Dim Sum Club

Want dim sum, but don’t want to drive to Sunset/​Richmond? AND you don’t want to wait around forever because you’re impatient and/​or too hungry? Solution: Dim Sum Club!
Name and location may make you question the authenticity and quality of the food, but don’t doubt! All the staple dim sum dishes are available and while they don’t do the dim sum carts, service is fast and the food comes out fresh!

Finally a club where I can be my true self at…
I’m the type of girl who craves dumplings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so whenever I go to San Francisco I head out to Good Mong Kok bakery in the wee hours of the morning to get myself a bag o’ dim sum to munch on throughout the day. With Dim Sum Club, I no longer have to subject myself to hours old dim sum, warmed up by the radiator of my hotel room.
There were two parts of my meal. Regular menu and the special pink menu that they only reserve for the real Asians in the know (apparently Xerxes and I don’t count).
A few standout dishes (which is hard to remember since our table was literally plates on plates on plates):
— Har Gow: Easily, one of my favorite dumplings we ordered a basket for each person at the table… plus more. We were hungry using up all of our brain power that day ok??? These shrimps must have come from radiated waters because they were cartoon size! Not that I was complaining. The dumpling wrapper was delicate and the perfect carby foil to those big ass skrimps.
— Shrimp Crepes: Pretty much har gow in crêpe form but as I said we used a lot of brain power that day.
— BBQ Pork Buns — An even meat to bun to ratio and stuffed full of tasty, tasty morsels of red tinged meat. The breading was soft and fresh.
— Turnip Cakes: On point
— Singapore Street Noodles: Dumplings are not exactly the most filling thing in the world so this was a good way to coat our tummies with something before we got into the real deal pink menumeal.
Which…I cannot even talk correctly about since our table leader ordered everything in Cantonese. Let’s just call it even and say it was delicious.
My favorite menu item was an egg omelette with more of those big ass shrimps tossed in. The eggs had the texture of Charmin Ultra Soft + Fluffy White Clouds + Unicorn Magic all mixed together. It was a simple, homey dish that had me googling recipes as soon as I got on the plane.
If I were a local, I’d be clubbin’ here every weekend.

So, so good! I have been craving Egg Fu Yung for months! Not on the menu, they so graciously made it for me and it was the best I had ever had. My hubby had General Tso and it was full of chicken and veggies. Even though rice is sold separately, the value is there because the portions are huge. The staff was so sweet. The restaurant was lightly lit and very clean. We will def will come back.

By far my favorite dim sum restaurant in San Francisco for several reasons:
1) The food is bomb. And I’m talking about every single dish, from the Shanghai dumplings to the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves.
2) There is never a line. The location is so unusual for a Chinese restaurant (on S Van Ness Ave in Russian Hill) that most people probably don’t give it a second glance… which only works to our benefit ;-)
3) Prices are higher than what you’d be paying in Chinatown, but again well worth it for the convenience.
4) Service is amazing. One time my boyfriend and I came in at 2:55pm, not realizing they close at 3pm, and the manager came over to us to explain the situation. It was obvious he cared about his employees yet did not want to deny us food, and he said he would make an exception for us, with a smile on his face all the while. I see him every time I come back and always feel well taken care of.
Prior to discovering Dim Sum Club, scheduling a time to eat dim sum was always such an ordeal… we’d have to mentally prepare ourselves for long lines and wait times. Now it’s just a matter of walking in and out with our bellies full!

Mind-​blowingly cheap and serves up high quality dim sum. I noticed no difference between the $ 16 Shanghai dumplings from a different pricey dim sum place, and Dim Sum Club’s $ 6 dumplings. And they emerge from the kitchen steaming hot (see pic for steam: P) Their steamed pork buns are incredibly lean inside, not too much fatty chunks, and the flavor of the sauce and consistency of the bun make for one tasty bau. Note the eggplant is stuffed with shrimp, so vegetarians be mindful. The flavors of the small bites are really explosive, and I’ve not had anything that’s yet to parallel the food here at these low prices. They also have the softest pineapple buns (these actually do have a piece of pineapple inside) that still retains a great crunch with each bite. Curry samosas are a must-​have. You can easily get in and out at $ 15-​$ 20 a head for a large meal that leaves you satisfied and not hungry a few hours later. You do trade a low price affair for a bit of a noisy and chaotic atmosphere, but it’s casual and homey, and a nice place to go on a weekend for great family-​style food. Would definitely return again and again, and even bring the out of towners here.

