Golden Sand Harbor

This place tasted nothing like their sister restaurants, Fishermen’s Grotto and Fish Hopper. I gave it a 1 star because the girl who was supposed to give out the clam chowder for tasting was too busy texting on her phone instead of trying to entice the customers. That should have been a sign about their service. We decided to go in and give it a try anyway because we liked their to go food court. Well, to our disappointment, the service was poor, except for the guy who served us the water (he made sure our cups were always full). The waitress however never told us about any specials they may have, asked about the food, or desserts afterwards. We spent close to $ 300 with 7 people. I don’t mind the price as long as I receive good service and food taste as good as the price we’re being charged.

Ate lunch banquet menu here. Food was very good. Free parking in the mall. This was on a weekday so restaurant was not too crowded. Service was good with refills of tea pots and water. Tables with table cloths, extra napkins, forks, and straws for water without having to ask for them.

We found a piece of white plastic in our Streamed Rice Noodle Roll this morning. That totally grossed me out.

You get what you pay for at Golden Sand Harbor. For this area, consistently good dim sum is pretty hard to come by, but you can definitely find it here. It’s busy as crap during the lunch hour (s), especially on weekends, but it’s worth the wait.
If you can, go during a weekday. Let’s be clear: ordering dim sum off a menu is a thousand times better than having cart service. Service is quick here during the week, even at peak hours, so you can get exactly what you want when you want it. The dim sum menu has a pretty good range of dishes, and isn’t limited to your typical steam tray variety. One dish that stands out to me (and you can order it during evenings too) is the salted egg pumpkin — I haven’t had it better anywhere else in this part of the Bay. Generally their fried items are on point, so you know you can rely on them being fresh, tasty, and gut busting. The only issue I’ve had is that their bbq pork is on the sweeter side, so if that’s not how you like it, feel free to stay away.
I’ve had dinner several times here too, and again, you get what you pay for. This ain’t a bargain bin Chinese restaurant, but then again, if you only expect Chinese food to be a bargain, you’ve got some serious Orientalist issues you need to look at.
P. S. Golden Sand Harbor has also been good with arranging for larger parties — talk to Mina and she’ll take care of you!

Called the night before for reservations but only take it for parties of 8 or more but told us it wouldn’t be a problem if we came right at 10. We did, only to find they were handing out numbers and not even seating anyone because they’re waiting for big parties. The big parties didn’t come but yet they weren’t seating anyone.
Had to walk out of Golden sand harbor for making us wait over 16 minutes even though they had more than enough empty tables. They might’ve lost our business for more than just today cuz Lee Garden is yummy with no wait!

Maybe I’m used to SF prices now, but for the cost and quality, this is a solid dim sum option. They also still push things around in carts — yay!
We made reservations for Mothers Day, but they *lost* them and then said we would have to wait 30 min for a table to free up. Already in the negative, this place had a lot of making up to do.
We were seated at a massive table for eight (well, all their tables are massive except a couple booths off to the side). Here’s what we ordered:
Tea — They charge for tea. There were five of us and they charged us for 6 on the final bill… I let it slide just to get out of there.
Pork Buns (baked) — Solid. The bun is fluffy and the pork filling is tasty, though definitely varies from bun to bun.
BBQ Pork Puffs — Interestingly sweet and savory (this one was new for me).
Shanghai Dumplings — I didn’t eat one (they come in sets of four and there were five of us and I’m not super big on soup dumplings). They stuck to the foil wrapper though.
Har Gow (shrimp dumplings) — The dumpling was a good consistency and the shrimp was flavored nicely with white pepper.
Siu Mai (pork dumplings) — Massive in size and pretty good. Not too salty.
Rolled rice noodles in XO sauce — I could eat flat rice noodles all day long. They had a nice kick, too.
Chinese greens — Ok, tasted like the usual.
Pork and crab dumpling — Ok, not my favorite.
Fried Sesame Balls — Not great. The dough was too thick and the filling was lacking.
The bill was about $ 75, which wasn’t too bad. Once you get seated, the service is decent, but this place gets crowded fast — especially on Mothers Day. We did have to ask twice for tea and waters — and one of the waters had a tiny nat in it…
Just all part of the dim sum experience.

