Porridge & Things

Very good place to have a porridge of different combination. We tried the bonito pork ribs peanuts with black eggs sawo porridge, Chinese broccoli beef, spicy beef tendon and free range chicken with ginger sauce. Everything were well prepared and delicious.

I heard from friends in Hong Kong that this restaurant is delicious, so I came to try it. We ordered create your own one porridge, and we chose the topping by ourselves. We chose fish fillets, beef and mushrooms, and it was delicious with fried dough sticks. Other dishes like seafood fried noodles and beef tofu were pretty average. The less happy thing is the service. I asked for pepper and he told me to get it myself, most of them are sour face . After they charged my credit card , they are so hurry want to take away the receipt while I am busy for packing my food … Price is little bit high here , 4 items around $98

The clay pot congee here is absolutely delicious. I’m not very familiar with Cantonese cuisine, but the congee and fried rice I ordered suited my taste perfectly. Especially when paired with youtiao (Chinese fried dough), the soft and tender texture of the youtiao soaked up the flavorful broth, leaving a lasting impression. The nearby parking lot is less than a minute’s walk away, making it very convenient. Each dish they serve is generously portioned, and it’s also great for takeout.

Good porridge and dishes! Very tasty/xian. Walked in without waiting in line at 5:30ish. Big portion and I took over half of the lamb stew back home.

I liked the Porridge and veggies here. The eggplant was okay. Staff were efficient and they have a large seating area inside.

We love this place - our to-go for simple comfort food. Our favorites are Salt and Pepper Fish, all their Braised dishes like braised goose, braised tofu, Chiu Chow favorites like Oyster omelette or their porridge or their clay pot dishes. They get really busy so definitely must make a reservation!

We weren’t very hungry, just looking for some late-night snacks, and stumbled upon this place. It’s clean, and the food is delicious. We tried the peanut pork short rib porridge, which was incredibly savory and had a generous portion. Two of us couldn’t finish it, so we saved some for breakfast. The assorted braised plate is also a great option for those unsure of what to order. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and we’ll definitely return.

Great Chinese restaurant. I really love their seafood. The fried fish was so tender, not dry at all. The beef was also equally as tender. And of course, the porridge was great. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of that, but we got Scallops & Clams Sawo Porridge and it was delicious

I ordered the stir fried chicken with shallots in Clay Pot. I was expecting chicken breast instead, the chef cut chicken wings and small drumsticks in half. Bones were exposed and hard to eat without fear of choking. The chicken was fried to almost burned. They should really warn their patrons about this dish. And, because it was burned, the dish was not tasty. The other dishes were decent, but the portion size is small. I liked the chives dumpling and porridge. Duck was too salty for my taste, but my family enjoyed it.

Order through Uber eats so I can't really talk about the service or ambiance. Pork, dry oyster, and preserved egg porridge - 4.5/5. I loved the consistency (thicker and grains more formed than other places) and the slight seafood taste from the oyster. Wished there was more preserved eggs and that the pieces were bigger though. Large portion sizes for the price Chinese donut - 4/5 pretty good! Kinda pricey for the one pair, split into four, that you got House special fried rice noodle - 2.5/5 does not look like anything in the photo. Really plain tasting, did not really enjoy. Not much shrimp or fish cake either.

My friends came around 6pm on a Friday and was able to snag a large table. The restaurant was already mostly full by 6:15-6:30pm. The service wasn't the most attentive and for some people who arrived after 7pm, the wait staff didn't even acknowledge them so they left. I wasn't around for the ordering but my friends said the waiter wouldn't let them order 7 dishes so they had to make it an even 8. We ended up with 9 because we also got the milk pudding dessert. Overall, the food was a bit hit or miss. I liked the pickled vegetables and tofu, goose, chicken soup, oyster pancake, milk pudding dessert.

