Stick & Steam

My wife and I visited for the first time for lunch today. The outside of the restaurant looks more like a trendy gourmet burger joint than a typical place for Asian food. The laminated single sheet 2-sided menu had a limited selection, but it had enough popular Hong Kong style comfort food lunch plates to satisfy, including a small selection of dim sum and boba drinks. The service was quick and the food was delicious. We were impressed with a dish sanitizer which looks like a clear door refrigerator placed at the entrance to the dining room. This small eatery, owned by the same owners as the popular Koi Palace, has a selection of frozen dim sum you can buy to cook at home.

My go-to Hong Kong café in Millbrae is usually Orchid Café, but this new spot popped up on my IG, so I decided to give it a try. I’d say this café is definitely comparable to Orchid Café! We ordered the pineapple bun, baked cutlet rice, and Typhoon shrimp fried rice. The pineapple bun was excellent — soft and bouncy inside with a buttery, flaky crust. It paired really well with their Hong Kong milk tea. However, the milk tea was a bit too sweet and slightly watery for my taste. I prefer a stronger tea flavor with a silkier texture. The baked cutlet rice with curry sauce was flavorful and comforting, but the cutlet crust was a little soggy. If it had been crispy, it would have been perfect. The Typhoon shrimp fried rice was really good — very aromatic, topped with crunchy Typhoon-style garlic, and it had great wok hei. I’ve heard their Hainanese chicken rice is also really good, so I’ll definitely be back to try more items on the menu. Looks like Orchid Café has some serious competition in Millbrae now 😄

Small business with great variety of Asian delights. The food we ordered was delicious. Shrimp Dumpling Noodles Soup, Siu Mai Dim Sum, Crispy Fried Chicken with various sauces and rice. It was yummy!!!

Good value with great dim sum like options. This place has a nice casual vibe and everything is reasonably priced. The food here tasted yummy but don't expect to get authentic style Hong Kong food. Expect to get new flavours on old recipes with a spice of innovation and cleverness. I recommend their pork skewers and salted duck fries. Pro tip is to use yelp check-in for queueing or reservation

This is an authentic Cantonese food place. Their dishes are unique and you will not find them everywhere. They can get busy so make sure you plan accordingly. I think their service is okay but we've always been able to get what we needed. No complaints there (keep in mind they can get very busy). We will definitely do business with them again!

Met expectations given that this is from the same owner as Koi palace 😊 this is a more...American version selling dimsum and skewers. Good: 🌟Xiao long Bao was very flavorful especially the crab one 🌟The baked eggplant had yummy fried garlic on top 🌟The siumai was especially shrimpy 🌟 the mala boneless chicken was very well cooked. Ok: 🔹 The hainanese rice lacked flavor but it was yummy once the sweet sauce was added 🔹 the New York steak was slightly overcooked but went well with the chicken rice Don't recommend: 🔶 the mango green tea and creme didn't mix well.

Stick & Steam provides authentic tasting Cantonese food in a new and exciting way. The restaurant does an excellent job with their modern day approach on traditional Cantonese dishes; they were able to recreate authentic flavors in a totally new package. Overall my experience was very enjoyable and the vibe definitely reminded me of Hong Kong.

We got yolk fries and I got several items but forgot to take pictures (I also forgot exact names, sorry): Sampler dumplings Cheesy baked chicken and rice Green beans Brown sugar boba The brown sugar milk tea was made with some kind of special jelly that wasn’t at all tapioca balls. The texture was more like a semi-firm, uniform jelly- and it was delicious!! I personally dislike the texture of tapioca balls- most places make them taste too sticky or undercook them and they have a grainy taste. These jellies were delicious! They add some kind of graham cracker crumble on top too- which is nice. Cheesy baked chicken and rice was a little heavy, and I probably should have gotten something lighter. Sampler dumplings were delicious, but I was hungry and ate them too fast, so I don’t really remember the taste. Green beans were cooked well- crunchy and fresh- with some delicious onions in there too!

Omg the salted egg yolk fries are bomb. Everything here has a good amount of flavor, particularly their appetizers and quick eats. If you want to have a good experience and not order the wrong thing, make sure to consult with the staff there. Overall very good place (and good yuzu sauce too 👌).

Lolo O Tab Penn

Small business with great variety of Asian delights. The food we ordered was delicious. Shrimp Dumpling Noodles Soup, Siu Mai Dim Sum, Crispy Fried Chicken with various sauces and rice. It was yummy!!!

