok Bakery in Chinatown, and my friend and I did a blind taste test comparing the two. And well, in both of our opinions, Ovo lost out. Ovo’s egg tart was not as rich — not as yellow and the custard was thinner, more watery. The crust was also not as flaky and rich as GMK’s.
As this is their signature product, I would expect it to be on par. The BBQ pork (char siu) tart was very nice and we got it freshly out of the oven, so that made the visit better. Yin yang is nice as well.
Worth a visit but Chinatown has better.

I ran in to grab a milk tea in hopes that it’ll taste like HK Milk Tea. I LOVEEEE HK MILK TEA!
However… the Milk Tea was disappointing. :/​I mean, for Milk Tea it’s okay. I might be more disappointed cause it wasn’t HK Milk Tea. :X
Definitely going to come back soon cause I feel bad for giving them 3 stars when I haven’t tried their other stuff. O_​O

So, my experience here really wasn’t very good. The café was fairly empty when I walked in around 9:20, and I wanted to grab a quick hot breakfast. I thought about going to Subway, but figured I would try somewhere new.
The service from the cashier was actually quite good, he was very friendly and polite. However, it all went downhill from there. Even though there were only 2 other people in the restaurant eating, one of them an employee at Ovo, it took forever to get my food. When I say forever, I only mean 10 min, but I watched them make it, and boy, did they move slowly. 2 people just stood around watching.
I ordered the egg white omelette with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and spinach. The cashier actually suggested spinach (which was free), but when my omelette came, it did not have aforementioned spinach. However, I was in a rush to get to work so I didn’t make them make another one. The omelette was $ 5.15 which sounds cheap, but it was tiny. And literally, it came with only the omelette. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to get toast too (it’s on the menu), but it didn’t come in my to-​go box.
For the price, the flavor-​lacking food and the slow service, this was definitely not worth it. I won’t be stopping in here again, maybe the egg tarts are better?

Review is for egg tarts only — these are amazing and way better than the tarts at Golden Gate Bakery, which are overpriced and not that great.
The egg tarts are served warm out of the oven and come in flaky and buttery, which is unique as most places only offer the former. The butter shell tarts are very delicious and I highly recommend them if you’re into shortbread. Even bigger plus is they’re buy one get one free after 6pm — amazing deal in all.

The only thing this place is great for is the yummy scrumptious egg tarts! They’re fresh, tasty, large, and very very flaky (in a good way!). For this, I shall give this place 4 stars … but WAIT!
I also ordered the pork cutlet with curry sauce. It was $ 9ish plus tax, and ummm it looks like airplane food. The curry was warm, but the pork cutlet was rather coldish. I think they probably just popped this out of a freezer and microwaved (or broiled it) for like a few minutes. The rice … uh … tastes rather gluey and bland. What’s worse is that they give you so much rice and not enough curry or the pork cutlet. For all of this, minus one star.
Overall 3 stars (I would give it 2.5 if I can)

I love this place, seeing it with only 3.5 stars make me not happy, so I decided to give it a little more love.
I come here regularly for lunch once every week, and some times for dinner. Also I almost tried all the combination among rice, protein and sauce: D I like tomato sauce and curry a lot, I always got brown rice and grill chicken/​pork. Sometimes the owner of this place would be there and offer you complimentary soup, it was very friendly.
half a star for you can get egg tarts from here, not that great tho.

Egg tarts in FiDi? Yes please! They’re advertised as super flaky, and they sure are. I thought they were pretty on point in terms of freshness and authenticity, but they’re incredibly messy, so be prepared for that. I was annoyed that my friend ordered four egg tarts and when he added two more, the cashier tacked on two additional orders instead of grouping them for the half dozen discount. Some people don’t think…
The Hong Kong Style Iced Coffee was well-​worth the visit too. Strong and flavorful. Overall this was a delightful place to go, albeit usually empty for such a spacious restaurant. Good place to stop by for an afternoon snack or coffee break after lunch.

soooo, perhaps i just dont enjoy hk style food very much. but i’ve been wanting to try ovo for a while now and was pretty disappointed today! WAH! my friend suggested it for lunch, and i was all game.
i ordered — pork cutlet with curry sauce and fried rice. the pork was actually reallly tender and good with the sauce, but there was 1) WAY too much rice, 2) rice didnt have much flavor, 3) WAYYY less sauce than the combo calls for. anyhoo — i will definitely be getting extra sauce next time.
there are four sauces total, and lots more snacks and things to choose from at ovo. seating space is big and not overly crowded even at noon — 1 pm. so overall the experience was all right!

Curry beef brisket rice real quick. Real quick. Real ****ing quick. OK sorry I had to its a bit lame…
In all seriousness it was decent, good for an everyday dinner nothing fancy. Although props to the owner for giving me a free, fresh egg tart because he forgot to give me brown rice like I asked. Hk style milk tea also passable, finding this in downtown SF is pretty awesome. #drakeyouthere?

Tried the chicken bites with sweet and sour sauce and both the flaky and regular egg tart (dan tat). The egg tarts were ok. The eggy middle part is on par with the rest of the world but the doughy part just didn’t seem right. For the chicken bites, it lacked taste but at least it was crispy. It’s a little too big to dunk into the small sauce container but subsequent dunks after biting works.

