Smile House Cafe

I ordered the beef stew & tendon with dry noodle + cold milk tea. Everything tasted well. The beef stew and tendon is well done - tasty and tender. The noodle is chewy and it comes with soup. The milk tea is well made too. They also have a welcoming atmosphere and good service. I ordered bake pork chop with rice to go and am enjoying it at home as I write this review 😅!

HK style cafe with good menu selection variety. But wasn’t too impressed with their baked pork chop flavor. Was comparing a bit to the cafe on Noriega. Would still return to try their other dishes though. It was quite a wait for a Sunday lunch so be sure to factor that in when visiting.

The beef tendons were ok. The best dish was the iron sizzling plate beef with spaghetti. The flavor was amazing. The baked pork chop needed improvement. They didn't put the tomato in, in the beginning, so it was not melted. The fried rice should be fried rice and not white rice. There wasn't enough sauce for the rice. The e fu beef noodles is good on its own but when compared to the sizzling beef spaghetti that was the winner. I love that they gave us a huge teapot to pour our own tea.

Soooo delicious 😍 and super flavorful 🤤 Beef and tendon stew, pork chop curry, pepper chicken, pork neck, eggplant, redbean and matcha dessert and mango grapefruit dessert!!!

Updated Review: We had the Taiwan braised noodles $14.25, pan fried chili prawn noodles $15 and spicy wontons $10. Everything tasted great. Updated review 12/12/2021: Smile House Cafe has an impressive Hong Kong style menu. I'm amazed at the variety of dishes that little kitchen can produce. There weren't that many dining indoors tonight. Lucky for me, there was no wait on a rainy Sunday evening. Usually, there's about an hour wait. The beef brisket toss noodles $14.25 were excellent as usual. I asked for no tendons and there were so many pieces of meat. The spicy wontons $10 were also excellent. The only drawback about this cafe is that, they don't do a refill of the milk tea. They did refill my regular tea. Great job everyone at Smile House Cafe. Thank you for always making me feel welcomed. Updated review 11/15/2021: Smile House Cafe is like one of your old friends opened a restaurant. The young waiter guy is always welcoming and chatty. The guy is knowledgeable about his menu. If you get in before 6pm for the evening meal service, there should be no wait. After 6:30pm, the place fills up until closing. Tonight I had the baked seafood cheese curry spaghetti $14.25 w/milk tea. It tastes better than it sounds. It had carrots, fish, imitation crab, mussels and shrimps. What made it great was the curry sauce. It was topped with baked cheese. Great job everyone at Smile House Cafe! Updated review 8/11/2021: Wear your fat stretch pants my Yelp friends, the portions here are generous. I started off with a wonton soup $10. The flavor of the soup is different than what I'm used to from a HK cafe. They have their own distinct soup. It came with nine wontons filled with shrimp and other meats. Very good wontons. Next, I had the baked pork chop spaghetti. It had a light tomato sauce topped with a layer of cheese. I liked how they put fresh slices of tomato under the pork chops. It was a nice surprise. There was no wait when I arrived at 6pm but there was a line when I left at 6:45pm. Smile House Cafe is not at 100% capacity yet. They left some tables empty for Covid distancing. Good job Smile House Cafe for keeping us safe. The service was excellent as usual. Updated review 7/16/2021: Smile House, you did it again. I'm still thoroughly impressed. This evening, I was privileged enough to sneak in before closing time after waiting for about 15 minutes for a table. They are still enforcing the 50% dining room capacity restrictions to keep us safe. Getting a table can be a challenge. Some other Hong Kong style tea cafes like S&E cafe on 19th and Taraval are still closed for indoor dining. Tonight, I had the teppan chicken steak $14. It no longer comes with soup. The waiter was super nice about it and was apologetic. The teppan chicken steak arrived sizzling. I love how it makes a grand entrance every time I order this. It is a head turner. The black pepper sauce mixed with the cabbage and chicken is certainly satisfying. The finale of the meal is when you get to the bottom pieces and they are slightly burn from the cast iron plate. Amazzzzzing. It is almost like crispy jerk chicken. Great job everyone at Smile House. Especially the knowledgeable waiter. Original review: Indoor dining 5/25/2021. Best sizzling beef with rice in San Francisco! Smile House Cafe is a Hong Kong style tea cafe. The staff was super friendly and I was only customer when I walked in at around 6pm tonight. There were plenty of seats. The waitstaff can speak both Cantonese and Mandarin. The kitchen staff only spoke Mandarin. My sizzling beef came smoky with that attention grabbing cooking sound. The beef was thinly sliced and hint of Korean style sweet marinate. Your supposed to mix it all up and not wait too long depending on how rare you like your beef. Great job everyone at Smile House Cafe. My meal was excellent.

