City Cafe
“It is really tasty but the serving size wont fill you up
3)Fried Squid- SALLLTTYY but salty goodness , if you are trying to watch your sodium DO NOT ORDER but they are delicious and fried to a crisp.”
“I get the shrimp w/the mayonaisse sauce, the flounder w/the chinese vegetables, the fish and tofu clay pot thing, beef and mushrooms and some other dishes.”
“Sometimes we get our takeouts here as well,
We just call ahead and pick it up.”
City Cafe
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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We went here on Mother's Day so it was pretty packed. We were seated in a private section in the back.
The Cantonese lobster was standard. I wished it had more sauce, but it was crispy and I liked.
We also had some sort of fried pork chop dish. It was so light and crispy. Yummmmmsss.
I didn't care for any of their vegetable dishes.
Black bean clams were reallllly good. I just poured the sauce on top of my rice and called it a day.
I think the last time I was here, it was called something else. I went here with my parents on a Sunday night and it was a bit crowded, even with the two sections of the restaurant (it's two storefronts wide). Luckily we were able to snag a table without a wait, but everyone afterwards was waiting, which was kind of annoying because they were standing right where we were eating.
Anyway, the food is decent, but not great. Service is fine as well. Their main menu is all in Chinese, so I let my parents order.
Got a vegetable dish, a fish dish (with vegetables in a broth), and a chicken/shrimp sizzling platter. None of it really jumped out at me as being good. The fish was a bit bland, and the chicken was too salty. That's about it. We also got a complementary vegetable/pork soup, which was pretty good.
Not much more to say, except that you can play Quick Draw lotto while you're there.
The Beijing pork chops (Peking pork chops) are a must as they're perfectly fried and not too heavy (though they are sweet). The $25 for 3 dishes is amazing for the price and they give you a delicious chicken soup as well. The yellow chicken dish was surprisingly flavorful and they even include cashew shrimp as one of the dishes in one of the $25 preset menus.
One of the best spots if you're around 8thave and craving for a Chinese lunch. Most of their food are filled with flavors and the portion is decent for its pricing. Rice platters are cheaper but I think Lunch specials are more worth your money. They have also incorporated a mixture of three types of food with soup for free.
I got fish fillet with tofu. I like how they fried the fish first then drenched it with sauce. The food came within 15-20minutes. It was pretty quick. One con was that my fish fillet didn't have have a lunch special so I had to get the rice platter. Still cheap and couldn't finish my portion!
Would definitely recommend this place!
First time having lunch here and I am impressed by the prices and portions, plus friendly staff! Usually come for dinner with family every now and then. Got here at 1 today and wasn't too crowded. We didn't want to order our usual during our dinners, wanted something new for a change. Their lunch specials are $6.50 per entree, of course comes with daily soup, which is amazing!
The clams were very fresh, plumped, and the spicy black bean sauce finished it off! I counted, to our surprise 13 big pieces HAHA! Kaylen loves loves loves mushroom so had to get a dish with mushrooms for her, King mushrooms with beef. Beef cooked to medium well, the chef threw in a ton of mushrooms which also made the sauce especially shroomy, YUM! I haven't had chinese water spinach, aka tung/oong choy, with the bean curd sauce, so had to get that! Cooked with just the perfect amount of bean curd, not too salty and they added some green peppers to spice it up. Very crisp and crunchy, just like how it's supose to be done.
Can't believe I have never came for lunch, I guess because we eat here so often that we just didn't want the same food over and over again. But then again, they have so much items on their menu and we still never can decide what we want and end up getting the same dishes over and over again, cause it's just sooo good! We always leave with a happy belly and a happy wallet!
This place is pretty awesome. It is very no frills and straight up Cantonese style food. I don't why it has such low ratings. This place isn't meant to have great service or decor. When you come to these type of places, you have to come with an open mind.
We did the $29 dinner combo which comes with 3 dishes, soup and rice.
Salt and pepper pork chops – delicious and made just right. It was very fresh and totally hit the spot and satisfied my craving.
Sauteed filet with Chinese veggies – delicious and totally hit the spot as well. The fish was melt in your mouth and the veggies were fresh.
Eggplant in garlic sauce – this was also delicious and made just right.
You even get some fruit at the end. This was the first time I had dinner here (bought take out a bunch of other times) and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality! I don't know why the reviews here are so bad…
Came here for a family dinner because all the bigger restaurants in the area were booked with weddings/parties. The restaurant itself looks better and not as beat up as other smaller restaurants in area. Tables were not too cramp together and you are able to sit comfortably.
They got deals where u get a certain combo of 3 dishes for $30. A slight discount compared to ordering it separately on the menu. The food itself was mediocre. Couldn't really say it was amazing but also not bad. In the end was a little disappointed because they did not have those dessert soups. Was only offered oranges that were a little sour.
Summary: Inexpensive, average Chinese restaurant. Great place for sit-down breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Very decent quality.
Highly Recommend: Beef Cow Fun, Congee
Needs Improvement: Customer Service
I really want to hate this restaurant – but I really, really can't! I attribute my ability to save money to City Cafe! Inexpensive food for a very decent quality. Because of their location so near Brooklyn home, I just can't help but keep coming here. Here are my highlights of my breakfast, lunch, and dinner food experiences.
Breakfast:
Congee with Fish Slices – City Cafe's congee is always on point. The rice is cooked enough to not be in form anymore, stew texture but it's not dry or too watery. There is always enough fish slices which I am thankful for that especially when I share. They use a home technique to add ginger into the congee so that your mouth will not smell so "fishy" when you are finished.
Chinese Fried Dough "youtiao" – goes perfect with any congee you select. Their fried dough is always crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. A bit oily but dipping it into the congee just makes it taste even better.
Lunch:
Rice Box – comes with 3 choice with sides and rice. There is a wide variety to choose from, some of my favorites are – short ribs with green pepper, fried fish, steam egg with soy sauce, fish filets, sweet & sour pork, various vegetable dishes, and many more! Currently $4.00 – not bad for a lot of food. Comes with soup – however, tastes salty.
Other rice dishes include BBQ Pork over Rice, Chicken & Chinese Broccoli over rice, and etc.
Favorite Noodles include Duck, Spicy Preserved Vegetables with Rice Noodles & Beef Chow Fun. City Cafe is currently #1 on my list for Beef Chow Fun – this dish is meant to be a bit oily so that the noodles don't stick together, however, it's not very oily. Beef is very tender and easy to bite. Very generous amount of food all for a very inexpensive price! Highly Recommend
Dinner: My family likes to come out here for dinner once in a blue moon. Service is usually very fast and they have deals for family-course. Decent.
Downside? CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Service is not so up to par, and quite unfriendly. I feel like I have to make myself sound firm and clear when I order. I have seen a customer being treated in a disrespectful way because her Chinese-speaking skills aren't fluent – I heard the rude comments they said to her. She politely asked, what the status of her order is at, after waiting so long, all they did was brush her off, not to mention their tone of voice was rude and sound annoyed with the customer. Apparently, her order never got sent into the kitchen and they don't seen to care to follow up after seeing her standing there waiting so long for her food. They were so busy standing there, chatting and gossiping with one another. While every customer who ordered after got their orders and left the store already, she was still standing there clueless waiting. No apologies even after they found out that they made the mistake. She was almost tearing up because she felt ignored. I had to say something at that point to get the information she wanted to know for her. City Cafe, you need to treat every customer who walks through your door with respect… EVERYONE.
They do have a customer survey and yes, this is exactly what I wrote in it as well.
Overall, my casual lunch spot when I'm home. I enjoy their food very much, just that their customer service needs a lot of work.