Harborview Restaurant, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Harborview 4 Embarcadero Center, Street Level San Francisco, CA 94111 626-867-7350 Harborview Website

Why did we dine here? – Harborview Restaurant is located in 4 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco. It takes the place of Crystal Jade, which spend $14 remodeling the space. This restaurant is run the founder of by the well established R & G Lounge Kinson Wong. Embarcadero underground garage parking validation available -> $2 parking on weekends.

Last visit was Summer 2026 for lunch. It was packed for a Saturday lunch.

Insider Tip – Order selectively, they are $$$$

Cuisine – Cantonese Chinese
Location – San Francisco Financial District
Opened – 2018

Service – Harborview service was very good, better than most Chinese restaurants.
Verdict – Harborview has decent food in a beautiful atmosphere. Food quality is not as modern or as good as our favorite HL Peninsula. Price are high (About 40% more than Hong Kong Lounge), but this should be no surprise with this location. It is a great place to go if you do not speak Chinese and get intimidated by more traditional restaurants.

Is this restaurant worth a 5 minute drive? Yes. 30 minute? Maybe. 1 Hour? No

Harborview Signature Dishes – Dim Sum, Crab

Harborview’s Menu for lunch is pretty classic dim sum. Not a lot of innovation like HL Peninsula, Grand Harbour or Koi Palace.

Website Harborview Menu

Harborview Food Picks:

Live Crab with Salt and Pepper (Market Price) is their signature dish, looks like it was taken from R&G Lounge.  Excellent crab cooked perfectly and coated with egg.

Baked Black Cod ($56 for small) Large fillet of black cod marinated & baked in our special glaze (Cooking time 30+ minutes) was very good but not great.  Not cheap either. We had one at Kokkari that was cheaper and bigger. 8/10

Har Gow (L: $11) – Had 4 fairly large ones with good shrimp flavor, nicely formed. Nothing super exceptional though. One of our favorite spots – Hong Kong Lounge, charges only $7.95. 8.5/10

Steamed shrimp and pea sprout dumplings ($11 for 3) are triangular shaped dumpling that hit the spot. Lots of dough. 8/10

Steamed Chicken Feet – (M: $9.90) were good but not exceptional. 7.5/10 – They also have Chicken feet in Herbal Broth ($11) which is more healthy.

Crunchy Sugar Crust BBQ Pork Bun ($11 for 2) is a signature dish and it shows. Almost like a donut with char siu filling. Very well done. 9/10

Deep Fried Sesame Dumplings w/ Sweet potato stuffing (S: $7.70) were also very good. The filling is different than the usual black sesame paste. Not very sweet, which is a plus. 8.5/10

Steamed vegetarian dumplings (L:$9) are perfect for vegetarians.  Pass otherwise.

Steamed rice flour rolls with shrimp (L: $13) were decent.  Nice shrimp.  They don’t have special modern variants unlike HL Peninsula. 8/10 – Beef version was similar.

Deep Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings with assorted meat stuffing (L: $11) were freshly fried and still hot. 8/10

Deep Fried shrimp toast ($13) for 3pcs was not what we thought. It looks like a yau tiu with shrimp inside. 8/10

Steamed pork spareribs ($9.90) with black bean sauce were fine. 8/10

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns (S: $5) were fine. Nothing special.

Steamed Beef Balls with Aged Mandarin Orange Peel (M: $6.50) were good sized and very meaty.

Pan Fried Turnip Cake ($7.70, 3pcs) was a decent rendition with nice char. 8/10

Congee with seafood ($10) is a great deal, considering it costs the same as the beef or chicken. 8.5/10

Pea Shoots in Supreme broth had nice cleanly cooked veggies in a light broth. 8.5/10

Beef Chow fun was decent, not surprises here, reasonable quantity. 8/10

OK: (Order if you like this dish)

Black Sesame mochi (S $7.70) had 4 small bites that were okay, not great. 7/10

Sweet Almond Soup (S $7.70) was not sweet enough. 6/10

Steamed Shrimp and Leek Dumplings ($9, 3pcs) were small and fairly bland.

Rice flour roll with Chinese donut ($10, 3pcs) were not very special. HL Peninsula’s version rocks. 6/10

Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf ($6 1pc) are fairly bland surprisingly. 6/10

Sauteed green beans ($10) was tiny and unremarkable. 6/10

Steamed fresh fish (Market price) was nice looking but overcooked.

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
Xiao long Bao (Q: $16) were expensive and sad. Do not order these at non Shanghai restaurants.

Do you agree with our review? Have you found other similar restaurants that are better?

Restaurant Map: