Huge menu of desserts and savory items. Have only tried the desserts but they are very good. Price point may be higher than some of their competitors, but the service is great, and they stay open later than most dessert places these days. Last but critical change to note: they finally take credit cards.

I had high expectations for the desserts here, but they were ok. There is no AC so you should avoid coming here on a hot day.

Knock them down 1 star for not giving water. Apparently they only sell bottle water. Minus another star for my egg waffle not crunchy outside enough like they are in Hong Kong

This place totally transported us to HK with the decor and the authentic food. The iced red bean float was bombdiggity, especially great with the black pepper pork chop dish. The egg waffles were decent and the sesame balls in sesame paste was tasty taste. Heard there was double milk here too so definitely coming back to try that.

We come here regularly for the authentic Hong Kong style street food, traditional desserts, bubble teas, Hong Kong milk tea, etc. Theres outdoor seating and a heat lamp. Service is great too!

A lot of variety on the menu! Staff were lovely and it was a cute little place to get some drinks and desserts with friends.

I have been going here for the last six years and it never ceases to disappoint. With crepes, traditional Chinese desserts, and food shaped like other food (they have a dish of sashimi made from fruit and tiramisu that looks like a potted plant), it is an amazing place to go. The servers there are all very friendly and will also help explain anything on the menu and all the ingredients.Besides the ceiling painted to resemble the sky and the decor of feeling like you are in China, each table has a placard with buttons that make it very easy to receive service. Not to mention, the food always arrives quickly.My favorite dish there is the Green Wonder, but they also have fantastic garlic noodles, and be sure to try their Tofu with Black Sesame or Tofu with Red Bean!

I appreciate the creativity like the sushi shave ice. Fun vintage Hong Kong decor. First Ive seen. Thou the taste is only so-so. The Hong Kong Mike tea is sub par. Still worth checking it out.

The service was really good during my visit. The guy with the beanie was very helpful, was quick and welcoming. The food is decent; it’s a great place for a quick bite and decent dessert.

Ordered to dine outdoors, and took well over 40 minutes to receive food while waiting despite the food sitting on the counter. The staff had informed us that it would be served in takeout containers, not that it would be delivered in a single batch takeout style.

Honk Kong style desserts and food. Must try the egg pudding which takes 15 minutes to prepare but worth the wait especially on a cold night

Get the fruit sashimi dessert! Tastes as good as it looks!

Love the decor and the creative desserts. Try the molecular creations!

Cute interior decor (made to look like a Chinese street cafe) and imaginative & delicious desserts. We got the Ramen cheesecake which was big enough to share but want to try the potted plant tiramisu and sushi dessert next time. This place tends to get really crowded and can sell out of popular items.

Never tried food here during my entire year of stay in San Mateo. I was like, it specializes in dessert, their meals would probably be mediocre right? I was proven wrong, completely, food and small plates this place serves are so good and authentic, which instantly brought me back to HK. I would have had no hesitation to turn all my visits of China Bee to here.Thank you, Dessert Republic!Black pepper chicken steak spaghetti is a must try.

Brought a friend who has been here before. I ordered their Full House and when I was eating the middle portion of the crepe I found a piece of hair! I complained, but the server just took it said sorry and ask if I still want another one. Like, another hair? I the replacement order should be free, right? Wrong. I paid.

Tasty desserts, a bit pricey.

Tacky decor, popcorn chicken was better than average, the green wonder was not great, mango based aloe mixed fruits was the prize winner.

Good atmosphere and good food

Good dessert. Good service as always

Love the pink lady!

I grew up with their imitation shark fin soup 碗仔翅. My mom comes here whenever she misses Hong Kong.

Service was awesome, theyre using their outdoor seating in the alley way.

We were actually looking for a different dessert shop and discovered this one instead. The taichi sesame pasted was interesting but the steamed egg pudding is really good. And of course, my favorite is the Hong Kong style coffee+milk tea.

Four stars?! At most 3. We tried the crepe and for the price it wasnt even close to being a good dessert. The zen soup was ok, but didnt make up for the unenthusiastic service. Id rather have less selection and better quality, not to mention the higher prices/lower value. I think its because this place is next to the theatre, they have taken it for granted.

