Shooting Star Cafe

Very clean and high class Hong Kong style food that is open late. Wildly popular and for good reason.

I've got a friend from Hong Kong that brought me to many of the Hong Kong style restaurants around. I guess he was a bit homesick and would seek out these places for some comfort.

The interior dining room is very comfortable. I love the set up of the dining. room being closed off from the main entry hall where people wait.

Chairs are comfortable and not overly institutional. Shooting star theme a big plus. Love a place with a little character.

Many people go here after some drunken night in downtown and with so few late options they stumble in here. I'm not gonna say thats what I do - don't want anything self incriminating here on the yelpusphere.

Right now there is a steal of a deal with milk tea celebrating their anniversary. Now that is something to be thankful for. Such a huge variety of drinks and they advertise outside. Probably good for grab and go.

Authentic and friendly. They get so busy late at night yet they can still get food out in a timely fashion. Popular even with the OPD - and more healthy than donuts. A must try if you in downtown Oakland.

This place has authentic and delicious Chinese desserts.

I got the beef noodle soup on the menu that comes with a boba, and chose the lychee boba. The noodles were perfect and the beef was tender. I thought the broth was seasoned well.

My sister got the mango sago and peanut rice balls, and loves both of them. I also got the taro and yam balls with grass jelly base, which was incredible.

The service was very fast, and they were very polite. The restaurant was surprisingly busy for a random Tuesday afternoon, but it is still very cosy. The seats are well spaced out. The restaurant is also very clean.

Overall, definitely come here for the delicious food and desserts. The menu is a little large but worth parsing.

An awesome place for late night Hong Kong food and desserts with the largest menu you've ever seen.

Important note: there's a $10 minimum charge per person!

In the middle of Oakland Chinatown, shooting star is hard to miss. We arrived at night mainly for some dessert. Their savory, drink, and dessert menu are all large, which I really appreciate.

We ordered a red bean ice, grass jelly ice, honey lemon tea, and natural herbal jelly. The ice drinks were pretty good, lots of toppings, but once the ice starts melting, it's not so great. The honey lemon tea hit the spot for me. Perfect proportion of honey and lemon. The jelly was super good as well. The syrup is super sweet, which balances out the bitter jelly.

The service was pretty standard Chinese place: efficient, quick, not super attentive, does the job.

Ambience is also okay. It's not the cutest place, the decorations are kinda kitschy, but it is iconically Oakland.

Overall, Shooting Star is okay. They're the only place around that's open late for Hong Kong food, so if I'm craving it late while in Oakland, shooting star is where I'll go. But earlier in the day, or in SF, there's soo many better options imo.

Long over due review for this go-to late night HK food and dessert spot in east bay. Plenty of seats inside good for big groups and families. The service is ok, you need to flag them down if you are in a hurry.
First time visiting for lunch and I was amazed by how good of a deal it was. We got a lunch special, choice of entree, with soup, salad and a drink for $1.50 more. The baked pork chop over spaghetti was gauge portion , comes with not one but two pork chops! Meat was not salty and cooked perfectly. The half tea half coffee iced is sooo good, need to order that again.
My usual order is the egg puff for dessert but we were so full we had to skip. Would definitely try to visit during the day for their lunch specials if I were nearby.

Do they get your order right everytime? ...not really

Is it hard to get a server's attention? ....perhaps so

But shooting star is definitely the only late night cafe spot I find myself coming back to everytime. The menu is huge so you're bound to find something. There's boba, crepes, waffles, dessert soups, fried rices, and more. Prices are fair and I always end up here with my family. Staff is nice but I come at busy times where it's really hard to wave them down. Try not to make any changes to what you order and nail down what you like. I love getting their dessert soups and their salted cream rose tea.

Shooting star is always a favorite of mine when I go to Oakland. It's open late at night, and super convenient. Although the prices can seem a little high at first, they have large portions, and the food is usually really good.

I got the black pepper beef with spaghetti, and the set comes with salad and soup. You also get a drink, and they have a wide selection.

There's always people in the restaurant, and they have a huge selection. You can't go wrong with this place!

I tried the lunch special at Shooting Stars, and it was really worth the price. Just a heads up, though - the special deal is only for folks dining in at the restaurant.

The soup of the day, probably chicken soup, was a nice surprise. It was super tasty without being too salty, and it went really well with the Hai Nan Style Chicken and Special Rice. The Hai Nan chicken was good, and the special rice had this cool coconut flavor that made the dish even more interesting.

The Beef Chow Fun didn't let me down; it tasted just as good as I expected. The wok hay added a nice touch, making it a dish I can count on.

For dessert, we went for the Hot Desserts with Taro and Yam Balls on a Grass Jelly Base. We thought it would be cold, but surprise, it was warm! It was okay, and the taro and yam balls weren't too squishy, but I wouldn't say it's a must-try. There might be better dessert options on the menu.

*One thing to keep in mind is that they automatically add a service fee to your bill, so no need to worry about tipping separately.

Atmosphere is always loud but expected in a Hong Kong style cafe. The tables and cups smell like bleach but at least you know they are sanitized.

Orders come out quick and they sometimes have lunch specials when you come early. Food is hot and subpar but that's what is to be expected.

My favorite is the baked pork chop over rice and peanut butter condensed waffle. Those are consistently my go to's.

The reviews were so low that I was too scared to get food here, but this is one of few boba places in downtown Oakland that is open after 6pm. The coconut milk boba was about what I expected (fairly artificial tasting but not as bad as it could be) but the boba was overcooked. Given I spend $6.80, I was disappointed to realize the "regular" size is so small. I didn't realize that the "large" is just fifty cents more until after my drink arrived.

Shooting star used to be open super late. Now it's just open kinda late, but still worth a visit when hangry.

The menu is intimidatingly large. Gotta know what to order - stick with Hong Kong cafe ish stuff? I typically stick to the baked x over rice, hk milk tea, waffles, and some of the dry noodle dishes.

Other stuff is ok, though probably better at nearby restaurants - still fine in a pinch.