With a long history of Chinese immigration (San Francisco's Chinatown is one of the largest and oldest in the country), San Francisco is the city in California for both traditional and modern Chinese cuisine. San Francisco's Chinatown around Grant Avenue is filled with traditional restaurants alongside the requisite tourist traps in one of San Francisco's most popular attractions (try the House of Nanking for authentic Chinese cuisine). Venture out the Sunset and authentic dim sum houses, Chinese seafood restaurants, Chinese markets and Chinese restaurants abound. For a romanticized version of old Shanghai, Shanghai 1930 on Restaurant Row in the Embarcadero is offers a glitzy twist on Chinese cuisine.
900 North Point St., San Francisco CA 94109 (Fisherman's Wharf)
Try the pot stickers, the appetizer sampler plate and the spare ribs. The atmosphere is worthy of a mandarin, even if the food is lesser.
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133 Steuart St., San Francisco CA 94105 (South of Market)
Shanghai was once the "Paris of the East," and this glamorous and sultry SOMA supper club is an ode to the jazzy glitz of bygone times. The doorman is in period gear, the cocktails are more nostalgic here than elsewhere and the Chinese cuisine gets a chic twist.
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Brandy Ho's
217 Columbus at Pacific in Chinatown. Tel. 415.788.7527.
$. A real neighborhood Hunan place. You will enjoy smoked ham with bamboo shoots, calamari with black bean sauce, and chicken curry with garlic and hot sauce. |
Gold Mountain
644 Broadway above Grant in Chinatown. Tel. 415.296.7733
$. Northeastern chinese dim sum breakfast and lunch is a plus here. |
Golden Pagoda
960 Grant Ave. above Washington in Chinatown. Tel. 415.397.1411
$$. Dishes of Chiu chow (aka Chao Chow), a small area not far from Canton. Try the oyster omelet or the pan-fried pomfret. |
House of Nanking
919 Kearny St. above Jackson in Chinatown. Tel. 415.421.1429
$. Come early or come late, or join the crowd for a notoriously worthwhile wait on the sidewalk. |
King Tin
826 Washington at Waverly in Chinatown. Tel. 415.982.7855.
$$. A Hong Kong-style barbecue house. The barbecued chicken and pork loin are good, as are the prawns in spicy salt. Vegetarian is available. |
Kowloon
909 Grant Ave. above Washington in Chinatown. Tel. 415.362.9888
$$. Specialties here are dim sum and dishes like soup with mushrooms, cloud-ears and bamboo pith; rice porridge with vegetarian ham, mushrooms, water chestnuts, carrots, snow peas and sea moss. |
Lotus Garden
532 Grant in Chinatown. Tel. 415.397.0707
$$. One hundred percent vegetarian, in the Buddhist tradition (read: excellent ersatz meats), and at least that delicious. The portions are quite large, as is the menu. |
Lucky Creation Vegetarian Restaurant
854 Washington St., above Waverly in Chinatown. Tel. 415.989.0818
$. Lucky indeed are the fans of gluten. Dim sum is available, and try the fat choi noodles with black mushrooms and bean curd rolls; spicy shrimp balls in hot sauce; and braised eggplant with carrots in clay pot. |
Pearl City
641 Jackson above Kearny in Chinatown. Tel. 415.398.8383
$$. A good selection of dim sum (try any of the dumplings or rolls), followed by an excellent dinner menu with prawns and scallops in garlic with sizzling platter and baked crab with spicy salt and pepper. |
R&G
631B Kearny at Commercial in Chinatown. Tel. 415.982-7877
$$. Expect a choice of dishes with eyes, fins, spines, tentacles and feelers. My particular favorites here are dishes like stir-fried sea whelk/geoduck clam with chives, braised two squabs in clay pot and braised live crab with spicy salt. |
Sam Wo
813 Washington St. above Grant (through the kitchen and upstairs) in Chinatown. Tel. 415.982.0596
$. Everyone has to go to Sam Wo once in this life to share the San Francisco experience, to eat late or to save a bundle. No alcohol (but get beer across street). |
Yuen's Garden
1131 Grant, above Pacific in Chinatown. Tel. 415.391.1131
$$. Roast chicken, roast pork, and noodles, noodles, noodles ... and you're expected to slurp. |
Yuet Lee
Broadway at Stockton in Chinatown. Tel. 415.982.6020
$$. Your fish will probably still be breathing as it's carried to the pan. This is a top spot for late dining. Bring your own wine. I love the salt and pepper squid. |