Super disappointing place. Actually SOUGHT IT OUT as we love dimsum wherever we go — and assuming it’s literally in the name, went straight for it on a Cold rainy evening.
The server was slightly rushed, she and a man who seemed to be the manager were rushing through taking our order. Not many dim sum options, with more Chinesey options like baby broccolini in oyster sauce and Chinese noodles etc.
The ventilation (does not exist) as they have an open kitchen in the middle of the dining hall, and the windows were al Sears shut. After a hails the heat from the stirfry really got my cheeks burning and I was kinda hot (and the food wasn’t!) so it made me even more ready to get the cheque and get on moving! The dimsums were okay, and I’m pretty sure there are better ones out there. All in all. Womp womp

I wanted to like this place coz I like dim sum made to order, it’s a lot more fresh that way. But sorry, apart from this aspect this place falls short in everything else.
We went on a weekend and there were plenty of vacant tables, which isn’t a good sign. But that’s not the first thing that you notice — the smell hits you right when you walk in. It’s soooooo oily and stuffy in there!
There aren’t a lot to choose from, but we managed to order some of the usual items. The food came pretty quickly, which is kind of expected because there weren’t too many tables and the staff seemed to be idle most of the time.
I’ll just comment on the things NOT to order (in case you REALLY want to try this place still):
Rice roll (Cheung fun) with fried dough — the original name is called ‘ja leung’ in Cantonese. It looked good but when I took a bite, I realized the dough was toooooo deep-​fried there’s no ‘dough’ in it, it’s just a crispy piece. This is NOT what ja leung should be like, but granted, most if not all Bay Area dim sum places don’t get this right. I’m just disappointed because it looked really promising.
Steamed bun with egg yolk — these looked horrible when they landed on our table. They looked as if there was an explosion and the egg yolk bursted. They just looked so wrong! The taste was okay though but I still find them slightly over-​steamed because the egg yolk wasn’t in liquid form.
We also ordered har gow, siu mai, sesame balls and some vegetable dumplings. They were all okay but nothing to write home about.
Again, if this place charges what most other chinese restaurants in the area charge, then it’s not terrible, just nothing I would recommend. But the prices are way higher than other places (most dim sum items being at least $ 1.5−2 higher than other places in the area), so you naturally expect more, given there’s also no décor to speak of (not to mention the stuffiness). I would say, avoid this place, there are many much better options in the city.

Great spot for dim sum without the hassle and crowds of Chinatown. The food is not as heavily salted as other spots but the taste and textures are much cleaner (no guessing whether or not your dumplings contain actual meat). They also have an open kitchen so you can watch some of the action and you will notice that most of the things you order don’t get cooked until your order goes in, so dumplings come out hot and juicy!
Prices are higher than what you’d get at cheaper places ~$ 5 per order for most items but the quality is there, the service is excellent, and the street parking is free!

Who’d have thought you could find good dim sum in a motel? Yes indeed, it’s in the DaVinci Villa at Van Ness and Filbert, and at first, I scratched my head wondering how good could it possibly be? Y’see, I’ve been on a bit of a hunt for good soup dumplings ever since Jamie W. and I returned from Shanghai a few weeks ago where we had what we think were the best ones at a place called Din Tai Fung. It’s ironically part of a Taiwanese-​based international chain, but they treat dumplings like little pieces of culinary art complete with step-​by-​step instructions on how to eat them. Even their menu was gorgeous and inviting.
Not so much here. It’s the standard pink sheet with the checklist (photo:
) and gratefully no rolling carts like at Yank Sing where I always end up getting stuff I had no intention of eating. Alas, we still ate pretty heartily starting with a $ 6.95 bowl of Wonton Soup since it was too cold outside not to. It was good with a lighter broth and plenty of Chinese broccoli (photo:
). Jamie ordered the $ 4.50 quartet of Pan Fried Pot Stickers, and they were stellar, meaty with the right amount of crust and no need for the sweet sipping sauce (photo:
). I decided on the $ 5.75 BBQ Pork Noodle Roll just because I like the softer texture (photo:
).
Jamie enjoyed the pork filling a lot since they use liberal chunks of chashu. Of course, we needed to try the $ 7.50 Shanghai Dumplings because that was our primary reason for being there. Served in the traditional bamboo steam basket, the half-​dozen dumplings were plump with broth, so it was a good thing we were trained so well in Shanghai on how to eat them lest we lose all the soup on our shirts (photo:
). We followed those up with a $ 4.25 basket of Vegetarian Dumplings which of course came in green wrappers, but they were surprisingly savory with mushrooms giving good unami flavor (photo:
). Methinks we’ll be coming back to this motel.
FOOD — 4 stars… surprisingly good dumplings in a most unlikely place
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… fairly generic inside but plenty of booths and tables for large groups
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… speedy and friendly enough
TOTAL — 4 stars… if you can’t make it to Shanghai, this’ll do

