Saigon Seafood Harbor
Carts and paper order slips at lunch, then live lobster picked out of the tank at dinner.
Why go
You write your order on a paper slip and the food arrives on carts.1 The barbecue pork buns are the thing to look for. The critics describe stretchy dough, whose sweetness serves as a good contrast for the savory, oniony pork filling,
under a top polished to a glassy sheen.
1 The house says its tanks are stocked daily with live Maine lobster, Dungeness crab, and Pacific whole fish — chosen tableside, prepared to order,
and that the dining room fills at night with round-table banquets and roasted duck carts.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the barbecue pork buns, $6.50, and the siu mai at the same price, which the Chronicle calls
a golden ratio of shrimp and pork that's chunky but not tough.
1 - Order: the scallop dumplings, $7.50,
a translucent package of tender scallops, shrimp and small cubes of celery that add freshness.
1 - Order: at night, whatever is in the tank. Lobster and crab are chosen at the table and cooked to order.2
- Avoid: turning up at dinner for the carts. The dim sum team folds in the mornings and the evening room runs banquets.2
What locals & experts say
- San Francisco Chronicle, best dim sum in the Bay Area:
The barbecue pork buns are wildly delicious with a glistening top that looks polished to a glassy sheen.
1 - The house, on its own kitchen:
Our tanks are stocked daily with live Maine lobster, Dungeness crab, and Pacific whole fish — chosen tableside, prepared to order.
2
Good to know
- Which room the critics ate in. The Chronicle's guide prints no address, only the phone number, and it is this one: 408-734-2828, the Lawrence Expressway kitchen.1
- Timing: the Chronicle lists lunch and dinner daily. Neither the paper nor the house publishes the hour dim sum service stops, so go at lunch for the carts.1
Verdict
should-visit — The Chronicle's dim sum guide named four dishes and four prices here and described the barbecue pork bun dough well enough to order by: stretchy, sweet, against an oniony pork filling, under a top polished to a glassy sheen. You order off a paper slip and the carts bring it. The evening room is a different restaurant, with live Maine lobster and Dungeness crab picked out of the tank at the table, and the operator says so in its own words.