It ruined my Thanksgiving night. Tbh, the only star I gave it to the foods. Is good quality. These are why I won't go back 1- The restaurant not even that busy and full yet, we had our reservations, then still everyone just keeps telling me next table will be us. Excuse me, then why I made reservations for? Also keep seeing other ppl skip ahead of us, I know they have reservations too, but why not me first since we both are on 6 and I came here first. 2- The waiter put an extra dish on my order and lied to me. I told him I didn't order this i ordered that. He said let me check then came back told me I ordered it both. Come on, I know what i ordered man. Well, I was mad about that but since is holiday, ok, I take the dish too. 3- Then found out he missed 2 things from my order. The oyster pancakes and chow mein are not there. No one even check it what we need in the middle of the dinner, we have to call them many times and ask if our foods still coming. Then they told me i didn't know order it. Till that moment my thanksgiving night be ruined for sure.

This is my 3rd time trying this place. I was hoping the price and service can improve the star. It goes from low 3 stars to high 3 stars: Here is my scoring card for this restaurant: 1) Location: ( 5 Point ) - Great location for customer to see and find. Great parking for street parking and back side with parking lot parking. 2) Decoration : (2 Point) - They still have the original decoration. Clean. 3) Price: ( 4 point)- The price is competitive but still a little bit pricey compare to other same stars and type food they serve 4) Quality and Taste : ( 3 point)- The quality is ok, food taste is good and portions are average . ( must be inflation ) 5) Type of cuisine standard : ( 4 point) - The style of Chinese food they serve is pretty close to the way it was prepare in China . Not bad! But some dishes did have slightly modify to cater the customer's need Overall it's not bad and I thinks it's great to give it a try and let me know what you think. Go foodies Total max is 25 Score 18 Stars = 72% round up to 3 stars

Some of the best food I've had in the Bay. Cannot believe I did not know about this place before. Opens real late at night and can make for a very quick meal. There was definitely a miss among the 4 things I ordered but man oh man did the other 3 knock it out of the park. However, the restaurant isn't the cleanest looking (esp the booths) and service is pretty terrible so don't go if you can't stand those factors.

Good portion, typical hongkong cuisine. Family friendly, parking can be hard to find during lunch or dinner. Would recommend coming later or after rush time. Price average for bay area restaurant.

Trying Porridge & Things in Millbrae for the first time was a delightful experience. Located just 7 minutes from SFO, the temperature here is noticeably cooler than the East Bay, making it the perfect spot to enjoy a hot meal. The porridge, served in a large clay pot, was piping hot and packed with fresh scallops, dried scallops, and diced beef. The flavors were fantastic, and it came with a variety of condiments like green onions, black olives, and dried pickled vegetables to enhance the taste. We also tried their stir-fried beef noodles, half chickens, and pan-fried chive dumplings. Each dish was delicious and added to the overall enjoyable dining experience. Service is quick, noted that street parking is not easy.

Decent place for porridge and other things. Chive dumplings - 3.5/5, from what I remember it had a nice chew to it, which I really liked; almost like mochi. Nice slight crisp, though a tad oily. Scallop and oyster porridge - 3/5, big pot with decent amount of scallops and oysters, scallops were good. Can season the porridge more to your taste Braised duck - 1/5, looked much better in the picture. It was too rough to enjoy, flavor was meh. Braised pork intestine - 4/5, soft and flavorful, can't go wrong. Yum! Braised beef stomach - 3.5/5, can't go wrong with this either. Soft and delish. Oyster pancake - 2.5/5, floppy pancake with oyster inside. I got this bc my mom liked oysters, but it was just alright. Stir fried chives - 3/5, it was alright, but on the saltier side

Came here with my family around 11am on a weekend and it was pretty empty. Like other reviews have said, service is definitely not the greatest but if you grew up eating at these kinds of establishments you know that's just how it is, especially when it gets busy. Now if we're talking strictly food, it's pretty good. We ordered: Scallop fried rice w/ preserved olives (not specified but they're olive leaves) Beef chow fun w/ satay sauce Chicken and abalone porridge Chinese fried doughnuts Stir fried sea food with vegetables In my opinion, must gets are the porridge (the restaurant name is porridge and things so of course) and the stir fried sea food with vegetables (literally saw every table order this and it's SO good). The wok hei here is pretty good so if you order anything else stir fried I'm willing to bet it's pretty decent. Food also came out in like 5 minutes although we did come at a less busy time. All in all I would come back again if I am craving porridge, but I can't recommend coming here if you are looking for the best service. It's just not that kind of establishment.