Real and quality ingredients and service with a smile. The interior, designed like a street, make you feel comfortable and are a definite conversation starter

This place has a wide variety of Asian desserts and is a cool hangout place for a group of friends or a date. The samplers let you try a little bit of everything and are not too expensive when you split it. The cold dessert one is much sweeter but the hot sampler is nice on a cold night. My favorite is the sago - its refreshing and delicious!Not a bad dessert place to top off a dinner in San Mateo!

Only thing they make well here are desserts and their fried chicken wings. We had the shrimp garlic noodles and it was extremely salty. It tasted like the ocean. The curry in the curry fishballs was very watered down and so it was tasteless. Id just stick to desserts and order their chicken wings if you wanted something savory.

I have nothing but good things to say about the food. I love to order the seasame dessert and the popcorn chicken. My only compliant is that order and wait times take too long. Ordering popcorn chicken on even a non busy day still takes 10-15 minutes to get my order.

Super special! Food, atmosphere, really fun! Gotta try it! Loved their desserts, and hot plates. Garlic noodles were the best noodles ever! Hope to come back there when will stay in Cali again.

Weve been going here for about 5 years (on occasion). Its in the alley next to the parking lot by the movie theater (Beard Papas is nearby).The sesame and sweet tofu is always good. The crepes are HUGE (enough for 2).Good stuff!!

Great little cafe hidden in the alley right by the train station. Plenty of parking at the adjacent parking lot fun theme and great food. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable food is authentic

Good hk dessert. Entrees are okay, but definitely go for the desserts. Love to buttons you push to get the waiters attention, water, check, etc. Can get packed so FYI.

2nd time here. A high volume establishment exceeded posted capacity limit while I was there. Atmosphere is chaotic staff rushes about at a frenzied pace.Desserts are tasty and novel.Ordered a Diet Coke that tasted odd. It had expired over 1 year prior.

My go-to place for Hong Kong style milk tea. The entrees and desserts are good too. They have some cool hot desserts like sesame paste. But, the hot Hong Kong style milk tea with condensed milk is a must try.

Cant stop ordering the sesame balls in almond paste.

The coffee with milk tea is interesting. Recommend a try, you may or may not like it.

Good Cantonese Dessert place.Nice place to hangout late night with bunch of friends.Its quite loud there.Love their egg puff and almond soup~ XD

Good late night dessert house with tasty snacks. Im from Sf and I typically dont like dessert houses, but Im willing to venture out here because they put a little more effort to their hot dishes.

This place is cash only just as a reminder. It offer a huge selection of Chinese desserts. There is often a weight so be prepared to wait 15 to 30. I always go here around the holidays with my family of 6.

Late night crepes! Love this place

Been here a couple times. The decor is cool and unique, and its always pretty busy with some waiting required. The food was okay - sweet tofu has very smooth tofu but bland flavor even with the entire cup of syrup added; popcorn chicken is usually served hot which is great, and the presentation looks tantalizing, but somehow the flavor just doesnt pop like some of the other places nearby. I had high hopes for the noodle entrees, but I was a bit disappointed. They look and taste like ramen noodle, the type thats ready to eat after adding hot water. Again, not bad per se, but enough to not make me want to come back.

Variety of deserts. Chinese desert shop.

Classic Chinese foods and some interesting desserts. The decor was nice. We arrived on a Friday night at about 6pm and a few of the things we tried ordering were out so it was a little disappointing.

Place gets crowded pretty quickly.

I wanted to like this place but I really cant! Its supposed to have Hong Kong style desserts but the quality was horrendous! No taste to the milk tea, mango sago was watery. No flavor! The inside decor was cute. Hence, the 1 star.

SUPER MANGO & CREPES!!!! They were both absolutely amazing.Very cute decor too :)

I love going here. Its my favorite dessert place :)

Small cozy place but great interior decor. Made to look and feel like outdoor HK street. Very artistic desserts. Def recommend trying the ~$10 Tiramisu that looks like a Flower Pot!

