88 East 4th Ave.
San Mateo, CA
11am-midnight every day
and
(408)255-6988
10911 North Wolfe Rd.
Cupertino, CA
Mon-Fri: 11-2:30, 5:30-9:30
Sat-Sun: 10-2:30, 5:30-9:30
Price: $$-$$$
Rating: 8 (Rating & price key)
Last visit: 05/26/07
- Very good Hong Kong-style noodles and such. On my first visit to the
San Mateo location, I had the house special noodles, crispy egg
noodles in a brown sauce served with shitake mushrooms, shrimp,
cuttlefish, chicken, BBQ pork and baby bok choy. At only $11 (lunch),
it was easily enough food for two.
My two more recent visits were to sample their dim sum, and both times were a success, with all items being good, and some very good. As is so often the case when eating dim sum, we over-ordered at first, and didn't have any room for later items as they were brought around. It doesn't help that as soon as you're seated, several servers with trays of food swarm you!
A plate of jellyfish was very tasty (I love the texture!), but I didn't care for the bitter melon, which lived up to its name a little too well. Typical dim sum items such as siu mai, char su bao, and har gao are good, but better were the more unusual ones, char su in crispy dough, green onion cakes, and the like.
Joy Luck is a very large and bustling place come midday on the weekends, but waits shouldn't be too much of a problem, and you can be in and out in no time at all. Prices are about average for dim sum. Typical of this style of restaurant, the service was a mixed bag (well-dressed, but not overly attentive, and quite rushed).