King Wah Restaurant

Ok. I have been here before and somehow it seems to have gotten better. My sister convinced be that this is their new spot in SJ for dim sum. So we ventured out to see what she was gushing about. Har gow was good. Nice chewy skin and plump crispy shrimp, shu mai (meh ive had better/​fresher tasting), the pork blood stew (my fave) was mediocre and bland, their specialty sweet bun with salted duck egg was different (not in a bad way) but probably not something i would order again. For the price and food i will say i am a fan since my other SJ spot failed me with mushy har gow skin the last time around…

I found out about this restaurant after a ski trip with a few friends last year. It was the near the drop off place and it was still open when we got back from Tahoe so there we went.
I went about this past weekend, after a ski trip lol… and I couldn’t be more pleased.
The service is typical chinese restaurant. not attentive, fast paced… the menu is awesome because it has pictures and colors ahahahah… help you to see what you’re ordering especially if you don’t speak/​read chinese (they have it in english too of course!). Menu is quiet large with dishes that you don’t typically see in the usual chinese joints. It gears more towards «banquet» but the prices are reasonable. actually on the «low» side!
Portions are big for the price we paid… most dishes are between 10 – 13!
This past weekend, we ordered: west lake minced beef soup, egg tofu with mixed mushroom, garlic Beef, assorted cold meat appetizer and lamb with green onion. Everything was delicious, not overly salted which is RARE for chinese restaurants and at the end they served red bean soup dessert, soooo good!!! I didn’t get that «thirsty» feelings after eating here so it’s a plus!
It looks like this place is also popular for banquet. as when were there the first time, half of it was booked for a birthday party and this past saturday there was a wedding there :)
will certainly be back!

I have ordered food to go from this restaurant a few times. The hot and sour soup is really good. Their Kung-​Pao chicken is a little disappointing. The chicken pieces are really small. Both dishes are quite spicy! I also have tried their fried oysters. Not a fan. I have come here for dim sum twice and the dim sum food is good. However, the service is crazy bad. The restaurant is always super crowded, and we had to get up and get our own water or chase after the cart ourselves if we want to eat.
Verdict: Food is good. Service is lacking! Made me feel as if they have a lot of customers, so why would they care whether they should bring some water or check on our table to see if we need anything. We already seated, so we will have to wait and wait… and wait.

The dim sum here is average and a bit pricy comparing to other dim sum places in the area. However their service is terrible and unprofessional– I have witnessed employees arguing with their management team member in front of customers at the waiting area on multiple occasions– who does that? Obviously they do without hesitations!!!
I doubt I will be going back there unless all other places closed. Additionally they will not seat your party unless 90% of your guests arrived regardless if you have waited there an hour or so.
If you want good service and good dim sum — go check out «Golden Sum» on Milpitas Blvd. by Lion Supermarket.
The management team or the owner should really evaluate the staff they hired and improve the overall service provide… people will eventually stop going there due to the exceptionally poor service.

Supposedly some people say this place is good but I have had nothing but terrible experiences.
Last time, came with family and family friend to eat dimsum and the service was really slow. I understand it is busy but there was barely any food that got carted this way– absolutely not how dimsum is supposed to be. Not like they were even short staffed. When asked, they would constantly say ok but would never bring it over. Kind of got really annoying– FAST. In the end since nothing was coming over, ordered a curry stir friend vermicelli with random veges and shrimp– tasted really oily. Also got a fried rice with vege and dried scallops– TERRIBLE. The rice tasted old and hard as if it had been sitting out overnight, not covered, for a while. Also, the dish wasn’t even hot. Whats up with that??? Bill came out to be $ 71 before tax.
Really doubt I would be coming back due to service and food. They gave us the most attention when it came to picking up the check. That’s poor service and manners. no thanks bro.

FOOD: Their food is good in my opinion. For birthdays they let you bring in a cake and they’ll keep it in their fridge for you. They even had a candle and a lighter and lit it for us. They brought out small plates too.
INSIDE: Is quite big with big tables to accommodate large parties. Tv’s are usually on too at least at night but not during dim sum.
STAFF: Your usual straight to the point staff. Sometimes abrupt but could be due to culture and language barrier they don’t all speak or understand English well.
BUSY? Yes it gets busy for dim sum like all Chinese restaurants. So prepare to wait. They give you a number and have a microphone speaker system to call your number when your table is ready. Large parties like a party of 18 I saw were split in half for faster seating.