S S

Good value with great dim sum like options. This place has a nice casual vibe and everything is reasonably priced. The food here tasted yummy but don't expect to get authentic style Hong Kong food. Expect to get new flavours on old recipes with a spice of innovation and cleverness. I recommend their pork skewers and salted duck fries. Pro tip is to use yelp check-in for queueing or reservation

Tim G

This is an authentic Cantonese food place. Their dishes are unique and you will not find them everywhere. They can get busy so make sure you plan accordingly. I think their service is okay but we've always been able to get what we needed. No complaints there (keep in mind they can get very busy). We will definitely do business with them again!

Musho Pea

Met expectations given that this is from the same owner as Koi palace 😊 this is a more...American version selling dimsum and skewers. Good: 🌟Xiao long Bao was very flavorful especially the crab one 🌟The baked eggplant had yummy fried garlic on top 🌟The siumai was especially shrimpy 🌟 the mala boneless chicken was very well cooked. Ok: 🔹 The hainanese rice lacked flavor but it was yummy once the sweet sauce was added 🔹 the New York steak was slightly overcooked but went well with the chicken rice Don't recommend: 🔶 the mango green tea and creme didn't mix well.

Stevie

Stick & Steam provides authentic tasting Cantonese food in a new and exciting way. The restaurant does an excellent job with their modern day approach on traditional Cantonese dishes; they were able to recreate authentic flavors in a totally new package. Overall my experience was very enjoyable and the vibe definitely reminded me of Hong Kong.

Dave Liu

We got yolk fries and I got several items but forgot to take pictures (I also forgot exact names, sorry): Sampler dumplings Cheesy baked chicken and rice Green beans Brown sugar boba The brown sugar milk tea was made with some kind of special jelly that wasn’t at all tapioca balls. The texture was more like a semi-firm, uniform jelly- and it was delicious!! I personally dislike the texture of tapioca balls- most places make them taste too sticky or undercook them and they have a grainy taste. These jellies were delicious! They add some kind of graham cracker crumble on top too- which is nice. Cheesy baked chicken and rice was a little heavy, and I probably should have gotten something lighter. Sampler dumplings were delicious, but I was hungry and ate them too fast, so I don’t really remember the taste. Green beans were cooked well- crunchy and fresh- with some delicious onions in there too!

Lawrence Su

Omg the salted egg yolk fries are bomb. Everything here has a good amount of flavor, particularly their appetizers and quick eats. If you want to have a good experience and not order the wrong thing, make sure to consult with the staff there. Overall very good place (and good yuzu sauce too 👌).

I was feeling under the weather and was craving for some comforting food. Saw that this place serve Hainanese chicken noodle. Saw a review that the Hainanese chicken served here is the closest to Singapore style chicken rice so I decided to try it. I did not order chicken rice as I was craving for soupy stuff. I ordered the Hainanese chicken noodle. Judging from the chicken, the ginger and chilli, I would say that it is true. It is a taste that reminds me of home. The soup is also not overly salty so it is the perfect comfort food when you need one. We also tried their beef and shrimp wonton noodle and it is also excellent. The wonton skin is soft and the filling is a lot. Beef is also tender. I will certainly come back again

Wenny Ong

I was feeling under the weather and was craving for some comforting food. Saw that this place serve Hainanese chicken noodle. Saw a review that the Hainanese chicken served here is the closest to Singapore style chicken rice so I decided to try it. I did not order chicken rice as I was craving for soupy stuff. I ordered the Hainanese chicken noodle. Judging from the chicken, the ginger and chilli, I would say that it is true. It is a taste that reminds me of home. The soup is also not overly salty so it is the perfect comfort food when you need one. We also tried their beef and shrimp wonton noodle and it is also excellent. The wonton skin is soft and the filling is a lot. Beef is also tender. I will certainly come back again

Fresh and lovely wonton, just the right size, chicken wings fried perfectly although a bit stronger seasoning would be great. 小籠包 is also perfectly size and juicy with the skin just right thickness.

Pretttty good spot. Pork belly was one of the best I'd had in a while, and I eat a lot of pork belly. Beef soup was ok, could do without it next time. Dim sum surprised me. Didn't expect much, bit it def hit the spot. Would go back again for sure.

Hong Kong style restaurant. Some good, some just ok. We will try again if by the area.

The food is pretty darn good. The steak was juicy, the chicken wings were bomb and the dumplings were tasty. The only dish that wasn’t good was the kimcheese fried rice and I also think the price is a bit too high. After everything, two of us paid $52.50 each!! (Yes we did get a pitcher of beer but still...) good food but not exactly worth the price point

A small place in the corner of a small mall. It's efficiently run. You get the menu and a form to check the items you want. That's it. The food was tasty and came out very fast. The Hong Kong style rice plates were good. The beef noodles were delicious.

