Cafe 1920

Café 1920 was a short-​lived restaurant. The modern, simplistic, and clean décor and the heavily Americanized HK-​style foods at moderate prices weren’t enough to keep this business open for long. With Kevin’s and PPQ dominating the block for cheaper eats, Café 1920 surely wasn’t going to succeed with attracting new customers.
Their menu wasn’t very extensive, but there were a few interesting dishes, such as the applewood baby back ribs, baked seafood in cream sauce, and tiger prawn coconut rice.
The applewood baby back ribs were tender, but the meat didn’t fall off the bone as easily as I would’ve hoped. The smokey, sweet, and tangy flavors were deliciously balanced.
The baked seafood in cream sauce was a heavy, rich, and filling dish. They weren’t skimpy with the seafood portion (fresh clams, shrimp, scallops) as most other places would be.
The tiger prawns with coconut rice was delicious as well. Small bits of pineapple, shredded coconut, and fried basil were mixed in with the rice, adding fragrant notes. But unfortunately the prawns were a little tough.
Service was very attentive throughout the meal. The food presentation was always on point. I’m not sad to see Café 1920 close, nor will I miss their food, but I’m glad I gave them a try while they lasted.

I came here for dinner because I was on Irving Street already. I was pretty impressed by Café 1920 because the quality of their food, the service and the atmosphere was an A overall. It’s rare to find a Chinese restaurant with an American feel in the Sunset District/​Irving Street.
We ordered: beef cubes, miso salmon, shrimp fruit salad, and a slab of ribs. The ribs were moist and not dry; yes, you need to cut it yourself (don’t be lazy). The shrimp fruit salad did not have any sour fruits (A+). The other two dishes were great as well and for the price that we paid, it was worth it. The restaurant definitely feels like a good place to have a staff dinner or get-​together with friends.
I would recommend this to my friends and family, etc. Can’t just judge a book by it’s cover without trying it out yourself first!

I’m confused about this place! I like their effort of making a high-​end HK style café. At least, this is what I would call it. Or, I may call it a HK style western restaurant.
SERVICE: The service is super attentive. There were several waitresses helping us. They spoke fluent Cantonese and English. We originally spoke in English and they did the same. Originally, I wasn’t sure if it was like Crystal Jade where most of their staff did not speak Cantonese, serving Cantonese style dishes. There was also a manager or owner who assisted us throughout our meal.
MENU: It’s not very extensive. There were many American dishes like clam chowder, ribs, steaks, etc. Then, there were your HK style fare like Baked Pork Chop rice, Hainese Chicken, etc. They offer lunch specials on weekdays.
FOOD: This is the confusing part. You never know what to expect. The American food is great. I ordered a Baked Pork Chop rice dish, and the sauce was more heavy on the tomato — like a Chicken Parm, unlike a HK style Baked Pork Chop Rice. The «clam chowder» was more like a creamy broth with potato chunks. It was good, but the names of the dishes are just a bit confusing.
Overall, it looks like you have the Cantonese crowd going there for the HK style dishes, and there were the American crowds ordering steaks and salads. I guess, whatever works! Extra Credit for a delicious mango cheesecake that was on the house! Oh, and boaster seats only, no high chairs!

Café 1920 is a new HK style restaurant on Irving Street (next to The Taco Shop at Underdog’s & PPQ) that’s been opened for three weeks.
The owner has really remodeled this place — clean with a modern wood furnished design. The restroom was clean, but they should really get rid of that stinky incense smell.
Their menu is very limited and it’s definitely more expensive than your average HK style café/​restaurant.
We ordered:
–Geleshan Chicken Wings (³⁄₅): A non-​spicy food eater might get intimidated looking at the wings as it’s topped with crushed red peppers. Fear not! these wings are not spicy… AT ALL! In fact, I found it to be a bit sweet as I tasted coconut. The wings were juicy and crispy, but lacked flavor and heat. It was not worth $ 12!
–Tomato Sauce Baked Pork Chop with Pasta ($ 13 — ⁵⁄₅): Pork chop was moist and flavorful. The sauce had a nice consistency and not too sour.
–Garlic Noodles ($ 6 — ³⁄₅): A little more garlic would have been nice.
–Tiger Prawn Fried Rice with Coconut Milk ($ 14 — ³⁄₅): It seems the chef uses coconut flavoring in a lot of his food. If you’re not a fan of coconut, you can ask for plain white rice. Tiger prawn were nicely grilled.
–Tomato Sauce Baked Beef Tongue with Pasta ($ 16)
–Hainan Chicken with Rice ($ 13)
–HK Milk Tea ($ 3 — ⁴⁄₅): Decent cup of milk tea. It comes unsweetened so ask for condense milk.
Note: Duck sliders weren’t available.
Service was friendly and on par. However, the communication between the servers and the chef could use a little work. Since the duck sliders weren’t available (as mentioned above), my brother ordered their crab meat fried rice with avocado. However, the order that was brought to him ended up being the tiger prawn fried rice with coconut milk. We informed our server (s) and they offered to remake it, but at that point, everyone else was almost done with their food. I’m not sure why it took so long for his dish to come out, but our server should have checked in with the chef. An older man (who I believe is the owner) came around the end asking if everything was okay as he saw that my brother’s rice was left untouched. We just informed him that he was not a fan of the coconut flavor.
Overall, the food was okay. However, with the limited menu option, I’m not sure I’ll return anytime soon.

