T & S Chinese Restaurant

This place wants money desperately using all possible ways. I came to this place a few days ago with another family. There were 4 adults and 3 kids, but the 3 kids didn't eat anything and they just played in the front entry due to they just finished breakfast not long ago and they don't like Dimsum. The waitress brought a tea pot and 4 little tea cups, I told the waitressI don't drink tea due to I have a health issue so I can't drink tea. The waitress wrote down 4 orders of 4 teas in the ticket any way, i didn't notic to this when I checked out. I told the cashier that I don't drink tea, and we should be charge 3 orders of hot tea, the cashier was very very unhappy and and gave me a bad face, then said why I didn't tell the waitress, the way she asked me seems that I was cheating. Then she said the tip was included in the acount which the total was around $60 because we have 6 persons. I told them only 4 adults ate and the kids didn't. they still charged around 20% tip any way no matter how I explained. The total amount we spent on the food less then $50 ( how can 7 persions only ate this amount) and the tip they charged to my ticket is almost $10. I don't mind to pay $10 tip because I worked as waitress before, I know how import the tip amount is, but the tip amount also depends on the quality of the service. \r I will definitely not go back to this place in the future. more

T&S used to be my favorite place for dim sum, but the quality of its dim sum is going down with the economy. I am not sure how they even stay afloat. Many times we would be the only table in the entire restaurant. It relied on dim sum to support its other 5 days' business, but I don't know whether they changed the chef or just lower the quality of their food, their dim sum is losing its quality. I told the owner if she had to choose between raising the price or lower the quality, she should raise the price, because no one is going to spend 30% less on price but eating something not enjoyable at all. more

This was my first time eating at the restaurant. I really enjoyed the food. It was hot, fresh, very good seasoning. The staff was very nice and helpful when ever I needed assistance. The building is old but, those are the best places to eat. I will be returning. Now for recommending it to a friend or two I would have to think about it. Don't want to many people taking up all the good places. Pros: good service Cons: could use an upgrade in interior more

hate everything in this restaurant. bad foods, bad servicer, and bad smell!!! more

It's not San Francisco, LA, Vancouver, or Hong Kong, but I think this is the best you're gonna get in the heart of Texas. A lot of people on here really don't know the first thing about Chinese food, and you can tell from what they order. The dim sum was roundly passable, and at times delicious. The shrimp dishes coming straight from the kitchen were some of the best I've had anywhere, including China. Another highlight was the stuffed taro dish, which I've never had tasting so fresh (read: actually hot!). Most of the standards were... standard. This really spanks Tien Hong, my other Austin Dim Sum experience, where everything seemed old and soggy, without much turnover. If you want dinner, you're probably better of at First Chinese BBQ. By the way, the kids they have manning most of the carts were great. Everyone was friendly, and it could have been the best ""service"" I've ever seen from Dim Sum carts. more

I love dim sum. When I moved to Austin, I was lucky enough to discover a place called Marco Pollo, which was in the Clarion Inn right off the Oltorf exict on 35 south. Dim sum could not possibly be better than that. For those of you who never got the chance to try it, I'm so very sorry. \r Tragically, Marco Pollo closed about a month ago, and I thought I would never eat dim sum again. However, a well-intentioned friend persuaded me to go to T&S Seafood this afternoon. This was undoubtedly the biggest mistake of my life. If you like good dim sum, and ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE EVER EATED AT MARCO POLLO, do not, I REPEAT DO NOT eat here. It is horrible. We will provide a few examples:\r \r 1. Turnip cakes: At their best, turnip cakes are not my favorite. However, at Marco Pollo, they were moist, flavorful, and well-prepared. At T&S, they had the texture of old bread soaked in water, and tasted like that as well.\r 2. Dumplings: No comparison. They completely lacked flavor, and tasted as though they had been sitting in a vat of oil for 3 days, and had just been warmed up in a sub-par microwave. Horrible.\r 3. Shimp rounds and Crab puffs: You know those cheap chicken nuggets that come in packages of 100 at Sam's Club? Replace the chicken with shrimp and/or crab, and that's what these are. \r 4. BBQ Pork Buns: This was one of our favorites at Marco Pollo, so it hurt even more when we were forced to endure these flimsy, overly-sweet, sparsely-filled ""buns."" If we hadn't been told there was pork in them, we would have guessed they were filled with high fructose corn syrup dyed red; obviously, they use this sweetness to make up for 1) the lack of pork, and 2) the lack of any discernable flavor.\r 5. Egg Cream Buns: We saved the saddest for last. My favorite of all dim sum, egg cream buns have a special place in my heart as sweet, moist, and fluffy. T&S butchered this. There are no words to describe how inferior they were.\r \r Oh...and it was WAY overpriced. more

definitely get the fried squid dish, i think it's called fresh squid-something. so so good! dimsum was great and the service was superb (go calvin!) :) definitely would recommend more

My friends and I were extremely disappointed with this restaurant. Our waitress was extremely rude and not very attentive to the customer. The food was not all that. I was extremely disappointed to the fact that this restaurant was a best restaurant according to the Austin Chronicle. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Save your money. This restaurant is a shame to the Asian/Chinese community with their food and service.\r \r Pros: Open late Cons: bad customer service, bad food more

This place looks shady from the outside, but had REALLY great food and appeared neat, clean, and tidy on the inside. Everything we ordered was delicious. I will absolutely be going back! A+ Pros: Great food, great service, clean Cons: Not fancy on the inside, probably not a good spot for a first date more

the carpet needs replacing. the staff was friendly. the prices were high. the food was disappointing and greasy. I will try somewhere else next time i crave dim sum. like toronto's china town which has the best! Pros: nice waitstaff more

