Venus Cafe

Place is clean and decent. Food is very good at a reasonable price. I like the big brother most. Guilin rice noodles is mediocre, the rice noodle doesn’t taste original. But they’re raising the price, I wish that won’t be a huge raise.

This place is amazing. The owner is super nice.

I’ve been enjoying Hong Kong cafes in San Francisco since first traveling to Hong Kong in 1986, and Venus Cafe is the absolute best in SF in 2024. Excellent service, thoughtful expansive menu, great food. Light, airy, & clean

Everything we ordered was great! Would order again 1. 雪菜肉丝汤米. Tastes just like in HK. 2. Wonton in soup. Wow, fresh! 3. Baked pork and fish on spaghetti 4. Salted egg fried squid and kombocha squash. Yum. 5. Taro and pork ribs in clay pot 6. French toast with peanut butter Friendly enough service for Chinese place. Kept waters filled. Food comes out fast. Comfortable seating in the corner booth. Recommend!

I was pleasantly surprised by Venus Cafe in San Francisco. It is a consistently solid spot that stands out for being open late, which can be hard to find in the area. The atmosphere is casual but welcoming, and the staff are friendly without being overbearing. The menu offers a nice range of comforting dishes that are well-executed, flavorful, and served fresh. Everything we ordered was satisfying, and the portions were generous without being overwhelming. Whether you're stopping by for a late-night meal or just looking for a dependable place with good food and a relaxed vibe, Venus Cafe delivers. I’ll definitely be coming back.

Hong Kong style cafe (restaurant) with a huge menu. We tried the seafood combo and the pork chop and spaghetti combo. Best to describe as delicious comfort food. Will be back to try some other dishes. Friendly and efficient staff.

First time here, and I wanted take-out for a lazy Sunday. Glad I took the lady’s suggestion of the lobster noodle with yifu noodles. Good portion of perfectly tender lobster. $24.99 is an excellent price! Steamed chicken is also perfectly tender and flavorful! A Half portion is $16 and plenty for 2-3 to split.

Been here a few times. My favorite is the tomato beef crispy noodles. Brought some friends here. One ate Curry another beef with soup tho he wanted chow fun style. Always busy and the guy is super nice.

It's pretty good. I use to go to the one in hosteter(SJ). I really like the baked spaghetti dishes. Their hot and sour soup is average. it's a little pricier for the type of food, but the place is really clean and peaceful.

Nicholas Sinn

I was pleasantly surprised by Venus Cafe in San Francisco. It is a consistently solid spot that stands out for being open late, which can be hard to find in the area. The atmosphere is casual but welcoming, and the staff are friendly without being overbearing. The menu offers a nice range of comforting dishes that are well-executed, flavorful, and served fresh. Everything we ordered was satisfying, and the portions were generous without being overwhelming. Whether you're stopping by for a late-night meal or just looking for a dependable place with good food and a relaxed vibe, Venus Cafe delivers. I’ll definitely be coming back.

James Aguilar

Hong Kong style cafe (restaurant) with a huge menu. We tried the seafood combo and the pork chop and spaghetti combo. Best to describe as delicious comfort food. Will be back to try some other dishes. Friendly and efficient staff.

Erica W

First time here, and I wanted take-out for a lazy Sunday. Glad I took the lady’s suggestion of the lobster noodle with yifu noodles. Good portion of perfectly tender lobster. $24.99 is an excellent price! Steamed chicken is also perfectly tender and flavorful! A Half portion is $16 and plenty for 2-3 to split.

Danice M

Been here a few times. My favorite is the tomato beef crispy noodles. Brought some friends here. One ate Curry another beef with soup tho he wanted chow fun style. Always busy and the guy is super nice.

Joshua Z

It's pretty good. I use to go to the one in hosteter(SJ). I really like the baked spaghetti dishes. Their hot and sour soup is average. it's a little pricier for the type of food, but the place is really clean and peaceful.

Good portions, good comfort food. Chinese restaurant at 3 stars is how you know the food is good. HK restaurant food is solid, milk tea is solid. Good prices.

Adrian

Good portions, good comfort food. Chinese restaurant at 3 stars is how you know the food is good. HK restaurant food is solid, milk tea is solid. Good prices.

Food is good for the price. Hong Kong style cafe food.

