Great Eastern Restaurant
| Address: | 649 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA |
| Phone: | +1 415-986-2500 |
| Site: | greateasternsf.com |
| Rating: | 3.7 |
| Working: | 10AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 9AM–11PM 9AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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Lizzie Ellis
Many people have voted based on their Dim Sum experience which I cant comment on, as we just went for dinner. Initially started out good. We were seated quickly and drinks brought promptly. Appetiser of deep fried prawns went down well with OH. Unfortunately went downhill from there. I ordered chicken with asparagus and steamed rice. Had to discretely spit out bit of chicken as it was lukewarm when bit into it and turned out to be raw inside! Asparagus was also tough and springy. OHs cashew chicken was hot at least so ended up sharing some of that but clearly seemed like stuff had been reheated. Rice was tough on outside of bowl and like mush in the centre. The bill seemed to have a service charge added. Then as we were leaving I was stopped by waiter with what I thought was him bringing back change. I said for them to keep it and was told that we hadnt given enough tip and I should add another $5! Only when I made it clear we were not going to give them more did the manager gesture that we could leave. So Obama may have been here for takeout Dim Sum but I doubt he would have liked the full service. They clearly know tourists will come in because of his picture out front and rather then welcome us it felt like they were just trying to fleece us with reheated food and demanding extra tips. Definitely would not recommend for full service. They only get two stars because drinks and appetiser were fine.
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Heliana Mano
My husband and I are big dim sum lovers. This love affair started back in 2008 when we used to have dim sums every Sunday in Boston :). We have just moved to the West coast and were really keen on trying the dim sum scene here as well but we noticed most places offer dim sum to go which is not appealing to us, given that we have a full on romance with dim sum served fresh and hot and you can eat as you order in the restaurant. I came across the Great Eastern place from yelp - it had a lot of reviews but not so highly rated which made us hesitate for a bit. Ultimately, we gave this place a try and Im so glad we did. This place is pretty authentic. They only serve dim sum until 3pm and there is always a line to be seated. Reservations dont count really ;). I found the service to be pretty fast and everyone was very friendly and welcoming. We truly had a feast and loved all items. We tried the Prawn cilantro steamed Dumpling, steamed pork bun, string beans with xo sauce (which was nice and tasty but too expensive for this item), Prawn Chung fun, Shanghai dumpling, sticky rice lotus leaf and closing strong with steamed custard bun. Its been hard getting the steamed custard bun around and this place had it and I was so happy it was exactly how I remembered it from our Boston adventures. Delicious, soft and without the egg-y smell - YUM! We will be back soon!!! This place is really underrated!!!
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Emily Garcia
If Obama likes it, so will we, right? Well, we made the walk here to find a 40min wait but like the stubborn diners that we are, we took a number and waited out in the streets. After about 45-50mins we were finally seated and proceeded to flood our paper with dim sum orders. As soon as we handed in our piece of paper our orders came out. The wait for food was minimal and the orders kept coming 1-2 at a time (which was the perfect pace at which we were eating). The pricing was a little bit steeper than what I am used to (but it was a nicer dim sum place at SF) with their most expensive items not really justified for the higher price (the green beans, the ribs which werent that great, etc). However, their most common lower-priced items were pretty damn good with the pork-filled baked buns as my absolute favorite. We were in-out of there in a shorter time than our actual wait to get a table, which shows how incredibly efficient they are but how insane their customer demand is. My friends were very happy with their experience and I was thrilled that I was able to finally introduce to them what Dim Sum in the city is like.
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A Private User
We saw some of the reviews and many people said great things about this place, so we thought we would experience it ourselves. We were staying at The Courtyard by Marrrott - Fishermans Wharf and decided to walk a good 25 minutes to Chinatown, to explore the city. After all the walking, we were looking forward to the dimsum since my family LOVES dimsum.......they open at 9 am on Sundays. We got there at 9:30 am and it was still quiet and we were seated promptly. By 11 am, the restaurant was filling up quickly...you have got to check this place out! It was delicious! Everyone in there was Chinese except for us. The mushroom and pork dumplings (siomai), the deep fried crab claws (which is a ball of crab), shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, sharks fin soup, & egg rolls were EXCELLENT! We ordered alot of dimsum and we ate everything! The meat and seafood used in these dishes are HIGH QUALITY. We loved it AND we will definitely go back there when we visit SF again.
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G Musselman
If I could only give 0 stars. The waiter was oddly racist, Im white by the way so I guess Im not used to the feeling. He only brought us the menu and then the check when our meal was over, which lasted roughly 30 minutes. We ordered 8 dim sum dishes in our party. Two off which tasted exactly like vomit. When I did receive the check I tipped adequately for our party of four, considering the lack of service and rudeness, but I still offered something because I can understand the hectic nature of food service. Our waiter publicly asked me why the tip was so low. To answer him, "you did three things, you brought us the menu, you were extremely rude, then you brought us the check." He then began to speak in what I would assume was Mandarin and my party and I left. This was by far the worst service I have ever endured and probably dont think Ill ever encounter again. Yes, Obama went here, but do you think his service is comparable to the every day consumer?
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Eric Peng
My family had the dim sum for lunch during the week. Pricey at nearly $5 per ordered dim sum dish, when compared to prices in SoCal. But we figured wed have to eat in Chinatown at least once while visiting SF. What was good: Turnip cake, soy sauce chicken (tender), fried shrimp dumplings. Not good: Combo fried rice (really greasy), chicken feet (tastes better in SoCal). Ambience of restaurant is nice, we ate downstairs, and bathrooms clean. But they would not validate our parking even though we spent $60 on our meal. Waiter said they validate if you spend $80. Whatever. Plus, I would have given higher marks if I did not have GI issues later in the afternoon. Granted my stomach is more sensitive than my wife and son, but good tasting food should also be clean. Maybe too much grease from the fried rice?
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Sivuonthanh Lam
Came here for lunch with my boyfriend. Its difficult to pick a good place in Chinatown if you arent familiar with the restaurants yet -- we decided to try dining here since it boasts Zagat reviews on the window and a picture of Obama during a visit to SF Chinatown. Unfortunately the dim sum menu was no longer being served. We ordered a few items off the regular and very extensive menu. We tried the sauteed string beans, the Thai BBQ fish, the panfried noodles with chicken and my boyfriend accidentally ordered lo mein. We ordered a side of white rice for 2 (served in a clay pot instead of the standard small bowls and ended up being too much for us). Overall, the meal was yummy. Service was just OK. Would like to come back to try the dim sum since it has fairly good reviews.
