Knock Knock is a nearby neighborhood cafe that has a mix of Cantonese-style dishes. The decor and the style of the food reminds me a bit of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California, where there are a lot of small cafe shops opening serving quick eats. My cousin had visited this a few weeks ago for breakfast, and they said they were pleasantly surprised at the coffee. That was a catalyst for us to check this place out to see how its actual food was. We were able to walk in with a group of 3 on a Sunday evening around 6:30 PM without reservations.
Ambiance & Service
The restaurant interior was dark, and the arrangement of tables and seating was interesting. The space is much more of a long rectangle. The parts next to the bar are dimly lit by those typical touch-lamps on the table. In the back, they have a section where it’s covered by glass, so it can let a lot of natural light in during the day.
They seated us at the bar at the corner for the 3 of us.
The service was fast and very attentive. Just a fair warning that the bill is paid through those tablets. The tip is calculated after tax, so if you pay tip based on subtotal, you might need to do the math separately.
Food
We decided to opt for the “Pre Fix Menu” for dinner which was $45. You can choose an appetizer (3 choices), entree (4 choices - though 1 was sold out for me at the time), and dessert (2 choices). It’s not a whole lot of options, so it makes it easy to pick. The menu also includes a choice of beer (Tsingtao or Sapporo) or wine (white or red). The wine was like low shelf, so set your expectations accordingly.
The Pork Shumai came with 3 pieces. My partner ordered the Shrimp Shumai. Both tasted like typical dim sum courses, and they were very succulent and dense.
The Roast Duck Plate came with the duck leg and thigh, rice, and some sauce. The duck leg was a little salty for me, and it was also a tad dry. The skin was very crispy, but it did somehow get to the meat. There were a lot of bones and the meat was a little sparse. Despite this, it was decent. On the side, the green sauce was a ginger-like chimichurri-ish sauce, and the black sauce was similar to the stuff they pour over rice rolls that they serve in normal dim sum. All in all, it was filling enough where I wasn’t hungry.
I ordered the Matcha Tiramisu. The matcha powder was very light and added just enough flavor to the tiramisu such that it wasn’t overpowering. The tiramisu itself was not super sweet, but very balanced.
My partner ordered the Ube Mochi Waffle Top with Ice Cream. The ube mochi waffle was chewy and had a subtle sense of ube in it. It was very no frills and met expectations.
Final Verdict
Knock Knock is a decent neighborhood joint that I can see myself coming back if we truly ran out of things to eat. The price point for some dishes are about average, whereas some of the dim sum seems a little expensive. Regardless, we look forward to see how this restaurant steps up to competition as this area is experiencing a fast growth of small Chinese-centric cafes.
Yelp Jabs
Walked in on a Saturday night and there was no wait for a table. The two of us ordered three entrees to share and it ended up being a LOT of food. We got the tom yum pasta, Hong Kong spam bam, and knock knock fried rice. Favorites were the pasta and the fried rice.
I thought this was an amusing post from an Elitist. They ordered basically 2 rice-like dishes (noodles and rice). Normally you would just order 1 noodle or rice dish and 1-2 side dishes. So of course this would end up being a lot of food.
Okay first off the ube mochi waffle was phenomenal, who ever was cheffing it up in the back and made this, I appreciate you! I really wanted something really good and man this really hit the spot for me.
I would say the ube mochi waffle was decent but not stellar. It definitely tasted like something store bought, so it didn’t seem creative or original by any means. Again, this review is coming from an Elitist, so maybe even after all that time earning the badge, they haven’t really had ube mochi waffle elsewhere.
Revisions
- Oct 15, 2023 - Initial revision.