Tong Palace

This was one of the few places that offered sit-​down dim sum on Clement St. We came here on a Sunday at 11 for Dim Sum and it was TOO early. So, if you plan to come for Dim Sum, be sure that you come closer to noon. The reason why I say this is because for the first half hour that we were there, there were barely any dim sum dishes ready…
As for the dim sum, it was OK… the only one that I would really recommend was the deep-​fried sweet potato. The xiao long bao was barely filled with soup (it was filled almost completely with meat). The siu mai and har gow both lacked in flavor and the charsiu bao was almost all bun and no meat.
Sorry Tong Palace but I don’t think I’ll be coming back here again…

I ate dim sum here with my parents on MLK Jr. Day. I thought Chinese people don’t celebrate this day, so we would get the discount advertised, but the waiter said it’s a holiday. Although we felt disappointed, we stayed and ordered from the dim sum sheet. However, the service here is rude. We ordered 5 dim sum and only 3 came. After 15 minutes, we asked them about it and they said it’ll come out within 20 minutes. After 30 minutes, only 3 came out. I was fed up and said are there anymore food coming out. He said no! I said please give me the check. I’m guessing they misplaced our sheet! I’ll not come here again for dim sum. Go to the real dim sum place next door or go to Chinatown!

This is my very first experience of eating dim sum in Chinatown area of SF. During our visit, they were very busy. It was actually good that we called ahead to reserve a table for our group.
Most of the food that we took from the carts were good: chicken feet, shumai, bbq pork buns were also great. The chicken feet were plump, and large. But when you put that in your mouth, the chicken feet skins melted in my mouth (minus the bones). The piece that I ate had a pepper on top of it, and wow, it made the chicken feet tasted a lot better. We special ordered the deep fried shrimp, deep fried crab claw balls, and shrimp balls. The shrimp balls and crab balls were very good. It comes with a side of mayonnaise. I was a little disappointed with the deep fried shrimp. It was a little under seasoned.
Overall, my dim sum experience here was very good. I would definitely return for dim sum at this place any day.

Average food but probably cleaner than other places in the area. Dim Sum really wasn’t noteworthy and some could have been frozen then rapidly steamed to order. Lots of dishes used really poor cuts of meat and were fatty and gristly. Service was pretty good. Prices are on the high side.

We love to come here for Dim Sum, and most of the time we have been pleased. The staff are much more attentive and service oriented when they are not so busy… those are the times to come. Otherwise, it can be slightly trying to get attention. That said, the food is always fantastic and the prices spot on. Place could be cleaner though.

Tour groups come here by the bus load for their average dim sum.
It’s not he best in SF, but it’ll get you by if you want the usual shrimp dumplings, and rice rolls.
Their porridge is quite tasty as well as their rice pots when fresh.
There’s usually a wait upstairs, but I’d rather have many people than no people at all.

Three stars is about right. Dim sum isnt bad and flavors are authentic. Only question is the quality as the facility looks a little run down and the crowd is slightly sparse (but there are regulars).
Makes a perfect spot if u are not willing to wait (for the other fancier dim sum places) and just want easy-​in, easy-​out. Price is also quite reasonable.

This is theis special ingridients #fly, soooo disgusting, they also damage our debit card

Not sure I’d go out of my way to experience standard dim sum that is apparently loaded with MSG. Many in my party of 14 today were OK until the MSG hit us and the headaches began.
The beef chow fun was good but far too oily, which is the hallmark of not knowing how to make great chow fun without all the oil.
It took us 4 times to ask for (and finally get) water. And we were without a place setting (no plate, cup, napkin, etc.) for almost 20 minutes after we arrived later than the rest of the group.
Many of the items for me were good to OK, but not better than what I could get at Dim Sum King or Tai Wu Mr. Fongs, which is closer to the peninsula where I live and far easier to get to and park at.

DIM SUM*** Shopping for drapes for daughters new apartment I asked sales clerk where to eat good DIM SUM because this Clement Street is a cacophony of Chinese eateries of all shapes and sizes. «Tong Palace» she replies without hesitation so off we go. Three of us stuffed ourselves as the carts kept coming around with indecipherable goodies fie a mere $ 22 ! I couldn’t believe it! Everything was delicious. Service was quick and efficient although the wait staff, except for one, never smiled. May be a cultural thing? However I was able to coax a smile and laugh from one of them. Mission accomplished. Lots of local Chinese families, multigenerational groups. The manager? who took our credit card and assisted us at the end by the bar was very engaging and charming. I noticed during our meal she kept a roving eye on the whole operation. Paper table coverings, large room and delicious food.

Pretty Fast Service despite their busy lunch with 2 big Tables being catered to groups.. I’m not familiar with Dim Sum. But the things we ordered from their push cart looks nice and Awesomely good .My friend ordered the Peking Duck with Bun. I’d say I’ll forget about my Healthy Habits but Endulge

Scratch dimsum; instead it was banquet-​style luncheon with lobster, chicken, cold app platter, Fukien fried rice, etc. Flavorful filet of beef— def above average food.
What’ll sink ya are the extremely tight tables and absolute subzero décor. Most of the staff here don’t speak too much English— how I then got nabbed by neighboring table to order for them.