I liked this restaurant. It is under new ownership and the staff was very friendly and enthusiastically welcomed us. They were really cute actually. The menu is huge. Reminds me of shooting star in Oakland. I order Singapore Laksa which was good and really big. I also ordered sliced spicy tendon as an appetizer. The spice was a numbing spice and served cold. Bonus point about this restaurant is that it is next to Mr. Bread where you can also pick up Portuguese egg tarts too.

Beef noodle is quite authentic. Hai nan chicken is tender, though a bit bony. The special rice that come with the chicken could be improved. Bake pork chop is too dry and a bit disappointing. The best of our order was the almond milk. Rich and full of flavor. Milk tea (hot) was pretty good, too. BTW, service is very nice & quick.

Food: 3/5 Service: 3.5/5 Ambiance: 3/5 Overall: A HK style restaurant with all the options you could want. The extended review… Food: Beef noodles - 3/5 - Fairly tasty. Pretty standard fare. Service: 3.5/5 - Pretty friendly staff for a Chinese restaurant. Ambiance: 3/5 - A typical HK cafe feel.

Not sure why the reviews are all so negative but I really enjoyed dining at Smile House. Service was good and food tasted close to home (Hong Kong). This is definitely a local gem in Sunset. I ordered the fishball noodle soup and the broth clean yet flavorful, highly recommend their sizzle beef dish as well.

I went to Smile House again recently, and I think I came on an off day. We were seated immediately and greeted by the server. The restaurant was lively and very homey, as per usual. He got our orders swiftly and the food came soon after. The food was much more bland than how I remembered. There was a lack of sauce with all of the baked dishes, there was no flavor. I did not enjoy my meal much, but the fried milk custard was a new item we got and ate with no issues! We also got a black sesame soup for dessert, and that was delicious as well. Smile House Cafe is still one of my favorite restaurants, but I would like to go again to make sure that this day was just an off day!

Another HK style cafe in the sunset area of SF, this spot has been around for years now. They don't offer breakfast sets on the weekend which kind of sucks. Service is more polite than your usual brisk service from these kind of shops. Menu is extensive and I opted for a simple HK cafe staple of baked pork chop with tomato sauce over rice. Pork chop was huge and uncut, had too much tendon and fat to cut around. I would've appreciated more edible meat. Milk tea came in a to go cup which wasn't as nice as a regular teacup. There are better options elsewhere in the sunset area

LOVE THIS SPOT! The people are the friendliest ever, had the best experience here. The stir fry noodles are so good, definitely will be my go to order for the next times I visit. Ambiance is bright, spacious and welcoming. Highly recommend!

love the place here they have a lot of variety. the food we ordered was super yummy and the main host was super friendly and make jokes with us often. would definitely come here again!

Tried some desserts last night at Smile House Cafe. All the Puddings are SO GOOD. We ordered to share with each other cuz the portion was a bit large. Due to the rainy weather, there aren't many people in the restaurant. It's not crowded and we don't need to wait. Service was still good and staffs were very nice. Smile house is my favorite dessert place now and they open till 11pm now, good for people that want a night time snack!

