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Quick Review of Cafe Broadway (674 Broadway)

Cafe Broadway is at a location that used to house a restaurant called Hing Lung, which was famous for its jook (Chinese rice porridge). However, Cafe Broadway is not that. 

I had an hour to kill between appointments and decided to go to Cafe Broadway, and inside is much larger than you'd expect from the outside. Lighting hadn't improved much, as it was a bit dark during day-time, probably looks a little better at night. 

It was noon-ish on Friday, and I was quickly pointed to a table near the back. I'd say the place is about 80-90% full, decent business. I was slightly surprised when the waitress asked me what sort of tea I wanted, or do I want water. Generally, only higher-class restaurants have tea options. The cheaper ones just feed you cheap tea bags. I asked for chrysanthemum tea, and it was quickly served. However, it is... way too hot, and I don't see any sugar, the way it's usually served. Glancing at the menu shows they charge $1.50 per person for tea. The tea pot is very nice, not the typical "food service" steel tea pots. 

I poured myself a cup and perused the menu. This is the pre-printed dimsum style ordering sheet. Basically a bunch of dimsum, grouped into small, medium, large, extra-large, chef's special, and entrees. Write a number next to the ones you want. Prices a clearly labeled, and as this is sit-down service, prices tended to be high, with dimsum that normally cost you about 3-5 elsewhere would be 6-9 here. 

As I was alone, I picked my standby: beef chow fun 乾炒牛河 ($11.95) and added steamed beef meatballs 牛肉丸 ($8), just to see how they do it. The waitress retrieved the order sheet, then entered it into the computer, then someone else brought the sheet back with the entered order stapled to the sheet. 

The service did take a while, 10 minutes? and the beef chow fun was not bad, but there were a lot of mung bean sprouts and onions, and not quite enough beef for my palate. It was served on a trendy square plate. There was a decent portion size. 

It was several minutes later that the meatballs arrived. It did come with Worcestershire sauce on the side, which is the way it should be, and the waitress did offer to cut it, which I accepted. And it's quite decent if a bit bland without the sauce. 

There was a bit of confusion checking out. Apparently they gave me the check and credit card from a different table, because we both used an Amazon Prime Visa card. I think they realized the oops 2 minutes later when they came back to get it. They haven't even calculated my bill yet. With tax, tea, and everything else the bill came out to be like 28 something. I wrote down 34 total and left. 

All in all, Cafe Broadway is a bit on the expensive side for dimsum, but that could be because I'm used to the cheaper end of things. Quality is quite good, but it should be with that pricing. Okay for occasional splurge, but again, a bit expensive for lunch. 

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About the author

Kasey is a professional tour guide and amateur historian who specialized in Chinatown History and Tours. You will often find him guiding groups sampling delicious food and learning interesting historical tidbits about Chinatown most weekends.

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