This place has such modern and beautiful décor. They really remodeled this place nicely, giving it a very upscale feel to it. They have a nice playlist playing as well! I gave this place 5 stars because of their service! They give complimentary black tea in a tea cup and the waitress constantly refills it for you.
The food here is more of a western Hong Kong style food, such as baked pastas/​rice. The food presentation was very nice and the food was pretty good. I really enjoyed the geleshan (coke) wings.
I didn’t get any of the beverages, but they have a wide variety and they even have a fancy expresso machine in the back.

Bland.
That would describe the stuff i ate at this place.
To reiterate another person’s observation about the prices, the food doesn’t taste as price you’re paying.
Yeah sure, the place looks nice and clean, but whats the point if the food isn’t that good?
The oxtail was tough, the potatoes and carrot were half cooked, and the pasta was bland even with the sauce. I expected a little bit better for $ 14.
The «Fresh» mango cheesecake tasted like a little kid’s dessert. Please don’t put sugar saturated frosting on top of the cake, it destroys the cheesecake (not that it was good to begin with in the first place; cheesecake was dry and not creamy at all). Try the safeway cheesecakes, you should at least try to make ones that are better than that.
Tl;dr Food was mediocre and not worth the price.

The place is more of a restaurant than your regular HK style café. It’s definitely higher quality for the food and the interior décor is nice. So, yes the prices will be a bit higher than your regular HK style cafes for certain similar dishes.
I came here twice back to back. Once with 2 other friends and the other time with my parents and brother. So I got to try a lot their food since we all share.
For those who know the baked dishes. The quality is much higher than your average café baked dishes. The taste is cleaner and the fried rice is well made. Anyways to list some dishes I tried .
German pork knuckle — best deal in house for the price but don’t expect any sides to go with it. If you love gelatinous skin. This is it. Also the pork itself is tender enough and the dipping sauce has a interesting flavor to it. Reminds me of the Chinese peppercorn.
Baked rice & beef tongue with tomato sauce — the beef tongue was perfect, tender and very flavorful. The rice was delicious and the tomato sauce was more on the western style flavor. A bit sour for me but very good
Baked rice & clams with white sauce — this dish was perfect to me. Fresh clams, the cheese on top melted seemed like mozzarella, the sauce went great with the fried rice.
Pork ribs — great decoration, pork was tender enough to eat off the bone but not fall off the bone. Could use more flavor since there is no sauce
Chicken wings — juicy and crispy but could use more flavor
Clam chowder — don’t expect New England style but it’s light with fresh clams. It’s nice but I wouldn’t order it again. Just had to try it
Tiger prawn coconut fried rice — the best part was the rice. Soo good. The flavor and aroma from the rice in your mouth. Could I just order the rice alone for less? Lol
Beef tongue skewer — the beef tongue was really tender and flavorful. Good portion for an appetizer
Garlic noodle — light pasta for $ 6. Good deal
Overall I had a good experience. My server Winnie was very nice and attentive. She helped me both nights I went. The décor is nice. The playing of the food was well thought and nicely presented. I liked majority of the food with very few I thought could be better. It’s all opinion right? Anyways let see if my mind changes the next time I go. If you never had Chinese style café food. This place is more friendly for all sorts of people.

