Cafe Bakery & Restaurant

I’ve been coming to this establishment for several years now. Their house special XO sauce fried rice is probably the one thing I’ll never get tired of eating.

This restaurant has been here for years and is packed on weekends during lunch. I like the baked pork chop with pasta and tomato sauce.

They have good specials for each day of the week. Big portion and tasty. Specials comes with soup, tea or coffee and a bread. They have many other dishes to choose from also. Pork chop and rib eye steak are very tasty too. Long lines sometimes but is worth the wait.

I see new staff members here and I notice a significant change in service in a negative way. The food comes late. Most times, basic things are missing my. Food taste the same but I am disappointed with my past 2 visits. Maybe they will be more efficient with more training and time.

I believe this establishment has a bakery adjacent to the sit-​down restaurant, but this review is only for the restaurant.
Although Café Bakery & Restaurant can be construed as another type of Hong Kong style eatery, their taste seems to be consistently above average. I always get their black pepper sauce chicken with rice, which always comes out succulent and tender, with the sauce complimenting the meat just right – it’s not too thick or so much that it empowers the chicken. I’m also a big fan of Chinese style borscht soup, which this place serves. Another appetizer before the main course is the plump, fluffy, and slightly sweet (and unfortunately sticky) dinner roll – they just melt into your mouth. I usually can’t resist and shove the whole thing in my mouth (yeah yeah, go ahead and insert an innuendo here if you’d like), but it’s always fresh (probably from their bakery next door). I’m sure you can order more, but usually it’s one dinner roll per dinner.
Drinks are also on par with other HK restaurant. However, if you order a HK style milk tea (or possibly coffee – I’m not too sure), the waitresses also periodically go around the restaurant and refill them free of charge. I’m not saying you should binge drink, but it’s nice to know you can sip on your milk tea more often and not worry about running out. This affects service only minutely – it’s still very easy to flag down someone if you need something.
With such great tasting quality of food, it does attract and retain its customer base. On Friday nights and on the weekends, prepare for a wait during the dinner hour. Though the wait is not ridiculous long (at least all the times I’ve queued up), you’ll probably want to find an alternative if you’re already starving. There is a small waiting area in the entrance of the restaurant which is nice, but like most Chinese places, they focus mostly on the quality of their meals – not so much appearance. This is not to say the environment is complete filth – in fact, I would argue it’s above average, and its current appeal and environment is more than sufficient.
Parking is already a premium in the city, and of course the sunset district is no exception. It is conveniently located a block or two away from the 28 Muni line if you opt to take the bus there, but Muni is a different story altogether.
Lastly, this place does not accept credit/​debit cards. Luckily for me, there’s a Bank of America ATM two or three blocks down. if there’s any consolation, they give you a complimentary cup of gelatin for dessert.
Even though the aforementioned inconveniences may be enough to deter some folks, I believe it is still worth it. Restaurants establish themselves by earning a reputation through the quality of their food – Café Bakery no doubt has accomplished this goal, and I will continue to be a regular patron here.

Have been here so many times and for so many years, so I think it’s time to write a Unilocal review!
I love the garlic chicken steak and the New York steak with garlic butter sauce (not on the menu). Highly recommend! Also comes with soup or salad, bread with butter, and dessert. You get your money’s worth here!
Don’t expect attentive service. Also, be prepared to wait to dine in and also to wait a long period of time for your food. I don’t know why it takes 30 minutes for our food to arrive, but that would also explain the long wait. They should also fix their door; it keeps flapping open. Cold SF air is no good for the human, nor the food!
Parking is difficult in the area. I’d come back once in awhile when I really crave the above-​mentioned dishes. However, the wait really turns me off, so it won’t be often enough!

I drove 20 min from Diamond Height to try their baked rice dish (coz I am a fan of HK baked dish in tomato sauce). MEH! It was pretty bad actually, the taste absolutely cannot compare to what we have back home in Hong Kong. I ordered a baked chicken fillet in tomato sauce with spaghetti + hot HK milk tea, my husband ordered the cod fillet in mushroom sauce with spaghetti from today’s special. Very disappointing. The tomato sauce was too sweet, and milk tea didn’t taste authentic (lacking of the bitterness and richness). The best part was the free jello at the end of the meal — I saw a tiny bug (with wings) lying in my jello! The poor bug probably fell into the jello when it was being cooled down in the kitchen and it got stuck in there. WILL NEVER COME BACK, AND I WARN YOU NOT TO GO THERE!

I was a bit concerned about the sanitation of the place since I saw the Unilocal warning. Safe to say, I ate there last night and this morning I am OK and not food poisoned.
At their restaurant it said their safety score was 95… so unsure where Unilocal got their food score vs. what was in the restaurant itself.
I ordered the Chicken terikyaki with noodles. First off, they do their proteins really well. The other folks I ate with got salmon, it was crispy and well seasoned. Another dish was the curry chicken that was done pretty well too. The weird part was the canned corn. Who goes to a restaurant to get canned corn? And they gave us 2 whole brocolli pieces for every dish… very weird.
You get milk tea and like all other reviewers, it was basically MILK with some very bitter tea. I guess they did this to save $ on the creamer. At least they gave your refills.
All in all, a cheap place to go. Weird weird dishes… some with cheese at a chinese restaurant!
Would not come back as it is a run of the mill place with some sanitation issues.