This is a solid good reliable place. I liked it and would (and will) come back as well as recommend Tong Palace to others.
I like their JOOK (a.k.a. Congee or Porridge) it’s served hot and thick, but not too thick nor watery, just right with the rice soup having perfect consistency.
They serve Dim Sum here too, it’s standard and good from what I ate, no signature dishes. I had har gow and the shrimp fun (shrimp wrapped in a steamed rice noodle with a sweet soy sauce poured on top).
The service was fast and friendly and pricing was good.
Parking was not bad since it’s slightly off center from the main part of Clement Street, so you can find street parking and even non-​metered parking in the adjacent neighborhood streets perpendicular to Clement.

Not the cleanliest place but you don’t look for cleanest restaurant when you eat Chinese! Went here for morning tea and the dim sum is just absolutely delicious! Everything I’ve had so far was great! I really like how they give you fried bread sticks with your porridge without you having to ask. I’ve never seen a morning tea restaurant that does this! It’s smaller than your average fried porridge bread stick but really crunchy! (Plus, less fried food is better, right? Just enough to satisfy my guilty pleasure.) :)

Came here early on a weekend and was seated immediately. Parking was a breeze since there’s tons of street parking and closer to the 12^th street area so less crowded.
Décor wise is truly lacking. From the paint on the walls to the stained carpet and pink linens.
We noticed there were dead fish in the tank they serve fish from. It raised many flags as it made me question the freshness of any of the food in the back if the food in the front was… dead.
So why even 2 stars? The service was fast and the veggies were cooked perfectly. But it’s definitely not enough for me to want to make a trip back

I dont understand why only have 3.5 stars. I would give them 6 stars if i could.
We got seafood noodle soup, crap soup, Dimsum combination, scallop with garlic sauce, shrimp with oyster sauce, and egg custard bun. Sooooo good and of course, service was excellent.

Highlights
— Small, tightly packed tables/​chairs, and looks like any other traditional Chinese restaurant.
— I liked a claypot dish that they offered which consisted of fish, Chinese sausage, and bok choy. Something different that I haven’t had before.
— They actually used carts to push around dishes so you can see what you are getting unlike most SF dim sum restaurants where you just mark up what you want and they bring it out.
— Anything that you do not see, tell your Chinese speaking friend to order from the waiter/​waitresses and you will get it pretty quickly. ;)
Improvements
— With our party of 5, we sat at one of the 4 person tables that extends out to make a larger table. One side of the table was like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
— Everything was very oily and okay at most.
Tips
— Don’t confuse this place with the double story seafood restaurant right next door that ALSO serves dim sum. It’s hard to tell the different with a dim sum shop on almost every block on this street.
— Parking in this neighborhood during lunch/​dinner hours suck. Remember to pay for the meters, except after 6PM and Sundays.

Review for a party buffet luncheon.
Never been to Tong Palace for dim sum or dinner, but I was here on Saturday for an anniversary party buffet luncheon held in the upstairs dining room. I have been to these buffet luncheons for red and ginger parties at other restaurants and the menu is pretty much standard.
The selections were:
Chinese Chicken Salad — the lettuce was limp and soggy.
Chow Mein with mushrooms — nothing special.
Fried Chicken — consisted of drumsticks and wings. The two drumsticks that I got were over fried and
were dry.
Broccoli Beef — nothing special.
Sweet and Sour Pork — The pieces of pork were very small.
Egg Roll — this shell was crispy and the eggroll had a tasty filling.
Roast Pork — since this was provided by the hosts, it will not be considered for my review.
Overall, compared to luncheon buffets I’ve experienced at other restaurants, they were better than what I experienced at Tong Palace.

I’ve seen all the negative review and understand why. When we arrive there was only 1 person working the whole front section and he was busy with 1 table already. The tables were not clean and had magazines stuck underneath to try to balance. The table was so dirty that the dumb waiter even quit.
The food was bad on so many levels. So many of the meat plates we ordered were reheated. We had to order Chow Mein for the kids and they wouldn’t even eat it; no salt at all just a heavy oil taste. The vegetable plates were overcooked. The waitress kept on saying this was our last plate when we had another waiting to come out.
Their staff didn’t even bother telling us they weren’t able to fulfill an order due to stock, just focusing on entertaining on one table whom appears to be willing to return.
When everyone at the table agrees this place is bad, it is really bad and will not be returning anytime by choice.

Had dim sum with the parents here last Sunday. We got:
Shrimp rice noodle roll
Beef rice noodle roll
Tofu skin roll
Fun guo
Lo mai gai
Har gow
Shu mai
Surf clams
Clay pot rice with chicken feet and spareribs
My favorite dishes were actually the non dim sum items we ordered. The Surf clams were big and the noodles were cooked perfectly. The Clay pot rice was also cooked really well. It actually made me wonder what their dinner would be like.
Dim sum was average and service was a little lacking. We had to get our own hot sauce after asking for it and flag down the servers to order the additional non dim sum dishes. And we never got those extra napkins we asked for. Service got a little better as our meal progressed since we really wanted Har gow and Shu mai, but hadn’t seen it come out in the carts yet. We asked one our the servers and she had them bring it to us after they were ready.
Solid 3 star experience.