First time trying out this place, we came here around 10:30am on sunday for dim sum. When we got there the place is about 70% full and already got a few people waiting for large table.
The place seems pretty clean, but the manager was just yelling out order which is pretty annoying. We got the beef ball, bbq pork tarts, phoenix claws, chicken sicky rice warp in lotus leaf, and sugar chinese donuts. The beef ball was not good in anyway at all, it almost like bitting into a rubber ball, not really fresh and is there some weird smell from it that might be from from whatever they mx in it. The bbq pork tart was ok, the only thing is that they put way too much butter in it. The phoenix claw are like most dim sum place. The donut are pretty fluffy but super oily. Last and the best i ate here are the chicken sticky rice wrap in lotus leaf, the ingredients mix in there pretty blance and not too salty.
The price are for dim sum here are not worth it, about $ 4 per dish abd the portion of food is not that much. Overall, will not go back there again

Not surprised by the number of stars they get. Me and my bf came here on a Sunday morning and the wait was only 20 minutes… not that bad. Once we got seated it took someone 10 minutes to come by, just for tea. It took foreverrr for the carts to come around… or not even come at all.
In total, my and my bf only got 4 dishes because they didn’t come around as often as most dim sum places would and we got tired of waiting. It was extremely hard to flag down the carts because they would come down one row, skip our row and then go down the next row.
Food. The only good thing that we got to try was the shui mai and har gow (which were the only hot dishes we had). The other dishes weren’t good at all… not to mention room temperature or almost cold.
The only thing they were quick at was getting my credit card. I was very disappointed… $ 30 for the 2 of us for the little amount of food and the annoying non-​service is just ridiculous to me! The place made my stomach hurt.

I’m so surprised that King Wah only has 3 stars. I’m guessing it might b cuz of their dim sum service? I’ve never been there during lunch time so not sure… we usually go at night for their dinners. the restaurant space is so large, they can easily accommodate many large groups. maybe comparable to Mayflower. (except Mayflower has 2 private rooms.)
we never have any complaints when we r dining there. the service is always great. the waitresses always comes by to get our order ASAP n the dishes come out ASAP too. they even swap out our dirty dishes for clean ones in the middle of eating just like the other upper level Asian restaurants. so nice!
the only gripe we probably have would b that since it’s a large seafood restaurant with banquet food, they r often booked on Saturday nights for wedding parties n banquets. that makes it kinda annoying when have ur heart set on eating there but there’s no way u can get in. so we always gotta call ahead to ask. just in case!: /​
Deep Fried Whole Sole: the sole itself isn’t that meaty cuz it’s a flat fish, but we like it cuz it’s super crispy (u can almost eat the bones but don’t.) n meat dipped into the sauce is very tasty.
Shrimp Stuffed Tofu w/​Tender Greens: this is always a must order for us cuz it’s got protein n veggies together. who knew shrimp stuffed in tofu would b so good?
Roast Duck (half): so good. great crispy skin n the meat is great with the tangy sauce that comes with it.
Wu Xi Style Spare Ribs Clay Pot: my mom LOVES her clay pot food so we gotta always get one. this one doesn’t disappoint. it’s like the Chinese version of bbq ribs except with a sweeter umami flavor. the pieces of onions r good too. goes really well with white rice.
Complimentary Red Bean Soup: their red bean soup is part of the reason y we like their dinner service. so good! i can make my own soup but u can tell they cooked it for hours cuz of the soft texture. they also use a lot of red bean n tapioca so it’s not watery. also, orange peels r used to flavor it! (not many good restaurants do that.)

Off to a bad start. Just got here and my spirit is breaking.
Update: we just left. Service left a worse taste in my mouth than the food would have. If we were ever served.

SPOILER ALERT! The secret ingredient to all their dishes: C5H8NO4Na.
I’m a yumcha fanatic, but eating from this place should considered to be a health-​hazard. The secret ingredient (MSG thereafter) played such a huge role in all their food, one would not stop drinking tea to wash away the unpleasant sensation.
Food wise: nothing special, stuff you would find at a normal dimsum place.
Utensil wise: not the cleanest you would find. Make sure to wipe it down.
Ambient wise: typical layout, chairs and tables awkwardly arranged to maximise room; expect elbow to elbow sitting.

