Jade Cathay

IMHOMy girls wanted dim sum for dinner. While driving home, they researched for a Chinese restaurant that served dim sum all day. Found Jade Cathy, which is right next door to the House of Genji. There is an ample parking lot next door, with lots of signs warning you not to leave valuables in your car.At 5 p.m. the restaurant was fairly empty but by the time we left, had filled up a little more. You order via QR code and soon your meal arrives at the table.We ordered the BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Roll, $7, Deep Fried Taro Dumplings, $7, Tofu Skin Wraps Supreme, $9, Sticky Rice Wraps, $8, Braised Tofu, $15, Minced Beef Soup, $15, and Salt & Pepper Fish Fillet, $18. They also charge $2.30 for tea pp. I'm of the generation where tea was free! I wasn't hungry but wanted to treat my girls, but I did love the salt & pepper fish fillet. Soup was good but I felt it could use a tad more flavor. We packed up a lot of leftovers, and the kind waiter gave us some free sweet buns for dessert.Service was friendly and available. Yes, I'd definitely come back again!

We came here recently for a weekend dinner because my in-laws wanted to find a restaurant close to the airport hotel where another relative was staying. Since they have such a limited range of food preferences (read: they only eat Chinese or Japanese food), they selected this one.When we arrived, we were surprised and a little concerned that there was literally no one else in the place. It wasn't especially early in the evening, and it was a weekend night too, so this was a bit unexpected. Well, at least we got all the attention we needed from the wait staff.What we dined on that night:Hot and sour soup - in my experience there's very little variability in this dish among restaurants. It wasn't much different here, except for two things: the soup was much thicker than usual (ease up on the cornstarch, please) and there was preserved vegetables instead of just the typical shredded bamboo shoots (this is a good thing). Flavor was fine but we found the texture to be off. Too much salt, too.Combination fried rice - a generous serving, quite nicely prepared as it wasn't drenched in soy sauce or over-salted. This is fortunate because this was needed for the rest of the mealFried calamari - one nice thing about this place is that they offer dimsum all day long, so we ordered this one item off their dimsum menu. Crispy on the outside but not too chewy on the inside, with just a hint of spiciness from the jalapenos.Clams with black beans - decent flavor, but the clams were overcooked and sometimes a little hard to chew.Fish and tofu "clay pot" - sadly, this was a big disappointment. For one, it came out in a regular dish rather than in the clay pot, which would help it retain some heat and also a nice broth. The dish had waaaaaay too much soy sauce and salt - it was a very dark brown color - and there was little in the way of vegetables. The tofu cubes fell apart and was difficult to eat. We would take home a lot of leftovers of this and reinvent it with a lot of baby bok choy to offset the sodium and lighten up the dish.Service was a little inattentive despite the fact that we were the only customers in the place until just about the very end. No one ever came to refill our teapot or water glasses.So, not the best of experiences, unfortunately. Looking at the reviews after the fact, it seems like this place is a better place to come for the dimsum, rather than the regular menu items. Our one dimsum item was the best of the meal, so perhaps we'll give this place another chance in that regard.

Good spot if you want your dim sum fix and don't want to wait for long. Dined in around 11ish on a Sunday and no wait! More and more people came in throughout my meal, but no one had to wait. Some side tables have an iPad to view the menu and order from, but I had to scan a QR at the table. It was troublesome in the beginning since it was taking awhile for it to finally load on my phone. For anyone new at dim sum, it helps that they have pictures on the menu.Ordered some of the classics for a party of two:- Siu mai- Ha gao (shrimp dumpling)- Salt & pepper fish- Soy sauce chow mein (my only complaint would be that it was way too salty)- BBQ pork rice noodle rolls- Fried shrimp ballsWe enjoyed the food! Food came out at different times but still within a good time frame. Prices were okay, dim sum always adds up. It took some time to get one of the worker's attention when we needed something though. Decent sized restaurant, tables are well spread out from one another. Not much going on with interior decor and not fancy compared to other places, but it's clean. Parking is very convenient with an open big lot and street parking.

This place a gem of a chinese cuisine! The food tasted awesome...not greasy, just the right amount of everything! I'll be back here for sure! You guys need to try this placeThe service was fast too and the place was very clean, including the bathroom.

