House of Nanking

1/24/2015 Updated review

Updating the review since they updated their Yelp listing! Not that bad after all!

Tried some other things on the
Menu this time around and had the Onion pancakes and the Sizzling rice soup instead of the sesame chicken.

2/5/2015

Ok,  a a person of color who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley (626!), I know good Asian food. Hell , , I just about have my honorary Asian card. This was by far some of the WORST Chinese food I've ever had.  

Flavorless.  

No soy sauce.  

And they gave everyone FORKS. FORKS!!!!

WTF??

It felt like I walked into a Chinese restaurant in Dublin,  and the Irish are not known for their cuisine,  lol. How un-diverse can a restaurant  be in SF (although most patrons seemed like tourists) ???  My coworker swore up and down about trying this place, and the Yelp reviews seemed convincing...

.... wrong WRONG WROOOOONG!!! Ugh,  get this taste outta my mouth...

• 

  Ok nooooo I dont need a box... Ugh.

  Ok nooooo I dont need a box... Ugh.

1/24/2015

For a while now, I have heard rave reviews of this place, especially from my wife who swears by how good the food is. I have never been so we tried to grab dinner there about a year ago. Unfortunately it was Chinese New Year so Nanking was closed which is understandable so we figure we try again when the opportunity presented itself. Last night we decided to make a trip to the city and finally see why so many people love Nanking.

Regretfully, Nanking wouldn't let us in. We arrived at 9:20 PM but a very rude waitress told us that they were closed even though their web site states that they close at 10 PM on a Friday night (you see the same thing when you do a Google search). She essentially slammed the door on us as we were about to walk in (door was propped open as we were approaching the restaurant). There were clearly people inside still eating and waiting for food and there were enough open tables to seat us. Plus there were a few other customers who arrived at the same time as us but were also turned away so Nanking felt the extra business was not worth their time.

This is the first time I have ever written a review for a restaurant I have yet to eat at which does seem odd but I feel people need to know how deceptive Nanking is about their closing times and how rude their service people are. Yes, I do know that service at a traditional Chinese restaurant is not what you expect from most restaurants and I am totally OK with that as I am a Bay Area native and have dined at traditional Chinese restaurants before (you don't go for the service but for the food!). But Come On Man! You couldn't even at least say sorry we are closed or at least honor the closing time you post on your web site?!

We tried pleading our case to the waitress telling her that we drove all the way from Redwood City just to try Nanking but she didn't even bother to listen to us. I get the feeling that Nanking is coming down with a strong case of arrogance since they know they are the renowned Chinese restaurant in a city like SF which prides itself on good food. Note to the management, if you want to keep your restaurant as the top Chinese restaurant in SF, honor your closing times and treat your potential customers with a bit more respect. I can easily get good Chinese food at so many places and I hope you make the necessary changes so that this doesn't happen again to any one else. I've struck out twice with Nanking. Not sure if I will try for a third time to eat at this supposedly really good Chinese restaurant that apparently felt I was not worth their time to be a patron at their establishment.

2/13/2015

Was here 22 years ago and just came back for the first time since. As good as the first time, if not better. Everything was delish and very fresh. You go here for the food and the price.... Not the atmosphere. A must when in San Fransisco!

• 

  Garlic bok Choy

  Garlic bok Choy
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  Ginger poached scallops. Delish!!!

  Ginger poached scallops. Delish!!!
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  Special veggie appetizer (not on the menus but oh so good!!)

  Special veggie appetizer (not on the menus but oh so good!!)
• See all photos from Deborah B. for House of Nanking

1/1/2015

Way overhyped. I don't know what draws people to wait in a line outside in the cold for this place.

ARRIVAL:
If not crowded, they seem to try seating customers by the door.
If crowded, "10-15 minute! Wait outside!" followed by some initial confusion of what was just said and then comes the line of incredibly cold customers outside on these chilly winter nights.

SEATING:
Parties of two are seated uncomfortably close to each other, by American standards. House of Nanking will move two tables (meant for parties of four) about two inches away form each other and seat two parties. It's almost like the hella Chinese places that have two parties share a large round table to seat more people.