Just when I was about to give up on dim sum entirely, this beautiful gem pulled me back in. I was getting tired of the dim sum scene and hated the way I felt after engulfing plate after plate of dumplings, baos, and shrimp balls. In our recent visit to San Jose, a friend recommended this spot. Although I was hesitant to go, I decided to be adventurous and take the risk. We got here 30 mins after opening. Highly suggested because the food is cooked by then and you miss the morning rush. You come in an hour after and you can expect to wait at least 30 mins to get a table.
Service was fast and friendly. Its rare to find a dim sum place with good customer service, food and it was efficient.
Lets get to the food. It was… AMAZEBALLS! I have found salvation and remembered why I fell in love with dim sum in the first place. Everything here was delicious. From the shrimp dumplings to the chicken feet (yes, these are amazing!!), everything was well seasoned and piping hot. The best thing about it was the quality of food and the price. It was sooooo affordable. For a party of 6, it was only $ 120 after tax and tip and we were all full.
A spot to definitely check out if you have never been. I will be going again the next time that I am in San Jose.

Service was slow, they sat us at the worse seat in the whole house, everyone was served food besides me (I’m white). None of them spoke English and I couldn’t understand them. There were no forks nor spoons, they served us tea and charged us in which we didn’t drink. There’s no menu, now I have to drive to another place to get my sick mother food.
Please get some air conditioning also.
–Jordan R.

One of the better Chinese restaurants in Milpitas. I love this place for dim sum and dinner. Food quality is excellent. It tastes good, smells good, and is flavorful without being too excessive. My favorite items are their silky tofu, and duck egg fried stuff, LOL. Service is pretty decent.

3.5 stars this time around but rounding up. We came early on a Saturday around (10:30am) and were seated right away. It got really busy later on and there were a lot of people waiting when we left after noon, so come early to avoid a wait (especially for larger parties). It took a while for the carts to come around, and we had to place some orders with the waiters to ensure we got the dishes we want. I still really like their Snowy Mountain Bun & Pineapple Custard Bun (
), and this is one of the few dim sum places that offer both consistently. They are also one of the few dim sum places that offer Durian Puffs (
), and the durian filling is actually fresh and the puff part was nice and flaky. This is still one of my favorite dim sum places in the South Bay. Their parking lot is medium sized, but parking does get difficult during the lunch rush depending on how closely you want to park.

DIM SUM is yummy here!
Food:
Shrimp dumpling «xia jiao»
–combo of shrimp and pork
–actual shrimps, dumpling skin is soft
–yumm
«Shiu Mai»
–combo of shrimp/​pork
–dumpling skin is different from xia jiao, yum
CHICKEN FEET
–what’s dim sum without this?
–Pretty yummy according to my fam! Everyone in my fam loves chicken feet except for me, lol
–Malaysian rumor has it if you eats lots of these when you are younger, you get bigger boobs! More reason to try :)
Fried tofu coated with salty duck egg yolk
–Extremely delicious if you love the yolkiness
–Not too oily, not too salty, just perfect!
Spareribs
–with black bean and pieces of pumpkins
–a lil fatty and oily but yummy
Porridge with century egg and pork
–topped with green onions
–a lil too blend for my taste but easily solved with sprinkles of white pepper and drops of soy sauce!
Peking duck with buns
–kitchen’s special dish, comes in 5 pieces
–sandwiched between each bun is a good piece of duck meat with crispy skin
–don’t forget the sauce and the cucumber
Service: it’s pretty crowded on weekend, come before 11am to avoid lines; servers can be a lil less friendly but overall they are ok
Price: $ 1 per person for tea regardless if you drink tea or not. Chrysanthemum tea is the most refreshing and not overwhelming
Small plate — $ 2.70
Medium — $ 3.50
Large — $ 4.30
Special — $ 5.50
Kitchen’s special — $ 6
Parking: free parking in a lot
Price is reasonable and dimsum is good! Will def come back!

