Koi Palace - Chinese, Dim Sum, Daly City

365 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015
(650) 992-9000
Parking: in parking lots in front of and behind restaurant

Last Visited: 2003

Food: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Service: 1 star in reception area, 3 stars in dining area
Price: $ to $$

Upon entering Koi Palace during the lunch hour on a weekend, you will find the establishment packed like sardines. People flock from all over the Bay Area to enjoy the dim sum at Koi Palace. I am currently boycotting Koi Palace due to the terrible service received in the reception area during my last visit. I only go now for wedding receptions and avoid Koi - yes, you can say the last visit left an exceptionally bad taste in my mouth.

Koi Palace claims that by calling in before your arrival that you can receive a reservation number which will reduce your wait time upon arrival. During my last visit, a table for four took over a three hour wait, not including the time between the phone reservation and arrival time. The most frustrating part was that we were told that the wait would be about 45 minutes. An hour an a half later, I asked about our so called 45 minute wait and was told that our table was coming up soon. Another 45 minutes later, I had seen tables for two enter and complete their lunch and leave. They obviously forgot about our table. Their disorganized system does not allow for chronological order since there is a call-in list and a separate walk-in list. The hostesses are not customer service oriented. Their snobby attitude doesn’t help either. You will find bribery taking place to get seated. The hostesses do not take bribes, but you can see people arrive, locate a member of the wait staff, pass them some cash, and be taken in through the side entrance adjacent to the bathrooms. For this reason, I am no longer going to this dishonest establishment.

So why do people go to Koi Palace? The food is very fresh and nicely presented. Tea is served in small black pots that sit upon a stand with a small tealight candle. Koi Palace is known for its fine selection of seafood, as well as the unique dim sum offered such as egg tarts with bird’s nests.

The restaurant is spacious, and the service is good. The displays show expensive and exquisite Chinese delicacies such as bird’s nests which are made even more attractive by the display. Once inside, you will find little to complain about, but the disastrous wait experience for dim sum may leave you ragged and weary. Early arrival on a weekend or a weekday visit is mandatory for reduced wait time.

Koi Palace isn’t the only game in town. Another ten to fifteen minutes away, you can find excellent dim sum in South San Francisco.