FOOD:
-- House Special Sesame Chicken = OK? Not bad but not amazing. Sweet brown sauce smothering fried chicken pieces, accompanied by sliced orange (yam? carrot? sweet potato?) and green veggies (cucumber?). Tastes kinda like general tso chicken. The staff use bare hands to top the dish off with sesame seeds... after pressing the register's touch screen and other things. I HOPE THEY WASH THEIR HANDS AFTER HANDLING DIRTY DISHES.
-- Melt in your Mouth Calamari = Eh. The texture of the calamari pieces is nice since you don't have to break your jaw gnawing away. The batter is light but doesn't stick to the calamari well because of the light citrus sauce making it soggy. Chewy, yes. Crunchy, nada.
- Pork Egg Rolls = Decent. They taste different than any other egg roll I've ever had. They make nice appetizers, sure.

SERVICE: Sub-par Asian service
Less pleasant than usual Asian service.
-- "Wait outside!" when they have customers waiting to be seated. When there was a reservation holding two rows of tables, there was no explanation to incoming customers why they need to wait and not be seated there.
-- Instead of making suggestions to new customers (i.e. tourists), "Get this *points*" or "You want this *points*." Uhh okay.... The staff definitely rushes people to order.
-- Raising voices at customers asking questions

• 

  House Special Sesame Chicken

  House Special Sesame Chicken
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  Melt in your Mouth Calamari

  Melt in your Mouth Calamari
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  Pork Egg Roll

  Pork Egg Roll

1/17/2015

Hands down my favorite place for dumplings!

We came in & were sat immediately! I was so happy that they weren't that busy considering that it was a Saturday night. We ordered Shrimp packets to start. Really crisp & delicious. We also ordered Pork & Chicken dumplings. They were so so so soft. Exactly what I wanted & expected. The flavor of the sauce that it came with was also really tasty. The only thing that bummed me out was the Sesame chicken! The chicken was good, but the dish was mostly yams covered with sauce. I felt like the name of the dish should be "Sesame Yams". But those dumplings earned 5 stars on their own. Can't wait to come back!

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  Dumplings & Sesame chicken!

  Dumplings & Sesame chicken!

12/24/2014

Wow, after reviewing my recent SF check in's I realized I haven't reviewed a bunch of restaurants! I believe that House of Nanking needs to be reviewed. I've been here probably 5 times within the last few years and it's one of our favorite Chinese (Hunnan) food of all time. Yes it can get super busy here and service really isn't its strongest point although never poor, but come down here on off peak times and you will never have to wait. I've tried many of their dishes but recently we shared the sesame chicken and garlic fish. Both were amazing and I love their blooming teas.  It was a tough choice because the calamari is truly excellent too, I was just in the mood for chicken and fish on our recent visit.

I can see why Nanking gets a lot of press in tour books. Great food, reasonable prices, equals a great meal and experience.

2/12/2015

I love this place and can't wait to go back. Sure, it may not be the most authentic Chinese food, but this Chinese American also doesn't feel it veers very far off either? There are several vegetarian/vegan options, and the eggplant/sweet potato dish is definitely delicious and perfectly sized. I ate here once before and had an assortment of things, but don't quite remember well enough to commit them to paper. I'm also a fan of the branding, décor, and general styling of the place. It's what I wish Chino would be! I also had no issues with seating, as there was plenty of space when I arrived. The staff were perfectly fine!

2/13/2015

Well, I liked this restaurant for a while, but today I was really disappointed and shocked. After the meal, the bill was outrageous. The server added $5 as a tip for himself in every copy of the bill. WTF?? Well, and another server was waiting for me to sign the bill and I think she was worried that I may rewrite the (automatically) added tip part. This was pretty unpleasant experience. Well, they might earn $5 this time, but they lost one customer forever.

If you guys go to this restaurant, please look at the bill closely. They may have added tips already in your bill.

11/24/2014

This place reminds me of a Chinese restaurant you'd see on Seinfeld. No frills service, Get in, Eat, and Get Out. The friendliness levels of the staff are below par but there is still a line out the door because the food is just too damn good.