Typical dim sum toilet, not too clean, but not bad. Good that they still provide paper towel. I think the dood is considered very cheap with its price and quality. This place is not as crowded as other dim sum place. I think this is a good alternative compared to others with it competitive price.

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.

~4.5/5 I really do think the only thing bad about this place is their prices are on average about ~20-25% higher than the rest of the Bay. With that said, I think it's pretty fair. Things come out fresh/piping hot and many of the options don't skip on the fillings. All-day Dim Sum is a plus when I think there's only ~3 restaurants in San Jose-ish that do it.BBQ Pork Buns 4/5 - Realistically I just wish these were bigger as they are smaller than I'm used to. The ratio of filling is pretty perfect though, not too little, and the bun itself does not distract from the taste as some places make the bun too big to the point it gets a chore chewing flavorless bun. Fairly fluffy which is rare nowadays as well.Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll 5/5 - Giant shrimp inside, rice paper/noodle itself aren't overly doughy/chewy. Could definitely use more of the sweet soy sauce on it though if possible.Siu Mai & Har Gow 4/5 - Both came out very hot which is a good thing. You don't see the steam but if you're used to taking a piece and throwing it into your mouth instead of taking small bites you might want to reconsider. Shrimp Ball 3.5/5 - No down sides, but also nothing really specialXO Noodles 2/5 - Kinda ok. Came out very late in the meal and was not hot or warm. It was also very soft and not as firm as expected from other places or even when compared to the rice noodle roll.Parking is okay, I appreciate all places that have their own lots, especially as Genji next door gets pretty crowded but the lot can be fairly dimly lit which makes it look a bit sketchy.

We came on a Sunday afternoon, and the place was crowded. It was good to see! We've been here for both dim sum and dinner time.Parking is plentiful, and they have a large lot shared amongst the 4-5 restaurants here.The service is very friendly, courteous, and attentive. The owners frequently visit each customer when they have a bit of time. Place your order via QR code. They have a bar, mostly hard liquor, beer, and wine only. Simple Chinese decor, clean but aged. Separate bathrooms each for men and women.The dim sum was good. My wife liked the bbq pork rice noodle. My mom and I liked the scallop shrimp dumpling. The deep-fried salted egg pumpkin was better than I thought. I personally don't care for the Salted egg, but my wife and mom love it!

I love it here. My favorite DimSum in the South Bay worth the minimal bang for your buck. I haven't had one bad experience here so I'm leaving the 5 star. It's almost a bi-monthly ritual to come here on Sunday's for our group after any Saturday Night events. I've tried other places like Grand Dynasty, Koi Palace, H&L Peninsula, but I always gravitate back to here. It's not your usual cart to table service and I'm actually okay with that as we don't get overwhelmed with selections. My top orders and always ordering, the Preserved Egg & Pork Porridge - enough to feed 6 with a one ladle serving per bowl. Thankfully my group loves the porridge as much as I do and we always order 2 orders. Hargow, Shumai, Lotus Leaf Sticky Rice, Stuffed Mushrooms, Chicken Feet, Shrimp Rice Rolls, Walnut Shrimp, and once in a blue moon, Shrimp Chive Dumplings.We used to order veggies on the side too, but we've noticed inconsistency with the oyster sauce on top where it gets really salty and the veggies loses its texture/crunch, so it's no longer our repeat order. Today, we got a bit more adventurous and tried the Salt & Pepper Pork Chop and Salt & Pepper Calamari. The Salt & Pepper Pork Chop is more definitely the winner as the Calamari was more batter in the squid. Both do have a great crunchy texture though. Also we ordered Scallop Shrimp Dumplings, it was a hit with the others but myself, not so much. Maybe next time.Can't really place a comment on service that much, but the team are nice. If you're looking for a great Dim Sum spot, I highly recommend Jade Cathay.

I can't believe I have not posted a review on this place. I have been going here for years and when I was at SJC, our Chinese flight crews came here for their lunches after arriving from China. Owned and operated by a family that lives in the neighborhood. They no longer have the dim sum carts but the food is just as good. Our favorites are the Shumai, Soup Dumplings, Stuffed Eggplant, Chicken Corn Soup and their specialty is duck. This year we ordered a turkey for Thanksgiving, and we really enjoyed it. Think Peking turkey! Even when crowded the place is good and parking is easy. They have seating for large groups with the lazy susan turntables and enormous round tables. Order at your table with your phone and a QR code or a small device on some of the tables.