Cafe Broadway

I must say this place is pretty damn disappointing. I came here with my girlfriends for afternoon tea. Serval problems at this restaurant. My friends helped me order chicken wings with fries, one waitress said they don’t have chicken wings with fries, the other said they do… how do you not know what is served at the restaurant?! Chicken wings came and there was like maybe 7 pieces of fries on the plate Wtf stingy asses. The chicken wings was also nasty the batter was thicker than the meat itself and it made the meat look almost raw on thr inside but without the blood. Service is slow here even though during hh there’s hardly anyone eating here, food is white people price. my wings was 9 bucks without tax or tips yet and place is actually pretty dirty. they got a rating of 75. I actually left the place feeling like I didn’t eat late lunch yet. Lets just say I won’t be back.

Terrible service, Tasteless congee with minimal amount of ingredients, rice noodle roll was alright, calamari was overly greasy. In addition, the utensils smell kinda funny! The wait was pretty short on a Saturday, at lunch hour, though!

Best preserved egg and pork rice porridge w/​fried dough combo in SF. I always get an early morning takeout whenever I can over the weekends. Even my 2 year old love their porridge.

It’s not Hing Lung.
If that’s what you’re looking for, that’s the important characteristic.
Price is higher (8 bucks for porridge, 6 for shrimp rice rolls).
Porridge is nice but not excellent. Not enough flavor (i had the beef porridge, it’s thinner than expected, beef was barely seasoned, not enough green onions or ginger).
It came with the sweet, almost football shaped fried donut (not the longer fried bread), so that’s nice.
Service was decent, although she didn’t take credit cards (gave some lame excuse about it being early, at 10am?) even though the bill was 38 bucks before tip.
Restrooms were relatively clean for Chinatown.
Might come back, they may get better…

The waits here during normal mealtime hours can be horrendous, probably because it’s one of the newer and «fancier» HK-​style cafes in the area. Luckily we got here fairly early, at least before the waiting area filled up completely (seating and standing room both). Service is of course pretty bad, but that’s partly because of how full the place is – you have to flag down a person for everything. But the food is actually quite good, in my opinion better than the one next door. The Chinese fried donut is tasty and not too greasy when wrapped in the rice roll, while their house special rice rolls has flavorful duck and pork pieces inside. I also enjoyed the beef brisket wonton noodle, which was super filling but not too heavy. Hopefully they keep it up and improve their organization – food is on point already.

Café Broadway was one of the better Chinese restaurant that we’ve encountered during this trip to SF. The place was packed when we got there, and there was a short waiting list. But after putting our name down with 4 parties ahead of us, they managed to seat us within 15 minutes. Most of the food we ordered was pretty good. This included their Hoi Nam Chicken, Clam Porridge, Curry Fishballs, House Special Look Funn, and Pork Liver & Kidney. These all came out authentic, delicious, and fresh tasting. The one thing that left me disappointed was their Wonton & Beef Brisket Lo Mein. The noodles were not chewy/“bouncy” enough. All you Hong Kong style noodle aficionados know what I’m referring to. The wontons were decent, but the brisket was almost inedible. The brisket was undercooked, and most parts of it that included tendon was very hard and chewy. This was probably the worst chinese style beef brisket that I’ve ever had in my life… no exaggeration here. Service was definitely subpar due to the fact that they forgot one of our orders and were reluctant to let us cancel it. It came out after we were done eating ALL the other items that we ordered at the same time! All in all, this is a decent place to enjoy some chinese food as long as you don’t mind below average service.

One of the few restaurants on Broadway that are open later than most others.
My mother wanted to eat nice warm cantonese porridge «zhou» so we went in when she spotted it on the menu on the window. However, the «zhou» was sold out already so we ordered two different types of rice noodles plates, a wonton soup, fried rice and thick rice paper wrapped around shrimp which were all very filling for 4 people!
But we still wanted the nice warm cantonese porridge so we went back for breakfast the next day! A bowl of zhou is more than enough for an adult so my family and I ordered 4 total. The plain looking one has seafood and a slight flavor. The «little fish and peanuts» zhou is the most savory (my favorite). My mom ordered the one with chunky pieces of pork (or was it lamb… I forgot since I didn’t try that one) The zhou is of pleasant consistency not too watery but not too thick either so it goes down easily but fills you up pretty fast. The one with little fish and peanuts also came with 3 «chinese donut sticks» and a «twin» bread. The twin bread is shaped like a football and I usually tear it in half before dipping it in the zhou to eat.
All in all my family and I were very content with the food for both dinner and breakfast and would definitely go there again!