Good baked pork chop, tomato beef and sliced pork noodle

Food tasted good and slightly pricier than similar type of food wthin couple of miles

Most of the food here was quite delicious. The salt and pepper chicken wings were piping hot and very plump and juicy. The green onion pancakes were thin and crispy. The minced beef with veggies and pan fried rice was a perfect blend of crunchy rice with soft noodles soaked in gravy. The only item I didn't care for was the Hainan Chicken. It was just okay. It's hard to make it good and I probably wouldn't order it again. Plenty of other dishes that will be fun to try!

We went at a busy time but the service was decent. Our food took a little while but it was reasonable. The baked fish rice dish is quite good, we got it multiple times. Get a cup of milk tea and be sure to stir it up.

The food is good, but they have to get rid of, or at least better balance, the online orders. They seem to cook all the online orders and ignore the in-restaurant patrons, leading to times up to an hour to get your food if you’re dining in. This wasn’t the case before the online orders, so I am hoping they can get this rebalanced soon. The staff is friendly and super hard working, but they need to get orders correct and find a way to balance the online orders and dine-in.

Came here for breakfast. Strange that they only serve breakfast for an hour, 10 am to 11 am. Food was decent but too long to come out which is the opposite of how a real Hong Kong style cafe is. Service was ok.

It was a nice place to hang out with friends and eat appetizers and snacks in the late evening. Takeout was only okay but a good deal in terms of price and quantity. I would get the fish with corn sauce again. I still want to try their breakfast

Insanely nostalgic and I will return to experience the ambiance of a HK cha chaan teng in SF. Really extensive menu, perfect for anyone and any time of day. I came in on a Saturday for a quick lunch. Loved seeing all the Chinese locals in Richmond come enjoy a meal and sit and chat. Staff checked in on me a few times and were very accommodating. I enjoyed my hainan chicken lunch set. I will definitely return to try classic dishes that not many restaurants will offer like macaroni noodle soup or frog legs.

We stumbled in here on Clement while wandering around because it was filled with older Asian people and that's usually a pretty good sign. Service was fine, not particularly efficient but not terrible either. They seated us right away but it got pretty busy as we were dining there. The menu is very extensive, there are a million things on there and even more written in Chinese on the wall. While it is a cha chaan teng, I didn't end up ordering the usual western influenced dishes but went with some classics. The food was lightly seasoned and that was perfect for me - some people might find it needs more. Dried scallop & egg white fried rice: this is my favorite kind of fried rice and shockingly hard to find in the city. This was a really good version - it had some wokhei and every grain was separated and not too hard. I was really glad I ordered this. Garlic sauteed water spinach: perfectly cooked and not too greasy. Salt pepper pork ribs: nicely seasoned and crispy! The vegetables with it were weirdly cold but the pork was served hot. Felt like they just added the vegetables at the end and they were precooked. This place delivers on Cantonese food that is decent and has enough dishes that you can come back frequently not get bored. Prices are on the higher side but the quality is decent.

My wife and I visited on the last Saturday of July 2024 for the first time since COVID-19 lockdown over 4 years ago. There were at least 4 different menus of lunch specials, breakfast specials, group dinners, etc., all with multiple whited-out manual price updates and corrections. There were too many mind-boggling choices. But once you settle on one of the many familiar Cantonese/HK favorites, you will see why this is a legit local favorite. My wife enjoyed her rice noodle soup with pork & pickled vegetables, and I devoured my nicely plated beef chow fun with gravy. The prices have gone up significantly since our last visit, but the flavors are still very good. We will come again.

Updated review 3/30/2022: Venus Cafe saves the day. A lot of the restaurants in the Sunset district were closed at 7pm (Smile House closes every other Wednesdays, S&E Cafe (no indoor dining) and Just Wonton closed.) I was in the mood for some HK style instant noodles w/spam and egg or wontons. I had the fried pork chop w/fried egg on a bed of instant noodles without soup $13. My appetizer was Hong Kong style fish balls with a heavy dark sauce $5. The food tasted fine. The Yelp hours are incorrect, they close at 8pm everyday. Well done Venus Cafe for satisfying my Hong Kong style instant noodles fix. Indoor dining 5/19/2021. Venus Cafe is a not a bad Hong Kong style cafe. The service is fast with fair tasting food. Tonight I had their house combo sizzling platter, chicken, pork chop, bacon, ham, hot dog , fried egg on top and french fries on the bottom. It came with a side of spaghetti and milk tea. The milk tea was served in a dirty cup with coffee stains from the previous customer. HK cafes are not known for their cleanliness and is as expected. The first bites of the various meats were awesome. Towards the end of my meal, it felt tedious and was too much. The bottom piece of the chicken had a lot of fat and I had to cut that off along with the skin. This wasn't a bad meal. I will come back to try their other dishes.

