Skip to main content

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. 

Comments

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Gate and its Surprising History

You can't come to SF Chinatown and leave out Dragon Gate, aka the Chinatown Gate, at the corner of Bush and Grant. But do you know its history?  Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon Gate, San Francisco Dragon Gate (aka Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon's Gate) was designed by Clayton Lee and others in 1967 in response to a mayoral competition, and his was the winning entry. Originally two gates were proposed, but the other gate leading to Barbary Coast was dropped due to lack of funds, and cost overrun.  The gate itself was designed after a Chinese "pailou 牌樓" or "paifang 牌坊", which were the "gates" that marked separate fang 坊, or "ward" within a city. However, later it evolved into a purely decorative element. As with tradition, the gate faces South, and is composed of a large gate with two smaller side gates.  The gate has a lot of its materials donated by Taiwan (Republic of China) including artisanal tiles, roofing, and the two guardian lions. Despite...

Waverly Place: more than just a Chinatown Alley with a Sordid History

Waverly Pl was far more than just an alley in San Francisco. During the earliest days of San Francisco, it was apparently known as "Pike Street", at least until the 1906 Earthquake. I cannot find any historical references on when the name was changed. Many references imply state "Waverly Pl, (formerly Pike St.) while other references imply stated Pike St. Even from the earliest days in Chinatown, it was known as a place of brothels, and allegedly both Bella Cora and Ah Toy, the two most famous madams of Chinatown, have brothels at or very close to Pike St. (later Waverly Pl). For a while, the brothels co-existed with barbers on the same street, where sailors and miners can get a haircut and a shave for 5 cents, and later, 10 cents. So the area was also known as Five Cent Street or Ten Cent Street for a while. But the street remained mired with vices.  A "crime map" prepared for SF City Supervisors in 1885, note the blue and red vices mapped.  courtesy Cornell U...

Authentic Mooncakes Year Round: Eastern Bakery, Oldest in SF Chinatown

Eastern Bakery, at the corner of Grant and Commercial, is the oldest bakery in SF Chinatown, having operated continuously since 1924, originally by the Lee family. The current owner is Orlando Kuan, who can be seen peddling made-in-house items through the limited operating hours, roughly 12-4.  Eastern Bakery is best known for three things: genuine lotus mooncakes, authentic coffee crunch cake, and Smackles, the original "cow ear cookies", all of which can be seen at "front door" table.  Moon cakes have been around China for thousands of years, but it was probably most famous for its use to hide messages to coordinate a revolt against the Mongol occupiers on August 15th, which lead to the founding of the Yuan Dynasty. Before that, they were used as "sacrifices" to the moon goddess. President Clinton tasted some mooncake when he visited Chinatown back in 1995 and took a box home with him, according to photos in the store.   Photo of President Clinton's ...