asianstamp's Profile
Best baked BBQ Pork Bun in SF
You know I only bought the baked BBQ Pork buns from You's. I tried their potstickers but I wasn't crazy about their filling. I did like their shrimp and chives dumpling. That was huge!
The rest of my dim sum I buy at Good Mong Kok on Stockton. Their chicken zhong zu is excellent. And they are the only place that sells shrimp cheung fun (real shrimp wrapped in rice rolls - not the freeze dried shrimp) for a take out item.
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Good Mong Kok
1039 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA
Coming from LA - Restaurant recommendations near Hotel Nikko
I had lunch at the hotel's restaurant - Anzu. They serve Asian fusion dishes. Whatever you do, do not go to the dim sum/Chinese restaurant that is in the vicinity of the hotel. My friend went there and you basically pay a lot of money for mediocre chinese food. I would try Chinatown or go to Yank Sing (near the financial district) for dim sum.
Recommendations for brunch in Calistoga
I'm trying to find a place in Calistoga that offers brunch. We have 20 people in our party so any place that offers a private room is a bonus. Any recommendations?
Thanks.
Moving to FiDi
I know there is a Vietnamese place on Jackson St up at Chinatown (don't recall the name).
Tokyo Express on Sacramento St has sushi. Not sure if it's good or not but it's always packed at lunch time.
I love the breakfast items (take out only) at Golden West.
Cafe Madeline's on California also serves pastries and coffee for breakfast.
The Safeway on Jackson is actually pretty limited. I know there's a Trader Joe's downtown (near Brannen?) and a Costco on 10th Street. The closest bigger Safeway would be the one near the Marina.
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Tokyo Express
660 Sacramento St Ste Sl, San Francisco, CA 94111
Golden West
8 Trinity Pl, San Francisco, CA 94104
Y Ben House, SF Chinatown Closed
I don't know who owns it but CH is going to raze the building and build and medical office on the premises. That is the scuttlebutt that is making its rounds in the neighborhood.
Y Ben House, SF Chinatown Closed
Per word in the community (not released in the press), Chinese Hospital bought the property awhile back and now they are reclaiming it to raze and build a medical office building. There was complaints on Yelp about how Y Ben became run down and maybe that is the reason. So it's twofold, Chinese Hospital did not renew the lease and the owners retired because of this.
Y Ben House, SF Chinatown Closed
There was a blurb on Eater SF: http://sf.eater.com/archives/2011/09/06/the_lunch_bunch_the.php#more
Y Ben closed because the owners retired.
Bakesale Betty's (Uptown) WTF?
Their explanation really doesn't make sense. So they are paying rent on two locations yet they are working on severely limited hours? How do they make a profit to pay the rent and employees?
Food trucks: which ones are really good and which ones are just fads
Not to bash anyone's business but on principal, I would not buy anything from Toasty Melts. Only because I can make these myself for a fraction of the price at home.
Food trucks: which ones are really good and which ones are just fads
I don't know how much they sell at the stores but the cupcakes were going for $3/piece so it's the same as Cupcake Cove's.
Yes the garlic noodles were much cheaper than Thanh Long's but not much. I paid $7.50 for a bowl packed to the gills.
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Thanh Long
4101 Judah St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Food trucks: which ones are really good and which ones are just fads
I've tried the Kara's Cupcakes in Truck Stop and that was actually good. There isn't a discount. It is on par with what you pay at Cupcake Cove but Kara's tastes better.
An the Go - an offshoot of Thanh Long and Crustacean. They were at Truck Stop this week. They don't come often but I love the garlic noodles. You get a lot for the price. More than what you get at Perilla and Unicorn. Only downside is you have to get the noodle plus a skewer in order to have some meat in your meal. That adds up.
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Thanh Long
4101 Judah St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Perilla
510 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94105
Best BBQ Pork in Chinatown?
I only know it by it's chinese name, Gum Ling. I think the American name is Wing Lee? Not sure about that. They are in the middle of the block and the outside is painted yellow?