Cash only and very busy place. Hong Kong style food. Opens late with friendly staff and service. Ordered wonton ho fun with beef brisket. Food is pretty good. Four stars because it’s a cash only cafe.

Solid HK cafe, service is as you would expect from your typical greasy spoon asian restaurant. Food is solid 4/5, reasonably priced and large portions! Pictured below is the half white/red sauce chicken and pork chop rice.

Busy place. Solid food. Glad to have another HK style cafe in the Richmond. Wish this place could seat more people! Lots of options on the menu. Prices are a little high for the kinda style of cafe, but I will accept.

Kit Cheng

Came here for breakfast. Strange that they only serve breakfast for an hour, 10 am to 11 am. Food was decent but too long to come out which is the opposite of how a real Hong Kong style cafe is. Service was ok.

E Lee

It was a nice place to hang out with friends and eat appetizers and snacks in the late evening. Takeout was only okay but a good deal in terms of price and quantity. I would get the fish with corn sauce again. I still want to try their breakfast

Ying Zhang

Insanely nostalgic and I will return to experience the ambiance of a HK cha chaan teng in SF. Really extensive menu, perfect for anyone and any time of day. I came in on a Saturday for a quick lunch. Loved seeing all the Chinese locals in Richmond come enjoy a meal and sit and chat. Staff checked in on me a few times and were very accommodating. I enjoyed my hainan chicken lunch set. I will definitely return to try classic dishes that not many restaurants will offer like macaroni noodle soup or frog legs.

Sze Yen Chan

We stumbled in here on Clement while wandering around because it was filled with older Asian people and that's usually a pretty good sign. Service was fine, not particularly efficient but not terrible either. They seated us right away but it got pretty busy as we were dining there. The menu is very extensive, there are a million things on there and even more written in Chinese on the wall. While it is a cha chaan teng, I didn't end up ordering the usual western influenced dishes but went with some classics. The food was lightly seasoned and that was perfect for me - some people might find it needs more. Dried scallop & egg white fried rice: this is my favorite kind of fried rice and shockingly hard to find in the city. This was a really good version - it had some wokhei and every grain was separated and not too hard. I was really glad I ordered this. Garlic sauteed water spinach: perfectly cooked and not too greasy. Salt pepper pork ribs: nicely seasoned and crispy! The vegetables with it were weirdly cold but the pork was served hot. Felt like they just added the vegetables at the end and they were precooked. This place delivers on Cantonese food that is decent and has enough dishes that you can come back frequently not get bored. Prices are on the higher side but the quality is decent.

Wendel Tse

My wife and I visited on the last Saturday of July 2024 for the first time since COVID-19 lockdown over 4 years ago. There were at least 4 different menus of lunch specials, breakfast specials, group dinners, etc., all with multiple whited-out manual price updates and corrections. There were too many mind-boggling choices. But once you settle on one of the many familiar Cantonese/HK favorites, you will see why this is a legit local favorite. My wife enjoyed her rice noodle soup with pork & pickled vegetables, and I devoured my nicely plated beef chow fun with gravy. The prices have gone up significantly since our last visit, but the flavors are still very good. We will come again.