This place was yummy. The shrimp wonton soup was so good. The strawberry explosion was on point.

Pretty solid Chinese food from the creators of Dragon Beaux in San Francisco. The menu is a bit limited but what they do have they execute well. The Hainan chicken is especially delicious, all the way down to the authentic dipping sauces. The beef noodle soup is good, though I've had better in the Bay. Overall, their service was great. A very solid choice if you're looking for a good Chinese food in the peninsula.

Food was decent. Not the best, but it was good. Staff was excellent. Small, crowded and noisy environment.

Great place for small bites, and a large variety of items. Good for kids and families. Try the beef noodle bowl and chicken and rice dishes. The xiao long bao isn't that good, so you can skip them.

+3

Came here for lunch on Lunar New Year's because we were in Millbrae. The Dim Sum was all very good, as was the lava egg buns and the Chinese broccoli was steamed to perfection. We were very pleased that we got a table for three right away and even more pleased by the fast service.

Pretty solid spot! An easy fix for some dim sum or Hainan Chicken. Overall a bit more on the modern/fusion side in terms of the food and style and if that's what you're looking for then perfect! Cute spot and I was really intrigued by the salted egg yolk fries. Worth it, and I became a huge fan of their fries. Definitely my favorite thing out of the stuff we ordered, with the chicken coming in second. Both very flavorful. The pork belly probably wouldn't order again though. A tad on the dryer side but still good.

There are better places for the type of food Sticks and Steam serves. What they have going for them is all day dim sum and a clean restaurant. They do have a limited $15 weekday menu. The food is missing that wow factor. We had the Hainan chicken rice plate $16.75, baked tomato pork chop rice $15 and a wonton noodle soup $15. Their version of Hainan chicken rice is missing that chicken stock flavor in the rice. At least they got the ginger and sweet chili sauces right. I also would have preferred the traditional cucumbers instead of pickled vegetables. The baked tomato pork chop rice and wonton noodles were no better. The flavors were off. At least the kitchen is fast and service was excellent.

Stick & Steam is a good small place to get some dim sum, beef noodles, baked rice, or Hainan chicken rice, all in one restaurant. The food is good, but not as good as the restaurants that specialize in the single genre. That said, it definitely satisfied the different cravings our family had. The food came out quickly, the service was pleasant, and most importantly the food was good enough to come again. While I personally wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, if you’re in the Millbrae area and want to try some good Chinese comfort food, this place is worth a try. One more thing - everyone raves about the salted egg fries, but I thought they were only okay. Now the sea bass…..that’s something to rave about.

Food was okay, but the okra, steak, was sweet. Pretty confusing to my taste buds. The dumplings were great, added soup was delicious. But what I really like was the chicken and rice. The rice wasn't oily and the chicken was on point. Four stars because we also ordered the chicken but unfortunately it was not cooked all the way.

Decent fusion food with modern dim sum options! My favorite thing by far was the typhoon ha gao (which is their deep fried version of ha gao). Juicy shrimp inside with a crispy exterior sprinkled with fried garlic! Some other things I got to try: Egg yolk lava buns: comes with 2. Delicious gooey savory yet slightly sweet egg yolk inside a soft pillowy white steamed bread. Egg yolk fries: decently flavored and crispy fries! String beans: a little on the sweet side but still tasty. Surprisingly this took the longest to come out Spicy Mala chicken: my favorite part of this dish was the pork rib bone soup (that I paid extra for). The chicken wasn't really spicy but your mouth will definitely be numb from the mala! Overall good place for some quick bites!

Asian fusion food in small plates. XLB trio was actually pretty good, can taste all three different flavors, original, crabs and truffle. I especially like the pork belly and wings yakitori, not over cooked, great flavor and hot off the grill! Wish I had try the veggies. The Typhoon Ha Gao was a bit of a let down, I suppose you really shouldn't mess with traditional dim sum. It doesn't taste right, just greasy and can't really taste the traditional Typhoon style in it. But there are still many items in the menu that I would love to return to give it a try.

Stick & Steam makes delicious and very reasonably priced dim sums 🥟 The mala seafood 🥟 and pan-fried XLB are great. Chicken wings and mala spiced chicken and rice are also very good.

Luna Salaver

Came here for lunch on Lunar New Year's because we were in Millbrae. The Dim Sum was all very good, as was the lava egg buns and the Chinese broccoli was steamed to perfection. We were very pleased that we got a table for three right away and even more pleased by the fast service.