Everything I had was good and I’m glad this is an option in the neighborhood when I’m in the dim sum mood. The Shanghai dumplings was the best dish of our meal. I thought the pork buns, onion cakes and walnut shrimp were solid but I have had better. The vegetarian dumplings left me wanting more and was bland. Generally for the price it is hard to complain but it’s not on the level of yank sing.

I can never say no to dim sum! We have been wanting to come here for awhile and today was the day! We were pretty lucky for parking even though it was about 3 blocks. Bonus for no meters (or I don’t think so). We didn’t come in until about 1PM on a Sunday. There were empty tables and we got to sit in one of the large booths even though it was just the two of us. Also, we got tea right away. Our menu paper for picking our items had a black spot, which they mistakenly took that as an order we wanted. After noticing, they fixed it but with some frustration… not a big deal. The food came pretty quick, one after another. It’s always a plus when they actually give you your dessert item last, thank you! The place was pretty clean, good amount of seating, and service was fine. My favorites out of everything we got would definitely be the baked bbq pork buns and mango pudding. The buns were buttery and delicious. The mango pudding was a good portion and delightful. Everything was average and there’s definitely cheaper places. I would be back in the future, but it’s nothing to die for. Overall, pretty good experience. I heard theres dim sum for dinner for a bit more expensive, but its rare for most places to serve dim sum for dinner.

My parents live in Nob Hill and our choices for dim sum are either go to Chinatown or drive to Richmond for dim sum.
This place is walkable for us and has decent dim sum. We never have to wait super long for a table, we are always seated right away even though this place is pretty tiny.
This place def hits the dim sum spot but only thing is that it’s pretty pricey compared to CT and Richmond. My family and I’ve only been here three times but each time we racked up a bill of over $ 100, where as elsewhere we eat for less than $ 100 for 6 people.
Definitely a place to try out once but there’s really nothing special that you can’t get elsewhere for cheaper.

My husband and I have eaten here twice and we love it.
Get the salt and pepper short ribs if you know what’s good for you!
Soup dumplings are fantastic. Siu Mai is fantastic. They have a nice, but small selection of wine. We haven’t checked out the beer or sake but I’m sure it’s sufficient.
The older gentleman server seems to be running the joint, though I don’t think he’s the owner. Very professional and knowledgable.
I don’t mind that it’s not super traditional dim sum. Everything is piping hot, fresh and made to order.
Only thing I can say negative I always get a little heartburn after, but probably my fault from eating so much of their house made hot sauce with everything.
Dim Sum YUM!!!

There is dim sum near Cow Hollow, in Russian Hill.
Yes, you read that correctly.
If you want your Chinese food or dim sum fix and are too lazy to venture out, this is acceptable.
If you want to get the most authentic food (with the most authentic prices), head elsewhere (Chinatown, the Richmond, Sunset).
The food tasted like what it’s supposed to — really no complaints, but nothing spectacular either. The restaurant is nice and clean, and service is nice and polite (which is probably a good indicator that it’s not as authentic as it can be, hah!). Menu items for dinner included things geared towards the Americanized tastebuds: General Tso’s chicken, walnut prawns (personally this is my favorite of the whitewashed menu), broccoli beef, etc. but you can find stuff like ma po tofu or XLB here.
There didn’t seem to be any porridge on the dinner menu, but apparently it’s online for their lunch menu, and it’s a really nice, piping hot meal for cold SF days. I’ll have to go back and try during lunch/​dim sum times to get a full picture of their dim sum items, since we only tried the appetizer platter (2 har gow, 2 siu mai, an egg roll — bleh, 1 pork bun, and 2 sesame mochi balls with red bean).
Decent. Not the best obviously, but for a lazy night in the area, it’s just fine.