My favorites are: Sesame chicken, crispy beef, and pea shoot salad.

12/29/2014

House of Nanking was suggested as one of the best Chinese restaurants in Chinatown so it was only natural to visit.

I wasn't shocked to see a line outside of the restaurant, but I was pretty surprised that there was no walk-up list. Everyone waited in line and when a table became available for the number in your party, they called you in. While dining, I saw the hostess tell several groups of people to wait outside to be called in. There's NO waiting room inside. It's pretty small.

The food was pretty good. I didn't see the usual sweet and sour, orange chicken, etc. We decided on the fried shrimp packets with peanut sauce, and the pork egg rolls  as our appetizers,  and our entrees were fried rice, chow mein, and sesame chicken. To drink we had the detox tea, which is a delicious fruit-infused tea. I believe we spent in the $40 range for our meal. There seemed to be more meatless options, which is OK if that's your thing. All in all, I liked it. Not sure I'd return, since there are so many other options in the area.

• 

  Detoxifying tea.

  Detoxifying tea.
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  Fried shrimp packets with peanut sauce

  Fried shrimp packets with peanut sauce
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  Chow mein

  Chow mein

1/20/2015

Omg. I was wonderfully surprised by everything. Luckily an older lady ordered for us. She asked what we liked and we replied "everything."  
The rice sizzling soup was eye opening. Could not believe my mind. Also had the fried rice, dumplings, noodles, beef, shrimp and chicken dishes and shared everything.

In fact, during the soup i wanted to ask for a boba straw but refrained due to class.

11/26/2014

soooo i've always been really curious about this place since i walk by it all the time on kearny, and it's ALWAYS so packed..! and the sign outside is quite colorful... a friend from seattle actually recommended that i try it since he comes here every time when on business in sf, so i decided to give it a go for my birthday dinner with the parents. kinnndda risky, given, that parents eat chinese food a lot...in china...

we walk in, and everything smells delicious, and every table has a ton of good looking food that people seem to enjoy eating. we got a table right away, which is awesome, and were given the 'chinese' menu, which is handwritten.  the lady of the house spoke to us in shanghainese after hearing the three of us converse, and offered to make recommendations, which we gladly took.

given that it was a cold evening, we got the fish soup with noodles and basil...maybe with a hint of lemongrass? we also got birthday noodles with peanut sauce, and sauteed vegetables (dou miao), which is a staple that i compare restaurants against. also got the house special beef, which is a unique dish that my dad seemed to enjoy a lot.

soooo, everything was gooood, but not great, and i really wanted it to be great. sigh. the soup was probably my favorite. the noodles and veggies were both a bit bland; the beef is interesting yes, but the bok choy tasted kinda raw, and were cold - not very characteristically chinese.

with that said, the servers were alll so courteous, and the dishes came out WAY fast, which i think is a plus. the restaurant itself is a bit loud, but that can be expected with a chinese place.  the lady who recommended dishes also suggested Fang, which is owned by the same person. mmmm, maybe i will give it a try one day, since i live in soma and fang is pretty conveniently close... :)

• 

  Bland veggies

  Bland veggies
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  House special beef

  House special beef
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  Noodles with peanut sauce

  Noodles with peanut sauce
• See all photos from Christina L. for House of Nanking

1/14/2015

Sesame chicken is good.  It doesn't taste like any other "authentic" chinese food that I'm familiar with, but Americans seem to like it.

11/24/2014 Updated review

Went here for lunch to celebrate our friends bday. Had the braised fish with spicy soy, famous sesame chicken, and dumplings. All three dishes were great!!! We even had goji berry tea which was a new experience. I usually put this to make soup but never tea!!!!
Had an awesome experience and the service was great! This place is just an icon place in Chinatown. Gray for financial workers and class for the not so traditional Chinese food.

• 

  Goji berry tea

  Goji berry tea
• 
• 

10/12/2014

Hands down the best Chinese food I have ever had in my life! I ate here last year while attending The Dreamforce convention in November. I was floored with how good the food was.. I came back here this year for Dreamforce with some in trepidation.. Afraid that house of Nanking could not live up to my hype! I'm happy to say that it crushed my expectations!!

