hedge_hog's Profile
Stinky Tofu really stinks at Happy Kitchen - [Newark]
When it comes to sheng jian bao, I always thought it should have a nice brown/crispy bottom, soupy, filling with some fat, and not much bigger than a XLB. The one you described sounds a little on the big side, but everyone's different.
Canteen: Still My Favorite Brunch
How's the dinner? I have a reservationat the counter to catch up with an old friend, is it good for talking?
Currently, what is your single most addictive chinese dish to order in SF?
I second that.
Jai Yun conundrum
I disagree with the praise of Shanghai House. I've given it three tries, all uninspiring. I got a wheat glutten dish (Kao fu) that was obviously frozen, then incredulously was microwaved so it is piping hot outside (I prefer it as a cold appetizer) but still frozen with ice inside. The dumplings had hard skins and very little soup. I prefer Shanghai Dumpling King. However, I just went back to SDK to try the pan fried dumplings. They were barely browned on the bottom, soggy and stuck to the dish, and when I suggested they get fried again, the waiter tried to explain this is how it is supposed to be and people don't like them crispy! I have a feeling SDK's quality has slipped. It also doesn't inspire confidence when all I hear is Cantonese coming in and out of the kitchen.
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Shanghai House
3641 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Shanghai Dumpling King
3319 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Buffet dinner in Bay Area.
If Golden Corral is acceptable, Kome in Daly City is an option. It is Asian buffet, so a crazy mix of hot Chinese food, raw Japanese sushi/sashimi, and also raw/cooked seafood. Not much steak though. Birthday boy can eat free too. It is economical, don't expect top quality, but the restaurant is so busy I'm sure they are fresh.
Montreal bagels for a California girl
Bump, so any place for good Montreal bagels in SF?
Jai Yun conundrum
Actually, I found the dishes a little sweeter than I'm used to, which is why I suggested that it's not strictly Shanghainese. Shanghai cuisine evolved from Zhejiang and Jiangsu cuisines, but it's mostly known for it's home cook style and perhaps dim sum.
Regarding the price, I believe the prix fix depends on the number in the party. For example, for our party of four, it starts at $65 instead of $55. Last year when I was there for lunch alone, $18 was the starting point. And I was disappointed by the number of dishes and I clearly didn't get the dises the party of two got for the same price. My advice is to ignore the price and just judge the food. It's hard to do, when I am still not far removed from my student days and still get satisfies by a $5 bowl of pho.
Jai Yun conundrum
Ok, just to clarify, you can't compare any home cook's food with that of a professional chef especially like that of Jai Yun. Of course my mom can't make the same dishes and she would be the first admit that. Like I said half of the hot dishes were amazing and the other half were really good. I was just commenting on the value, which varies from person to person, and affected by each's means and background.
P.S. I wouldn't say it's Shanghainese. I think the chef is from Nanking.
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Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Origin of 辣炒辣 dish at Beijing Restaurant
Is this similar to Old Mandarin Islam's "Spicy enough to kill you"? My guess it's a form of torture by the Manchus back in the old days. Seriously, it is like chopped chilis sprinkled with some chicken-too spicy for me. Someone should send it to that fat guy on Man v Food, and punish him for all the gluttony he has unleashed on this world.
Jai Yun conundrum
Not surprisingly, most people have strong feelings about Jai Yun. My initial post was not to slam the food, but merely stating that the food is more traditional than pioneering. And as I am Chinese, eating chinese food, I don't really care much about the "atmosphere." In fact, I think the setting is quite appropriate for the food (I'm looking at you, Mission Street Food). I won't be a repeat customer because I don't think the value is there with the prix fix dinner, FOR someone who is from China, that's all. If the chef wants to practice his craft, withholding the a la carte option, and limit the traffic, that is up to him. The business model is clearly unique and profitable.
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Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Jai Yun conundrum
So I finally went to Jai Yun for dinner after two years of yearning. It was a party of four, including both my parents. To clarify, all of us are Chinese, and more specifically, were born and grew up in Shanghai. I had some reservation about taking the parents to Jai Yun since I never quite got a good sense about the background of people who raved about Jai Yun and wonder if the "excitement" will transcends culture backgrounds. I am posting this simply to help anyone else who is in my shoes.
Simply put, the food was excellent, but nothing earth shattering. There were 11 cold appetizers, tasty but familiar to anyone who has been exposed to Jiangsu cuisine, i.e. Shanghai or food from the lower Yangtze region. Of the 11 hot dishes, the highlights, for me, were the white fish, shrimp, crispy beef and house special eggplant, maybe the pork shank. Again, top notch technique but not mind-blowing or revolutionary. If you've been to Shanghai or Nanjing, you probably had them, maybe just not quite as good.