This review for Golden Sand Harbor is for dinner only. Before my Pops retired, his coworkers would always drive all the way from Danville to buy dim sum takeout for lunch and bring it back to their office. Hence, Pop suggested that we try out GSH for dinner while we were in the Tri-​Valley area. Parents and I stopped in during a Wednesday evening. The location is across the street from the 99 Ranch Market and shares the same plaza as the Dollar Tree, Korean BBQ, Round Table Pizza, etc. Easy parking in the lot.
We were seating promptly upon arrival since it was a tad early for dinner service. There were several tables there already but plenty of open seating. We chose one of the tables in the middle of the room. The ambiance is quite nice and appropriate for a Chinese seafood restaurant. The chairs are comfy and all the table linens were crisp and white. The waitress was incredibly personable and professional throughout service.
Since there were three of us, we ordered three a la carte dishes and white rice. The menu at GSH is vast with many specialty Cantonese dishes. I was impressed with our selections as all of them were cooked with good «wok-​hay» and all very delicious.
–Hong Kong Style Spicy Fish Fillet ($ 13.95): Lightly battered and golden fried fillets of cod. This is like a grown up version of salt and pepper fillet. The portion was huge and all the pieces of cod were fresh. There weren’t any soggy or overly greasy. Nice if you like spicy.
–Pea Sprout w/​Cordyceps in Superior Broth ($ 16.95): The pea sprouts were tender and topped with a Chinese herbal fungi. Something different than you would get at other Chinese restaurants. I’d say this was more of a specialty item.
–Shredded Pork w/​Green Chives ($ 9.95): Great taste and another huge portion. Loved the veggie medley with pork.
Overall, great place for authentic Cantonese Cuisine. I enjoyed dinner there. We still had food to take home at the end of our meal. One of the better Chinese restaurants in the Tri-​Valley. Would go back for dinner again or go for dim sum next time I’m in the area.

Came here for a wedding. The food was delicious. I had many things I’ve never had before. They did a good job of getting the food out to everyone quickly. The food was all hot and tasty.
Parking can be tough at times.
The staff seems really nice and helpful and efficient.

Came to get dim sum at 1pm, and got the food quickly!
Service: As soon as we sat down, a server used her mouthpiece to signal the dim sum servers to get to our table. So awesome! Tea and ice water were immediately provided, unlike other places I’ve been to that literally make you ask for beverages.
Food: Tad pricey, but the food quality makes it worth it. Had a little bit of everything, and my favorite dish was the shu mai! Freshly cooked and steaming, I easily ate 4 rolls.
Setting: Fairly large restaurant, with large tables for big parties.
See ya for dim sum again soon!

This was our first time having Dim Sum here at GSH. We were meeting up with friends who live in Livermore, and they suggested that we meet up here for Dim Sum. For the most part, it was not a bad choice. The food was good, but the service left a lot to be desired.
As it was Easter, we decided to meet up at 10 am. Definitely a good idea on a holiday, as by the time we left, the waiting area was packed with people. We could barely get through the crowd to leave!
The best dim sum items we had were the Shrimp Dumplings, the Siu Mai (these were nice and big), the Sticky Rice with Chicken (the hubby and my friend’s husband loved this), the Baked Pork Bun (more bbq pork please!) and the Baked Egg Custard Bun (very light, not too sweet and nice coconut flavor).
On to the not so good ones. The Rice Noodle Roll with Shrimp was mostly rice noodle. Not enough shrimp in it. The Shanghai Dumpling were also disappointing. Not enough soup in it. They kinda stuck to the foil too.
The service was really slow especially after we’ve been there for an hour. The carts did not move that fast and they never came by to fill up our waters and refill out teapot. It also took us a long time to find someone to tally our orders and give us the check. It took another 10 minutes to our cards and receipts back. You’d think that with all the people waiting to get seated, they’d expedite the check process and all that after you’re done eating.
If we’re in the area and want some dim sum, we might go back, but stick with the dim sum items we liked and try ones we haven’t tried.