Jeff Ho

Updated review 3/30/2022: Venus Cafe saves the day. A lot of the restaurants in the Sunset district were closed at 7pm (Smile House closes every other Wednesdays, S&E Cafe (no indoor dining) and Just Wonton closed.) I was in the mood for some HK style instant noodles w/spam and egg or wontons. I had the fried pork chop w/fried egg on a bed of instant noodles without soup $13. My appetizer was Hong Kong style fish balls with a heavy dark sauce $5. The food tasted fine. The Yelp hours are incorrect, they close at 8pm everyday. Well done Venus Cafe for satisfying my Hong Kong style instant noodles fix. Indoor dining 5/19/2021. Venus Cafe is a not a bad Hong Kong style cafe. The service is fast with fair tasting food. Tonight I had their house combo sizzling platter, chicken, pork chop, bacon, ham, hot dog , fried egg on top and french fries on the bottom. It came with a side of spaghetti and milk tea. The milk tea was served in a dirty cup with coffee stains from the previous customer. HK cafes are not known for their cleanliness and is as expected. The first bites of the various meats were awesome. Towards the end of my meal, it felt tedious and was too much. The bottom piece of the chicken had a lot of fat and I had to cut that off along with the skin. This wasn't a bad meal. I will come back to try their other dishes.

Peter Lau

Cash only and very busy place. Hong Kong style food. Opens late with friendly staff and service. Ordered wonton ho fun with beef brisket. Food is pretty good. Four stars because it’s a cash only cafe.

Eugen Xie

Solid HK cafe, service is as you would expect from your typical greasy spoon asian restaurant. Food is solid 4/5, reasonably priced and large portions! Pictured below is the half white/red sauce chicken and pork chop rice.

Faithy Leong

Busy place. Solid food. Glad to have another HK style cafe in the Richmond. Wish this place could seat more people! Lots of options on the menu. Prices are a little high for the kinda style of cafe, but I will accept.

Food is good, but service is pretty poor. Prices are pretty high for what the quality of food as well.

Comfortable seating, but the deserts were tasteless. They've got an interesting menu though. Maybe other dishes on the menu would taste better.

The food is good and decently portioned. It took a while to get served. But what bummed was the price... Yes I know we are the city, but they have signs saying the price has been raised but the menu doesn't reflect it, so it's a bit confusing. For the price of each dish I honestly expected a bit more. The perk about this place is that there is a good authentic dumpling place quite close to this place. As a note, main dishes are bit limited.

Portions were good and the food was more Hong Kong style. The prices were a little steep as the minimum wage in SF is set to go up again come July. The waiter was attentive but the waitresses tended to be engage in idle chit chat among themselves. Couldn't believe I paid over $13+ dollars for a plate of tomato beef chow mein. It was good but I had a sodium/msg attack not long after I had the meal. There are other options/items on the menu I want to try. I'll update my comments after I go there a few more times. The first impression is not always the best.

Food is good. Not the first time here. Will come again

Overall the food was good but the service was lacking. The menu prices were different then the online menu. There is a 3% service charge for credit card payments. We got Beef Brisket & Rice roll in clay pot (which was really good), Shanghai Style Stir-Fried Thick Noodles (I didn't like the thick noodles but the season was good), Seafood Combo with White Sauce (it's a rice dish and I didn't like the imitation crab but the rice was good), and Lotus Roots & Pig Knuckles (I didn't like how soft the lotus roots were. There was no crunch at all.) Half the tables were taken when we entered so we thought it was a really good place.. but it might have been because there was only one staff member manning the place at the beginning. We ended up sitting ourselves down (group of four) after waiting a few minutes. We got a physical menu after a while and we had to stand up to find someone to take our order - it was about a 10-20 minute wait. We eventually got our tea. The service did speed up when more staff came in (we assumed they were went on break).

Food was decent; however, they do charge 3% convenience fee for using credit card (sign is posted, and this is something I've noticed with more and more restaurants). Also note: 15% tip is enforced, and they will charge for to go containers, so bring your own tupperware and bag if you're not sure you'll finish your meal.

Liz Donut

Overall the food was good but the service was lacking. The menu prices were different then the online menu. There is a 3% service charge for credit card payments. We got Beef Brisket & Rice roll in clay pot (which was really good), Shanghai Style Stir-Fried Thick Noodles (I didn't like the thick noodles but the season was good), Seafood Combo with White Sauce (it's a rice dish and I didn't like the imitation crab but the rice was good), and Lotus Roots & Pig Knuckles (I didn't like how soft the lotus roots were. There was no crunch at all.) Half the tables were taken when we entered so we thought it was a really good place.. but it might have been because there was only one staff member manning the place at the beginning. We ended up sitting ourselves down (group of four) after waiting a few minutes. We got a physical menu after a while and we had to stand up to find someone to take our order - it was about a 10-20 minute wait. We eventually got our tea. The service did speed up when more staff came in (we assumed they were went on break).

andikmh

Food was decent; however, they do charge 3% convenience fee for using credit card (sign is posted, and this is something I've noticed with more and more restaurants). Also note: 15% tip is enforced, and they will charge for to go containers, so bring your own tupperware and bag if you're not sure you'll finish your meal.