For prix fix, I feel like if I go to some place like Quince or Danko, with each additional person, I can actually try more dishes. But at Jai Yun, it's still the same dishes more or less. I am wondering "out loud" on the hound board, "does my background, having been exposed to the cuisine, made the Jai Yun experience seems less special?" Perhaps if I am Italian, I would be less impressed by Quince or La Ciccia, and more with Jai Yun. In short, I am glad that I tried it, but probably won't be back.
Just wonder what others think.
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La Ciccia
291 30th Street, San Francisco, CA 94131
Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Please review SFO dining list for NYC Foodie (Researched)!!
There is no way that Chinese food is better in SF than NYC. Probably the same goes for Korean and Japanese.
Mescolanza and gnocchi
I happened to crave Italian and gnocchi in particular. Yelp led to Mescolanza today. The gnocchi that I had was amazing. I would like to think that I found my go-to neighborhood fresh pasta restaurant, expect Outer Richmond is far from home. Anyone has any comment on Mescolanza? Or comparable fresh pasta joints in SF, preferably close to Diamond Heights? Besides Incantos or La Ciccia that is.
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La Ciccia
291 30th Street, San Francisco, CA 94131
Mescolanza
2221 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Help, braces! [moved from San Francisco]
I just got braces, and now my staple of fried food, red meats, crusty bread and chewy noodles are dead to me. There are a few things worse than living in SF and not able to enjoy food. I see a lot of tofu, congee, and steamed fish in my crystal ball. Anyone has any suggestion of things I could try? Thanks.
Dumpling Kitchen
I just tried the Dumpling Kitchen recently. The XLB is pretty good, maybe second to KOD in the city. The skin is slightly tougher than KOD's. The soup broth is tasty with a strong hint of ginger (I think). Since I was alone and had to eat all 10 of them, the later ones were cooled off and maybe that affected the texture of the skin. But the real find is their pan fried dumpling (Shen jian bao). A lot of places have them, but they are usually too big and under fried on the bottom. Dumpling Kitchen has them almost right. The skin is fluffy. The bottom is close to perfectly browned and crispy. The filling is juicy, almost soupy. This is my favorite shanghai dim sum, and theirs are the best I have tasted so far in SF. I didn't get to try the rest of their Shanghainese menu. But they definitely have a bigger selection of dim sum and entree than KOD. It is a good alternative than KOD when dumplings alone won't hit the spot or waiting for that party of six eating chow fun is getting on your nerves.
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Dumpling Kitchen
1935 Taraval St, San Francisco, CA 94116
Nombe takes a bow
Both pork belly dishes were excellent, so were the beef heart, and the fact they are available on the weekend until 2am earns an extra point in my book. I agree the food is slow and the lack of alcohol (i.e. sake) makes it less like an Izakaya, but I do plan to revisit the place after they work out the kinks.
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Nombe
2491 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Disappointed at Shanghai House
Consider that I was the only person ordering food at the time, I don't see why the XLB would/should have gotten cold after the steaming. Compare the first (from kingdom of dumplings) with the second (Shanghai House), the difference is obvious.
Disappointed at Shanghai House
Did I miss something? I was in Richmond on Saturday night. I remembered that Shanghai House and Shanghai Dumpling King were both recommended by CH. Saw SDK first, so I pulled up. But the wait was like an hour, so I walked 3 blocks down to SH. What a difference. Half empty, no wait. I ordered XLB, bean curd puff and stir-fried hand cut noodle. I'm almost 100% positive the XLBs are frozen factory brand. How do I know? I ate 10 of them in like 5 minutes, and you can only do that if there was no soup (3) or soup is not piping hot (7), which was the case. As opposed to the ones from Kingdom of Dumplings, where the skin of XLB gets stretched by the weight of the soup inside when you pick it up, these ones remained stiff and flat bottomed. The bean curd puff is steaming hot on the surface but still frozen underneath. The noodle is too salty, no bak choy and bunch of cabbage.
Did I catch them on a really bad night (but still none of this is excusable)? or did they change chef/owner? It is the one just across the street from Castro Theater right? Just curious, but I would most likely not going back.
Friday night, Avec or the Publican
Plan to have late dinner 9:30-10 on Friday night. What would be the wait at Avec? Or would I be better off making a reservation at the Publican? Thanks.