I'll start off by saying the food was delicious and the portions were huge. Both dishes were so filling and came out piping hot. I had fun mixing the pepper rice and the baked cheese over the noodles was straight out of the oven. However, the last time I went, there was a tissue in our water pitcher. We let the waitress know and she looked at it and brought us a new one in silence. A small apology or acknowlegement would've been nice, but that's okay

3.5/5 Their service is highkey so Hong-Kong vibes like they're FAST, WITTY, and NO BULLSHIT! The restaurant is run by two dudes and they're ZOOMING the entire time like literally rushing from table to table making sure the customer has whatever they need. They're always packed and the place is full of Cantonese speaking people so you know this is a locals spot. Their menu is HUGE like there was so much flipping to be done. We did have to order everything in one go because their kitchen is packed and they gave us the dessert before the main stuff. We got the: HK style French Toast - 3/5 pretty average but I thought the toast itself could've been better like more peanut butter and fried more Cantonese Fried Milk - 2/5 could've fried it more Baked Seafood with Tom Yum Cream Sauce - 3/5 the tom yum was pretty light ngl we got one more noodle dish but i forgot which one BUT it was pretty mid so does not change this review LOL Overall, not bad but also not good. Shoutout to the hardworking staff though; one of the homies be sweating from running around.

Smile House Cafe definitely makes me smile! The food from here is always so good and fresh and hits the spot. Portion size is large as well. What we ordered: - Hoi Nam chicken with yellow rice (get this with extra scallion oil -- too good) - Salt and pepper calamari - Spicy beef tendon Need to try their dessert next time and other menu items!

One of the few HK cha chon tans left in SF, solid place for a meal. Baked porkchop rice, tenpan beef rice...lots of goodies. Save dessert for another place in the Sunset. I can't figure out how to poke the lemons in their Lemon Ice Teas in the weird cups they use. Support your neighborhood businesses!

SOLID GOOD FOOD Was it the best tasting HK food? No, but it nailed the essence of HK diner food. The ingredients were fresh. The flavors were very light. Not oily. Low sodium. I like that they bring out a thermos of hot tea and a water jar with cold water with a slice of lemon. They use disposable paper cups for drinks. That's different! Not the best Hoi Nam chicken. A little dry and not strong Hoi Nam flavoring. Tossed noodles very good but a little dry. Rice was fragrant and well cooked. NICE WAITRESSES AND FAST SERVICE Usually Chinese establishments would have mediocre servers but this place when we went had nice servers who made a little small talk and was fast to take our orders. No frowns to be found here. UPDATED BUT A LITTLE WORNED DOWN Interior decor was bright and spacious. Mostly booth and bench seating. Looks like it's been upgraded within the last 5-8 years. However you'll see some spots and stains here and there. CEILING TV No sound but fun Chinese shows with Chinese captions playing from one of the walls. PARENT NOTES Two bathrooms. No changing tables. Good place for families and young kids. Patient servers.