The restaurant that used to be here had great happy hour deals. I can’t remember the name and heaven only knows if I reviewed it years ago. The new management totally cleaned this place up. Everything looks brand spanking new. There’s a lot to like about Café Broadway if you play to its strengths. Otherwise, this may just be another Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.
Their porridge is pretty good here, it’s like dense, filling, and there’s a buttery-​rich flavor about it– maybe they put animal fat in it, I don’t know, I’m not an expert on making porridge. I think every table gets an order of Chinese donuts regardless of what you order. I could be wrong, but they bring it out well before the food. I usually order the porridge with intestines and organs and it’s pretty good and reminds me of a nice home cooked meal.
Their beef brisket with wonton noodle soup is so filling. The flavor is very tame and safe, be prepared to put some kind of sauce or seasoning in it. The noodle texture was good, but the heartiness of the brisket is lacking. The wontons were fine, serviceable.
What I would recommend against is ordering their lunch specials. $ 8 will get you Kung Pao Chicken (or an array of other generic dishes), a serving of rice, and some questionably murky soup that is served lukewarm. I would not order off their lunch special menu again.
If you like porridge or maybe wonton noodle soup, check out Broadway Café. Do not eat anything else here.

Not bad, decided to give this place a try since ABC café has been steadily going downhill…
It’s really not a bad alternative but not super good either. The wontons only have 1 shrimp in each one so the pork and shrimp ratio is kinda off but it’s pretty tasty and not too salty so I dig it.
They have this beef tongue fried donut thing there that was actually really, really good. I’d definitely go back for that. We went a little later in the day so they were already a little cold but still impressive. Can’t wait to try them when they come out freshly made!
Garlic and pepper chicken isn’t really anything to write home about it was ok.
The milk tea was kinda disappointing since there was too much milk esp condensed milk so the whole thing was just too sweet but eh.
Overall it’s not bad, I’d recommend it as a pretty ok alternative to ABC café if you’re craving HK style café food.

Great Chinese food! Chinatown in SF really is better than Chinatown in NYC. Ordered so many dishes I don’t even remember anymore. The service here is incredible! They even brought out breakfast menu items when it was dinner at our request. Manager served us personally (for no reason it seemed) too. Not a single dish that I didn’t like. I would recommend going ham and just taking the rest to go. Also the place is pretty clean despite being located in the sketchiest part of the city.

Café Broadway took over the Hing Lung spot, has rotating menus, happy hour before !! a.m. and 3 – 5:30. porridge is only served during happy hour. flatscreen not operating when present.
eats:
beef chow fun (8.99)
–beef marinated with baking soda (not healthy), still chewy
–chow fun silky smooth
–mystery sauce
liver? crêpe (4.99)
–chewy, meat adulerated
chinese donut crêpe (3.99)
–donut chewy, not so fresh
food just average, not priicey, no tea refill, no checkins
take outs:
–meats adulterated, still not tasty, just chewy, baking soda not healthy…
–booths too cramped.
–was asked for a tip when paying at the counter (by owner?)
told them we had no service
–was told not to come back, they didn’t want our business.
.

I hope this time around they’re going to keep it clean. Quality of foods pretty much the same. Service? Meh. Know what you want, order, eat, split. Credit card charge has a $ 30 min.
Both types of Chinese doughnut are good. The long, femur-​bone-​looking one is salty and crunchy. The flat football shape ones (2/​order) is sweet. The later is a better choice, especially if you save the leftover for coffee dunking.

