Lichee Garden Restaurant

We wandered off the main drag of Chinatown specifically looking for this place. First, we were the only non Asians in the place, which I take as a sign of authenticity! You sit quickly, and then comes the food... We were hungry, so we didn't pace ourselves like we should have. It's probably best to finish one plate at a time and refuse anything else until you're done with the one plate. That said, we ate and ate and ate... half of what we ate, I couldn't tell you. But it was SO good! We had a steamed dumpling with shrimp, something fried with shrimp, this wonderful barbequed pork baked in a soft bread roll, a dumpling with sesame outside and lotus in the middle, and a few other things. When we left, expected about a $30 bill... it was under $15 for two! Great, authentic food, great service, and it's cheap, too? You HAVE to try it! Pros: exellent food at a great price, great service Cons: a bit of a language barrier, but who cares! more

I was referred to LGarden by a friend who lives in the city - he warned that the food was a slightly more expensive than the ""usual"" chinatown fare, but i was game since he said the food was ""pretty good"". Oh, how i was dissapointed by the food and by my friend. The service was average and the place is decorated to cater to ""non chinese"" speaking customers and they also get friendlier service! the food was brought out on trays instead of carts, the food was lukewarm at best and i practically had to flag someone down to refill my tea! The only positive is that it's not within the ""heart"" of C-town so the parking is a little easier to find. Pros: Parking easier to find than most Chinatown places Cons: food was mediocre, service was non existent more

It's wasn't crowded here for dinner on a Saturday. Being close to the Green Street Mortuary, have been here a couple of times for the post-funeral dinners. What a relief to find a place where it's not noisy and the waiters aren't rushed and have time to wait on you. We didn't encounter any rude bus boys/waiters mentioned previously. The food is inconsistent. My family liked the Fukien fried rice, but I didn't. It was a mushy fried rice dish w/a gravy sauce w/scallops, shrimp, mushroom. The beef and broccoli dish was ok. The stir-fried pea sprouts was good, but oily. The deep-fried chicken with shrimp chips & Peking duck were good. The steamed black bass in green onion/soy sauce was cooked just right. They have a shrimp salad which was drenched with mayonnaise thus ruining the dish. I wouldn't order it again. The winter melon soup was bland. Their jellyfish salad, salted white chop chicken are good dishes to order. For dessert, there was slices of oranges and an orange tapioca cold soup which everyone thought was too sweet. It reminded me of a cloudy Tang orange-flavored soup. It seems their dim sum must be good and probably better than their dinner menu. Pros: Good steamed Black Bass and Peking Duck Cons: Soups not their strong suit. Skip the Fukien fried rice and shrimp mayo/fruit salad more

What do ppl expect? It's chinatown. Of course you will have small pushy chinese people. They may be rude, loud, etc.. but I think that's because they are old and cant hear too well. Being chinese, I know. But I'm there for the food and the food is great! Great variety of dim sum, pan fried noodles, chinese food. I think Dim sum is served until 2pm.. but I'd get there early.. there seems to be many people just arriving around 1:30 hoping to get most of the varieties before the day is over --I'm guilty for that =) Pros: Variety, value Cons: no parking, loud, short staff more

This isn't the best place for dim sum in San Francisco, but is probably your best bet in Chinatown. The dim sum menu is more diverse than most of its peers in the same neighborhood. The place is relatively clean and well-lit, and trust me those things are not as common as you think in this part of town. My favourites are the garlic shrimp rolls and the stuffed eggplants. Not the best service but certainly not the worst either. Also be ready for a long wait on weekends. Pros: Good Food, Reasonable Price, Clean Cons: Spotty Service, Parking, Long Wait more

I have to admit we got there about 30 min before dim sum service was over but the service was HORRIBLE! They were rude and ignored us. The couple sitting behind us left angry and they didn't seem to enjoy the food or the service either. AND they gave our food to other dinners! NOT WORTH IT! more