I try to find alternate routes on my morning walks to work so that I can explore a lot more of SoMa and the financial district. I walked by ovo this morning and the inside of the café caught my eye. I also saw the words «egg tart» and became instantly intrigued. Since it’s not in chinatown, I wasn’t expecting a traditional egg tart. It’s obnoxious and unfair for people to come in here expecting just that. Since I was expecting a sort of modern/​fusion offering of HK café style food and snacks, I would say that I was pleasantly surprised. That and GG bakery isn’t the same as it used to be, anyway. So let’s not compare apples and oranges.
The service is friendly and the best thing about being there early is catching the egg tarts when they’re just coming out of the oven! I enjoying baking myself, and that’s probably my favorite process in making/​buying baked goods. I didn’t order anything else, but I do feel like the prices are fair for the location. We’re not in the suburbs. I also appreciated the bar style seating and the many tables and chairs that they had. All in all, I will definitely stop by again if I’m in the mood for milk tea or egg tarts. Thanks for being open early and offering a nice breakfast alternative!

Rating this place was conflicting. It was a hard decision. But in the end, I believe they deserved 4 stars. However, do note that this is based on my two trips here and only trying the flaky egg tart, pecan tart, iced coffee, and HK style milk tea. I will try their hot meals next time.
The place is extremely roomy considering that it’s centrally located in FiDi. The place is clean with many open space for group seating. Just pick and sit at your favorite spot, or do what I like to do and sit at the window bar seats and people watch! ;)
Dont’t expect to come here for the same tasting egg tarts as you would find in Chinatown. The flaky egg tart is a tad different from other traditional HK style egg tarts. The egg filling tastes no different with its silky and smooth filling. But the tart shell tastes like a cross between an apple pie and HK egg tart shell. I didn’t like the change. This is when I was heading toward a 3 star review. that is until I tried their drinks!
The first time here, I accidentally ordered the iced coffee when I meant to order the iced milk tea instead. The coffee is strong which I much appreciate but its no different than iced coffee from other places. However, when I finally tried their milk tea, it became my favorite item on their menu. It is strong and had a great milk to tea ratio and not too sweet to give you a nice smooth feeling in your mouth. I’ve tried HK milk tea at other Cha Can Ting, but I’d have to say that this is my fav thus far. It didn’t leave a bitter aftertaste like others I’ve tried (a good brew with good tea leaves to water ratio).
In the end of the day, I’d recommend this place if you would like good HK style milk tea. But don’t expect to come here for the same authentic flaky egg tarts as you would find in Chinatown.
Update: the BBQ Pork tart is delicious! I’ve been back twice after my first review just for the milk tea and BBQ pork tart! It seems to be their take of the Cha Siu Sou (BBQ pork puff pastry) but I prefer this one much more because the pork isn’t unusually red like you would see in regular cha siu. It has its natural colors.

I love HK style café food!
This place is a great way to get my fixin when Im at work in the downtown area and don’t want to make the trek to chinatown on my lunch break.
I got the fish cultlet over spaghetti with the tomato sauce and it was really good. My friends got and highly recommended the beef brisket with the curry sauce!
Don’t forget to make it a combo and get a dan tat and milk tea to complete your meal! The milk tea was not too sweet for me which is the way I like it. The dan tat was just alright though. My friend got the half milk tea/​coffee drink and that tasted pretty good so I have to come back to try it!
Overall, its a great place for HK style meals. They do breakfast, afternoon tea specials and ramen for dinner time so I will be coming back to try their various offerings and also their variety of sweet and savory tarts! Need to try the mango mousse tart next time!

Yeah, this is not good. Even for fast food, it’s not good. Even a Quarter Pounder has some merit because it has some semblance to a real burger. The food here looks like what they serve in economy class on an airline that still uses propeller engines. The aluminum tin container certainly evokes that feeling, and even more, the lukewarm food does. It’s apparently based on a Hong Kong-​style of fast food with a bit of a Chipotle-​like approach. You first stare at the overhead menu and decide what meat you want. Then you decide whether you want it over fried rice, brown rice or clearly the obvious choice, spaghetti. Then you decide what trite-​sounding sauce you want ladled over it. There’s Curryous George, Tang-​mato, Firecracklin Pepper and Dreamy Creamy.
That’s three sequential choices you have to make in a hurry since the line is getting long behind you (photo:
). OK, OK. I ordered the Grilled Chicken over Spaghetti with the Curryous George Sauce (photo:
), and because I was willing to part with $ 12.50, I also got a Signature Flaky Egg Tart and a small Milk Tea on an industrial metal tray much like I envision San Quentin’s cafeteria to be like (photo:
). The chicken had the telltale rubbery texture of processed, which was only surpassed by the watery curry. The thick spaghetti was a mistake and did nothing to enhance the appeal of the dish to me. Speaking of processed, the tart had a pre-​made plasticine flavor to it (photo:
). The one saving grace was the inoffensive Milk Tea (photo:
), but it’s not worth a return trip.
FOOD — 2 stars… fast food with a pre-​packaged flavor that doesn’t settle in the stomach too well
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… at least it looks better than it did as the dark and crowded Tempura House
SERVICE — 2 stars… just a number
TOTAL — 2 stars… Hong Kong-​style fast food for $ 12.50 is not cheap, and it ain’t good either, just keep walking on Second