Everywhere I Took My Picky Asian Parents to Eat in The Bay Area

so. much. dim. sum.

Hello Hello!

My parents were visiting from Ohio last week and we had such a delicious time! Whenever we have guests come stay with us I like to create an experience that’s tailored to them, much like how I love to brainstorm a menu when friends come over for dinner.

I don’t know about your parents, but our favorite thing to do together is eat, evaluate our last meal, and scheme about our next one. My parents will be the first to admit that they are picky, some would highly critical, when it comes to their food. Many of you who have Asian or immigrant parents might relate to this challenge. Things like vibe and aesthetics hold absolutely no value to them. Quality food at a good value that one of them can’t replicate at home is the key to an acceptable rating. Finding a restaurant that your picky Asian parents love is an art form and this list is my latest attempt in impressing them.

classic shot with the GGB and their first time looking at my new cookbook!

My favorite Dim Sum restaurant in California

Dim sum is our favorite food group. Starting with what I think was their favorite restaurant meal of the week, I had to take them out for dim sum at Yue Huang. While it is not actually in the Bay Area, it’s absolutely worth the hour drive to Sacramento. Reuben and I started going here a few years ago and used to get the dim sum to go and drive over to Moksa for a little outdoor dim sum beer brunch - highly recommend this approach. But sitting down for the full dim sum experience is wonderful too even if they got rid of their pushcarts. The dumplings are big and all the food is so hot and fresh! My dad’s only complaint is that in Hong Kong a good dim sum restaurant will steam the food as you order, but it seemed like the steamers are constantly going/ready because the food comes out almost instantly.

The dim sum trifecta that I base a restaurant off of are har gao, siu mai, and char siu bao. All of these were excellent here!

Some of you might know about my deep love of Good Luck Dim Sum in Inner Richmond. Their har gao are still the best I’ve ever had but Good Luck is not necessarily a sit down restaurant, they do have a few tables, but it’s a totally different experience. For a grab an go situation to have a dim sum feast in the park or walk back to your apartment (I miss living around the corner!), this is your best option for sure! For a more local sit down spot, I also really enjoy Harborview!

Local Favorites

Other than a quick jaunt up to Sacramento and an afternoon in San Francisco, we stayed mostly close to home and enjoyed some of my favorite East Bay restaurants.

Korean Superette | I really really love it here. The cozy outdoor patio garden. The chilly naengmyeon. The lunch set with their spicy beef and tofu soup (my parents loved this). It’s just perfect and I take every visitor we have out to lunch here.

Asian Pearl | This was my first time here but I wanted to try it out because it is literally the closest dim sum restaurant to me. I was pleasantly surprised how good it was! My parents gave it a 3 out of 5, which might sound bad but within the context of their highly critical opinions is actually pretty good. I’ll go again because their dim sum trifecta was solid, the egg tarts were really flakey, and I loved their cheung fun!

Bottles (aka Punjabi Kitchen) | Reuben and I order from here practically every other Friday. It’s our favorite Indian spot and I crave it tremendously when I go to long without it. My parents have eaten this before and my dad said he “loves it” which I don’t think he has ever said about a restaurant. The okra, malai kofta, chana masala, and chicken tikka masala are our go-tos.

Banh Mi Ba Le | This is my mom’s personal favorite. We have to get their banh mi at least once whenever she visits. The #2 is the way to go and I don’t think you can find a cheaper sandwich in the Easy Bay.

Temescal Farmer’s Market | My favorite East Bay Farmers Market! We sampled all the stone fruit and filled up on Bolani samples.

Buckeye Roadhouse | Okay this required a drive across the Richmond Bridge to go into Marin, but I think Buckeye Roadhouse is so delightful and charming if you’re looking for a classic but non-stuffy steakhouse experience. While unsurprisingly, that charm was lost on my parents but we still enjoyed a great meal here. It wasn’t my parents’ favorite restaurant but I think we all agreed that the smoked chicken wings, the bread and butter, and my extra smooth mashed potatoes were wonderful.

A Sunset Food Stroll

My parents love to explore local Chinatowns, big and small, to try the food and browse the grocery stores. They’ve been to San Francisco Chinatown, Oakland Chinatown, and Inner Richmond. It had been a while since I’ve been to the Sunset so we went for a little Sunset food stroll and drove by my very first house in SF!

Mini Potstickers | You need to go here! Their name makes sense once you try their tiny pan-fried pork buns, which are like crispy soup dumplings (aka shenjianbao). They are so expertly pleated and unbelievably juicy for such a small dumpling. They also make homemade soy milk here which is always a plus for me. We also ordered their wonton soup, which was very good but my mom thinks her’s is better. She’s right.

Pineapple King | I’m going to start off by saying that everyone has their own preference for pineapple buns/bo lo bao and the ones at Pineapple King are not for me. I’ve tried their buns before and felt that way but wanted to get my parents’ opinion since they are bigger bo lo bao fans than me. They agreed with me. The buns are sort of dry and not very sweet and the fun flavors don’t really excite me. But just because I don’t like their buns doesn’t mean you won’t!

Palm City Wines | their sandwiches have been hyped up on my social media for years and I’ve been dying to try their satisfyingly assembled sandwiches. The sandwich was good… but I’ve had better Italian sandwiches elsewhere. To their credit the sandwich was HUGE and we split one three ways. Their sesame crusted bread was great and I actually enjoyed the salad the most even if it was just slightly too heavily dress for my liking.

Black Bird Bookstore and Café | So cute! I got a peach matcha latte from their coffee window and we just sat outside in their adorable back garden while enjoying the fog. I didn’t realize the Outer Sunset had gotten so quaint!

Cheung Hing | It has become sort of a tradition whenever we travel or near some form of Chinatown to buy a roast duck so we can bring it home and eat it with some fresh rice and gai lan. It’s one of my family’s comfort meals. Clement BBQ in Inner Richmond is normally my go-to for duck but we wanted to try a new spot to us while in the Sunset. It was was really good and meaty! My mom also ordered a cuttlefish and was really happy with that too. However, we all agreed that Clement BBQ is still better.

There’s Food At Home

I wanted to share a quick glimpse into the treats and meals we shared at home. My love for home cooking and natural disposition as a homebody is clearly inspired by my parents.

The morning they arrived, they got to sample the last slice of my sweet corn souffle cheesecake and I also fried up some milk bread donuts I had proofing in the fridge and coated them in a lemon buttermilk glaze (wow so good). My mom put in a special request for lemon donuts so I made her donut dream come true! My parents never indulge in “outside coffee” but since we already have an espresso machine and beans in the house it was considered “free”, they happily enjoyed my signature salted maple latte that morning and every morning following.

It was so nice being able to cook dinners together, something about seeing my parents in our kitchen makes my heart so happy. We made “Chinese Spaghetti” aka Mom’s Spaghetti, which is one of my favorite recipes in Chinese Enough (make sure to pre-order!). Obviously it tastes the best when my mom makes it. We served it alongside the gigantic artichoke we grew in our backyard and my parents were pleasantly surprised by their first artichoke experience. Another night my dad made his braised bean curd with mushrooms and daikon and it tasted like home and they loved my Tomato Jook. We had a few warm nights this week and got to fire up our tabletop hibachi to cook up some spicy soy marinated steak that we then bundled up with rice in some homegrown lettuce. Oh, and we smoked some trout to make white fish salad for a bagel breakfast and I recreated my parents’ wedding cake (which is the Cleveland-ish Cassata Cake from Chinese Enough!).

It was a VERY filling week! Hope you get to try out some of these spots!