This place is honestly one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the bay. Everything on the menu is pretty special, meaning you can't really just make these at home, which makes it even more worth it! Came with a party of 5 and ordered 5 different dishes and it came down to $25/person including tax and tip, which is honestly such a good deal in SF. We all walked out super full too. I'd say the duck, porridge, and chive pancake is a must try! Tbh, excited to go back just to try other things on the menu since everything just looked so tasty.

This place is usually busy whenever I've come by but thankfully today we went at an off time and there was no wait. Ordered congee and green onion pancake..super yummy

We initially planned to visit another restaurant for lunch, but Porridge & Things caught our eye, so we decided to spontaneously check it out. The beautiful open-air space, with plenty of natural lighting from the skylight, created a welcoming atmosphere. We ordered the scallop, oyster, and minced pork sawo porridge, which was delicious. The large, juicy pieces of clam added a nice seafood flavor. We also got a Chinese donut, which was fluffy and crispy, pairing perfectly with the porridge. We also ordered the pig ear and were impressed with the flavor. It was garlicky and one of the best I've had!! The service was quick, making this an ideal lunch spot.

I've come here on two separate occasions for lunch and dinner and have enjoyed both times coming here. Located at one end of the Millbrae downtown area full of restaurants and shops, Porridge & Things offers a wide variety of Teochow and Cantonese cuisine with a specialization in making delicious porridge. The inside has a nice modern and clean look with a good variety of large banquet tables, smaller tables, and booth seating. The place has a good amount of business so coming here for a Saturday for lunch did require a short wait. Their menu consists of a wide variety of options. Even for their porridge alone, they have over 12 different options with two different porridge types and an option for a fully customizable porridge. I've tried two of their porridges and they were both excellent and came in a large pot with some delicious and flavorful pickled vegetables on the side that go excellently with them. The cost is pretty good too for the sheer size of the porridge and amount of ingredients added in it. Their noodle dishes are all solid too with their seafood fried noodle being one of my favorites here. Other dishes I've tried here include their oyster pancake and braised goose which are both pretty good as well. In the end, I've really enjoyed all the food I've had here and do look forward to more visits here in the future.

Porridge & Things is an upscale spinoff of Noodles & Things, offering Teochew (Chiuchow) cuisine from Southern China in a spacious dining room. To start, we had the vinegar and chili-laced Jellyfish Salad, which had a nice crunchy texture and acidic flavor; and the Fried Oyster Pancake, made with egg, chewy potato starch, and oysters, served with vinegar on the side for acidity. The pancake was less runny than the Taiwanese version and featured a nice crispy, chewy texture and seafoody flavor. A must-get item here was the porridge (as a specialty of Teochew and given the restaurant's name), and we had the Signature Crab & Prawn Sawo Porridge, a luxurious congee featuring head-on, shell-on shrimp and pieces of crab (including the shell and glands), along with scallions and pickled vegetables as condiments. The porridge was smooth and balanced in flavor, and squirting the shrimp head juices into the porridge added a nice touch of flavor. Another opulent dish was the Braised Combo, which included five different signature braised items flavored with a savory sauce. There was meaty braised goose, eggs, fried tofu, soft beef tripe, and pork intestine (which had a funky flavor I just couldn't appreciate). We had a pot of Braised Tofu in Special Bean Sauce, a pot of pan-fried tofu cooked with scallions in a viscous sauce; and my favorite dish was the Stir Fried Seafood with Vegetables, which featured Chinese chives stir-fried with squid and peanuts. The chives had a nice crunchy texture and vegetal flavor, which paired nicely with the seafoody chopped squid and the crunchy, earthy peanuts. Overall, though the menu items didn't come cheap, the food here was delicious, and my favorite dishes included the Seafood Stir-Fry, the Oyster Pancake, and the braised items!

The food was really good and authentic! The service was only so so. Typical Chinese restaurant service. It was very family oriented seating for a typical Chinese restaurant. Overall taste and flavor is recommended. Just go for food and don't expect too much service.

