The Hidden Chinatown of San Francisco

 As far as dimsum goes, New Moon offers nothing really special. It is a dimsum joint, similar to Yummy (reviewed earlier) that has a sorta buffet display up front, order what you want, pay first, and you can sit down inside. And they do have a more extensive menu. They are known for their fast service, with stuff often offered in pre-packed to-go boxes so you can grab one quickly for pretty reasonable prices (typically dimsum is about $1.00-2.00 per piece, depending on how specific items, no matter where you go in Chinatown). I needed some food to go, so I went inside and ordered a box that contained 3 daikon cakes 蘿蔔糕 and 3 shumai (they look pretty dark, so they're probably beef shumai) for $6.50. These shumai are regular sized, so price is about normal in Chinatown, maybe a LITTLE discounted, as they are a little colder than normal.  They of course have a lot of other stuff available and some Chinese-only items (sorta secret menu).  Worth trying? Sure, but as I said, no...

 Yummy BBQ Kitchen is one of the dozen (or so) BBQ Meat restaurants that sells the meat to go, or offer simple entrees to eat in. This particular one is on Broadway across Yuet Lee. If you just walk by, you may not even notice the sit-in spots.  I walked in, sat down, and ordered the beef stew with wonton noodle soup 牛腩餛飩湯麵 and you can also choose rice vermicelli instead of egg noodles. There are a lot of different items on the menu on the wall. However, this is technically a "pay-first" kinda spot. Order, pay first, tell them you will eat-in,  then sit down and they'll find you.  The portions are generous, but IMHO, the meat isn't quite as good as the Vietnamese 牛腩麵 beef stew pho over at Golden Star Vietnamese. So if you want a lot of meat with some tendons, so chewy, I'd recommend go Vietnamese. But if you prefer HK style then this place ain't bad. And of course, they have a lot of selection as well.  So give it a try, call it 4/5. 

Yee's Restaurant, or 文仔記 in Chinese, is a BBQ meat vendor in addition to being a "tea restaurant" with a pretty extensive menu of most Hong Kong style entrees. The portions are pretty generous, and of decent quality. I haven't compared it against Kim Po (which is at corner of Powell and Broadway, another restaurant I'll post a review later).  Went in for lunch today, and ordered a pretty simple dish: cha-siu pork and loose eggs over rice 叉燒滑蛋飯 (Number 73 on the menu). It's not bad. You get PLENTY of rice. The eggs are a bit too loose to my liking, and the cha-siu is quite salty instead of flavorful, but there is a lot of the meat. So maybe 3.5 out of 5.  Their menu is online, but the version on their website is old , and prices have risen quite a bit. It was $7.00, it's now $12.00.  In the terms and conditions, it's clear the website was NOT affiliated with the restaurant itself... Huh?  Still, not a bad place to eat, in a "greasy spoon cafe"...

Cafe Broadway is at a location that used to house a restaurant called Hing Lung, which was famous for its jook (Chinese rice porridge). However, Cafe Broadway is not that.  I had an hour to kill between appointments and decided to go to Cafe Broadway, and inside is much larger than you'd expect from the outside. Lighting hadn't improved much, as it was a bit dark during day-time, probably looks a little better at night.  It was noon-ish on Friday, and I was quickly pointed to a table near the back. I'd say the place is about 80-90% full, decent business. I was slightly surprised when the waitress asked me what sort of tea I wanted, or do I want water. Generally, only higher-class restaurants have tea options. The cheaper ones just feed you cheap tea bags. I asked for chrysanthemum tea, and it was quickly served. However, it is... way too hot, and I don't see any sugar, the way it's usually served. Glancing at the menu shows they charge $1.50 per person for tea. The ...

Dol Ho Restaurant is at 808 Pacific, slightly out of the hustle and bustle of Stockton. It is a dimsum place, with a few tables, and you can also order the dimsum to go. Keep in mind this place is only open from 0930 to 1530, and they are not open on Wednesdays, so visiting it can be a bit hard.  Dol Ho, with minimal decorations, can be considered a local "hole in the wall", as most tourists wouldn't wander up to it. However, Dol Ho is well known to locals for good dimsum. Sorry, no carts, too small for that. I and my friend ordered beef meatballs 牛肉丸 and "tied chicken" 雞扎 (chicken, mushroom, pork, with a some vermicelli wrapped around it as if tied together, steamed), which turned out to be $4.50 each. I ordered a set for him and a set for myself. It was brought over and packed within a minute.  The meatballs are excellent. While beef, this is not the meatball you're used to. The meat doesn't want to come apart, and you have to actively use your utensil...

Cafe New Honolulu, at 888 Stockton, is practically at the "other" entrance of Chinatown, Stockton Tunnel, and is right at the bus stop.  The interior is bright a sunny, and reasonable cool due to them leaving the door open all the time, but it also means it is noisy all the time, and you can hear the Muni bus announcements from the inside. "30 Stockton, Sacramento street".  I returned from work one day and decided to give it a try. There were only a few seniors inside. The menu is nice and thick, and surprisingly, not laminated, but made of thick plastic matte material. There were many items on the menu, making it a tea restaurant.  Typically at a place like this I order something classic, either beef chow fun 乾炒牛河 or the version similar 滑蛋炒牛河 runny stir-fried egg and beef chow fun. The food was served relatively promptly (within a few minutes) and the Diet Coke I ordered came VERY promptly. The flavor is above average. I find it a bit heavy in spring onions, but it...