I've been to Smile House a dozen of times so this is a much deserved and belated review. First the service, the waiters are attentive and friendly. They will speak Cantonese or Mandarin to you if you look Asian, so ABC's, wake up whatever part of your brain still remembers from your Chinese school days. And for the rest of you, good luck. I'm kidding, they always speak English to my Asian husband who has perfect Chinese pronunciation for exactly one item they don't have on their menu. As far as the food goes, the Tee Pan Beef Fried Rice is a must-try. The dish comes out sizzling hot on an iron-cast dish and the beef needs to be stirred for it to be fully cooked. They've helped us stir it before when everyone at the table looked like we've never stepped foot in a kitchen before, so I'm sure they'd be happy to do it if you asked. With stirring the rice in as well, you get crispy bits of slightly burnt rice which tastes so well with the flavorful and tender beef. Another favorite is Vegetable and Tofu in Fish Bone Soup - We have almost always gotten this soup with every meal and it tastes the best with water spinach which isn't always available because it's seasonal. I like the water spinach because the soup gets into the hollow parts of the spinach which makes the soup and spinach complement each other really well. We've also gotten this dish several times - the Shrimp Roe Beef and Wild Fungus over e-fu noodles - love the texture of these noodles. I'm a noodles lover in general, and I feel like with every bite of these noodles I'm never getting enough of it - the only kind of addiction I don't plan to find a cure for. Mixed stir fry vegetable - We've only gotten this dish once, but I definitely recommend it - the lotus root is crispy and the wood ear mushrooms are slimy and crunchy. It's a sizable portion for a table of two - we had leftovers. The hot HK-style milk tea is strong and it comes in a cute stylish ceramic tea cup. And here's the main reason I come here - the Tofu pudding. We order this at the beginning of the meal and they always time it so well to serve it right as we're done with our meal. It's served in a ceramic dish with a lid on it with a side of syrup. And the tofu is always piping out. Just hot enough where you don't burn your tongue if you slurp it up in half spoonfuls like I do the minute the dish lands on the table. They don't let you do takeout on this one because of the way it's prepared but it's always worth the reason to sit in. For the health-conscious, the overall saltiness level for most dishes here is really good for a Hong Style restaurant. I don't feel a desperate need to chug water during or after the meal and the food is delicious.

So I see they got rid of the rude waiters and did a nice renovation of the place! Me gusta I still really enjoy coming here despite a few bad experiences in the past. I think after COVID this place really took a hit and doesn't seem as popping as before. I still really enjoy their baked tom yum seafood spaghetti and my mom loves the beef rice sizzling pan dish. Really comforting HK food and nostalgic for me. Parking might be hard because it's in the Sunset but after 6pm metered parking is free.

Came here for dinner. Easy street parking. I was immediately greeted and seated. Came with a party of 3 and we all ordered different pastas and shared. Everything we ordered was so tasty. Fast, reasonable, good service, clean, comfortable, lots of space and I did not feel rushed to go. We stayed to chat and drink our tea/drinks. Ordered a cold almond tea, passion fruit soda, black ink squid pasta, smoked salmon in white sauce pasta, and beef mushrooms in e-fu mein noodles. Everything came piping hot in minutes and we all eagerly shared and devoured our dishes! Everyone truly enjoyed their meal and will return & try something different.

Hits the spot! Their HK cafe menu is EXTENSIVE and most items have HUGE portions. If I ever crave chinese style baked spaghetti, this is the place. Usually there's plenty of seating when I go but I've had a few times where there was a wait. Parking around the area isn't the easiest but the food makes up for the frustration!

The food is great and it opens till 11pm!! Super nice choice it was really goood!!!!

My friend suggested going to Smile House Cafe, it's a Hong Kong style cafe restaurant with a huge variety of dishes. I took a quick look at the menu and decided to try the dry beef chow fun. I asked for less oil, less salt and it came out perfectly tasty and light. 100% passed my Chinese restaurant test. The restaurant is clean and the servers are nice. We sat near the front of the restaurant so it was a bit hot during lunch time since the restaurant is south facing. No matter, the food is good and prices are reasonable. Allow extra time for parking.

NICE Find. Love the Staff, clean place, and yummy food! We had Mongolian Beef, Fillet of Fish in Cream of Corn, Brisket Curry, Baked Pork Chops and more. Had a wonderful time here.

