Chinese Food and Cooking

BOSF 2012: How to Choose a Chinatown Restaurant

I Love This City Festival Gets Even Bigger, Adds David Guetta, Datsik, Apparat, AraabMusik, and More to Lineup

See also: * I Love This City Festival: Tiësto, Duck Sauce, Steve Aoki, James Murphy, Holy Ghost! and More to Play Over Two Days in S.F. We warned you: The I Love This City festival, which is scheduled to bring two days of throbbing bass and pulsing tempos to the parking lots around AT&T Park late ... More >>

Number 31: Kung Pao Pastrami from Mission Chinese Food

​SFoodie's countdown of our favorite 50 things to eat and drink, 2012 edition. ​Kung pao pastrami all started, Anthony Myint says, when Ryan Ostler, the former chef of Broken Record and a southern-food popup at Bruno's, loaned the Mission Chinese Food team a smoker, and Danny Bowien got all exc ... More >>

You Can Now Get General Tso's Chicken in Beijing

jeffreyw/FlickrIf General Tso's chicken is beloved in Stockton, why not Shanghai as well? ​Now that you can find American-style sushi in Tokyo and chai lattes in Milan, why not chop suey and General Tso's chicken in Beijing? (Side note: You realize those aren't actual Chinese dishes, don't you?) ... More >>

A Year in Food: Five Favorite Dishes of 2011

jeffreyw/FlickrIf General Tso's chicken is beloved in Stockton, why not Shanghai as well? ​Now that you can find American-style sushi in Tokyo and chai lattes in Milan, why not chop suey and General Tso's chicken in Beijing? (Side note: You realize those aren't actual Chinese dishes, don't you?) ... More >>

Top 5 Places to Escape Christmas

Whether you're Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto, Shaman, anti-consumerist, or Mr. Grinch, you could be one of the millions who don't leave cookies out for an old fat man who illegally enters your home via fireplace-shimmying. And that's okay! Because here in America, we're known for ... More >>

Why Are There No Chinese Restaurants on OpenTable?

myhsu/FlickrR&G Lounge: One of San Francisco's best restaurants, but not on OpenTable.​ San Francisco-based OpenTable.com isn't just successful, it practically has a monopoly on mid-to-high-priced restaurants in this town, from a small neighborhood bistro like Bia's to destinations like Chez ... More >>

At Happy Garden, Dim Sum Is Only an Appetizer

Photos by W. Blake GrayShanghai dumplings​We wound up at Happy Garden because Good Luck Dim Sum across the street had a long line, and we felt like sitting down. Happy Garden has a dim sum menu. And we ordered from it. We were hungry. Only after we ordered and began paying attention to what e ... More >>

South Sea Seafood Village: Special Tea, Good Siu Mai

Photos by W. Blake Gray​Most dim sum houses have a selection of tea, but don't usually advertise it. Somebody says, "Tea?" You say yes, and you get a pot of watery oolong made from the cheapest tea bags available. South Sea Seafood Village has a small sideline in selling imported teas, includ ... More >>

Yet Wah: Dim Sum That's Close to Ton Kiang (Physically, Anyway)

Photos by W. Blake GrayPan fried chive dumplings​Because it's only a couple blocks from Ton Kiang, which has some of the biggest crowds outside of any dim sum restaurant in town, Yet Wah gets occasional spillover business. But the main crowd is mostly locals, mostly speaking Chinese. The room ... More >>

Lee Hou: Don't Skip Dessert

​Lee Hou wasn't always this garish. When we started going there a few years ago, it was a dingy place that happened to have good, cheap baked pork buns, which is among our favorite dishes. The restaurant changed owners in 2008, and the new management wants to make sure you notice. Lurid photo ... More >>

Bring Wine to Mission Chinese Food (But Which Wines?)

Mission Chinese Food chef-owner Danny Bowien goes through this many chiles pretty fast. ​Mission Chinese Food is a great challenge for wine lovers. It's great, because corkage is only $8. It's a challenge, because some of Danny Bowien's food, like the kung pao corned beef, is so spicy that dri ... More >>

Roast Duck at Kam Po: It Takes a Couple of Times to Get It Right

Jonathan KauffmanKam Po's roast duck rice plate, $4.60.​Last month, the SF Weekly moved offices within a mile of Chinatown, allowing me to embark on a new project I've been wanting to take on for years. Inspired in part by Seattle's MSG150, my goal is to systematically visit a different Chinatown ... More >>

Chopstick Wines

Bi-RiteBi-Rite wine buyer Trac Le.​Unexpected Pairings #2: Wine and Chinese Food Where: 18 Reasons, 593 Guerrero (at 18th St.) When: Fri., Mar. 11, 7-10 p.m. Cost: $85 The rundown: For anyone who grew up grubbing American Chinese restaurant food, the idea of drinking good wine with Genera ... More >>

Mission Chinese Food's Westlake Rice Porridge

Alex HochmanMission Chinese Food's Westlake rice porridge ($9), a riff on a classic Guangdong soup.​Slurping our bowl of Mission Chinese Food's Westlake rice porridge ($9) ― one of several new items rolled out in recent weeks ― we caught ourselves humming the Cowboy Junkies version of "Swe ... More >>

Beijing Restaurant: The Winteriest of Cuisines

Kimberly SandieBeijing-style roast duck at Beijing Restaurant.​It seems fitting that this week's review of Beijing Restaurant's new Outer Sunset branch should come out on a week when snowy patches have appeared in 49 of 50 states. (Are you as envious as I am?) To a German American guy from the ver ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 5: Hong Kong Like Donkey Kong!