I was a bit hesitant when I saw the 3 star average for King Wah, but was pleasantly surprised upon my visit. Also, I couldn’t look away from those cute little pig taro buns.
The first thing I noticed was the beautiful chandelier like lights. They add a little bit of elegance to the place. It is also very clean and really spacious. It is probably one of the biggest dim sum places that I have seen. I also think they are very organized when it comes to the waiting line. You get a small post-​it that has your number. They have a little seated area for people to wait, or you can wait outside. They use a microphone to call your number, which is so nice because you can hear it from inside and outside. It was a pretty busy Saturday afternoon, but we only had to wait about 5 – 10 minutes.
We were seated and asked what kind of tea we wanted. I opted for no tea and so they brought us water instead. If you don’t get tea, they don’t charge you for tea. A nice change to the other dim sum places that bring you tea (whether you want it or not), and then charge you for it.
Since the place is so spacious and big, it’s hard for the limited carts to go around. To prevent such a long wait for customers, there are order sheets (like Din Tai Fung) where you can put the quantity next to the item that you want. The only downside is that if you don’t read Mandarin, then it’s really hard to understand what each item is. We took a chance and just ordered what sounded appetizing in hopes it was what we were familiar with. They take the order sheet and then people will bring you your food once it is ready.
We did have to wait a bit longer than I would have wanted for our food to come out, but it was worth it. The ha gao (shrimp dumpling) were the juiciest I have had. I typically don’t like ha gao because I find that there is limited shrimp and too much skin. This place nailed it though. There was a lot of shrimp inside with not too thick of a skin. I also thought the shao mai were juicy, the XLB had the promised soup, and the fried taro were perfectly crisp. We also ordered the shrimp crepes which were pre cut into bite size pieces. The fried shrimp were a surprised but full of shrimp goodness. It is good with the sweet and sour sauce so make to sure to dip it. The meat dumpling had too thick of a skin in my opinion, and really fell apart when picked up with chopsticks. My favorite in terms of appearance would have to be the taro buns because they are decorated to look like pigs. I died on the inside. I could not contain their cuteness and did not want to eat them, but of course I did. They need a bit more taro filling, but they are not too sweet and very fluffy.
This place is a bit more expensive than other places I have been to. Most of our dim sum plates were size Medium and Large, priced at $ 3.50 and $ 4.50 respectively. We ordered 4 mediums and 4 larges for a total of about $ 34 without tip.
Service was not that great, as it is for most places. It could use more carts, but I understand since they have order sheets. Furthermore, we asked a worker there a question about the menu and he replied with «I don’t know.» If you work there, then I feel like you should understand the menu. I do appreciate that there are plenty of people walking around so you can flag someone down very easily. Overall, the best dim sum place I have had in the South Bay so far. I’ll come back for the cute little piggies.

Of the Mayflower, Twins Royal cuisine (which has since closed) and King Wah, I am most partial to King Wah for dim sum in Milpitas.
The wait is still ridiculous on a weekend, but the food is presented elegantly, and tastes delightful! Their chinaware is a little more modern looking than other Chinese restaurants and the plating is done with panache.
There is an interesting amount of non-​Chinese people who dim sum here, so interpret that how you will.
I would come back any day for dim sum here… but hopefully on a weekday so I don’t have to brave the crowds.

I think it’s so rare to find a dim sum restaurant that’s up to my standards here in the South Bay. I think it’s just rare to find dim sum restaurants that tastes so close to home (Hong Kong). It’s even more rare that this new place has already beat so many other restaurants here in the area.
Like most dim sum restaurants, there will always be waiting. I came here with one of my best friends and we waited for maybe about 30 to 40 minutes. I wasn’t really timing the wait since we killed some time just by talking and catching up outside the restaurant. Once they called our number, we hurried in and got seated at our table. We were immediately asked what type of tea we want like most places. This is one of the places that has the cart system where the staff would come around in carts and you basically pick whatever you want to eat.
We got the usuals, like the har gow (shrimp dumpling), rice noodles (beef), chicken feet, egg custard bun, durian puff and many more that I didn’t know the English names of. But they were all really good! The har gow and rice noodle skins were so thin and soft! It was so perfect! It’s hard to find places that make perfectly thin skins. Everything was so tasty! And if you’re a durian fan like me, you will love the durian puff! You have to order it, but it’s so delicious, especially when you eat it while it’s warm!
Overall, I was very satisfied with my meal. It was so good. We got seven plates and it came out to be less than $ 30, which is really cheap for dim sum! I’m definitely coming back for more!

3.5÷5, but pretty solid place for Chinese food.
I’ve been here twice in the past few weeks; once for dinner and another time for Sunday morning Dim Sum.
Dinner:
We came at a pretty non-​busy time, so we were served right away. The servers came by often to check up on us, even as it started to get busy towards the end.
— Hot and Sour soup: My favorite dish of the night. They really mean hot here. I was not expecting the soup to be that flavorful!
— Salted Eggplant and Tofu — This was super good when it was piping hot, but started to get a little weird as things cooled down and got somewhat soggy. I wasn’t expecting the eggplant to be fried as well.
— House fried rice: Just a plan ol’ fried rice that you can get at any Chinese restaurant
Dim Sum:
We came after church at around 10:30am. There were definitely a lot more people already than at dinner. The dim sum here is nothing really special. I will have to say that it is slightly better quality than some places in the area. I especially liked their chicken feet and dumplings with the soup inside (totally forgot what it was called).
My mom and I found out that some workers know Vietnamese here after they kept trying to talk to my mom in Cantonese and we were like O. O One lady overheard us talking in Vietnamese and quickly changed languages. Note that this place gets quite busy after 11:15 or so and you will have to wait!