It's been on my list for over five years. Why didn't I come here earlier? Circumstances, priorities, it just plain forgetfulness. A friend who lives in Palo Alto told me this was his "late night snack (siu yeh in Cantonese)" back then. Being only ten minutes from home, this Sunset District eatery is only ten minutes from home (non-rush hour times). My recent cuisine craving has been Hong style foods ranging from drinks like milk tea and to lemon tea to snacks like curry fish balls and fried egg pudding; from meals like baked pork chop with tomato sauce and beef brisket and tendon noodle soup to desserts like sesame sweet soup with dumpling to pomelo mango sago soup. Heck, their menu is 24 pages long. Studying photos, reviews, and their menu, I knew what I would order the moment I sat down. Being a rainy Friday late afternoon, I parked in a metered space right in front ten minutes before they opened. As I saw people intermittently going in, I peeked in and asked whether they were open at 4:58 pm. The man raising the window blinds offered me a corner table on the right. The waitress offered me a cup of hot tea as I took pics of the menu. I started with a hot Hong Kong style milk tea (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=ZuXUFy8GJnqYtaK5yn1ylA). It was served hot and smelled soothing as I waited for it to cool. The 1st half of the drink was okay as it remained temperature hot for quite a while. For my main meal, I ordered the Teppan sliced beef with rice (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=IFdDXHtvGuWIt25lrSI5FQ) (photo taken after a quick stir); this was how it looked when it arrived the table, lower right (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=r-x2sNkdu39qi18B9EkNiQ). This is how it looked after fully mixed (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=0&select=nfpCeafY1JfUJGPH6__vAQ). It was delicious and a very complex dish with such simple ingredients. I loved that the beef came rare, giving me the option of deciding the degree of cooking I preferred. The waitress warned me to mix the ingredients so all of the ingredients (rice, corn, beef, and sauce) cook evenly on the sizzling iron platter. When it came to eating it, I was in a panic mode from the urgency of the waitress' voice in mixing my food so I mixed and ate while listening to my food sizzle on that platter. When it finally cooled, I was in a relaxed mood end enjoyed my food. The bottom pieces of rice were crispy and chewy from the heat as I tried to keep my beef pieces on top to keep some of them at least medium temperature wise. I will get this again on another visit. Back to the milk tea, as it cooled, the flavors from the tea shined more. It was not a typical teabag variety tea and I forgot to ask the waitress what variety tea they used. As I waited for my meal, a group of four diners and another with two came in to eat. By the time I finished my meal about 30 minutes later, the dining room was half full. The menu reads like a dictionary which makes a future visit likely after I study the choices more carefully. There were a number of reviews on the baked pork chop over rice or spaghetti but the reviews are mixed on it. I look forward to coming in again.

Lots of seating and fast casual American style food. Their menu is huge you'd be hard stuck to not find something you'd like here ranging from traditional Chinese style to cafe style baked dishes. Service is fast and to the point with taking the order and getting your food. (The baked dishes come out a bit slower it seems) The braised noodle dishes can be really good some days and full of undercooked vegetables the next day... not sure what's going on there.

Oh my, I was reading the previous reviews before heading over to this restaurant. I was a bit nervous about dining there but it actually turned out to be a good experience! They are spacious with lots of tables. The host seated us quickly and when I began to look through their BIG menu, I wanted to try so many dishes. (I need to come back with a big group next time so we can order lots!) The teppan sliced beef was delicious--tender, flavorful, and perfectly cooked on the hot stone plate! The service was impressively quick, making for a seamless and enjoyable meal. Highly recommend this cafe for authentic Hong Kong cafe style food! This definitely reminded me of the times I would goto a HK cafe with my family as a little kid :)

Smile House-- a staple in the Parkside area. Inside this Hong Kong styled diner are many booths, tables, and assortments of Cantonese dishes. There is a decent amount of seating, but come during peak times and you may have to wait. We ordered the beef sizzling Teppan and the lots can noodles. For the amount of food and price you get, it's pretty worth it. The beef comes out sizzling and flavorful with sauce. The Latka noodles were definitely more than enough, with a flavorful coconut seafood broth. This is the spot to come to when you're too lazy to cook, but want something delicious for dinner.

My husband and I have been going here since college! What's great about them is that service is fast and they open late! I'm not too sure about their hours now but they used to open until 2AM how wild is that! The restaurant always has a loud environment. The staff is always very nice and playful as well! A bunch of jokesters! Haha. Food tastes great and consistent every time. My husband gets the: Teppan Steak with rice. I get the Chicken Black Pepper Creamy Pasta! Minus 1 star because it's not the cleanest restaurant and parking is kind of hard!

My favorite HK style cafe in the bay! Their pan fried noodles with shredded pork, teppan beef rice, stir fried black pepper beef spaghetti, and stir fried flat rice noodles with beef in black bean sauce are my favorite dishes. Service is always great and very attentive. They have so many things on their menu, so there's something for everyone, from appetizers to main dishes to dessert!

We did smile at the Smile restaurant. The staff was very welcoming. We came because yesterday, I saw Hainan chicken, buy one get one free. Today, got there, they sold out. They were kind to give everyone 10% off the bill, plus a free cold drink, either Hong Kong tea or lemon tea. We got one of each. For dinner we got Laksa noodles and I got the e noodles with beef and mushroom, supposed with roe. Not sure where the roe went. It was still good. The guy welcoming people in said they had the special for 3 days and he has been the welcome person standing outside for 3 days. Sunset was pretty cold tonight. He must be exhausted. Nearby was a new restaurant across the street and they had a grand opening. Parking was rough, circle around a bit and then realized it was a Monday and even though a holiday, sf meters require money. Now the side streets of Taraval makes you turn right and not let you go straight! Terrible, more waste of gas.

I love a good diner experience and this was exactly what we got at Smile House Cafe. Service was pretty quick--it was lunch during a weekend but there were still seats available. Ordered a baked pork chop rice and I usually anticipate baked entrees to be slow but it ended up arriving within 10 minutes. The pork chops were cooked well--it was tender and wasn't dry at all. The tomato sauce was flavorful and the rice soaked up all the sauce. If I wasn't so hungry that day, I definitely could have saved half of it for dinner. Ambiance is exactly what you would imagine in a diner or HK cafe style business.

Writing this review for myself as a reminder that I was not a fan. And I don't to mistakenly go back. Hate to be a hater but. This is what I ordered: Hainan chicken and rice (this was the best item--but the ginger sauce was eh). x2 Porkchop smothered over rice. Beef chow fun (not greasy at all). Sharkskin soup. Sea salt oolong foam drink.

Took my sister here for her first HK cafe experience. We really enjoyed our meals and had a delicious cup of hot Hong Kong milk tea with condensed milk. This is the Chinese equivalent to the viet coffee. It will get you up and running! We are a delicious baked pork chop over spaghetti and red sauce. Service is great and attentive. Food comes out very quickly.

I've been to this place many times, but this is my first time trying their limited salty pig leg. It's so juicy and crispy! The passion fruit dipping sauce makes the dish less greasy. And my favorite -- the tofu pudding -- is the best!

Their special baked pork chop dish with tomato sauce was pretty terribly made. The pork chop was dry and old. I took 2 bites and threw it away. Would give -1 star if I could for that particular dish. On another note, I've also tried a variety of other dishes in here and they've all been great including their baked fish fillet dish, chicken and ham spaghetti, mapo tofu, iced lemon tea drink, etc.

I love coming here to order and spend time in my car and spend time at home to eat and it is worth it..

Very tasty HK style food! They are open until 9pm most nights and can often times be on the only thing good open that late on Taraval St. We got the special baked pork chop over spaghetti, the fried calamari, and the beef brisket and tendon over rice. For drinks, we got the iced HK milk tea and one of the kumquat/lemon drinks. Our food came out FAST - less than 10 minutes for all of it. The pork chop was juicy and flavorful and the spaghetti was not too sweet as other places (which I favor). The beef tendon dish was very delicious as well, no complaints there. The drinks were also a must order too and they weren't too sweet! However, the calamari I got was not the calamari pictured on the rest of Yelp. We got majority of the small tentacle pieces while other people got different cuts. One of the waiters stated that sometimes they have different ones but was very nice and gave us a discount. We didn't expect this, especially since we weren't going to complain or say anything, but we appreciated it!! It was still seasoned well, just not the pieces we were looking for. Despite this, this place is a definite must visit and we will surely visit again soon to try other things off of their big menu!