I have been to this place a few times for lunch. Since we haven’t been here in a while, we decided to go here for a late lunch. This place didn’t seem so crowded since we came around 3pm. When we arrived, we were greeted and seated right away.
The food we ordered:
Seafood Pan-​Fried Noodle
Sweet and Sour Pork
Broccoli Beef
Wow! The sweet and sour pork was so good. It was full of flavor. It’s the best I have ever tasted. The other dishes was good as well.
Overall, delicious food and good service. Will definitely come back again.

I’m on the fence here with Golden Sand Harbor. This place is in the same large plaza as Ogahne Korean BBQ (not a big fan of Ogahne). Anyways we came here for my birthday because the SIZZLER in Concord is now CLOSED. Arrrghhh!
I’ll talk about my obsession with Sizzler and their cheesetoast sometime later. Droool.
Anyways, we decided that we had to eat somewhere so we headed southbound on the 680 and hit this place as I’ve been wanting to try it out.
Upon walking it, it looks like your above average Chinese (large) restaurant. The staff were all in uniform and we were warmly greeted and sat right away. Now the service from there on out was (as my fiancé who is Chinese) «typically Chinese». Meaning, you had to get the staff’s attention in order to get what you wanted.
Now onto the food: we ordered pea stems, clams in black bean sauce, and Shanghai lobster. To be brief, the clams and especially the black bean sauce was mediocre at best. The pea stems were above average. We thought it was lacking in flavor too. However there was one dish that stood out. Well actually it was the sauce that they put on the Shanghai lobster. It was a perfect blend of spicy, sweet, and salty. I can’t describe it better than that. If you take away anything from this review and try this restaurant out, try their Shanghai lobster.

I’m so surprised that this place only has 3 stars on Unilocal!I met with a group of friends here for dim sum and everything tasted GREAT! My boyfriend even suggested bringing his parents here for dim sum when they’re in town (even though he lives in SF!) We ordered many shrimp dishes because we love it and they were very generous with the shrimps. I hate places that only put like 2 or 3 baby shrimps in it and try to pass it off. Staff was attentive and even the chopsticks were higher quality. Parking is not too bad since it’s in a center.
The only thing I could complain about was that the bathroom ran out of toilet paper when I went in. I definitely recommend if you’re in the area!

Last time I was out in Dublin, my BF and I wanted to get some dim sum, but most of the more popular places in East Dublin, like the Koi place were all packed with pushy people, so I Unilocaled this place. It’s located in west Dublin, right near where I lived for a short time some years ago. It was easy to find since I know my way around Dublin. Yes, this place is pretty busy too.
I just wanted a light lunch this time, not get all crazy and order tons of stuff and take half home and then have the bill way higher than I wanted. We started with some sieu mai, Chicken Feet, and steamed pork buns. Then we got an order of the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf. That amount was actually about right and we got out of there for about $ 25 including tax and tip. I thought the food was good quality, not that I’m a super dim sum expert that roams Chinatown for the best Har Gow or XLB. I just know if the thing tastes good to me, and the food here was fine. I may have to come back for a more extensive exploration of the menu here. It’s nice having a good authentic Chinese restaurant that’s not in the middle of some urban mess with no parking. Yes, this is the nice safe suburbs! I’ll come back here again. Now it’s off the mall across the freeway in Pleasanton.

I came here on a weekend for dinner.
I think service here is better than most Chinese places. It’s definitely a nicer place.
We ordered a couple of dishes, pea sprouts with garlic, fu-​king fried rice, peking spareribs, and a beef dish. I enjoyed all the dishes I ordered.
I also was amazed that they refilled my water. Parking is in the parking lot, and sometimes, there’s definitely lots of cars.
I do plan on coming back but the Chinese food is a little bit more pricey, but decent!

