Best Comeback We're Praying Will Happen

We don't care what anyone says: Ton Kiang does notserve the best dim sum in San Francisco. Yank Sing probably doesn't either, though Mayflower might, but the thing about all these places is that it takes forfreakingever to get a table on weekends. Thus, we set off toward Clement one Sunday seeking a quicker dim sum fix and stumbled into a place called Tong Palace. Instead of nabbing dishes from passing servers, an extensive menu allowed us to make our selections, then sit back and wait as our dumplings were cooked to order. We feasted on stunningly crisp salt-and- pepper prawns, roast duck, shrimp dumplings, shrimp and scallop dumplings, shrimp and shark's-fin dumplings, all kinds of dumplings, really, and every last bite was divine. Then, a few days later, Tong Palace burned down, resulting in boarded-up windows and no dim sum whatsoever. Fortunately, management is rebuilding and hopes to reopen later this year. We'll be the first ones in line.