ABC Restaurant

782 Barber Ln

Milpitas, CA

95035

(408) 435-8888

This is the ABC restaurant in Milpitas, CA. This is actually the second time I've been to this restaurant. Years ago, while looking for a restaurant for my wedding banquet, I tried out this restaurant as one of the candidates. Let's just say back then it the decor was old and so was the food. I remember the food being bland and was sub par at best.

This time, My family and I went back for Dim Sum and to see if things have changed. Well, I'm glad to report that things have been upgraded quite a bit. From the outside, the building has not change or they did very little to it. However once you enter the restaurant, you see that the interior have been remodeled. Now it is very modern Asian with multiple big flat screen T.V.'s hanging everywhere. The furniture has been replaced, last time I went they were old and many chips in the seating. Now the furniture is modern with plush cushions and clean linens.

We arrived and the hostess told us it was about 10 minute wait. We'll knowing chinese people and their lack of ability to tell correct time when seating people, I expected probably 15 to 20 minute wait. I was wrong. It was about 30 minutes before we were finally seated. We ordered jasmine tea which was promptly brought to us. That was the last thing that was promptly brought to us.

Now let's provide everyone with a bit of background on eating Dim Sum. Most big restaurants will have ladies or gentlemen (but mostly ladies) push carts or carry tray around. The patrons would then see what is in the carts or trays and ask to sample those items. You would order how many plates or samples and they would stamp your ticket with what your ordered. The good part of this process is that you get to sample a wide variety of food. You can chat with your friends and family and it's really a great social experience. However, most Dim Sum restaurants the food is usually better than the service. Why do I say that, well because often the restaurants do not have enough wait persons to service the great amount of tables and people. Thereby it's it hard to get personal attention. This is something you should expect from a Dim Sum restaurant, especially the popular ones. I'm not saying this is right or how things should be done, I'm just telling you what I've experience in 99 percent of the popular Dim Sum places I go to.

ABC is no different. They are quite popular for Dim Sum, so they appear to be always pack, sometimes there is even a waiting list for seating, like the day I went. We rarely was able to track down the waiter to refill our water. We also barely able to get some of the ladies to stop pushing their carts so we can pick our food. There was one lady, that must not like us very much, because she did not stop once at our table. Must have recognized me from the last time I went. Some of the ladies just whisk by our section, which I really have no idea why. They are suppose to sell their food, not just pass by the patrons with it. Weirdly when it came time to pay, they were quite quick on getting me my bill and collecting my card card. Go figure.

The food that we did get is not bad. It was actually better than I expected given my last experience with the restaurant. Some of the staples of Dim Sum was not bad at all, like the shrimp or pork dumplings. The BBQ pork buns was hot and steaming. Inside the meat was sweet. The deep fried squid could've used a bit more seasoning, but I like the texture. The jelly fish was not that great, needed more marinade. On the whole I would say their steamed items was decent. The chicken's feet and pork spareribs was tasty, and not overpowering. The food appears to have been upgraded like everything else in this restaurant. There is not one food item which I would say wowed me, but nothing disappointed me either.

Final thoughts:

The decor and food has been upgraded, too bad the service has not.

Ratings

Food: 3 stars

Service: 1 stars

Price: Average

Overall: 2 stars