Yum I had the best sesame ball ever from them! Huge big chewy crispy balls with sesame paste mmmm!!!

Vip bakery in Chinatown is a lot better than this. But if you’re from the sunset or craving baked stuff you would come here.
I tried the baked porkchop over spaghetti it was ok just the red sauce was too sweet and they put corn and peas in it.
If I came back I would get the baked spaghetti with meat sauce with out the corn and peas or maybe try their curry if they had it.
Otherwise I’d stick to Vip

Baked pork buns used to be my daily breakfast treat.
Working in Chinatown, my personal favorite was the mini mushroom shaped ones from the long gone Hong Kong Teahouse on Pacific Avenue. Then, it was VIP on Broadway that had the ‘best’ in Chinatown.
Fast forward about twenty years and, while stopping to pick up some munchies for an ailing relative at UCSF, I noticed a sign in Chinese on the oven door, «Berkshire pork BBQ pork bun $ 1.35 (
). Having just eaten lunch at the restaurant portion of this business, I was too full to eat this right away so I reheated it in my toaster oven a few days later.
My biggest peeve with most Chinese BBQ pork buns is either a) there’s not enough filling or b) the ‘meat’ pieces are often even or outnumbered by fatty pieces, leaving literally a bad taste in my mouth. Let’s just say, this one did not disappoint (
).
I guess you can count this as a part B to my restaurant review from many moons ago.
Give this one a try if you are in the neighborhood or, if you don’t speak Chinese, point at that sign taped to the oven with the price next to it… just hope they don’t raise the price soon!

Out of all the restaurants I have tried so far in San Francisco, this is my FAVORITE restaurant. I have been going here ever since I was a baby and probably once every week I would eat here.
The chicken wings with fries is a delightful appetizer! I also love how they have a set menu for the day (Monday thru Sunday), and I always choose an entrée from that section. It comes with your choice of coffee or HK style milk tea, bread & butter, and the soup of the day. Everything is very filling and the entrée potion is grande so usually I have leftovers for the next day. For dessert there is jello, either orange or green flavor, depends on the day.
The service here to me is great just cause my family and I know them for a long time. Usually there is a lunch or dinner rush, so it would be good to go before the usual lunch or dinner times. It is convenient that the food that they serve is throughout the whole day! BTW, it is CASH ONLY.

+/​-​THE FOOD
It’s your typical Hong Kong café place. I grew up eating HK café food so I was really excited to check this place out. I absolutely love places that have daily specials so I ordered their Sunday special, baked Portuguese chicken. The meal came with bread, soup of the day, a drink, Portuguese chicken over spaghetti, and a dessert. I loved the bread and soup but the Portuguese chicken didn’t win my heart over. There definitely was not even sauce in the dish and there wasn’t even that much flavor in the sauce. The chicken wasn’t too flavorful but the potatoes were pretty good. They also threw in some mixed frozen veggies rather than putting traditional things like olives, chunks of carrots, and onions.

Technically give it 3.5 stars.
Been here for the second time and it was delicious! I ordered the pork shop with tomato sauce… and wow… the tomato sauce was really amazing. I was really surprised. I love their bread and butter as well. I didn’t really like their jello dessert, so it was A-​OK. Overall, they give you so much food, so be prepared to bring an empty stomach when you get here, otherwise anticipate left overs! The food here definitely reflects comfort food so also prepare yourself to take a nap after!
I noticed that a lot of families go here, so you know its a great place to eat! If I’m ever craving for some HK café style food, I’m coming right here.

My friend frequents this place so I thought I’d give it a try and go with her!
I think the most interesting dishes from Café Bakery are the ones with cheese on top.
Just a bit about me… I LOVE CHEESE. So I ordered the spaghetti with ham, vegetables, and cheese. I didn’t expect it to come with tomato soup, delicious warm bread, and jello for dessert! All pleasant surprises! I actually really enjoyed the melted cheese on top of the spaghetti and white sauce, but I didn’t really enjoy the peas and carrots because they are frozen and the texture is a bit off. Anyway, the portions are really good for the price since they give you some sides with the main dish and the total was only $ 11 plus tax and tip. I couldn’t even finish the whole dish, so I took it to go.
Oh! Service was pretty good as well. The servers were kind.
Will be coming back to try the other dishes!

one of my neighborhood eats. Cash only. they have specials of the day which will include free coffee or milk tea. set comes with option of soup or salad, bread and butter, and jello for dessert.
the portions are huge. Can make it into 2 in 1 meal. everybody have a leftover box unless you have a huge appetite. So you kind of get more bang for the buck.
their lemon tea is decent. I always ask for less sugar because they tend to over sweeten it. my dad loves the rack of lambs with garlic butter. their ox tail and ox tongue is pretty solid.
gets crowded during the weekends. more so during dinner time than lunch.
service is average. speaks Cantonese and English.

