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...

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...

Delicious Dim Sum, at 752 Jackson, is just up hill from Wong Lee Bakery and across the street from House of Dimsum. Competition is fierce on this block indeed. I don't know about their other items, but they have excellent beef siumai.  Their beef siumai are positively huge, quite a bit bigger than the normal suimai size, and two orders of these (six pieces in total) makes up a whole meal. Yes, there's a little bit of wrapping around the siumai, and while the meat looks very "pink" it is cooked. And there are no fillers like water chestnut or peas or such. It's just a meatball. Two orders are just over 6 bucks.  SIDEBAR: There are several version of beef siumai 牛肉燒賣 or beef balls 牛肉丸. Generally speaking, the former is like a traditional siumai, with a thin layer of wrapping around it, almost like a wonton wrapper, while the latter generally has some tofu skin at the bottom to stop it from sticking to the steaming vessel (generally a small saucer), and generally a b...

Yummy Dimsum , which is right next to the Bank of American ATM on Stockton (930 Stockton), is not a fancy place. But from the kitchen they serve a lot of different dimsum, and has steam table of about a dozen different entress for your lunchbox needs. They even have porridge and wonton noodles, but you have to know how to order, as it's very rarely visited by tourists.  While the quality of the items isn't the greatest, nor the freshest, locals keep coming back, just not in large numbers.  Their lunch boxes (3 entrees and rice) is $7, and most dimsum are $3 for one order (usually 3 pieces) with occasional exceptions (like beef balls are $4). They also have rice porridge in the rice cooker behind them, and their kitchen can also make you beef stew noodles, wonton noodles, and such by ordering off the menu on the wall. They do have a few small tables but they are VERY tight.  Personally, the portions of those entrees are on the smaller side, but that is probably just my fee...

Next to the East-West Bank that used to be the Chinatown Phone Exchange is Grant Place, a Cantonese restaurant that also serves duck and dimsum, among other things. Despite the name, it's actually on Washington, not Grant. And it's been there since 1994.  While usually not full, it enjoys a steady stream of business so it maintains a certain quality and fast service. And they can provide a pretty diverse menu, including duck. Keep in mind that while it's called Peking Duck on the menu, it's technically Cantonese Duck.  They can also do the typical fried rice (chow fun), fried noodles (chow mien), porridge, and so on. And they can accommodate fairly big groups of a dozen people or more at almost anytime.  They are also very close to Portsmouth Square. And they are open for long hours, from 8A to 9P every day. Before COVID they used to run 24 hours a day.   If you do walk by the area, and need a quick lunch or dinner, it's not a bad choice if you want a bit of eve...

House of Dimsum is easy to recognize on Jackson between Stockton and Grant, with its blue canopies covering their little "parklet" holding a couple tables and chairs.   House of Dimsum is a casual restaurant where you order at the counter, and get the stuff immediately (unless its a special item, which may take a little longer), and seat yourself, and they offer a lot of fresh dimsum, both sweet and savory, for reasonable prices. House of Dimsum is also a bit unusual in that they will sell you individual pieces instead of sets of 3 or 4 so you can try everything. Most places that sell dimsum will only sell you whole sets. They often have a line outside, as they move a LOT of dimsum daily and everything is fresh.  They also have more than just dimsum. They can also get you steamed rice with pork ribs, wonton noodle soup, soy milk, boba tea, rice noodle rolls, and so on.  You can just point and order, or you can try ordering off the menu. The menu's way too long to list her...

Xiao-long-bao, often abbreviated as XLB, is a type of dumpling that still have soup inside as you eat it. As it was invented near Shanghai in the village of Nanxiang, it was often called "Shanghai Dumplings". Visually, it looks like a round white dumpling, slightly larger than a siu-mai (pork dumpling), and roughly the size of har-gow (shrimp dumpling).  Xiao-long-bao, with one in a Chinese spoon for scale One thing to note about XLB is they are hot, and if you are not careful enough extracting the dumpling from the steamer basket, you can break the skin, and lose all the soup inside the dumpling. While it is only a tiny bit, that is the whole point of eating the XLB. Because the soup inside is hot, you don't plop it into your mouth either. Put one into the Chinese spoon, then carefully bite a small hole (or use the chopstick) and taste the rich broth inside the dumpling. THEN take a slightly larger bite. This is not a chicken nugget.  The XLB can be found all over Chinat...

Previously, we have mentioned Hang Ah, the first dimsum restaurant in the US . But what exactly is dimsum, and its related activity, known as "yum chaa" (lit: drink tea, in Cantonese)?  Dimsum is the Cantonese pronunciation of 點心 (dian-xin). One version of the origin story was that dimsum was originally meant as smaller snacks presented as thank-you gestures, from the expression gratitude 點點心意 (lit: bits of our thoughts/gratitude) which got shortened to 點心. The other version cited writing from the Tang Dynasty that used the term 點心 as a verb... "(gently) point at the heart" as in "barely fill the stomach".  Modern dimsum is usually associated with "yum chaa" (drink tea), which is basically a "dimsum brunch". When someone told you in Cantonese "請你飲茶" (chen-nae-yum-chaa), they are not inviting you to tea, but a dimsum brunch.  Family Style Dimsum with 9 dishes (via Wikicommons) The term "dimsum" itself did not appear i...

San Francisco's Chinatown contains a number of firsts. I've previously mentioned the first Taoist Temple, the Tin How Temple on Waverly St. Here is another one: the first dimsum restaurant in the US... Hang Ah Tea House  (1 Pagoda Pl, SF, CA 94108), circa 1920.  Hidden in an alley called Pagoda Place next to the Willy Woo-Woo Playground, Hang Ah is away from the normal bustle and hustle of Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue. It is near the Stockton Tunnel leading out of Chinatown to Union Square, between Clay and Sacramento. Most tourists only stumble upon this place by accident, unless they sought it out.  The first sign you see is actually written in chalk: Hang Ah's chalk sign The restaurant itself is a bit larger on the inside than the entrance suggested. Go in, make a left turn, down a slight slope (probably for ADA) and enter into the dining area, where you will see about a dozen or so tables. You can order entrees or dimsum.  Entrees are nicely prepared, and ...