Today was my boyfriends birthday and his mom wanted to try this place since it was new and we haven’t yet.
So we went in for four people around 8 – 9 and it was pretty empty. They greeted us nicely and we sat down anywhere we wanted. The décor was so nice! Wooden furnish and cute little planetariums. It was very clean as well !
The menu was small which is nice since most Chinese based restaurants have big menus. Though the items are pretty expensive, but the portions are pretty big. It’s definitely to get an average person full haha! We got Apple wood ribs, Hai Nan chicken with rice, Pork chop with baked fresh tomato sauce with cheese, and Oxtail stew with fresh tomato sauce and rice.
The waitresses were very nice though some of them seem very nervous to answer our questions. They also gave us bread with melted butter on top. Which tasted bomb as if you add some salt and pepper on it. The food did take a while to come out but that’s okay cause it was totally worth it! All of us loved our food though the seasoning could use some adjustments.
Even who we believe to be the owner came over and asked us how we were doing and see if we needed more rice or something to drink and was unbelievably nice!
I would definitely come here again !
Customer service: ⁵⁄₅
Environment: ⁵⁄₅
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Price: $$

So happy to see a nice HK Style café opened in the Sunset district. Went there the first time last week.
Place: clean, nice contemporary decoration and atmosphere. I really hope they can maintain this place well as many Chinese Cafes in the Sunset District are not as sanitary as they should be as time goes by due to lack of maintenance. Comfortable booth or table seats. Not noisy, which makes this place more classy than the other HK cafes in the area.
Food: They surprisingly offer the German Pork Knuckles which are rarely available at Chinese restaurants. This dish tastes great! Please try to Iced Orange flavored chicken. I can tell that the chefs did prepare the dishes with «heart». It is amazingly good. Had the mango cheesecake for dessert. The presentation of dishes are very nice.
All food was nicely prepared.
I just wish they offer a wider selection on the menu as the choices seem very limited compared to other cafes in the area. They need to do that to remain competitive.
Service: the female waitresses are nice and polite. The manager came by each table and asked the customers for their feedbacks, which is not commonly seen at Chinese cafes. I appreciated this nice gesture.
Will visit again although I don’t find this place outstanding. But it is a nice addition to the neighborhood. But counting all the above, I will give it a 4 star as an encouragement to keep up the good work.

We ordered baked chicken pasta and shrimp stir fry. Nothing very special in the food. But we loved the plates, utensils, and furniture of the restaurant.
We appreciated the owner coming to us and asking if everything was ok.
Overall, we loved the service.

10/​22/​2015 — Garlic Noodles (Take Out)
This is basically Spaghetti noodles with minced Garlic and Parmesan Cheese on top.
I don’t know how familiar you are with this dish, but real Garlic Noodles are NOT made with Spaghetti Noodles or Parmesan Cheese on top.
If the rest of the menu items at 1920 Café (aka Café 1920) are anything like the Garlic Noodles, STAY AWAY. Café 1920 (aka 1920 Café) is extremely over priced for their location.
Last Words:
Don’t expect this place to stay long in this neighborhood =P

It was totally a surprise when I first saw this classy-​look restaurant on Irving St. since I have been hoping for a decent HK café «茶餐廳» on this street.
This is a brand-​new 1 week old restaurant on the block. Surprisingly, the set lunch serving time is very quick.
First things first, HK ice milk tea is the soul of any HK café. My rating for the milk tea is 4.5 out of 5 on the first try (to give you better perspective, the other HK style café on T street is 4 out of 5, 4 is indeed very authentic). The food quality is above average. I can tell it has no MSG (as they emphasized «原味» in Chinese on the sign). Since it has no MSG, I felt my Sear Soil Filet Corn a bit tasteless. But with some table salt and pepper, it became perfect. My friend ordered the Baked Beef Tongue Tomato which is a bit salty. The meat portion was unexpectedly more than I would expected for a set lunch which is a plus.
The restaurant is absolutely clean as expected as a new restaurant should be. I really appreciate for the modern wood furnished design which is really peace looking and gives people a stress release lunch.
Last word for the owner, I hope they maintain the cleanest look of this restaurant as most Chinese /​HK cafes don’t care their maintenance.

Delicious, simple and not greasy. The fried rice dishes we ordered needed a sprinkle of salt, but I’d much rather have that than an overly salted meal. The complimentary garlic bread was fine but not amazing, but the service and ambiance were excellent.