I’m actually surprised that the rating wasn’t that high for this place. We were meeting up with my husband’s family and they chose this place for brunch. We got here just before 11:30 am and took the last largest table in the restaurant.
The food is basically HK style café. On Saturday, the special were cod fillet and spicy salt chicken and came with a choice of a drink and dessert (jello). Knowing my daughter won’t eat either so I got onion pork but without the sauce. Their table rolls (bread) is really soft and very fresh. I ate 2 of them as soon as I sat down and usually I don’t care for it much.
I asked for Hong Kong milk tea since my husband ordered a spicy salt chicken but only wanted a glass of water. Their milk tea is really good. No added sugar and you basically add how sweet you want it. Just plain cream only. I really like that because some places made it too sweet.
Their food overall it’s very good. I like my pork chop and even my picky daughter ate it too. My husband’s spicy salt chicken was very good. Some of the relatives got the non-​special Garlic Chicken. That’s really good. Very garlicky.
The prices are very affordable and fast service. The wait staff are friendly too. It’s not exactly in the Chinatown but a lot of people make the trip to come here.
I would definitely come here again if I come back to visit!

After a typical Saturday long run, was searching for Hong Kong Style Café outside of Chinatown and found this place on Unilocal.
I would have not noticed this place at all simply based on the outside of this place — very old style sort of westernized-​imitating decorations. This place doesn’t have a more formal name neight («Café Bakery & Restaurant»)? It’s more like a category.
Anyway, the restaurant was completely packed when I arrived, mostly with families. The restaurant itself is not small too. And there was a few parties waiting in line already, looked pretty legit. Seems to be a family-​owned business, the lady boss /​cashier was chatting with one of the customers about why people would come back to this place again and again — to use the freshest ingredients. Well, let’s see how it goes!
Got seated after a roughly 15-​min wait. Decided to go ahead with the daily special. And it came with lots of things!
#Bread with Butter: A-​.
Yes I have to rate the bread too. I guess this place was originally a bakery so their bread was pretty amazing. Soft and warm. Yum.
#Soup (羅宋湯): A-​.
Lots of ingredients (vege) inside that small little cup. A little bit of black pepper to bring up the spiciness level but not irritating. The vege was pretty fresh. A good way to bump up my appetite.
#Chicken Leg with Spicy Salt 鹽焗雞腿飯: A.
In a low cost HK style café with this high quality: simple amazing. The chicken legs were perfectly marinated with salt. Literally the meat throughout both legs had consistent taste. Baking time was perfect too — the skin was a little crispy. Even more impressive was that the chicken legs came out hot — so even though it’s a «daily special» where most Chinese restaurants would just pre-​made the dish and warm it up when someone orders, it did not happen here. It was made real-​time. A generous amount of ginger+green onion oil was also provided — that was very tasty as well. Very memorable dish.
#Jello (dessert): A-​.
Dessert in a Chinese restaurant usually only exists in those family style type of dinner but they have it here at lunch too? Granted it’s only a jello (orange/​peach flavor) but after a salty dish, providing customer with some sweet stuff to balance it out is a brilliant idea and I call it attention to details on customers.
I really wasn’t expecting to give a 5-​star rating to a HK style café but this place is really «as good as it gets». I would totally recommend this restaurant, and can’t wait to go back and try their other dishes too.

Came back during lunch. Like dinner, they had a lunch special. We ordered their special … Baked chicken with taro and coconut sauce baked spaghetti !
The meal came with complimentary hot milk tea, bun, and noodle soup. They were all delicious and fresh.
The hot milk tea was a bit bitter. So, if u like the bitter tasting milk tea then it would be perfect for u! I like my milk tea sweet, so I added sugar.
The bun was soft and buttery! I loved the crisp outside of it !! (they get the bun next door at café bakery, which is also own by the same owner)
noodle soup was typical but good!
Now the main dish… O.m.g !!! It’s pretty much like a white sauced baked spaghetti with taro bits !! The white sauce tasted better and was more flavorful compared to other restaurants’ white sauce. It’s prob because of the coconut. Anyway, this dish is realllllly good. The chicken was so soft and juicy. This dish is perfect !
Honestly this place is so good ! Honestly a place I would always go to if I’m in the area and craving HK style food. Not only is this place consistent but it’s cheap, proportion is big, and it gives you complimentary food!!! Such a win here.

Surprisingly, I loved it here. My mom chose this place for dinner on a Saturday night to visit her friend, and I thought that it would be average Chinese food. I was wrong.
Even though the restaurant is pretty big, the wait was looong. Given it was a Saturday night, I wasn’t surprised. Once seated, we ordered the baked seafood (cheese on top, and rice with seafood inside) to share, and an oxtail dish to go for my dad. Both were around $ 11-​$ 12 each, and that’s the standard price per dish here. Portions here are big, and I don’t think I can finish one whole portion in a sitting.
Before the meal came, tea, soup, and a bun was given to us for free. And after the meal, jello was provided. That surprised me. Service here was great, and the food was tasty and fresh. I would come again!