Food: 3/5 Service: 3.5/5 Ambiance: 3/5 Overall: A HK style restaurant with all the options you could want. The extended review... Food: Beef noodles - 3/5 - Fairly tasty. Pretty standard fare. Service: 3.5/5 - Pretty friendly staff for a Chinese restaurant. Ambiance: 3/5 - A typical HK cafe feel.

This place reminds me of the Hong Kong Cafes. There is one thing that stands out above the rest is their customer service and how everyone is greeted with a smile and a big "welcome" as soon as you walked in the door. The gentleman had asked me and my daughter if possible to change tables after he sat us to accommodate a larger group of customers. He offered to give us the drinks on the house. We had no issues changing since it was only the two of us whether the drinks were offered or not. We ordered the Shrimp roe with wild mushrooms E-fu noodles (Yee mein) and the Teppan salmon with rice. They were both done well and flavorful. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the salmon with the rice was similar to eat a hot claypot rice, but instead, on a Hot iron plate. The food came out fast and hot. We enjoyed our meal and the gentleman checked on us (rare for a Chinese establishment). The lady was running around getting everyone's food to their tables. All done with a big smile from all the staff in the front end of the restaurant. We did have to wave down for our bill and boxes but that is typical and they did it immediately which was the difference. When I checked the bill prior to paying, he did provide the drink at no charge. I was surprised as I thought they would just say it and not honor it . It shows he was honest and actually did as he said. This shows their customer service is exceptional. For a Chinese establishment, it screams volumes!!! I am Chinese, and I have experienced my fair share of rudeness and poor service that is not surprising. Customer service here was done with a smile, attentiveness, and honoring their word. The food also came out fast and hot. Great place and the staff is a big plus!!! We shall come back!

Arrived close to closing but still got seated. Service was great and food came out really fast. We were the last ones at the restaurant after they closed and they didn't kick us out lol. Mapo tofu ($13) Chicken steak with black pepper sauce ($16) Stir fried noodle with black bean sauce ($16) Salted egg fried pumpkin and shrimp ($15) Food was really good but the chicken steak was very dry and over cooked. Mapo tofu wasn't spicy at all because it was cooked in a similar black bean sauce to the noodles.

Ordered to go but it looked big with lots of seating. I had gotten the baked pork chop with spaghetti, spicy won ton, salt and pepper chicken wing, and milk tea. The sauce tasted a bit bland and the pork chop was over cooked. Never had big slices of tomato before either. The spicy won ton was also over cooked. The filling was just dropping out of the wrapper. And it didn't taste all that good. The salt and pepper chicken was ok. It was more pepper than anything. For the most part, wasn't too dry. The milk tea was good at least. I'm guessing maybe their other foods are better but definitely not a place where I'd order the same things again.

Smile house cafe is a neighborhood hm cafe. It has an extensive menu and food is definitely better at the restaurant than to-go. My go-to is Hainan chicken rice and baked tom yum spaghetti. Was in a hurry today, so got the black pepper chicken with spaghetti. Very strange that it came with rice along with chicken. Spaghetti was in a separate togo box. When i got back to the house and mix the black pepper sauce with the pasta, there was no sauce at all to put on my pasta. The chicken was also poorly cooked. Skin was not done crispy like other hk cafes. Will return since it's close by but will no get to go anymore. Prices are ok. $15/dish, so $20/person with tip and tax. Service is like any other chinese restaurant, not awesome not bad. Ambiance is alright, same as other similar restaurants.