The price of their food is a little above average but there are some dishes that you don't normally see in your typical Chinese restaurant and maybe because of the location. Both the service and ambiance are good. I went there twice during lunch time on weekdays and not a lot of people there. I heard it can be crowed during dinner time. The parking might be harder to find during dinner time. All my dishes are a little saltier in one of my visits and second time the food tastes normal (maybe different cooks?). The chew mein was ok. I like their two vermicelli clay pot dishes (one with shrimp and another one with clam and crab roe), chives pancakes and fish paste balls with watercress soup. I will definitely go back again to taste other dishes.

My family loves coming to this place especially on a cold and rainy night in Millbrae! Nothing quite hits the spot like their porridge. I crave this place every time I'm back home in the Bay Area. Come for the porridge stay for the seafood! The crab is delicious and the ong Chong is filled with umami! If you're in the area give this place a try! Service is attentive and we always get what we need!

People are tripping for leaving less than 5 stars, imo (or maybe the restaurant has really improved in the past year or something). The food here is delicious and authentic, and it's one of the only places to get good porridge. The environment is beautiful. Definitely a place you can come with a big group of friends or colleagues. Service is standard Chinese: quick with no wasted words. Huge fan of this place, come here regularly. Only leaving a review because I don't agree at all with the star ranking right now.

We arrived late but thankfully they were able to seat us. Place wasn't busy and the appetizers came the latest. We made a quick meal of things tho as they were working to eat themselves at the end of the night. We had gotten wings and an onion pancake the share. The porridge we got the classic with pork and eggs. Solid flavors overall I'd say. I like the little selection dish for additions you can toss in. I'd say my only gripe was not having white pepper or chili oil but that's just a preference of mine. The appetizers were nice and crispy, and what'd you'd expect. It hit the spot for us though. If we went by again, it'd be much earlier than closing since that limited some things we could order timewise.

Food was very good along with attentive service. Dining room tables were spaced apart which made it not cramped at all. The ceiling was high which gave the dining room not stuffy and with an airy feeling.

Signature garlic chicken is crispy outside, tender inside, just a little bit salted, super recommended. It is only limited to dine in option, since it takes a little bit time to roasting, making sure order it as soon as you can, about 20 mins-30 mins. Other dish is quick, like 5 minutes preparation. Beef is good as well. A lot of TV inside, kitchen is separate from dining area, I liked the environment.

We love this place - our to-go for simple comfort food. Our favorites are Salt and Pepper Fish, all their Braised dishes like braised goose, braised tofu, Chiu Chow favorites like Oyster omelette or their porridge or their clay pot dishes. They get really busy so definitely must make a reservation!

1. 1/5 on the jelly fish appetizer. It was too sour and spicy. Lacked seasonings including sesame oil. 2. 2/5 on the satay beef chow fun. Traditionally, this dish should be served with pineapples. Little to no "wok hey" and nothing to rave about. 3. 4/5 on the pan fried chive dumplings. Even though there were under seasoned, I loved the mochi liked chewiness. They were crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. 4. 4/5 on the porridge. I enjoyed the flavors of the mushroom fish and frog porridge. It was big enough to serve 3 people.

We split the braised goose and the sawo crab porridge (that also comes with shrimp) and some fried beltfish because my mom is nostalgic for it. The goose was ok, kind of tough and a little grainy. The porridge is pretty solid, though the shrimp were overcooked. The belt fish was also fine, though I think the fish itself is just not all that tasty. The porridge, which makes sense given the name, was the best thing we had and I'd probably try some of their other ones.

Hidden neighborhood gem. Relaxed atmosphere with friendly service. Quality and freshness of ingredients shine thru. Excellent Jook and fresh live seafood from tanks. Ask Sally for recommendations. She is the BEST!!!

The food is good but the preparation quality is . The chicken in the chicken and abalone porridge had bone and the little pieces of bone fragment in the porridge could have broken a couple of teeth easily, and a big payment for repairing teeth. Just be careful with this kind of orders. I still like the house special fried rice. 食物好味但準備工夫就非常差勁。那碗鮑魚雞粥，鷄是有骨，整碗粥有很多骨碎，隨時咬暴牙，要付非常昂貴的補牙費。小心選擇食物。我仍非常喜歡潮洲炒飯。

This is a decent place to grab Chinese. I've been here several times. Their dishes taste very authentic and true to dishes that you would eat in China. They're best known for their porridge, for good reason, because their porridge is well made - well flavored and good texture. The service is decent. The place is fairly well kept, and a decent size, good for any size groups. The prices are relatively high, for this style of food, but still fair because their food tastes so good.

