Final Thoughts: 3.71/5There are about half a handful of restaurants who provide dim sum all day and this is one of them. While dim sum is known to be a morning/afternoon thing, morning times just don't work for our group. Our schedules simply don't align, so I'm very grateful for their decision to provide it all day.Food:1. Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow): 4.1/5Classic choice for dim sum. The shrimp filling was lovely. Shrimps seemed plump, steamed to perfection, and had a nice texture when you bite down. The wrapper was not my favorite. Texture wise, very sticky and soft as if it wanted to melt away like a corn starch mixture. My preference leans more on a wrapper that holds its form, has some chewiness, and a resistance, but still soft. Flavor - Delightful. This one didn't need any soy sauce because the balance of flavors in the filling did it justice.2. Shrimp Egg Pork Siu Mai: 4.4/5My personal favorite was the siu mai. This one hasn't failed me anywhere yet. Texture wise - lovely. The crunch from the shrimp was quite nice. I enjoyed the ratios of shrimp to pork. Seasonings were nice, as well. Here, I'm tasting soy sauce, with some salt and sugar combined. Fish roe to garnish on top of each one for the enhanced umami flavor and color contrast aesthetics.3. Steamed BBQ Pork Buns: 3.9/5Very fluffy and soft dough. Ratio of filling to dough seemed optimal. There's an aroma to the dough that is missing from these buns. It's a sweet aroma with a hint of the flour and yeast scent. Kind of hard to explain. Flavor was average - Nicely seasoned with what seemed to be soy sauce, oyster sauce, and a hint of sesame oil. The color of the filling looked to be lacking some of the redness that I usually see with other buns. I'm actually not complaining with this one, but just an observation.4. Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll: 3.7/5The rice paper used to make this had a similar texture to the har gow. It was pretty soft, but not as sticky. Definitely held its form a lot better. Not too much of a bite or resistance to it. Ratio of shrimp to rice paper seemed optimal because of how thin the rice paper was. Flavor wise seemed a little bland to me. This was the case with rolls on the bottom layer too even though they were just absorbing all of the soy sauce. The shrimp was lightly seasoned with salt, but I felt like it needed something more.5. Fried Shrimp Ball: 3.4/5 Hmm this one was your average shrimp ball with a crispy exterior from the eggroll wrappers. The size seemed smaller than ones that I am used to, but optimal for this dinner. Dipping sauce also seemed quite "average" - A little sweet, sour, and salty to enhance the flavor of the shrimp ball.6. XO Sauce Stir-Fried Rice Rolls: 2.3/5This dish needs to be paired with something because it was quite underwhelming when it came out. They're what you would expect, but I got tired of this dish after I took a picture of it because it looked like a bowl of dough. The XO sauce is truly the highlight of this dish. It's very umami with a nice balance of saltiness and sweetness. I can't pinpoint the exact flavor, but it seems like a mixture of oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and hints of seafood. This paired with the spiciness from the jalapenos were a nice touch.---------Quality: Optimal Most items came out piping hot, which is ideal, but please do not scald your mouth like I did. Items like the har gow and siu mai are quite juicy. They are not skimping on the fillings and I appreciate the choice in using certain types of ingredients like the jumbo shrimp. Price: ExpensiveSix items for a total of $66. Average paid between 3 was $22. Not horrible, but not the best either considering a lot of the items were flour, dough, and some shrimp.Service: Fair to OptimalQuite fast service and very friendly. My one note is the order of how the foods were delivered. The Fried Rice Rolls came out last and it looked pretty underwhelming at that time soley due to what it was. I would have preferred for this to come out within a better timeline of my other food items, so that I could enjoy it together with an item that included a protein.Ambiance: TranquilQuiet day in the restaurant today even for us going during rush hours. This may have been related to the rainy and cold weather that day. Somewhat drafty in the restaurant and that may likely be related to how open and spacious the interior is. Very nice and quiet dinner for us, so no complaints here.Location/Parking: FairThe restaurant is right next to the streets, so people drive by it and can easily find it. Not hidden anywhere and seems like an optimal spot. This is another location where I refuse to go alone (mostly at night). Again, it was raining that day, which made visibility a little bit more difficult. The lights were dimmed out, as well, so the parking didn't look like an ideal place to be at. There is a long stretch for this parking lot, so it doesn't seem like parking should be an issue for this area.
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"Tin's Teapot Bistro was the venue of a dinner organized by black badge Elite Li Y. of Hawaii on 08/08/2004. Li was kind enough to extend me an invitation, and I finally got a chance to meet several long time Yelpers in person. This was my first time eating at Tin's since the pandemic. Upon entering, I saw Alice the owner working at the cash register. Really glad to see her still at the helm. The interior appeared to have gone through a slight upgrade. Cleanliness was still excellent.We were seated at a large round table. Our group of 10 elected to eat family style. We each picked a dish, so we ended up with a table full of food. Overall, the quality was quite good. My two favorites were the Salt and Pepper Pork Chop and XO Sauce Seafood Combo. Judging from the absence of leftovers, I'd say the others liked it as well.Service we received was terrific. The staff were friendly and attentive.Many thanks to Li for organizing this dinner. Good food, great company. Definitely a fantastic outing!"
"Best Dim Sum hands down that I had in Oakland. FAVORITE meal during my two week travel trip. I am a fiend when it comes to rice noodles and these are up there with my favorites. What a treat! What an experience!1. Pork Buns are divine2. Shrimp Rice Noodles for Days3. The Wonton Soup is a signature 4. Do not sleep on the Shu MaiMy Taste Buds officially rejoiced. Oakland City finally stepped up their food game. This place does China Town PROUD!"
