Happy Chinese Restaurant

 

9

68

L W.

San Francisco, CA

let me give this dim sum house a five just to offset the previous reviews.

I review each dish each time.  ;

chicken feet (fung jau);  good, not great.  not as tasty as some other places.  Could use some more blackbean sauce or garlic or something.  steamed soft enough.

bean curd roll (sin juhk kuen):  very good.

steamed beef rice roll (ngao cheung); satisfactory.  served warm...not hot.  a bit hard.

shrimp dumplings (hah gau);  very good, though the skin was a bit soft and felt apart when I picked it up with my chopstick.

Wonton Soup; wow...$1.99 for a big bowl with about 14 wontons before  10am!  mmm mmmm Ding Gwa Gwa!

Beef Ball (ngau yuhk yuen);  Ho lihn ho hak!  Very Good!  Fresh and tasty without the Worchester Sauce even.

Pork Siu Mai;  I went there at 1:30pm one day and had to special order my dim sum.  The pork siu mai was barely steamed and and inside was cold..UGH!  Raw cold pork in my mouth...*P-TOO P-TOO*

This place has a lot soul.  They have a lot of "sei yahp (taishan, xinhui, enping, kaiping)" claypots and dishes that I would love to try.  The menu is only in Chinese stuck on the wall.  They've got a whole list of noodles and wonton dishes for only $1.99 before 10am.  

Very basic setting.  Funky bathroom like most Chinese restaurants.    A very hardcore Chinese clientele.

Shuddup yuppies.
==
*UPDATE*   I was charged $2.50 for a $1.99 bowl of wonton.  and over charged on the dimsum items at $3 each.  They have been demoted from five stars to one.  They just lost me as a customer.

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Elite '08

533

524

Teri C.

Las Vegas, NV

"Only the locals eat here...real Chinese..."  That is what my mom had to say about this dim sum restaurant as we sat upstairs amongst all the other 'older' generations of Chinese people dining.  And she was right, all you hear is Cantonese spoken.  No yuppie diners found here at all.  (This is what I call casual eating, you won't find cloth napkins or pretentious people here!)  

My mom chose this restaurant as I had pleaded for her to find a dim sum place that served the Shanghai dumplings AND the Shark Fin Dumplings in soup AND the pickled chicken feet.  (I was trying my darnest to impress my man!  And everyone knows it's through a man's stomach if you want him to stick around.  I can't cook, but I sure as hell can read a menu and order!)  

We started with the standard shrimp dumplings (har gow) and pork dumplings (sui mai).  We also ordered the chicken feet in black bean sauce, which is always yum.  The beef balls with Worcester sauce is tasty too.  The tripe was a smaller order than what I'm used to though.  We tried the spare ribs with ribbon rice noodles.  I liked how the noodles stayed rolled together and found myself going back for seconds. The beancurd wrapped around something or other was much tastier and full of flavor than Orchids Garden Restaurant in Vegas.  

The Shark Fin Dumpling in soup had to be ordered a good 20 minutes in advance, and it was impressive.  I was hesitant that I would find any 'real' shark fin in there, as I had been misled before.  As one of the older waitresses served us, she overheard us talking about 'fake shark fin' and she was quick to refute what we had said.  She insisted there was real shark fin in our soup.  As I broke my big dumpling up, I was not disappointed, there was indeed real shark fin in my soup!  Yum yum!  Score for them for getting that part right.  My Shanghai dumplings were good too, hot as hell in the middle like they are supposed to be.  I only wish they provided slices of garlic to go with the red vinegar you use for both dishes.

The picked white chicken feet came with a dipping sauce that could have used a bit more tang.  Usually when I order this dish to go from other restaurants, they provide this orange color dipping sauce and I would have preferred that more.  And I wish they had more pickled radish and carrots underneath the feet too!  

Desserts - lacking. They only offered egg custard tarts from what I could see.  I was looking for the Black Sesame Roll, and they didn't have that.  

They only accept cash, which can be tricky!  With a party of four, it was under $50 with leftover feet to bring home.  

Being located on Powell, it's away from some of the other bigger dim sum restaurants.  I usually don't eat dim sum in Chinatown because of the horrendous parking, but my parents were game.  I was definitely pleased with my mom's choice, after all, she's a tour guide for Chinatown and she has to know her stuff.  And plus, my man got to eat his favorite - the Shark Fin Dumpling in soup with REAL shark fin! Yay!  

(Now, if only they upped their dessert choices, I may be open to upping their star status.)

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0

63

J Z.

San Francisco, CA

The dim sum here is good, and they have the best mango pudding!

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Elite '08

67

71

Reggie M.

Las Vegas, NV

i havent ate dim sum in chinatown for quite some time.  when i used to visit, it was always harbor village. if i was in chinatown, it had to be new asia.  our newest mission this time was for me to try some new items and the best or better shanghai dumplings and shark fin dumplings in soup compared to what ive had before...namely my vegas dim sum adventures.   i have to thank my lovely dining companion and her mother and father  to take me there.  this isnt your elegant chinese restaurant, so its no harbor village with fabric napkins.  it is a bit run down, but still it look descent compared to many restaurants that ive been to in chinatown (b/c there are better).  there were no foreigners in there, so thats a definite plus.  there are plenty of tables here.  we were seated in the second floor.  
we ordered a myriad of items, such as shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, and beef balls (i really didnt taste the worsteshire sauce, though).  we had my favorite chicken feet in black bean sauce, which was tasty as hell.  i really enjoyed the sauced and fried wrapped bean curd.  we also ordered thin strips of tripe, which i have never ordered before.  the shanghai dumplings were just delicious.  you dip these soft crescent shaped dumplings in red vinegar.  when you take your first bite, you get the tang on the outside from the vinegar and surprised by a flood of savory soup from biting through the skin of the dumpling.  they also preorded by favorite shark fin dumpling in soup.  it was so good and a lot bigger than i am used to.  i was also rest assured that there was real shark fin in the soup and not clear glass noodles.  i could tell this time b/c the glass clear strips were firmer than the noodles that ive been tricked into eating before.  i was disappointed that they did not give a lot red vinegar up front and like my g/f said they didnt give us slivers of ginger either.  i finally got to try the pickled white chicken feet that was accompanied with what i thought was a white vinegar sauce.  it is served cold atop pickled daikon and carrots.  i really like it and would like to try again with this orange colored dipping sauce that i was told about.
all in all i was impressed with the dishes here, and will return here again along w/ some friends.  i give a BiG "UPS" to my lovely dining companion and her mother for introducing me to this place.
oh yeah, for any of you havent been to a dim sum restaurant, dont wear white...i made that mistake before, but this time i wore black...he..he..he

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