I have been to South Sea about a dozen times since it opened a few years ago. Among those dozen times, I have yet to have a sketchy or bad experience there (service or food wise). That says a lot, don’t you think?

What do I like best about this place? Ok, I hate giving the stock answer but the fact that it’s populated mostly by Asian people (and some englightened gringos, ha ha!) helps a great deal. That and their awesome dim sum.

It’s table service so although it may take about 10 minutes to get your first dish, it is always fresh and hot. The grease factor isn’t too gnarly here (especially for dim sum) and it all comes relatively quickly. All the dumplings are way larger here than at Ton Kiang and better tasting as well. Highlights? Well, what isn’t? Their chili oil won tons are great, the beef balls, shrimp crepe, har gow, fried tofu with shrimp… you know, the basics. But it’s how good they taste compared to almost every other dim sum place in this City.

The hostesses tend to be a little bit standoffish but they’re professional and helpful. The line staff tends to not speak a lot of English so try not to ask them for service type things (forks, bowls, what to eat, etc).

Dinner is good here as well and all I can say is fresh, fresh, fresh. And authentic. Plus the decor is clean and bright.

I love this place especially after going to Ton Kiang today (blech). I’m surprised how short the wait tends to be, even on weekends (about 15 minutes).

The food was good, and the price was ok. Anyhow, I would not recommend this restaurant if you are expecting good, quality service. The waiters and waitresses were slow. You have to ask for every little thing (hot sauce soy sauce, salt and pepper, water…) Usually, when you go to a chinese restaurant for din sum, all the condiments are ready at the table, as for this restaurant, not only do you have to ask for every little bit of condiment, you also have to wait for the waiter to give it to you piece by piece. By the time I got my salt and pepper, by congee was already cold. And by the time I got my hot sauce, most of my dim sum were cold. The manager, PETER, even had the ridiculous mindset to think he can ask me for 15% gratuity as I was walking out the door! I asked him if that was really necessary even if I didn’t feel the service was that good, he then rudely marched to the counter and grabbed a flyer of a special menu that states on the very bottom in very small prints, " 15% gratuity is recommended for a party of 10 or more". However, I was there with only one other friend, which makes the 2 of us with bad, rude service. I felt like I was being panhandled for money, just like how homeless people would approach me in the streets for some change, but it seemed unnecessary for a known restaurant. After I said the service wasn’t too good to deserve 15%, he told me how the restaurant was rated in the top 100 of best restaurants. UH…Mr. Peter, the ignorant manager might have forgotten, but the review and rating was for the year 2004! Try to get the same rating for this year! Other than poor management, everything was toleratable, but I will not ever go there again, and I don’t recommend it to those who dislike being panhandled.