Joseph Schell/SF WeeklyNice tats, Jamie. Now go home!​Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars marked the 100th episode for the Bravo franchise, so we had some high hopes (especially since the show skipped last week). The special night's Quickfire Challenge featured Tom Colicchio in the kitchen, cooki ... More >>

Someone Besides Us Takes Notice of Danny Bowien

Alex HochmanBowien in the dumpling station at Mission Chinese Food.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Chow senior editor Lessley Anderson files a feature-length profile of Mission Chinese Food's lovable Danny Bowien, the chef with a personal style as quirky as his food vision. Actually, as ... More >>

Mission Chinese Food's Debut Was the Hottest Meal in Town

Tamara PalmerDanny Bowien's ma po tofu is super hot.​Mission Chinese Food began eat-in, takeout, and delivery service yesterday at Lung Shan, site of the past Mission Street Food dinner events. We slid in for lunch (operating hours are 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.) and spent quite a few minutes debat ... More >>

The Outer Mission's Under-the-Radar Banh Mi

M. LaddChicken banh mi: Mellow hints of five spice.​While the Vietnamese restaurant Lotus Garden (3216 Mission at Fair) can be a fine spot for tea and a hot bowl of pho, it didn't really offer on-the-go lunch options. So owner Kathy Tang quietly started selling takeout-only banh late last year ... More >>

Where to Celebrate Christmas, Jewish Style

T. PalmerNothing says Christmas quite like potstickers.​We're not sure exactly how the modern Jewish tradition of eating in Chinese restaurants on Christmas started, aside from a shared interest in keeping kosher. But we do know from experience that nothing defines this particular holiday quite li ... More >>

Poleng Lounge Extends Its Free Lunch Giveaway Through Saturday

T. PalmerPoleng's Five Spice Pork Chop​Poleng Lounge (1751 Fulton at Masonic) has extended last week's free lunch giveaway through this Saturday, September 19. The first 50 people through the door each day this week (they open at 11 a.m.) will receive a ticket good for a free portion of the select ... More >>

Doggy Bag: Today's Odds and Ends

​Our favorite morsels from the food blogs and beyond. The hard questions: Took us a couple of days, but we finally digested Hot Food Porn's thoughts about a four-way we had on Twitter: Porn, Chez Pim, SFoodie, and -- showing up for the money tweets -- Daniel Patterson. Just like, you know, a ... More >>

Broke-Ass Foodie: Organic BBQ Pork Buns from Tru Gourmet

Tru Gourmet serves beautiful, creative, and organic dim sum at the Metreon's daily Island Earth Farmer's Market, including vegan potstickers and dumplings in varieties like wild butterfish and Dungeness crab. While certainly pricier than many dim sum places around town, TG's baked BBQ pork bun ( ... More >>

Rachael Does SF (Again): Is There a Rachael Ray Bump?

Can this woman solve SF's restaurant downturn?Last week the popular Rachael Ray visited SF on her Food Network show Rachael Ray's Vacation  -- whose intro makes us giggle, as this show is explained as a way for Rachael to "catch her breath"  between working on "30 Minute Meals, ... More >>

Lunch Special: Shangri-La

Can this woman solve SF's restaurant downturn?Last week the popular Rachael Ray visited SF on her Food Network show Rachael Ray's Vacation  -- whose intro makes us giggle, as this show is explained as a way for Rachael to "catch her breath"  between working on "30 Minute Meals, ... More >>

Oy Tee Vey

Can this woman solve SF's restaurant downturn?Last week the popular Rachael Ray visited SF on her Food Network show Rachael Ray's Vacation  -- whose intro makes us giggle, as this show is explained as a way for Rachael to "catch her breath"  between working on "30 Minute Meals, ... More >>

Chinese Novelty

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Point and Shoot: Kingdom of Dumpling

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Bar Food: The Taco Shop at Underdog's

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Finally, The Best Fortune Cookie Fortune Ever

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Chinese Cooking Advice: Chicken Good, Beer Good, Salt Bad!

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Wild Salmon, Sweet Pea, and Ricotta Tortellini

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Wild Salmon, Sweet Pea, and Ricotta Tortellini

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Rat Shit and Dinner: The Dirtiest Eats in SF

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

A different regional cuisine is the draw at these two Richmond locations.

Got Hot Pot?

Dining's an adventure at S.F.'s only Muslim-style Chinese

Best Dim Sum

Dining's an adventure at S.F.'s only Muslim-style Chinese

Best Chinese (Cantonese)

Harbor Village

Best Dim Sum (Richmond)

Ton Kiang

The Asian Collection

On exhibit: Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, and Chinese restaurants

Ready for Takeoff

SFO restaurants

Best Dim Sum

Ton Kiang

Enter the Dragon

Dol Ho, Hing Lung, Lichee Garden, Oriental Pearl, Pearl City