We usually come for dimsum at this place. They’re great! That’s why it gets crowded during dimsum hour. We usually get the SiaoMai and the Chicken Feet. The kids love the SiaoMai. It’s the best dumpling you can have. It has pork, shrimp, and mushroom and topped with tiny tobiko. Our 2 toddlers live it cause the tobiko pops in their mouth.
By our 2^nd visit, we realized that getting the specials gives you the best value. They have it posted on the tables for the restaurant patrons’ reference. For $ 40 you get 5 dimsum, veggie, and noodles and lobster. There’s also other variation depending on what you like.
We also tried having dinner here to see what it’s like. The dishes are good. But I find their dimsum more tasty than the a la carte dishes. I found their chow mein a bit bland. But our kids loved it. So I wouldn’t disregard this dish at all. We did enjoy their stir-​fry frog legs with Bell peppers.
This is a great place for families with young kids. There are lots of options, it has a casual setting, but with top notch service.

In my opinion, Dublin no longer has a reasonably priced, decent quality, dim sum restaurant.
We pulled up one Saturday afternoon around 11:45am. We walked in and were greeted and seated fairly quickly. Our tea order was taken and the food started coming around before the tea arrived. We never take food before tea arrives so we waited a few minutes perusing the offerings going by. It looked like all the usual items were available.
We ordered a total of 7 dishes, 4 mediums, 1 large and 2 kitchen. This place is NOT inexpensive! $ 1.25 per person for tea; $ 4.10 for medium; $ 5.10 large; and $ 6.10 kitchen. We’ve experienced more expensive but the quality of the food here wasn’t up to the price.
Overall, most dishes were a bit salty. There was one dumpling that was filled with pork and apparently nothing else. The Beef Meatballs were unusually soft in texture. The Steamed Tofu Skin was kind of mushy as well. The Ha Gow lacked flavor, neither shrimp or white pepper. The one dish that was quite good was a salad that had chicken, jelly fish, cilantro, bell peppers and cucumbers in it.
All in all, a disappointing meal for $ 40 plus tip.

Been here about 3 times now. Twice for dim sum and once for dinner. Food and service were both good! I usually come on Sundays for dim sum and it does get busy by noon. I was able to make a reservation a day before for 10 people. I thought all the dim sum I usually order like ha gow, steamed custard buns, pan fried turnip cakes, and many more were good! I usually don’t find the tofu dessert at many dim sum places but they have it here and it’s my favorite! they don’t bring it out in the carts so you have to ask and they’ll bring it right to your table.
For dinner, came around 8pm on a Wednesday night and it was still a little busy. was quickly seated and food came out within 10 minutes after it was ordered. I thought all the dishes were good but they were on the pricey side.

Came here for dinner. And I don’t what what’s up, maybe a new owner or new chef? The food was pretty good. I might have to swing on back in for dim sum and give that another go too. I would say that it is a 3.5 star place, but the stir fry rib eye steak cubes with Japanese tofu just put this up to a 4… Ps order that!
A little bigger than your average Chinese joint. Food is pretty good. Prices might be slightly high. Them place is clean for Chinese restaurant standards.
The highlight for me was the rib eye steak with Japanese tofu. The beef is battered in a slightly sweet sauce. The beef is nice and tender. The tofu is nice and crispy on the outside, and almost crème brûlée like on the inside. I’ve recently become a fan of Japanese tofu. Almost to the point that I will order it any time I see it on a menu. Yeah. It’s made that big of an impression on me… And this place does it justice.

If you have four people, get the $ 40.88 special that includes lobster e-​fu noodles, pea sprouts in broth, and 5 dim sum dishes! It’s more than enough food.
The lobster and noodles both tasted very fresh. Better than I had expected.
If you’re not into this stuff, they have other individual lunch specials that come with a lot of food. Can’t go wrong.