I would say that Café Broadway is about 2.5 stars, but doesn’t give me enough reasons to warrant the 3^rd star. I came here with high hopes as a lover of Hong Kong-​style Chinese food. The décor and customer service were great, but what dragged my rating of Café Broadway down was the food.
~ Atmosphere:
It’s a tiny, bustling café with a modern sleek look. The place is quite busy, so prepare for a loud Cantonese atmosphere. However, they somehow manage to keep this place clean and well managed despite the constant flow of customers.
~ Customer Service:
Efficient, albeit a little bit rushed. I understand they’re busy, but prepare to be greeted in frantic manners by the staff as they try to multi-​task through all their customers. However, the food did come quickly, which I was happy about.
~ Food:
Where Café Broadway fell flat for me. I was really hoping for an awesome experience here given how busy this place was (it MUST be good, I thought).
What we ordered…
— Baked Portuguese Chicken w/​Rice: One of my favourite Hong Kong style dishes. They really skimped on the sauce so it was a really bland dish, but they then tried to make it up by putting a layer of baked cheese over everything. I kid you not, there was more of a cheese flavour than a rich sauce flavour.
— Ho Fun: Again, one of my favourite dishes that ultimately fell flat. The ho fun has the same exact problem as the Portuguese chicken; there was very little flavour. Usually ho fun is supposed to be rich and packed full of flavour, but here I just got a light taste of sweet soy sauce.
—
To be fair, everything was edible. The meats were cooked well and the textures were great. I didn’t hate any particular dish but they really skimped on the flavour, turning some of my favourite dishes into bland «meh“s. Disappointing.

I had lunch with my mom and brother here on a Monday afternoon. It wasn’t busy so we got our seats right away.
We ordered 3 things and they came pretty quickly. The first was the Chinese fried donut wrapped with rice noodle. It was just alright today. The fried donut was a bit cold and doughy. We ordered 2 main dishes: Singaporean chow rice noodle and a vegetable seafood chow mein. Both came out fairly quick and was delicious. Not very salty, which is a plus.
Overall, pretty good. It’s a nicer interior Hong Kong style lounge.

First time here and it was a great experience. Good food and quick service. You may have to wave the waiters down as they are very busy. Don’t expect too much service, it’s a Chinese café! It’s part of the experience really. It’s also very clean with nice décor. Kind of rare in Chinatown I must say.
When the waitress took our order, she was very rushed but she was polite. Overall, everyone was rushed, but very polite and always ended with a thank you. If you speak Chinese to them, it’s a plus.
The food was great! Ordered a soy sauce chow mein, porridge and fried donut. Food came fast, it was hot and tasty.
Will definitely come back soon!

Time: 3:27pm/69°F partly sunny
Purpose: Came here for HH while waiting for a client to call. I usually nap in car or stay somewhere nearby.
Ambiance: Fully remodel from the days of Hing Lung. The front of house kitchen remains untouched. Encase glass window surrounding with small ported pick up window. Center dining room are loose tables/​chairs while booth seating nestled against the walls sits four to six. Stand alone beverage and inner back dessert bar sits three. Four flatscreen with red foil wrapped bamboo plants finish of the place. After lunch hour passes this place is dead quiet not much going on. Ideal for meet up and small chats.
Staff: About 4 – 5 different gender and ages. Don’t know works there or not. When you enter the lady with fanny pack is the greeter. Then another will escort you to table set tea and menu down. Orders came out with a junior high kid no more than 5ft tall. Drops off and disappear before you can ask him for hot chili sauce. Service here is not normal. Some employees plays checkers or simply avoids you for higher tip tables. They don’t have a assign section for the staff. So when they see more guest per table. Their eyes grows wider with dollar signs (tips).
Cleanliness: Grade A, this is for recent remodel of place only. Inner back kitchen don’t know and didn’t want to know. Sign reads authorized personnel only. A worker in last booth towards back with a blade trimming calluses from his foot. God dam so nasty! WTF is wrong with him? He probably thinks what ever he does back home applies here too. Totally no home training etiquette here.
Eats/​Drinks: Sturgeon bone & belly porridge (congee) and salt/​pepper chicken wings both $ 5.95 ea. The jook was watery with no flavors. The rice are not fully simmer with about 75% water and 25% rice. A great way to turn a profit. Skeletal sturgeon with little or no meat attached throw in. Only 3 – 4 pcs of belly could be seen out of whole bowl. Chicken wings didn’t have jalapeño peppers and salt like most asian places. It was dip in heavy batter and fried. So standard nothing to it. I could’ve pour KC Master store bought sauce and call it BBQ wings. It had the looks of wings, but traditional dried style way fare better, IMHO.
Main Features: $ 59 prix fixe family meal that feeds five advertise heavily.
Products/​Services: I was there for HH only so they handed me just that. (See pic of HH menu). Other menu for dinner time not apply on this visit. Nothing special basic dishes that you can get anywhere nearby. HH from 3 – 5:30pm with most snacks $ 5.95 and hot/​cold drinks from $ 2.75−3.75 w/​unlimited refills.
Punch Lines: Décor leaves something to desired, pricey, dinner prix fixe, special bargain, laid back, light bites, family environment, snooty service, nothing out of the ordinary, attitude at the door, sleeper, quite bland, not as great, go elsewhere, pretentious, struggling service during peak hours.
Tradeoffs: You better off going across the street to VIP Café & Cake Shop. There you get a baked pork chop meal for $ 6.75. That’s $.80 more, but ties you over till dinner time.
Final Thoughts: This place could be family run. No mandatory work attire. This confuses me. I said, «hi» to a person sitting near cashier waiting for their take out order. She looks at me like do I know you as I thought she was the cashier. With eight set of eyes looking at you eating is a bit uncomfortable. Pressures me to get a boba drink as, I can get one down the street specializing on just that. Throws plastic tray with check clip in walks away. I was calling here you go bring back change please? Later I had to go up myself. Yau mo gow chor? Gum do yau?

