Big Lantern Dim Sum

11/11/2007 Posted by hbee

My boyfriend and I are so happy we chanced upon this restaurant. Every time we visit SF, we make it a point to stop in for their Sweet/Sour Veggie Chicken, Black Bean Asparagus...Potstickers. One of the servers is unfriendly, but the rest of the crew is very sweet and welcoming. Everything we've had is served hot and excellent, along with the service. We haven't tried much of their Dimsum, so I can't speak to that. It's a pretty nice atmosphere/decor, compared to a lot of Chinese restaurants we've been to. This is definitely our favorite Chinese restaurant anywhere.

Pros: food

Cons: parking

07/31/2006 Posted by celsior

The food is better than average dimsum at Los Angeles but nothing specatcular. The service is good as we were the first customers at 10:30am. :-p If you want better food and service, try Yank Sing.

Pros: service, better than average dimsum

Cons: parking

05/24/2006 Posted by frequentguest

The food is delicious, and everything on the menu is tantilizing. I hope that everyone tries this restaurant at least once

04/11/2006 Posted by cy3

the restaurant is squeaky clean every dish off of the non dim sum menu that i have tasted has been really good i would go to tom kiang or that little retaurant in westlake villiage for dim sum before this place there is no dim sum cart

Pros: eggplant dishes, sizzling rice soup, asparagus salmon

Cons: dim sum

02/08/2006 Posted by runner88

At my workplace, I usually organize our annual dim sum outting to celebrate Chinese new year. This year, I selected Big Lantern. Our 11 member group really enjoyed the dim sum on February 8, Wednesday. The ambience, the service, and the food were wonderful. I recommend this restaurant.

Pros: Close to BART

Cons: Difficult parking

02/02/2006 Posted by curious_durian

I've never actually been to the restaurant, I just keep ordering delivery. My last few experiences have been good. Their food are not bad but dim sum are still far from being good (they all have a heavy white pepper taste for some reason). It's actually not that cheap for neighbourhood Chinese food. But I figure they offer free delivery and also tastes good. I recommend their sesame chicken and also beef chow fun.

Pros: Delivery service, Decent entree

Cons: Not cheap, Lack of choices, Dim sum

01/16/2006 Posted by chefd67

We've gone to Big Lantern 3x already and we like their dimsum. Unfortunateley, the last time we were there, we were served cold baked buns and rice noodles. We used to rave about their baked pork buns because it was soft and had a generous portion of pork filling. When we ordered it the last time, it was served cold. We complained and they gave us another plate. It wasn't what it used to be. The dough was like week old bread with a thin spread of the pork filling. We ordered the prawn rice noodle, and the same thing, it used to be piping hot, but this time it was cold. We didn't bother complaining anymore. We're just not coming back and would not recommend it anymore. Too bad. It started out really promising.

12/13/2005 Posted by skiffle1

Everything we ate was tasty (not amazing, but very good). Seemed like just what the neighborhood needed. But arriving at 10:30pm on Sun. when the place closes at 11pm apparently annoys the staff. The man who seated us seemed upset that we wanted to dine at this "late" hour. He was so rude and impatient that it was hard to enjoy our food.

Pros: Tasty menu, Pretty interiors

Cons: Chilly Attitudes

11/15/2005 Posted by ginabsf

This is a fabulous restaurant! I live across town, and I take every opportunity I can to battle traffic, hassle over parking and get to this wonderful place. the food is the best Chinese I've ever had, the service is top notch, the employees are friendly and care about their establishment, and the ambiance is great. Even though it's Chinese and Dim Sum, there are some delicious veggie/fake meat options tucked away on the menu! Even my meat-eater friends love them. Every person I've introduced to Big Lantern has gone back on their own several times. Please give this place your business! You won't be disappointed.

Pros: food, service, price

Cons: parking

11/12/2005 Posted by raindropsf

I myself am a Mission local and I used to go to the restaurant in this location that served really bad Chinese food. For a few months it closed up and re-invented itself, now it's amazing! Great food, excellent service(for a Chinese restaurant!), and even a clean bathroom! I can't say enough good things about this restaurant. And to qualify my judgement of Chinese food - I lived in Asia for over ten years and this is definitely good quality in my book. I hear wind that the chef came from Koi Palace(the best dim sum in the Bay Area).. but this is not confirmed. In any case, this restaurant has been around for a few months and for some reason(probably due to the fierce competition of established great restaurants around this neighborhood), it's still fairly empty when I walk by. Give this place a try, you won't be disappointed!