The Hidden Chinatown of San Francisco

Golden Star Vietnamese Restaurant has been at its location, next to Portsmouth Square (11 Walter U Lum Place, roughly Clay and Walter Lum Place, between Grant and Kearny) for a long time. And they have always delivered consistent quality pho with proper broth.  One item that I recommend there, if you eat beef, is NOT the "Number One", but rather, their beef stew pho, which is number 24 (if I remember correctly). The beef has been stewed for a long time, with proper amount of tendons and pretty much falls apart as you poke it with your chopstick, and almost melts in your mouth. The broth is VERY flavorful, and obviously very different from your normal pho broth.  Even with a can of soda, it's well under $20. when I don't want roast pork, I'd go here.  You can definitely try the Number One, but every pho place has the number one, and there is almost no difference among them anymore, other than the broth.  The main problem with this place is they are only open from 1...

A new "tea restaurant" (even though it didn't call itself that) has opened at 881 Clay St, intersection of Stockton and Clay. It is called G&Y Bakery Cafe.  They used a hard laminated menu with both sides crammed full of items, both Eastern and Western style breakfast so it's clearly a tea restaurant. Tables are quite clean as it is new. However, a sampling of their dish left the writer a bit wanting.  Went in in the afternoon for a late lunch, and ordered something pretty simple: beef stew with seasonal vegetables over rice. The item arrived promptly, with plenty of gravy to soak in the rice. And the stuff is pretty flavorful. The vegetables, basically choy sum, is fine. However, the same can't be said of the beef. The beef is tough to the point of almost inedible. There are a lot of tripe and tendons, and they didn't seem to have been cooked long enough to soften properly. Took me a bit to chew each bit before they can be swallowed.  The price is a bit o...

Tea drinking has been a part of Chinese culture for most of China's existence. It was said that the first (Mythical) Emperor of China, ShenNong, was also an herbalist, and he discovered tea back in 2437BC (or thereabouts). The story was he and his entourage had always boiled water for hygiene. After a journey, they stopped for a break, and his servants went to boil water. As the water was boiled, leaves were introduced accidentally into the hot water, either fell from a tree or dried leaves were brought by the wind and some fell into the hot water. The aroma soon drew ShenNong's attention, and he tasted it, finding it extremely refreshing. And thus, tea was born.  However, tea drinking did not gain sophistication until millennia later. The first formal study and catalog of tea were found in Tang Dynasty, about 780AD, where a scholar claimed to have spent 20 years thoroughly documenting the process of planting, growing, harvesting, processing, brewing, and tasting tea. As trade ...

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...

NOTE: Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building, is technically on the very edge of Chinatown on the border of North Beach, Chinatown, and the Financial District. As it's on the east side of Kearny, it is technically not in Chinatown, but it is so close, I am including it as a bonus.  At the northeastern corner of Chinatown, at the corner of Kearny, Columbus, and Pacific, is a building that stands out, being mostly green, and triangular in shape. This is the Sentinel Building, aka Columbus Tower.  Google Maps 3D View of 916 Kearny, the Sentinel Building Finished in 1907, the building was actually under construction when the city suffered the Great Earthquake of 1906. As architecture goes, this was considered a Beaux-Arts flatiron building, mainly built between 1880 and 1926, and they are unique in that they are shaped like old fashion iron for clothes, and used when odd lot shapes require unusual building shapes for maximum square footage. Unique for their time, flat...

Sometimes in Chinatown, you may come across shops selling incense bundles and paper packets. Ever wonder what those are?  Wentworth Buddhist Supply on Jackson / Cross Ross Alley courtesy author This store is a "Buddhist Supply Store" (even though they serve Daoists as well), and they offer items needed to pay proper respect to our ancestors, as well as other traditional items for the practice of Buddism and Daoism.  The incense stick bundles, often called joss sticks (a pretty archaic term), are usually made of sandalwood, and are known as 檀香 (tang-xiang). They are burned as offerings and to aid communication with the spirits. They are also sometimes used to simply scent the room, or around Chinese New Year, as a way to light small firecrackers.  BONUS FACTOID: Honolulu's Chinese name is 檀香山, literally sandalwood mountain, because there used to be a lot of sandalwoods exported from Hawaii.  The white packets are offerings to ancestors and are paper offerings of cloth...

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...