Cafe Bakery & Restaurant
| Address: | 1365 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA |
| Phone: | +1 415-661-6116 |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 8
SA
Sandy Tang
Their cake is superb! I guess they make a subtle hint that theyre a bakery first and a restaurant second (Cafe BAKERY & Restaurant). I was with a friend in the Sunset area when mom called and asked me to get a birthday cake for my grandpa. Before I could even ask for suggestions, my friend and his parents were telling me strawberry cake from Cafe Bakery. Its inexpensive and a good, simple cake. Its not the first time Ive heard good things about their cakes so I figured, why not? So I walk in and see a rotating display of maybe five cakes of all sorts of sizes, worried that Ill be stuck with these limited choices. In Cantonese, I asked the lady worker what flavors they had. She told me only chocolate or strawberry today. Then she started asking what cake I wanted. I told her 8 inch, strawberry, and to have it say "happy birthday, gonggong". She chuckled, corrected my Chinese grammar (its "gonggong, happy birthday"), and told me itll be ready in 30 minutes. YAY! That means I get a custom cake, woohoo! When I go back to my friends place to kill time, they seemed surprised that I get a "fresh cake." Well, 30 minutes seems a bit quick for a cake to be fresh so who knows. I come back to pick up the cake and it was only $17! Like, WHAT? And the best part is that when it was time to eat it, wow! It was delicious. Its so soft and fluffy. Not overly sweet. In between the sponge cakes is a layer of strawberry bits and cream. Such a simple thing to add and thats all you really need. My grandpa, sister and I all had a second slice because it was so good. Just thinking about it now has stirred a craving in me... As for the food, it wasnt memorable. Quite literally... I dont remember what I ordered the one time I was here for dinner. I just remember there being veggies, soup, dinner rolls, and jello with every meal. Until next time I come back to try the food... or maybe Ill just be back for cake.
NE
Nei Ng
Had dinner here last night, and I was reminded of how much I like this place. I always love the buns they give you before your meal. Theyre usually so pillowy and fluffy with the perfect sweet glaze on top. Unfortunately, last night the buns were drier than normal, which kind of sucked. I hope it was just a fluke. Heres a list of some of the things that I like getting: Fried Chicken Wings - Seasoned well, juicy (greasy), and flavorful. I could order these as a meal even though its just an appetizer. The portion sizes are very generous. House Special Fried Rice - Fried rice with XO Sauce, chicken, and shrimp. I dont like how they put the frozen vegetable medley (peas, carrots, and corn) in the fried rice, but the other ingredients are solid. The chicken is tender, and the shrimp has a smooth, firm bite. They do a pretty good job with searing the rice to impart wok hei, and XO Sauce is always deliciously savory and sweet. Sometimes, it could use more XO Sauce, though. Anything with Curry/Portuguese sauce - I think their curry is pretty flavorful. It has a good spice component, and you can taste the anise that gives it a Chinese flair. Curry Beef Brisket is the special on Fridays, and Chicken with Portuguese Sauce is on Sundays. The preparation and quality are definitely multiple steps above ABC. Milk Tea - They provide bottomless milk tea with the specials, and its a relatively good HK style milk tea. It could be richer and creamier, but the black tea flavor is smooth. Theres an underlying malty character thats brightened and balanced with just a slight hint of floral flavors. It also comes unsweetened so you can add as much sugar as you want. Its not always consistent since theyre pretty loose with pouring the evaporated milk, but its way better than the milk tea from other places around here (Teaway, TPumps, Quickly, etc.).
LU
Luis Huang
Been coming here for well past a decade. Definitely a family favorite. Although I generally do not recommend coming here Friday or Saturday evenings for dinner (unless you are prepared to wait anywhere from 30-60 mins), this "Café" serves up some of the best chinese foods, all done in a HK-styled east meets west yinyang blend. The specials are about $10 and serves up decent helping of food. All entrees come with a soup/salad and very food bread and dessert. I eat quite a bit, and I usually have to struggle to eat an entire entree (usually we split it family style). Service: Although it has varied a bit throughout the years, service here is generally pretty good. Frequent tea and coffee refills, and super fast food orders. But do not expect to elicit even a smile from the owner at the cash register. Cleanliness: A huge plus for me is the restaurant is always very clean and comfortable, unlike many Chinese and Asian facilities.
JE
Jenny Fong
There are many variations of Chinese food throughout the San Francisco culinary landscape. However, there are only so few sprinklings that can be considered Hong Kong style cafe food. I consider Cafe Bakery & Restaurant one of them. This is a gem in the Outer Sunset district of San Francisco. There are daily specials for every day of the week. There is no place else that can offer milk tea, borscht soup, dinner bun, baked seafood rice, and jello dessert as a delicious meal. Perhaps one can be surprised by this melting pot of a meal, but it is this mix of food cultures that intertwines to define itself as Hong Kong style cafe. This is as close as you can get without traveling to Hong Kong. Try it and you may be hooked.
FA
Fanny W.
I come here at least 2-3 times a month to have their daily special. The specials generally change every month with the exception of the special for Friday-Sunday. Those are consistently the same. The special comes with an entree, choice of milk tea/coffee (I always get the milk tea), a soup/salad (I always get the soup), some bread/butter, and jello for dessert. The portions are large for me and I usually end up taking half of my meal to eat later. I like the food, but the service can be a little slow. This place is also cash-only. Edit: as of June 2017 they will add $0.25 for take out boxes.
LU
Lucho Bravo
This Asian with a French flair bakery is fantabulous. Their pastry are delicious. Their pork buns rock. Its not what one would consider inexpensive, but its worth the price. One can find a cheaper and decent pork bun across the street about half a block down, but they are not quite the same. The old adage, you get what you pay for, may apply here. The neighborhood is pleasant to walk around. We live in Pacifica, and its nice to occasionally drive to neighborhoods like these in the City.
CH
Cheryl Young
On the bakery side the char siu bao (baked BBQ pork buns) are hands down the very best in the city. They are chock full of BBQ pork chunks with a lot less gooey, sweet filler youll find in lesser bakeries. The Chinese fam swears by these baked goodies. My obsession with these buns have kept me from trying much else. Other notes: Parking is easier on this section of Noriega than further down. The staff is nicer than bakeries or nearby dim sum shops (Im looking at you Booming Dim Sum).
CO
Conrad Seeto
Hong Kong style western food like baked pork chops in Portuguese sauce (really a kind of Malaysian coconut curry sauce), stewed ox tail with rice or braised ox tongue in tomato sauce with spaghetti. Sometimes they will have specials like breaded veal cutlet with mushroom sauce or salt and pepper chicken leg with Cantonese style ginger and onion sauce. Great with a warm cup of Hong Kong style milk tea or a glass of chilled Ovaltine.