Best BBQ Pork in Chinatown?
I usually buy my BBQ pork at a deli on Clement St but since I am in the neighborhood, which take out deli sells the best BBQ Pork in Chinatown? I'm looking for something that is not overly dyed (blood red) and too fat.
Any recs and suggestions? Send them my way! Thanks!
chez carla in FIDI
28 2nd St
(between Market St & Stevenson St)
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 369-9383
www.bindisf.com
If you look at their website, they sell the same sandwiches (right down to the names).
chez carla in FIDI
I read on Yelp that the owners (brothers) were not getting along and when their lease came up for renewal, they decided to close up shop. Some of the staff moved onto Bindi and it looks like they have the same menu. Some of the owners must own Bindi as well.
This is a shame since they had a great following.
Anybody know what happened to Caffe Amici? (SF Financial District)
Per a post on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/caffe-amici-espresso-san-francisco-2?rpp=40&sort_by=date_desc
Looks like they filed for bankruptcy and closed down due to financial problems.
Good Dining in or near Daly City
Grand Avenue in S. San Francisco has a lot of restaurants. For Chinese, we like the Grand Palace.
I've had decent, no-frills Italian at DiNapoli. For a more intimate dining experience, there's also Buon Gusto.
There's also a couple of restaurants near the Century Plaza theatre (about north from Westlake SC). I remember seeing Japanese and Kome (the buffet place - never tried this place but I've noticed the long lines whenever I drive by).
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Grand Palace
359 Grand Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Buon Gusto
224 Grand Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Di Napoli Pizzeria & Restaurant
202 Grand Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Kome Sushi Buffet
1901 Junipero Serra Blvd, Daly City, CA 94014
Chowdown Report: Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco
Patricia Untermann wrote a review on the restaurant (complete w/ pic of said fired pumpkin):
http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/Hearty-heartfelt-fare-served-authentically-at-Hakka-86422907.html
Hi-Tea in SF FiDi
Don't bother. I've eaten here twice (both take out). I've ordered their seafood baked rice dish. It was not as good as ABC's. The gravy was kind of "off." I've also ordered a sandwich that had surprisingly very old garnishes (wilted lettuce).
I don't plan on coming back. For a point of reference, the owner also owns the 77 Hawaiian BBQ and he was the former owner of Happy Donuts right around the corner.
Best baked BBQ Pork Bun in SF
You's dim sum has one of the best baked bbq pork buns! 90 cents a pop but they really fill that bun up with yummy bbq pork. They don't stuff it with fat either. Definitely check this place out.
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You's Dim Sum
675 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
Chowdown Report: Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco
The clams were sauteed in black bean sauce. It was good.
My folks always ask for less salt/grease everywhere they go. A lot of the chinese restaurants seem to enjoy throwing that salt shaker around. HR is pretty solid.
Chowdown Report: Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco
As I told Melanie in the separate discussion, our family booked one of their tables upstairs for our CNY banquet. As an aside, I've been to this location during its two previous incarnations (Taishan Cafe & Happy Immortal for those of you who remember that one) and I've never known they had a separate banquet room upstairs. Anyway we liked eating upstairs since it's more quieter and less hectic than eating in the main dining room. Service was great too considering we were the only table in that room. The smaller tables in the hallway outside were filled though. Anyway, we ordered the $198 CNY special dinner that's listed in SF Weekly.
1) Dried Scallop and Fishbelly Soup - Actually the correct translation is Dried Scallop w/ fish belly Golden Soup. The golden coming from the Kabocha squash. Yes it tastes more like a pumpkin puree soup that you get in a Western restaurant than the same old same old. People at our party raved about the soup. The squash was not overpowering either.
2) Seafood Lettuce Wrap: Couldn't really see the seafood since everything was chopped up. There's pork, some dried oysters and water chestnuts. This was pretty good.
3) Hakka Special Chicken: This is their salty baked chicken. Chicken was good without being salty. It wasn't dried out either.
