Oakland Chinatown’s Peony Seafood Restaurant is the last remaining dim sum banquet hall in the neighborhood—a place where generations have gathered for yum cha, celebrations, and unforgettable meals. In this episode, I sit down with some special guests to share dim sum, talk about the importance of Cantonese banquet halls, and reflect on why preserving our culture matters.
From har gow and siu mai to full banquet feasts, these meals are more than just food—they’re a connection to history, tradition, and community.
Thank you to Randy, Susanna, and Brandon for joining me in this episode. And shout out to Peony Seafood Restaurant for hosting us for this conversation.
What’s in this episode:
• The last dim sum banquet hall in Oakland Chinatown
• Conversations about dim sum culture and traditions
• The role of banquet halls in Cantonese celebrations
• Why preserving culture matters
Let’s celebrate the flavors and traditions that bring us together.
Drop a comment below with your favorite dim sum dish or a memory from a Chinatown banquet!
#DimSum #OaklandChinatown #CantoneseFood #BanquetHall #FoodCulture #ChinatownStories #peonyseafoodrestaurant #peonyserved
I’m Victor, and I was born and raised throughout Oakland and the Bay Area. In Collection Three: “People I’ve Met”, we come back to the Bay to highlight some people that I’ve met throughout life, as well as through running this series so far. We dig more into the stories about where they’re from, what they do, and explore some of the best food the Bay Area has to offer together.
New episodes coming soon.
Please like and subscribe to our channel for more!
Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hididyoueatyet/
Merch: https://hididyoueatyet.com/
Special thanks to:
– Tyler Coolidge for the episode music (IG: https://www.instagram.com/tylercoolidge/?hl=en)
– Megan for the Did You Eat Yet? design (IG: @https://www.instagram.com/mighty.moody/)
– And everyone who helped me out with shooting and producing and eating with me!
40 Comments
in the heart of Chinatown!! my family went here all the time growing up 🥹
I think silver dragon move to alameda, ca.
Really fun episode. I love seeing all y'all together.
Now I want dim sum thanks
Haven’t been, now I have to go! 🔥
🔥🔥🔥🔥 love dim sum
some of my favorite content creators getting together, love to see it
Peony is great!
thank you for having me be a part of this video and thanks peony for hosting us! it was such a fun time 🙂
I follow made with Lau too. I did a pork belly recipe that my family still talks about from that channel.
still the best spread of dim sum I’ve ever had 🥹 thanks for setting this up! it was so fun to hang and chat – can’t wait to do it again 😊
Dim sum on a iPad is too futuristic! Bring back the cart aunties! And shout out to D&A and ABC Cafe for raising me!❤
The only two food shows I watch are this and Daddy Lau. Quite the link up!
B-Choi!!! #jk
Og spot 🔥
😋
Great job, Victor….probably your best, most significant video, yet….this is coming from a retired, Baby boomer who enjoys your content and appreciates the value it provides, beyond "great places to eat throughout the Bay Area"…!!! There's a void that you and your guest are filling, especially the segment on "Preserving Culture"….for the younger generations who, for whatever reason, have not had the educational opportunities to learn about "themselves"…!!! Keep them coming….be it Cantonese or whatever…we're all so fortunate to be living in the "center of GREAT eats"…whatever our age, we all just NEED to know where to find it…THANK YOU…!!!
Whoa, what a cross over!
Chicken feet aka Fung jao is not dragon’s feet it is phoenix feet
i'm Chinese American and moved to the bay area suburbs 2.5 years ago. i love your videos and they've allowed me to connect more to Chinese and Asian food culture in the by,a that I hadn't gotten to since I started living on my own
Chicken feet is phoenix claws not dragon claws
Oh, damn!! Bay Area ToiSan represents!!!
Watch out for the hawk gwais
Totally resonated with this video! I agree that’s it’s so important to preserve the culture & traditions of our roots especially as Asian Americans.
For paper son ! What restura t did your dad worked it
We owned two restaurants
Great to see Bay Area Asian, specifically Chinese representation. I am glad that you shared with the audience about how much time and work goes into these dishes. You can look at these baskets and think that they're overpriced with just a few bites to them, but one needs to understand the amount of work and detail that it went into making these yummy snacks.
Silver dragon was our family favorite for banquets.
so nice to have all this shared experiences of the Bay Area Cantonese community.
My husband's family is Filipino-chinese, more Filipino than anything. Our 1st wedding banquet, we had 530 guests!! They were shocked at the size!!
Honey, did you know these people😮
Ming Tasty is still around. It took over the former Fortune Restaurant a few years back. Dim Sum used to be so plentiful in Chinatown. Thanks for the jog down memory lane.
As a Viet kid I was always in Chinatown. Whether it was getting duck from the BBQ spot in that plaza, or going to those sanrio type stores to buy knockoff bay blades and gundams 💀. This video unlocked some core memories. Especially since my own sister got married at that restaurant. It's sad to see that Chinatown and even the Viet area has become a bit of a ghost town but it's videos like this that will help bring new traffic to these areas. Great job 👏
I love doing Dim Sum, and doing it with enough friends to try lots of dishes is the best. I really like the carts but marking paper and such, as you say, is probably the way of the future. As a white guy, I also find it great when I ask to order something I enjoy like chicken feet and my Chinese friends are like "wait, you like that?" 😀
Bchoi jk bchoi? Ain’t seen him in forever
Thank You to these content creators. 🙏🙏🙏 I lost my Mom last year (94 – from Kaiping, Bok Sa). This is the first year without an elder chaperoning and guiding us through the event schedule that is Lunar New Year. 😢
Og is tin sang by webster tube
Sad to know Silver Dragon is gone. I have so many memories of growing up in Oakland's Chinatown in the 60's 70's and into the early 80's.
Peony is legit. The premium tea is worth the cost. Better seating and a more flavourful drink to pair with the dim sum. I hope the community shows up to help this place thrive. Oakland Chinatown took a beating from Covid.
Collab of the century! Glad to see @madewithlau and you guys thriving!!
There was also Four Seasons at the corner of 10th and Harrison, and dim sum that was at the location on Broadway before where Buffet Fortuna used to be.
Kind of sad that this is the last banquet hall in Oakland. San Francisco has a plethora of spots. At this point, even Batman can't save Oakland. They need the Avengers.