While the seating area is comfortable especially when compared with some of the similar older establishments in this area, and the staff are all nice, the food I ordered was a disappointment (Malaysian style spicy chicken fillet with rice). Perhaps I should have checked out the other reviews first.

Mary Grygleski

While the seating area is comfortable especially when compared with some of the similar older establishments in this area, and the staff are all nice, the food I ordered was a disappointment (Malaysian style spicy chicken fillet with rice). Perhaps I should have checked out the other reviews first.

This place gives out really small portions wouldn’t recommend it for family style. Probably not my favorite restaurant in Clement due to that fact and there are so many options around.

Food at the Venus on Clement is okay; there is a wide variety on the menu and it is tasty enough though nothing special. But at lunchtime the place seems to be too busy for its staffing, both front and back of house. Service was slow and dishes came out haphazardly (our appetizer came out last!). Calling it "fast food" is a stretch. No refills on tea or water, and French fries were added to one of our entrees which we did not order, for which we were charged $2.

Food safety is low at this place. They served me rotten shrimp. Both my wife and I got stomach after eating lunch there. Avoid!

2 times in a row. 2 different days. 1st mistake was corrected and was taken care of by a nice lady. 2nd experience was horrible. Ordered from uber eats. Specifically picked rice. Gave me noodles the first time. Picked rice this time again on a different plate and they gave me French fries instead. Called in and they don't understand...and tried to turn it around like i was at fault, getting defensive and started talking smack. It clearly says choose either rice or fries. wonder if they even look at the options customers pick? Plenty of other restaurants to go to. On to the next one.

Too expensive. Taste is bland at best. Much better is the tiny Thai restaurant almost just across the street which is cheaper and got dishes with much better taste. Venus has a boring ambience. Going back to the food. The only good thing was the Cream of Mushroom soup. Service was ok. We did not have to wait long to sit. Prices are for the most part outrageous. Not coming back.

I ordered a set plate with "fried rice", And the "fried rice" that came was yellow colored rice with no egg or chives, just white rice that taste dry bland with some butter. I have never eaten something so horrendous in my life and im not very picky when it comes to food.

Wayne Leong

I ordered a set plate with "fried rice", And the "fried rice" that came was yellow colored rice with no egg or chives, just white rice that taste dry bland with some butter. I have never eaten something so horrendous in my life and im not very picky when it comes to food.

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience really bothered me. I paid with a $100 bill and didn’t look at the receipt at the time. When I was given my change, no receipt was provided. We only ordered two dishes around $14–15 each and one dessert under $5, so the amount of change I received didn’t make sense. I asked for the receipt afterward, and once I reviewed it, I immediately noticed that $10 was missing. I pointed it out right away and was given the $10 back, but there was no apology or explanation. Additionally, the food itself was mediocre at best. One of the dishes we ordered was the curry beef brisket, and there was a large chunk of unmelted curry sauce sitting in the soup, which was pretty off-putting. Overall, the experience left me feeling uncomfortable and questioning whether this was an honest mistake or something that may happen more often than it should. I strongly recommend checking your receipt carefully if you choose to dine here.

Kelly J

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience really bothered me. I paid with a $100 bill and didn’t look at the receipt at the time. When I was given my change, no receipt was provided. We only ordered two dishes around $14–15 each and one dessert under $5, so the amount of change I received didn’t make sense. I asked for the receipt afterward, and once I reviewed it, I immediately noticed that $10 was missing. I pointed it out right away and was given the $10 back, but there was no apology or explanation. Additionally, the food itself was mediocre at best. One of the dishes we ordered was the curry beef brisket, and there was a large chunk of unmelted curry sauce sitting in the soup, which was pretty off-putting. Overall, the experience left me feeling uncomfortable and questioning whether this was an honest mistake or something that may happen more often than it should. I strongly recommend checking your receipt carefully if you choose to dine here.