We tried braised duck half and abalone and chicken porridge early in the morning. We also order pan fried white mullet. The fish tastes good with freshness and salty flavors. It must be marinated overnight with salt. Porridge is in Cantonese flavor but the chicken and abalone are plain. Braised duck are good in portions! Served are decent and not too noisy due to holiday.

Love this place! We're a table of 4 and ordered 3 dishes: Braised Combo, Clam & Scallop Porridge, and Satay Beef Fried Vermicelli My favorite is the porridge with their authentic ingredients and taste of freshness. Servers are nice and most of them speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin... made me felt like home

Growing up, I was accustomed to this location being Cafe Salina before it became Porridge and Things. It wasn't a perfect HK style cafe, but I'll still miss it. When a restaurant has porridge in their name, the expectation is that their specialty is going to be the best item on their menu which ended up being the case. Unfortunately I felt like the rest of their options overall fell a bit flat despite their porridge being excellent. The service was decent, but what you'd expect from this type of restaurant. Parking can also be a pain on busy days. The interior is basically completely unchanged with the new ownership as well. When it comes to the food in my multiple visits, the porridge and the sides that come with it were always the biggest standouts. Plus Chinese donuts are a must. Their porridge dishes will run you $20+, but it can definitely feed more than one person. The Abalone & Chicken Sawo Porridge and Bonito, Pork Ribs & Peanuts Sawo Porridge were standouts for me and both the chicken and pork ribs were pretty tender. The downside for me though is that their non porridge dishes have all left me underwhelmed. The green onion pancakes, sesame balls, deep fried shrimp balls, and really any deep fried or pan fried item they make is way too oily and greasy for my liking. Yes that is usually normal for something fried, but it was really excessive here and you'd need a napkin to soak up a lot of the oil. Their garlic chicken took about half an hour or more to be prepared and I was very confused on why they put Ruffles on the side. It made no sense, but the chicken was honestly pretty solid. I usually like oysters, but the oyster pancake was a miss for me too. If you have a craving for porridge I'd definitely recommend it here. It has always been a staple dish in my family especially when I'm feeling sick. For anything else on the menu I personally don't really recommend as much unfortunately.

Very disappointing experience. Food quality: 0/5 the beef scallop porridge wasn't fresh. The scallop had a icky taste. The beef taste was off. For the steamed egg with seafood, the seafood was definitely fishy and not fresh. Food variety: 2/5 lots of food to choose from. It's unfortunate that the porridge here are not customizable so not very accommodating here. Service: 3/5 decent. Brought plates to change, however no tea refill. Ambiance: super noisy as it's a place for big groups and gatherings. Air quality is stuffy. Would not recommend this place, even though the price is moderate but definitely not worth it! Better off going to a fast food place for some comfort food than be disappointed with mediocre food.

Their porridge is probably one of the best in the bay area. They have various porridge choices and you can even customize your own. Our favorite is their scallop, oyster and minced pork porridge but this place is so much more than porridge. They also have the best marinated food. We got their braised combo and it was nothing like any other places around the bay area - well marinated, not too salty with complex flavors that you can tell they marinated with a bunch of different spices. Other dishes that we love includes bamboo with lamb belly in clay pot and beef chow fun with satay sauce. Can't wait to come again and try other items on their menu.

Pretty solid spot. Their porridge is a tad too runny, but noodles and dumplings are solid. Good location and ample parking close by right on the edge of downtown Millbrae. Service is pretty decent; not perfect, but good enough. The biggest attraction for me is just the options on the menu; I can order noodles, dumplings, porridge, or do a la carte family style dishes for the table, so that's good plus in a restaurant.

It was our unlucky day. First off, as there was a street fair going on, parking was very difficult. Second, we came on a very hot day and the restaurant didn't have air conditioning. It also didn't help that we were eating piping hot porridge. Third, the restaurant must have had some problems with their ordering system that day. It took over 35 mins for us to get our porridge. The restaurant wasn't that clean but the food we ordered was really good. Scallops, Oysters and Minced Pork Sawo Porridge: The porridge was very flavorful and the consistency was just right(not too thick nor watery). All the ingredients were very fresh and they were pretty generous. Fried Oyster Pancake: Plenty of oysters inside the pancake. Tasty. Even though our experience was far from smooth, the food was great. I would certainly come back to try more dishes especially the Chiu Chow ones.