Definitely not your cheap Chinatown dimsum place, but I’m certainly a fan! Came right when it opened on a Sunday, so there was no line. Service was really quick. Food was really fresh, and I love how the shui mai and shrimp dumplings are very plump and juicy. Their portions are smaller than other dim sum I’ve had, but the quality is really good! Averaged about $ 30 per person.

Es gab gut gemachtes, frisches Essen und die Portionen waren reichhaltig für gar nicht soviel Geld, wenngleich die Preisgestaltung nicht völlig transparent erschien. Die Bedienung war für Europäer nicht ganz einfach zu verstehen. Sie bemühte sich aber und war zuvorkommend. Dafür, dass es als Dim Sum Lokal beworben wird, haben sie jedoch erstaunlich viel nicht-​Dim-​Sum-​lastiges auf der Karte — und machen wohl früh zu. Der Gesamteindruck war ok, aber nichts besonderes.

Brunch review.
Dim sum — ³⁄₅
Standouts — ⁴⁄₅ — beef puffs, sticky rice
Desserts — ⁴⁄₅ — Mango pudding is huge and awesome. Custard tarts are good as well.
Overall, quality dim sum, also open for dinner. «I’m a fan.»

In the (dim sum) club, VIP, no guest list!!!
Don’t even need to be on the guest list to get in this club. In all seriousness though, this is probably my favorite dim sum place in the city. There’s never a really long wait and this place much, much cleaner than anything you’ll find in Chinatown.
I’d recommend the typical dim sum plates like shumai, shrimp dumplings, shrimp noodle roll, etc. But I think their baked pork buns and wonton soup are some of the best I’ve had. Enjoy!

Yum dim sum!
Traditionally a breakfast thing, I was happy Unilocal helped us find a spot open for dinner. I was also thrilled to be dining with a couple people that knew exactly what to order, and in the right language!
PRO TIP: Wait for everything to cool off before you start feasting. NO MATTER HOW HUNGRY YOU ARE. There’s nothing more painful than a boiling hot soup dumpling bursting in your mouth and running down your throat. You’ve been warned.
Now that that’s out of the way, I enjoyed everything we tried. From the fried dumplings and steamed pork buns, to the shrimp siu mai and turnip cake (first time!). The food came out quick and our table kept eating and eating until we almost had to be rolled out. We got a little ambitious and also ordered some noodle dishes at the end. Those were good too!
I would definitely recommend Dim Sum Club for a super casual and enjoyable dim sum experience! It’s best with more than a couple people so you can order lots and share among the table.

Yes! A spot that serves Dim Sum for dinner! Apparently they are really hard to find. No idea why, it makes for a delicious dinner!
We called ahead for a party of 8 at 7:30pm and when we arrived, there wasn’t even a wait so win win for sure. This is not a fancy spot but the staff was nice and the food was delicious. Beer and wine only.
Luckily I was with two dim sum experts so I just sat back and ate what was put in front of me! It came out HOT! I mean really hot. I had to wrestle with desire and put some serious patience into waiting to try each piece.
Everything I tried was delicious. My favorites were the Siu Mai, Steamed BBQ Pork Bun and the Pan Fried Shrimp & Chives Dumpling.
Overall our group left stuff, happy and craving more Dim Sum for days. =)
One tip for the business: lazy Susan in the middle of the table so you can share the dishes better.

I am a fan of any restaurant that offers dim sum any time of the day!
Traveling with an Asian parent (hi mom!) means that we need to eat Chinese food Every. Single. Day. This makes my life difficult as I am supposed to pick all of the restaurants. Dim Sum Club saved my butt by being a reasonably close Chinese restaurant with decent ratings AND lived up to the hype with solid food.
Food: My favorites were the crystal shrimp dumplings. The beef with broccoli was not greasy and generously portioned. The seafood with tofu was generously portioned and tasty but IMO needed more seafood and less tofu. The rice was apparently very good according to mom. My siblings loved the Shang Hai-​style steamed baozi. The duck was pretty standard.
Conclusion: a decently authentic Chinese joint in a non-​Chinatown area of SF that won the Chinese Mother Seal of Approval. If you’ve ever dined with an Asian mother, you should know that they disapprove of almost everything.

Já estivemos em todas as refeições possíveis para almoçar e jantar, cardápio muda. No jantar não fazem noodle.
Excelente sabor a um preço justo!
Restaurante novo.
Curiosidades
Este restaurante esta ao lado do Hotel Da Vinci Villa, entendo que faça parte.
Garçom que nos atendeu é extremamente atencioso quando você termina um prato.