Tai-Chi sesame paste looks good but taste just okay. Fried chicken and egg waffle are so delicious!

The decor here is full-on nostalgic old Hong Kong - everything from street signs to even a red post office mailbox outside was thought out. The menu is typical old style HK desserts and cafe food. 正宗茶餐廳味道.

This place offers a wide range of typical Chinese desserts (try the sesame paste for something not too sweet), boba, coffee, and some really neat molecular gastronomy type desserts.

Large selection of desserts. Steamed eggs are good. Mangoes desserts were a disappointment though.

Almond paste with black sesame balls. Simply amazing. Brought back fond memories of the desserts in my home country. Thick and creamy almond paste that was not too sweet. Served hot. Dough of the ball was not too slimey, not too sticky, not too hard and not too thick. Waiter and waitress speaks English and Cantonese. USD7 per pax for party of 3.

From what I remembered, this pace was nothing to rave about. It was one of the few dessert places that stayed open late. This place is pretty fun with the service buttons where you flag down a waitress when youre ready to order-even though its really that neccesary- especially with the restaurant size that they have. Beware, the crepes arent that great but if youre into boba milk tea, then this is the place to be!

Tried the Tiramisu Pot and its one of the best I have ever had.

Its a pretty authentic take on a cafe from Hong Kong! The desserts are great -- I particularly like their potted plant tiramisu and the taichi bowl. Service is decent, generally pretty fast.

Great decorations. but desserts are a bit too thick and too sweet.

Dessert Republic is a favorite for my woman and I thanks to its consistently friendly/knowledgeable staff, and incredible desserts.

Great selection of Hong Kong style desserts. Fitting decor

Food was okay, but not so clean

Surprisingly good ice cream.

I tried the Tiramisu pot and was pleasantly surprised both with the taste and presentation.

Late night stop for a crepe. Had the grapevine one. Both fruits and Nutella were hardly there. Passion green bona tea was ok.

People there have REALLY BAD attitude. Very typical Hong Kong sevice. Will never go there again.

Love to eat and spend time here .. perfect!

I wanted to find a dessert spot to wash away the underwhelming Italian I had this evening, and I wanted to find a great place especially because I was with the one and only Melinda! And while she (claims she) would have been content with choosing a few of 31 flavors, I wanted to find something less ordinary. Dessert Republic was a good choice.Located along Main Street in San Mateo (its in quotes because its more of a wide alley turned into a pedestrian mall, of sorts; its no modern street) on the edge of downtown, Dessert Republic is a Hong Kong style bistro that serves entrees and desserts. Sit at a table, read over the menu, and press the order button on the remote bell at your table. Someone will scurry over to take your order. We choose a crepe and something with sesame and sweet tofu, and as luck would have it we swapped our desserts one-third of the way in to them. I rather like sesame seed paste and the dish was just the right size and mix of calming flavors. The restaurant interior is done up as a narrow alley in Hong Kong, with shops (frescos) along one side. You can order food as well (we didnt), and an assortment of drinks or other desserts. Not your traditional chocolate cake or peach cobbler desserts but a great way to finish of eating for the night.

Delicious and cheapfor noodles and bubble tea,savory and sweet.Great spot to get late night snacks - all the standard stuff youd expect (those egg pastries, bubble tea, etc.) plus a ton of crepe, noodle, and dim sum dishes. I had the garlic noodles with calamari and the curry fish balls. Id recommend both.The ceiling inside is painted like the sky, sort of like The Venetian. Except the faux buildings are Hong Kong style. So I guess you could call it The Chinetian?

Always a bit crowded but amazing desert options

They have some unique Chinese desserts here!

Update for COVID-19: outdoor seating available. The food is just as good, but you might want to bring a blanket or dress warmer as the sun is setting earlier!Reminds me of a cha chaan teng in Hong Kong down to the décor! Loved the egg puff, black pepper sauce chicken, and steamed egg pudding. 好似香港真係！

Very special place, somehow i felt like i was really somewhere on a little streets of Hong Kong great ambience.