This place replaced Hing Lung which was a very popular congee establishment back in the day, abet it was a bit older and the service was eh. I was pretty sad when Hing Lung closed because it was really the only establishment that serves good congee. When my mom told me this place opened I knew we had to come. Her coworkers and her has already been and think its better than Hing Lung.
First off, it is pretty much the same layout as the old restaurant but with a new slab of paint and décor. To guarantee a seat get here around 11:30am — 12:15pm. They do have plenty of seating. Besides offering your typical HK fair they also have drinks– milk tea, red bean, boba, etc. I ordered a milk tea boba. It was alright.
We ordered two bowls of the same congee with an order of the two donuts, seafood thin rice noodles, and a smooth egg with beef flat rice noodles. The congee is a thicker consistency of Hing Lung and was pretty tasty. It was great with the long donut. Frankly, I think their donuts are alright.
They did mess up our order– gave us one bowl of congee and they confirmed our order with the server and gave us the wrong noodles.
Overall, it is a great place for the congee but everything else you can get at other restaurants in Chinatown.
Two unisex restrooms in the back. Currently, they are decently clean.

The spot has been vacant for at least a couple of years. In comes, a very clean and dazzling new restaurant that serve Hong Kong-​style cuisines.
But unlike the previous business, the new café is closed much earlier at midnight seven nights a week.
On my debut of the new restaurant and for dinner, I ordered the Chicken chops in a sizzling plate (whatever that means). For $ 11.50, I get two boneless chicken breast cooked and battered Hong Kong-​style with two huge broccoli florets and a fat scoop of white rice. What I liked about this dish is that the cast-​iron platter was still sizzling hot upon arriving to my table. And the chicken pieces were just as good as any other Hong Kong Cafes. My meal also comes with a soothing cup of Hong Kong-​style warm cup of tea. My first visit was a success.
On my second visit and earlier in the month of May, I was also her for dinner. And the restaurant was still serving the lunch menu. I took advantage of the lunch specials and ordered the Mongolian-​style beef over rice. For $ 8.95, pieces of beef flanks, onions, peppers in a spicy sauce with a scoop of white rice. Compare to other cafes, the portion is much smaller, but just good enough to feed me. My high-​volume eating has decreased in recent years.
Despite the low-​rating from many of the people who dined and wrote a negative review for this new restaurant, I thought the restaurant was pretty good. I am looking forward to be a regular here.

We decided to come here since it had just opened and my boyfriend had just come the night before.
While we were looking at the menu, we watched as another table was served crab and fish … but wait, there’s no visible fish tank in here so where is that coming from? My boyfriend wanted to get order the crab, but when we asked our waiter, he said they brought it somewhere else — same with the fish.
We ended up ordering some type of fried rice that the waiter recommended, a half of a duck, and pan fried noodles. Nothing special about any of the food, but it wasn’t bad either.

This place use to be one of my favorite restaurants in Chinatown before the reconstruction+ new management now. Getting seated is a headache – make sure you listen closely for your number because there will be old Chinese grandmas who will jump to take your table even when it’s not their number being called. Service is also a headache– even if you manage to get their attention they will forget your simple request for water the second they walk away. The menu is confusing: they’re known for congee— it’s not listed on the menu; they offer baked rice– just kidding they don’t, only fried rice and noodles.
I got the congee with Chinese ‘doughnut’ and chow fun. The food was alright, a little bland, but I rather have it bland then drenched in MSG or soy sauce. It definitely wasn’t like how it was before, but this is a new restaurant with a new owner after all. I would come back here again but not anytime soon. They’re going to need some time to get their stuff together.