The Kitchen

Cuisine	Chinese
Price	$$ (16-30)
Rating	7/10
Last Visit	Feb. 22, 2025
Location	SFBA: Peninsula

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General Notes

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Cantonese restaurant in Millbrae. Supposedly a pretty "authentic" Cantonese restaurant experience (I can't really judge it myself). The patrons are truly a bunch of Cantonese people and the service / getting a table process is as chaotic as you'd expect. It seems like it's always pretty popular during peak hours.

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Positives

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> Each of the two times I've been here, they always present each person with some kind of dessert at the end of the meal (free of charge). First time was red bean soup, second time was green bean soup.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★☆ 芥菜 -- one of my first few times having this vegetable, stir-fried perfectly -- cooked just the right amount, nice flavor, the slight amount of potato starch to thicken the sauce slightly is nice.
• ★★★☆ 手撕鸡 -- chicken, cilantro, cucumber, peanuts, some kind of sauce. Classic dish, pretty delicious, the chicken is relatively tender, maybe don't add all of the sauce it ends up being a little salty otherwise.
• ★★★★ Black Truffle Roast Duck -- classic cantonese style roast duck, but with some truffle flavor. The aroma is incredible and the flavor combination works wonderfully.
• ★★☆☆ Braised Lamb in Claypot -- 古法羊腩, pretty tender, but not my overall favorite flavor profile. I found the lamb chunks to be on the smaller side and the flavor to b a bit too spice-forward in general.
• ★★☆☆ Yam Sprouts -- Generally not my favorite vegetable (it feels a little mushy around the leaf part), but this was stir-fried quite well. This isn't actually on the menu but apparently it's common at Chinese restaurants to just ask "what kinds of vegetables do you have today". Pretty hefty portion
• ★★★☆ Braised Fish Chunks in Claypot -- 中山砂锅鱼骨腩. Quite delicious -- I enjoyed the flavor, it was also lightly crispy on the exterior.