While we eat in Oakland Chinatown often, we wouldn't normally think of eating at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Oakland. But about 18 months ago, we entertained two Chinese couples at our house for dinner and they BOTH mentioned Bay Fung Tong as one of their favorites. We've eaten here at least 8 times since then.

The restaurant specializes in fresh seafood dishes. But we've discovered that their non-seafood dishes can be excellent. We usually order from the set menu list on the back of the a la carte menu. There's a great $26 set that includes West Lake soup (my favorite), a whole flounder, Peking spare ribs (actually thin pork chops), salt and pepper shrimp, and a Chinese vegetable with garlic, and a sweet dessert soup. We usually supplement that with either a crab dish (their Bay Fung Tong style is fantastic for a couple of $ more than normal) or lobster noodles. There's another pork chop dish that's something like "French style" that is just wonderful.

At the beginning of crab season, you can usually get a whole crab for $9.99, sometimes $8.99. And they often have specials on lobster. While we don't usually have wine at Chinese restaurants, we once brought our own bottle after wine tasting in Napa Valley and they did not charge a corkage fee. As with many Chinese restaurants, don't be shy in flagging down the wait staff when you need something. They probably won't be watching you like a hawk.

There is a very small parking lot behind the restaurant (be careful to park only in the spaces designated for the restaurant, which aren't many). However, we usually go at dinner time and free street parking is a cinch. I think BART is also close by.

Since this is downtown, the restaurant is closed for lunch on the weekends. On Saturday and Sunday, they open for dinner at 5 pm.