4) Honey Walnut Prawns: I really like this dish. Sometimes it's a hit or miss at other restaurants but they did this just right. Just the right amount of mayonaise and it wasn't greasy or overly fried. The walnuts were good too. They threw in some broccoli as garnish but you can eat these.
5) Ginger Scallion Lobster: Another winner. You can tell it's fresh because one bite is like pure heaven. Nice and firm and the taste is unbelievable. Sorry I can't put this to words but it was great!
6) Sauteed Clams: This was a big dish! More clams for the buck so the speak. It's not just a dish with empty shells. There were enough clams for our party.
7) Bamboo Pith over Pea Sprouts: Another winner. The pea sprouts were nice and tender. Some restaurants would give you the more mature sprouts which are inedible and feels like you're eating grass. The bamboo pith was also 100% pith, not the outer inedible crap that comes wrapped in the dry pith (some are guilty of serving this). The broth in this dish was also incredibly yummy.
8) Steamed Bass: That was one big fish! We've eaten in restaurants where they gave us fish 1/2 the size. There was enough fish for all of us.
9) Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus leaves: This looked like a big honking serving of chinese chicken tamale. It's basically sticky rice with sausage, mushrooms and all the other goodies. Rice was pretty good.
We requested that they tone down the salt and grease and they honored our request. Service was prompt and food was excellent. This is probably our new go to place for family gatherings.
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Hakka Restaurant
4401 Cabrillo St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Best Cantonese-style dinner near transit?
I went twice and my father went twice too. The last time we had a real lunch and I had something called ribs with shallots (that was pretty good. Never had that too). My father had their more authentic Hakka food (animal body parts that I don't eat but he said it was excellent).
We're going to go their for our CNY banquet so I'll report back what I had. Apparently their salt baked chicken is good because I heard a couple of people ask for it while we were there.
Best Cantonese-style dinner near transit?
If you don't mind taking the BART and then the bus, there's a new restaurant in Outer Richmond, Hakka Restaurant (they replaced the Taishan Cafe last month). They offer really great Hakka cuisine and the price is right.
I've eaten their twice and my parents booked our CNY dinner here as well. Service is fast and friendly.
Looks like CH deleted the address function? Anyway the address is:
Hakka Restaurant
4401-A Cabrillo Street
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 876-6898
Yank Sing Mediocre at Best
The only times I have eaten at YS is on someone else's dime (my manager or someone w/ a company expense account). While the food is ok I just can't seem to bring my self to spend that kind of money on dim sum. I look at dim sum as snack food. It will not make you full. You really suffer from sticker shock at YS.
Best stuck-in-the-past restaurants?
Unfortunately, Jeanty at Jack's closed up shop earlier this month. That's sad too since I really enjoyed my DAT meal there earlier this year!
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Jeanty At Jacks
615 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Where can I buy alphabet pasta?
I used to buy my alphabet pasta from Albertson's. However, since it became Lucky's, I'm having a hard time tracking this down. Does anyone know where I can buy this? I've tried Safeway's and TJ's but no dice. Thanks!
Cheap Chinese (for now) at King Sing Hong Kong Restaurant (SF)
Empero is run by the same people (Best Panda and Bay Fung Tong). The son runs Empero and the father took over BFT. Now that BFT is gone, I've seen the father at Empero during dinner service.
Eating at Empero is such a crap shoot. You never know how the food turns out. Last month, I had dinner there and it was excellent (the lobster made my mouth water). Two weeks ago I came back from dinner and everything was drowned in salt. They are good but they are inconsistent!
Cheap Chinese (for now) at King Sing Hong Kong Restaurant (SF)
My college friend used to be their driver for their valet service. That's how I found out about Tom Hsieh!
Cheap Chinese (for now) at King Sing Hong Kong Restaurant (SF)
Another piece of trivia, the original China House Bistro was partially owned by Tom Hsieh, former supervisor of SF. May explain why DiFi used to eat there.