Desserts that dont look desserts?! This place has that and a bunch of other goodies.Located in an alley right next to a parking garage, Dessert Republic serves up meals, desserts, snacks, and drinks well into the night (its open till 1am on the weekends). I didnt come here for their meals, I came here with friends on Saturday night craving some desserts. It wasnt too busy and we were seated right away. We ordered drinks, their tiramisu plant pot, cheesecake that looked like ramen, and tai-chi sesame paste. All their desserts looked too good to eat.Tiramisu pot: It really does look like a potted plant. It comes complete with pop rocks! Despite it looking really earthy, this was my favorite. The dirt was most likely crushed cookies/oreos and it was yummy :) The tiramisu tasted pretty good too.Cheesecake Ramen: Its served in a cute ramen bowl and it looks like one of those display ramen you see at japanese restaurants. I could not believe it was a cheesecake. My friends and I were pretty amused at the details. It really does look like ramen but everything was a dessert. The cheesecake had a fake egg on top and when we went to break the yolk.. there was actual yellow liquid running! That was probably the best part of the night, did not expect that to happen. The cheesecake itself was okay, not bad but not great either. The shrimp tempura was interesting, it was crispy and sweet. Most of the toppings were different jellies. Pretty fun to eat.Tai-chi sesame paste: I really enjoy black sesame so I really liked this dessert. The white is the almond paste and the black is the sesame. It looks too pretty to mix, but mixing it results in a good flavor combination. It was more like a hot thick soup to drink, great for when youre feeling cold.The drinks we got werent bad either. I thought everything was pretty solid and I would come back again. It was fun place to chill and hangout with friends.

Great place for cheap comfort food and dessert. Open late.

Dessert republic is one of the place I would take friend who are visiting to hangout.The atmosphere is pretty awesome how they decorated the place to look very old-school-hong-kong-street-life like.They have almost all the Chinese/Hong Kong desserts that everyone loves from crepes to egg pudding to boba to sesame paste.

I went three times this past week because they have such a vast selection of goodies! Ive become a regular here. First of all, their awesome decor clearly took a lot of heart and soul because it works to help reminisce the good old days from growing up in Hong Kong. This is the real deal. Check out their wall paintings, their explanation signs, the amount of details that go into even using the same serving bowls as the ones within the paintings, and that giant red post office can outside! I was ecstatic when I found this gem even just based on the decor alone.Onto the food: the $2.99 egg puffs are out of this world. I am guessing they put into the recipe some mochi, because it tastes much more complex than just regular batter (plus it usually is the item that takes the longest to come out).The crepes are awesome, Ive tried the nutella ones, the banana crepe, and the ones stuffed with ice cream are the best.There was this one dessert where they cut up a banana and fried it like spring rolls, with scoops of ice cream in the middle, and that was really good.Ive tried their sesame tangyuan balls, which are pretty standard, but when dunked in almond milk, just made them much better.The Pink Lady was strawberry flavored ice on the bottom with cut strawberries, watermelon balls, and strawberry ice cream on the top so the ice cream deliciously melted onto the slightly out-of-seasoned strawberries, which made them good.I also tried their lunch menu once during the weekends when they are open for lunch. I tried their porkchop rice dish and also their fried chicken wings with instant noodles. Why they dont open during the weekdays is a mystery to me because they offer such a variety of items that it would be great to be able to try more of their savory dishes.They have a button system where you have to press for service, water, etc., which is efficient in my opinion. Theres a membership card you can ask them to give you that provides 10% each time you dine. Cash only. If only they are open for lunch on weekdays!

The best thing about this place is that its open when most places are closed if you are looking for late night asian food, they also have an interesting system of alerting the staff of your desire to order food or checkout via an electronic pad on each table...

Dessert not very authentic. No vegetables if you want to have a full meal.

Good taste hk style dessert

Food is pretty good, but the place seems understaffed. Takes a while to get our orders.

Very tasty food on the menu!😊

One of the best in the area.

Nice place

Awesome Asian desserts

Hire more people please!

Large selection of Cantonese desserts and drinks.

Yummy

Old Hong Kong characteristics. Hong Kong Color Food. Street scene of Hong Kong in the 1960s.

The decoration of the place is nice and there are many variations on the menu here

Open late!