Our visit to the restaurant was disappointing from the moment we arrived. Despite the presence of numerous waitstaff, we had to actively seek attention to be seated. The food, while generous in portion, would be on the saltier side for most. The service, however, was the most disheartening aspect of our experience. Our waiter exhibited a consistently negative demeanor and questioned the adequacy of our $5 tip, despite providing minimal service--no refills, no extra napkins, and no check-ins throughout our meal. In response to his visible annoyance, we reluctantly added an additional $11 in cash. Regrettably, this gesture went unnoticed. As we were leaving, he pursued us, aggressively demanding more money and questioning the quality of the food, until another staff member intervened. This behavior was not only unprofessional but also unacceptable. A tip is meant to reflect the quality of service, not the food, and certainly not an entitlement. The whole encounter left a bitter taste, overshadowing any enjoyment we might have found in the meal. We expect better from a dining establishment and were profoundly disappointed by this experience. Upon reviewing other customer feedback and speaking with fellow patrons, it appears this issue of seemingly mandatory and aggressively solicited/arguing for tips is a recurring problem at this establishment.

Omg. I couldn't believe what happened to me. I ordered one of their fried rice to go since it was the only restaurant opened that late. I couldn't recall the name of the dish but it was their special fried rice with calamari ,dry shrimp , and shrimp shells. As soon as I opened the box , my partner and I smelled the heavily fishy smell. He refused to eat . He said it smelled so bad. But I was very hungry and I spent $20 on it so I ate it anyway even it smelled fishy. I never had this flavor of fired rice so I thought maybe it's something different. I do not have allergy to seafood . But once I had the same symptom when I ate a not so fresh crab. I literally just wanted to eat a hot meal that night. Unfortunately , the other day , my face had full of acne breakouts all over my forehead along to left side of face . I felt so much toxic. It defiantly was from that fishy smelly fried rice with all fishy ingredients. It's horrible !!! I had a vacation the next day. I basically just suffered from it all trip . It's been 10 days already and it's still not recovered . I'm going g to see my doctor for this as I cannot stand my face full of abnormal breakouts . My partner said it is definitely from that disgusting food . I want to warn everyone that this place does not have a quality control of their food material. They will use rotten good to cook, especially seafood. How could you cook and sell something like this ?! I'm so regraded and worried when I will recover. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! *IT IS EXACTLY THIS RESTAURANT WITH MY RECEIPT. OWNER CONTACTED ME TO REMOVE THIS. It is unbelievable. Whatever cuttlefish ingredient in my fried rice was very fishy and went bad! Be aware .

Great place to eat before dropping off someone at the SFO airport. Came on Saturday around 7:30 pm whilst it was raining. Lucky to find street parking and the restaurant was packed. The name porridge or congee is Chinese comfort food, made with rice and flavored with meats. You can see most tables order the specialty rice porridge with additional dishes. A trio of garnishes is placed on your table meant to be added to your rice porridge to enhance the flavor and are not appetizers. We ordered the pork bone rice porridge $$22, fried chives with squid $26, Satay beef with rice noodles $17 and the fried oyster with egg $17. All the dishes were so good and satisfying. An inviting place to visit for Chiu Chow style Chinese cuisine.

We come here mainly for take outs. And after trying many items on the menu, I'll have to say stick with the porridge (HK style, the thicker one) and skip the rest. Our fav are the abalone and chicken porridge, frog, fish, mushroom porridge and salted pork bone choy sum porridge. The portion is very generous, one order comes in two big tubs, which can feed 2-3 ppl.

Amazing authentic Cantonese/Teochew dishes! The fried fish and gai pan was mind blowing with delicious flavoring and great portion sizes. I was craving great porridge and ordered their signature crab & prawn porridge. It was yummy, but the seafood flavoring didn't really blend into the porridge which was slightly disappointing. I loved that they offered side dishes to go with the porridge and those were delicious! Wouldn't recommend getting the fried oyster pancake as it was a lot of starch... Our server was a sweet Canto gentleman and recommended the fish dish! Would highly recommend coming with a big family/friend group to try out more dishes!