Fried Egg Pudding ($9.95) - delcious little bites! You've got to eat it when it's still hot and dip it in the custard sauce. Stir Fried Beef Broccoli ($14.95) - most basic dish but always hits the spot! Mixed Fungus with Pork Neck ($15.95) - the pork was so soft and tender. Loved the green beans and the mixed mushrooms. Salty Fish Chicken Tofu Casserole ($14.95) - this is soo good over rice, I highly recommend eating it that way if you've never had this dish. You have to eat rice with the salty fish. White Curry Beef Brisket ($15.95) - my boyfriend ordered this and enjoyed it. It came with beef brisket, potatos and also some beef tendon. Chicken 3 style ($14.95) - wasn't a huge fan of this, the chicken was kinda dry

Both Google and Yelp show this cafe open on Wednesday . We show up during lunch hour at 12:30; and the sign says ' Close '

This restaurant is one of my top favorite restaurants in the city. The owner and staffs are very friendly and welcoming. Hainan chicken is so good, and also other dishes. Sometimes they will have updated menu like desserts, and some promotion for some holidays. You have to check it out when you stop by sunset area. Atmosphere here is good too, I also like their many options of beverages, like HK style milk tea, sea salt cream tea!

I don't know why they only have stars, the service was great, very friendly and attentive server, and our food was so delicious. Ordered the fried calamari and chili wonton for appetizers which were so flavorful. I've been looking for this kind of calamari for a while, the tentacle kind with peppery garlicky seasoning. The chili wontons were not super spicy but had a wonderful chili flake oil sauce. For dessert, we had the sesame soup with dumplings (tang yuan in black sesame paste) and the portion sizes were huge! The tang yuan were so incredibly soft and it wasn't too sweet. I'm excited to go back and try their sizzling pepper steak rice dish. I've been looking for that since I tried something similar over 15 years ago. Only slightly negative comment was the complimentary hot tea tasted like cheap black tea or Lipton tea. Not impressive, but they have a very large variety of teas and drink options to pick from.

i thought that service was very good, fast, friendly. this is a good spot for some solid hong kong style comfort food. very good

I had the Hainan Chicken, and it was absolutely delicious! And there was a waitress with a particularly good attitude! I was immediately greeted and seated. Everything I ordered was so tasty. The food came out fast and fresh. The environment was also clean and comfortable and I did not feel rushed to go.

food tasted so bad right now. order the hainan chicken rice and wonton noodle soup. I think they change owner again

This is probably one of the very few Cantonese restaurants in the United States with friendly servers (so far for us as least). The menu has classic Hong Kong style cafe dishes. We ordered milk teak, wonton, braised beef noodles, fried egg plant, and their pudding dessert. The milk tea, wonton and braised beef noodles are all pretty authentic. The pudding is very good. Price is affordable (compared to South Bay which has become quite expensive) and service is pretty good for Cantonese restaurant. This is our go-to place whenever we're in the area.

Good food, fresh, not greasy, just like in Asia. Love it . Friendly staff and fast service

This place has solid HK style food! The service is good and the place is clean. The shrimp wontons themselves were pretty good, I felt like the whole dish needed a bit more flavor though.

Last time I came here around 10 year ago? It was my favourite spot but I come recent and price got raise a lot and expensive compare to other restaurants near by. Boss kinda talk loud and annoying lol. Theres used to be snow ice it's disappointing they don't have anymore. The beef clay pot noodle was still delicious .

First glance at this meal was very promising. A lot of scallop which I noticed that other locations didn't offer. And normally it doesn't come w meat but this one did! Another thing I noticed was there wasn't any ends of veggies which makes this dish have a crunch. I liked the veggies but this place didn't have. All in all, it was so flavorful and good. Not oily like the rest of the places that offer this dish. I even had leftovers to eat the next day. My friends ordered their meals and liked it as well. I will definitely come back for a quick snack or bigger meal here!