Brah I swear I’m trying to do my part in this whole #californiadrought stizz, but how am I supposed to be a force of redemption if everywhere I go people keep giving me water after I say I don’t want it? What am I supposed to do, put a goldfish in the glass & have mzafzas step up to try to throw ping pong balls in it to win a teddy bear for their #babymama? I mean dayum.
1920 isn’t here to be #basic. Menu takes liberties like a junction of Chinese, American, Fob, and Wakkawakkawakkasan. Asian dishes were good; Westernized dishes were goodish. Hoping the execution elevates to better justify the prices as this place smooths out. Ambience & crowd were certified #nothipster.
(^_​^) Crab Winter Melon Soup $ 0 (
)
Dip your breadstick in it. #thatswhatshesaid
(^_​^) Crab Soft Tofu $ 12 (
)
Bouches are somewhat amused.
(^_​^) Iced Lemon Tea $ 3.5 (
)
Dat mason jar doe.
(-_​^) Applewood Baby Back Ribs $ 18 (
)
Tree trunk plate, beezys! #flintstones
(-_​-​) Peking Duck Sliders $ 21 (
)
Bun texture was injustice to the duck.
I’ll give this place time to gain footing before a possible return visit. You know I need to see what’s up with the Filet Mignon and Watermelon Slushy. In the same mouthful.

3.5 stars overall.
5 stars for the décor and service. The owner was very nice.
3 stars for the food.
— Beef tongue skewers $ 14. Beef tongue was first stewed in Chinese way then put on the skewers. It was not bad, but unfortunately no one on the table liked it. I want to be fair. More like it was not prepared the way we thought. $ 14 for two skewers was a little bit pricey.
— Apple wood ribs $ 18 were just OK. Meat came off bone but a little bit dry. Good portion size. The quash was more popular than the ribs.
— Hainan chicken rice plate $ 13. The chicken meat was really good and tender. The broken bones in the meat were kinda annoying.
Not many nicely décor Chinese restaurant with good service in this neighborhood. We really hope Café 1920 can run successful. In order to reach that goal, I’m afraid the kitchen has to improve the food quality to match its price range.

Although the service and ambience is above par compared to your typical HK café, you will be in for a major disappointment if you came here for cheap and delicious eat.
looking at the menu, one will quickly notice that the prices on drinks and food on average is about 20−30% more than your typical sunset hk café. Imo, that is fine if you can deliver premium food. However, the three dishes that my buddy and I ordered, they were all subpar compared to other HK café, in terms of both taste and portion. Both the chicken filet over rice and baked seafood spaghetti tasted bland and we had to add salt to both dishes. Portion was about half of your typical hk café. Then the german pork knuckle, the sauce tasted ok but the skin was not crispy and the meat was a little dry.
All in all, I would skip this place until they drop the price, improve food quality, and make the portion larger.

New Chinese restaurant in one of the most popular areas on Irving.
So the experience:
overall the service was fantastic for a chinese restaurant. the waiters were hovering their tables to make sure everything was fine. Though with that being said, I noticed the tables around me were getting bread (standard) while I did not, that would have made me want to rate it as a 3stars but then the owner decided to give my girlfriend and I free cheesecake at the end which in my mind made up for the bread.
Now the food:
we ordered the eggroll, chicken wings, crab meat fried rice, and baked chicken with spaghetti in red sauce.
the eggroll was good, crunchy on the exterior, nice and moise in the interior.
Chicken wings were ok, it was coverd with crushed red pepper but it was actually not spicy at all, you can actually just dust off all the peppers and it’ll not be spicy. the wings did lack a bit of flavor as it was literally almost just a fried wing
The crab meat fried rice was slightly not exactly what we were expecting. they had prepared the fried rice, put minced crab meat (decent amount) and we mix everything ourselfs. in terms of taste, ut wasn’t bad either. What I really liked was the fact that it was not too oily as most fried rice in many different places are.
the baked chicken was pretty good, chicken was not dry, and flavorful. the spaghetti was flavorful as well, it actually sweet to be exact.
I would come back and try their other things but for my 1 experience here, I like it.

HK meets American hipster meets $$ dining.
Food:
— Garlic noodle $ 6 — sweet, not dry or sticky
— Apple wood ribs $ 18 — meat came off bone, came with lightly fried kabocha squash (yum), decent price
— durian sago (on the house) — light durian taste, mostly coconut, nice consistency
Service
— owner was very friendly, checked in many times to make sure everything was good
— one hoovering waiter xP

The services really nice, also there is new café ，it really different style, good for group come, also the house owner give me free cheesecake, it taste awesome!:)

Today is their grand opening and while walking on irving street I decided to give it a try, I’m glad I did… we ordered 2 dishes and both were absolutely amazing, they had Roasted Pig Knuckles and living in SF for 30 plus years I was surprised ! There’s no place I know of that has this dish and it so reminded me of Macau, the cream sauce on the chicken was amazing also… I’ll definetly be back very soon cause I gotta try the steak !