Tuesday evening, this place were packed. The kitchen was little bit behind. Some dishes are overpriced. Foods and service were mediocre.

Porridge sounded really great after a night of wine... But man, this place really undersold. I rarely write negative reviews but I was pretty put off by the lack of anything in this porridge. For $18, we were presented with a large bowl of warm water and maybe less than 1/2 cup of rice. We had ordered the abalone and chicken sawo porridge. It was deeply disappointing as we rarely had any chicken and it was completely watered down and had no rice at all as you can see in the picture. I've had my share of porridge so this was generally, a let down. I would not come back here again. :/

The porridge is top class and they know what they do. Growing up in HK my bar for porridge is high and they deliver!

Food is so so. Kind of dirty. Items are not fresh. Porridge is okay. I won't go back.

Food is soso. Service not too attentive when restaurant wasn't busy. A little on the expensive side.

The Stir-Fried Shrimp with Vermicelli in Clay Pot is flavorless. The Chinese Donuts are extremely greasy. In most other Cantonese restaurants the Chives Dumplings have very thin almost clear covers with lots of shrimps inside. While the Chives Dumplings here are just fried sticky rice pancakes with chopped chives. And the service is still the worst. I asked for a mini pack of garlic vinegar to go with my 200 dollars order, while the waiter just poured the left garlic vinegar from our meal here into the mini box and gave it to me. So CHEAP.

===TL;DR=== - Braised Combos - MUST - Watercress w/ pork liver soup - Beef chow fun - wet - Signature stir fry ===TMI=== Came here before pre-pandemic and forgot to review them then so I'll review them now on a more current visit! Still love this place. Didn't get any porridge this time but their porridge is bomb! So many options and customizations. All time favorite hands down goes to the braised combos, you get to sample their most popular braised signatures all in one (if you don't like innards, recommend ordering them separately -wink-). Omg lemme hit the spotlight on the soup real quick. Out of all the innards, I normally don't like pork livers, they're usually bold and strong in flavor plus they're usually dry. This place, it was so fresh and bouncy, very acceptable (sorry non-innard friends, I'll move on). Their beef chow fun here, they used a thin rice noodle (picture turtle towers pho ga noodles) compared to the thick ones we're usually used to seeing. And their signature sir fry was so bomb, all you need is literally a plate of this a many bowls of rice and you're set (almost can pass for a snack). Honestly they have so much to explore on the menu, you can never go wrong. Come here for a family gathering, friend catch up, or for a comfy date :D Uh yeah... too excited to eat so forgot to take photos but you get the idea :)

My stomach is growling in protest just thinking about how delicious this place was! It is a bit on the pricy end for what it is but if you're with friends, it ends up being okay when split. The portions are quite large. We split the signature porridge that had huge crab pieces and shrimp inside (they did not skimp on the seafood) and the duck was delicious! The space itself was very large and able to seat small and large groups! It's a good place to bring people if you have large groups. Give this a try if you can!

Authentic Teochew Food! People might say the porridge here is too watery but that's the difference between Teochew and Cantonese porridge. If you come here expecting Cantonese food, you're in the wrong place. Teochew food is less oily and lighter seasoned. Pros 1. Food taste is based on freshness of ingredients and not sauce. Relatively less seasoning in Teochew foods. 2. Well priced for quality of foods. $25/person if you order normally, $45/person if you get crab, lobster etc. 3. Authentic Teochew food, goose uses garlic vinegar and porridge is more of a soup. 4, Clean environment. 5. Seafood is fresh. If you want certain fish or geoduck etc, you have to book ahead of times Cons 1. Goose is a bit dry and not that fatty. 2. Crab/Shrimp can be too hard to peel if you aren't use to it and they don't provide the hot wet towels to clean your hands. 3. Parking is hard to find. Service 1. I think the waiters here are attentive but they aren't warm and can come off as sharp which is normal in traditional Teochew and Cantonese places. Food came in a timely manner and waiters made sure my table got extra napkins as people's hands got dirty from pealing crab etc.