Jade Chen

Pretty solid spot! An easy fix for some dim sum or Hainan Chicken. Overall a bit more on the modern/fusion side in terms of the food and style and if that's what you're looking for then perfect! Cute spot and I was really intrigued by the salted egg yolk fries. Worth it, and I became a huge fan of their fries. Definitely my favorite thing out of the stuff we ordered, with the chicken coming in second. Both very flavorful. The pork belly probably wouldn't order again though. A tad on the dryer side but still good.

Jeff Ho

There are better places for the type of food Sticks and Steam serves. What they have going for them is all day dim sum and a clean restaurant. They do have a limited $15 weekday menu. The food is missing that wow factor. We had the Hainan chicken rice plate $16.75, baked tomato pork chop rice $15 and a wonton noodle soup $15. Their version of Hainan chicken rice is missing that chicken stock flavor in the rice. At least they got the ginger and sweet chili sauces right. I also would have preferred the traditional cucumbers instead of pickled vegetables. The baked tomato pork chop rice and wonton noodles were no better. The flavors were off. At least the kitchen is fast and service was excellent.

Kat Chan

Stick & Steam is a good small place to get some dim sum, beef noodles, baked rice, or Hainan chicken rice, all in one restaurant. The food is good, but not as good as the restaurants that specialize in the single genre. That said, it definitely satisfied the different cravings our family had. The food came out quickly, the service was pleasant, and most importantly the food was good enough to come again. While I personally wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, if you’re in the Millbrae area and want to try some good Chinese comfort food, this place is worth a try. One more thing - everyone raves about the salted egg fries, but I thought they were only okay. Now the sea bass…..that’s something to rave about.

Serena Yuen

Food was okay, but the okra, steak, was sweet. Pretty confusing to my taste buds. The dumplings were great, added soup was delicious. But what I really like was the chicken and rice. The rice wasn't oily and the chicken was on point. Four stars because we also ordered the chicken but unfortunately it was not cooked all the way.

Kelly Hudiono

Decent fusion food with modern dim sum options! My favorite thing by far was the typhoon ha gao (which is their deep fried version of ha gao). Juicy shrimp inside with a crispy exterior sprinkled with fried garlic! Some other things I got to try: Egg yolk lava buns: comes with 2. Delicious gooey savory yet slightly sweet egg yolk inside a soft pillowy white steamed bread. Egg yolk fries: decently flavored and crispy fries! String beans: a little on the sweet side but still tasty. Surprisingly this took the longest to come out Spicy Mala chicken: my favorite part of this dish was the pork rib bone soup (that I paid extra for). The chicken wasn't really spicy but your mouth will definitely be numb from the mala! Overall good place for some quick bites!

moby chu

Asian fusion food in small plates. XLB trio was actually pretty good, can taste all three different flavors, original, crabs and truffle. I especially like the pork belly and wings yakitori, not over cooked, great flavor and hot off the grill! Wish I had try the veggies. The Typhoon Ha Gao was a bit of a let down, I suppose you really shouldn't mess with traditional dim sum. It doesn't taste right, just greasy and can't really taste the traditional Typhoon style in it. But there are still many items in the menu that I would love to return to give it a try.

Suvrajit Saha

Stick & Steam makes delicious and very reasonably priced dim sums 🥟 The mala seafood 🥟 and pan-fried XLB are great. Chicken wings and mala spiced chicken and rice are also very good.

The Typhoon Ha Gao was delicious! We ordered the Hainan Chicken, beef shiu mai, XLB trio, pork belly skewer, and fries, and thought everything was just okay. Out of those, the pork belly and XLB trio were the best. The restaurant itself was cute and clean, and the service was good. Also tried the passion fruit soju, which was really sweet, but pretty delicious.

a1 isnt very good; soup hella salty, food oily as hell the hot lemon tea is very sweet

First time there, pretty cool spot. I thought the food was ok. Good service. Gave it 3 stars only just because I felt we were rush a little bit.

+1

Ordered for pick up. When I got my Hainan chicken plate, came up short. I was expecting at least a quarter of a chicken. What I got is half of a thigh only. There was barely chicken. It was filled with cabbage. Really disappointed.

Nice place to hang out. Small hidden spot. Food is ok, portions are small for the price paid.

Contemporary pan-Asian kitchen featuring a selection of dim sum favorites and grilled yakitori-style skewers. A special nod to Southeast Asia with salted egg yolk fries — add Sriracha — and Hainan chicken rice. A handful of options for vegetarians, including a tasty plate of string beans and a grilled eggplant, but offerings could be diversified. Good condiment selection (easy win for the restaurant), but tea drinks were only so-so.