I'm a big fan of dim sum. I've been going to Tien Hong for many years now but I heard about T&S and how they serve it on the weekdays. So, I'm at work, calling wanting to TRY their dim sum, yes, TRY as in VENTURE out. The woman I spoke with was being the most DIFFICULT PERSON. I work downtown and I know that they're all the way up north so I want to order something and then go pick it up. They really should have a website that posts their menu because apparently they REFUSE to let you ask about their food over the phone. I don't know the specific names of any of the dim sum items so I ask her if she can just DESCRIBE to be their shrimp items. She tells me it's better if i come there and look at what they have because she doesn't want to give me something I won't like. And she also tells me all restaurants dim sums are different, so, I was WILLING to try any shrimp item and asked her again to just describe it to me and then I'd decide. Again, she wouldn't even talk about the food, she just kept saying for me to go there and look at their menu. She could not comprehend that that was not an option for me so I finally gave up and told her I just won't order if she's UNWILLING to ""sell"" her food to me over the phone. more

I've been three times and the food tasted pretty good, however, it was on the last occasion that me and my dinning companion got sick (approx 5 hours later). Although the food was pretty good the first time I should have never gone back becasue the place if filthy. The nasty putrid carpet. The filthy fish tank swimming with your dinner (talapia). I can deal with rude service at a Chinese restaurant (I've NEVER been to a Chinese restaurant WITH friendly or even good service) but I can't deal with a filthy restaurant. This place grosses me out. Pros: open late night Cons: sanitation, nasty carpeting more

well, im from Houston, and i alway a big fan of asian food. I have try almost very restaurant in houston like ocean palace, kimson, etc..But i say the food there is alrite. Until i went to TS restaurant, the waitress are very friendly, and very polite. Even though they dont speak fluent english. They recommened the Steam Tilapia, and2 lobsters with salt and pepper. I dont know what to tell u, but it taste excellent. My wife and I are very satisfied, and we recommend to some of our relative, and they love it. more

I don't understand why there were so many bad reviews on this place (for their dim sum particularly). I went today and the dishes were pretty good, almost comparable to the dim sum in Houston. It was also cheaper! I particularly liked the luo buo gao (turnip cake) and chang fen (shrimp wrapped in rice flour ""skin"" in sweet soy sauce). Short wait time on a Sunday at noon. I will be going back, especially since I'm always craving the dim sum in Houston. This is the next best thing. more

My husband and I went here for dinner and I was totally impressed. Upon the waiter's recommendation, we ordered the Salt & Pepper Shrimp and they were amazing! He said that all of their S & P dishes are equally as good. We also got dumplings, Wonton Soup, and Chicken Lo Mein. All dishes were excellent. Then the other day we went there for dim sum, and I was not impressed at all. I had never had dim sum before, and definitely didn't care for theirs. I highly recommend them for dinner though. We have been back several times for the Salt & Pepper Shrimp. I'm looking forward to trying the other dishes. more

I've been here once for dim sum and a few times for dinner. I've found the food consistently excellent, and the place has an authentic feel to it. It's also open late except on Tuesdays. I'm a big fan. more

I went there today for dim sum, hearing good online reviews about this place. Having tried dim sum in a variety of places, I wasn't expecting very much from dim sum here. Sadly, even with lowered expectations, I was disappointed by the quality and variety of the food available for dim sum. They were missing a bunch of traditional dim sum dishes, and the ones they had didn't taste very good, weren't hot, and were quite oily. To top it off, it ended up costing about 50% more than it would have if I had eaten in the east coast. I suggest you try somewhere else. This place isn't so good for dim sum. Pros: friendly, attentive Cons: bad food, relatively expensive more

New to the area and this was my first Dim Sum experience in Austin. Went to T&S based on online reviews...was EXTREMELY disappointed. The restaurant is a dive, which really doesn't bother me having eaten in many crappy looking joints with great food. The wait staff was very friendly. The Dim Sum was awful. The dumplings were greasy and the sauces were overly sweet. The pork Bao was worse than some frozen, store bought ones I've had. The rice noodles with shrimp were overcooked/bloated from sitting there for so long. The har gow was totally bland. If you've ever had good Dim Sum before, I'd definitely pass on T&S unless you want to be completely underwhelmed. To be fair, I hear that T&S has some good dishes, which I haven't tried, but if the Dim Sum is an example of the chef's culinary skills, I'll pass. more

What a waste of my time and money!! I ordered the seafood with Fish Maw soup, Black mushroom with Bok Choy and Cantonese style Sizzling Beef and it was all bland and lousy. The Bok Choy was overpowered by butter flavor, their garlic were not fresh, and the Cantonese Style Sizzling Beef tasted like Sweet and Sour Beef bought from a fast food Chinese joint. If you want mediocre chinese food then this is the place to go. I highly DO NOT RECOMMEND this place to anyone. Cons: Food, Service, Quantity more

If you're expecting spicy Szechuan-style Chinese, this isn't the place for you. The food is quite good (fresh, no MSG), however, but pass on the hot-and-sour soup (way too much black pepper and lacking the richness of a good stock base). The prices for most dishes are reasonable, and once you order, your dishes are brought out quickly. My two complaints are the lack of vegetarian dishes and seeming inflexibility of the waitstaff to make dishes vegetarian. Even after we explained that one person in our party was vegetarian, the waitstaff neither suggested many alternatives nor offered to make anything meatless. With the variety of sauces, vegetables, and tofu dishes in Chinese (even Cantonese) cooking, this shouldn't have been a difficult request to fulfill. The chicken and eggplant with garlic sauce and the black mushrooms with mustard greens (although I think we were served baby bok choi) were outstanding. Pros: fast service, not over-priced more