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Review content:
I read all the reviews and feel the restaurant gets a bad rap. It's definitely a hard-core Chinese restaurant that isn't typically directed to non-Chinese palates or service comforts. In most Chinese restaurants, it's a given the waiter/ess is elusive and patrons pack their own leftovers. I've visited numerous times with family that visit frequently and know half the people eating there. My hubby and I get an instant table, decently placed table and free dessert (some bean soup thing, really not a treat to me). What really makes this place great for dim sum is the variety and its authentic experience. You get the lady with carts, rushed waiters and loud patrons. Dim sum is about catching up with friends/families to eat small and scrumptious seafood/pork/sweet bites, drink tea and soak up the crazy frenzied place. Really, if you can't find a dish, you're supposed to grab someone and ask. No one will be offended, in fact, it's expected. It's not loud in there for nothing. At a four-star restaurant in the city, sure, your waiter will ask how you are, this is Oakland Chinatown, get real. And I always love that Restaurant Peony has a dim sum dish that is essentially fried milk. It perplexes me to think about it and it does so even as I'm eating it... frying milk. I've been to numerous dim sum places all my life in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, San Francisco proper... this is a better deal than most places out in SF/Millbrae, tastier than LA, completely superior to San Diego and Houston... Restaurant Peony isn't haughty (rather the complete opposite); it's a large banquet-style Chinese restaurant. Service at most dim sum restaurants are bad. All the waiters need to really do is bring tea, the check and be somewhat available for any other requests (water, special order dishes). I come here every couple of months...
Pros: Fried milk, variety of dishes, clean
Cons: Saturday dim sum is not the same as Sunday
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