Stick & Steam is an okay lunch spot from my visit. I had the Hainan Chicken. It tasted alright but with a few caveats. Wishing there was more chicken and it was warmer. The three sauces were nice though (wish they were also more plentiful) and includes the garlic sauce to the hot sauce. The rice was okay too and comes with a plain salad. Cost was $12. It costs +$2 extra to get soup. They do have a Yelp Waitlist system but on a 1PM on a Thursday, there was no wait and plenty of tables. Service was pretty prompt. The decor is semi-modern with its black walls. I did see some interesting items that I would like to still try like the charcoal pork belly buns and they had a selection of dim sum, teas, and beer/sake.

First time visit dine in. Previously I had to go order. There are plenty item on the menu. I am craving for wonton noodle soup and hainam chicken rice and my friend suggested to have them here. Illegal order hainam chicken rice with scallion sauce, shrimp wonton noodle soup, drink, wasabi shrimp toast and salty egg fries. They are ok. The wonton is good but the noodle is a bit bland. The soup is light and ok. The hainam chicken rice is ok. I like the scallion sauce. It comes with dipping sauce and it is interesting. Overall they are ok. I don't like on suggested min 18% granularity where there is no much service at all.

I really want to like this place but it's a letdown unfortunately. This place attracted its customers (including me) because it's rumored to be associated with the owner of Koi Palace. The place has all the ingredients of a good place if you don't want to wait in lines for some dim sum or a quick bite and the food looks great. However the biggest missing piece is the taste. For example the Har Gow (shrimp dumplings) are huge but not only the skins break apart easily (not good) but that the shrimps are not fully cooked. Maybe because of the undercooked shrimp flavors do not permeate within the Har Gow when you bite into it. The Hainan chicken is not very tender and the pork belly is over cooked so not as juicy as it could be. Overall, it's missing the flavor part of a good restaurant.

Kimchi fried rice was more sour than expected. Pan fried dumplings were good but nothing crazy. The pork Xiao long bao was very ginger-forward.

Dharma M

First time visit dine in. Previously I had to go order. There are plenty item on the menu. I am craving for wonton noodle soup and hainam chicken rice and my friend suggested to have them here. Illegal order hainam chicken rice with scallion sauce, shrimp wonton noodle soup, drink, wasabi shrimp toast and salty egg fries. They are ok. The wonton is good but the noodle is a bit bland. The soup is light and ok. The hainam chicken rice is ok. I like the scallion sauce. It comes with dipping sauce and it is interesting. Overall they are ok. I don't like on suggested min 18% granularity where there is no much service at all.

Ed Yu

I really want to like this place but it's a letdown unfortunately. This place attracted its customers (including me) because it's rumored to be associated with the owner of Koi Palace. The place has all the ingredients of a good place if you don't want to wait in lines for some dim sum or a quick bite and the food looks great. However the biggest missing piece is the taste. For example the Har Gow (shrimp dumplings) are huge but not only the skins break apart easily (not good) but that the shrimps are not fully cooked. Maybe because of the undercooked shrimp flavors do not permeate within the Har Gow when you bite into it. The Hainan chicken is not very tender and the pork belly is over cooked so not as juicy as it could be. Overall, it's missing the flavor part of a good restaurant.

Kally Mihova

Kimchi fried rice was more sour than expected. Pan fried dumplings were good but nothing crazy. The pork Xiao long bao was very ginger-forward.

Vallerie

a1 isnt very good; soup hella salty, food oily as hell the hot lemon tea is very sweet

A restaurant that tries to excel at everything often excels at nothing. Such is the situation with Stick & Steam. If you look at their menu, they offer everything from dim sum to classic Chinese food to bubble tea to skewers and even sea bass. It's difficult to imagine that they have a specialized chef for each of these cuisines stuffed into their tiny kitchen. In addition, their service was not only slow, but inaccurate. Even though I was first in line, I still ended up waiting around 40 minutes to get seated. While waiting, I observed that they had gotten multiple tables' orders incorrect. I don't know if they were understaffed or if their staff was just disorganized. Regardless, watching them felt like watching the Houston Rockets play the San Antonio Spurs in 2017. Unforced error after unforced error. I would say this place has good potential if they simplified their menu, focused on a cuisine, and streamlined their service.

The won ton soup base is plain instant chicken powder.

99 Ranch frozen dim sum quality, except double to quadruple the price of 99 Ranch.