The food is simply fantastic! I have never had better!! If you are looking for world class Chinese food this is the place!!

• 

  We ordered almost everything and all f it was amazing!!

  We ordered almost everything and all f it was amazing!!

5/21/2014

This restaurant is owned by the same owner as Fang. I enjoyed Fang so much because the owner ordered off the menu items for me, so I decided to try this one out.

The seating is very traditional ancient style. The menu is very creative. You cannot find these dishes anywhere else. No broccoli beef please. It's Nanking food. The dishes sound like Cantonese food but it's not. Very different and innovative. They have one menu for Chinese in Chinese and one for American in English.

Fish soup with thin noodle, tofu and wonton. Not Cantonese one! It's so good! A bit sour and pickled veggie makes it flavorful but not bland. The fish is fried very good. Soup is awesome. $14.95.

The eggplant with minced pork and shrimp paste. Also very good. The shrimp paste flavor makes it unique! I've never seen this combination before in any Chinese place. But I still think eggplants are too oily like other normal Chinese restaurants.

They grew organic goji in shanxi. Their tea uses that goji, $2. The taste of goji is different than other non organic ones. Less sweet and fresher.

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  Fish soup

  Fish soup
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  Eggplant w minched pork and shrimp paste

  Eggplant w minched pork and shrimp paste

11/20/2014

Bad service but good food.
I asked for Broccoli and beef (off the menu) and they totally accommodated my order.

We had a chicken lettuce wrap, calamari melt in your mouth steaks and ice cream. Everything was delicious and perfectly well made.

• 

  Calamari

  Calamari
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  Beef and broccoli

  Beef and broccoli

12/30/2014

I went there at about 3pm and was surprised that the place was packed and had a line as well. Since it was the 2 of us it was easy for us to get a seat. Ordered the sesame chicken which was crunchy and had a generous amount of sauce on it, together with sweet potatoes and cucumber which added a nice touch and crunch to the dish. We also had the hot and sour broth that wasn't too spicy and was delicious with chunks of meat and tofu. Would be better if there weren't any peas in there.. Which were still undercooked. Overall a pleasant experience with delicious food!

• 

  Sesame chicken

  Sesame chicken

2/7/2015

Run! I wouldn't expect the service to be good at a hole in the wall kind of place like this... And it wasn't! But I did expect the food to be great... And it wasn't even good! Never again.

2/4/2015

Had the sesame chicken, pork egg rolls, and some noodles. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good. The food didn't have much flavor and tasted a bit bland. The service can be hit or miss.

2/7/2015

Stay away. Bland. Bad service. The friend who recommended this place is no longer my friend.

1/17/2015

The novelty of it is what attracts but the waiters with lousy attitude and impatience really suck.

Thanks for the response: we had the calamari, the chow mien, the Nanking beef and Shizwan chicken. We were inquiring about a type of beef that we had off menu last time we were here but the waiter would not give us a moment to ask any questions.

1/3/2015

The man is obsessed with this place
He has been coming for 24 years from LA. Yes you read that right 24 years
When we first met 12 years ago he would wake up and say "We are driving to San Francisco today to eat at House of Nanking" and we would literally take a trip and and stay a might or two so he could eat here twice
He would have dreams of their food
No joke
I know I'm sounding crazy at this point but it's true.

Anyway they have become much more commercial now - expanded into the retail space next door so they have many more tables than more

The best dishes are the Sesame chicken, shrimp packets, pea shoots and crispy beef which was crossed off the menu for some reason. Hope they don't permanently remove it from the menu

If you like a little higher end go to their new restaurant Fang which was also pretty good

Yum!!!! I will always love House of Nanning!!!!

2/7/2015

Don't waste your time or money on this place. While it is reasonably priced, the food is fair at best and the service was awful.

3/15/2014

House of Nanking is quite a trek from my office. Alright, it's not really that far, but high heels can turn the most innocent walk into a slog to the top of Half Dome (read: ouch). Nevertheless, I refuse to wear running shoes with a dress or a skirt, on principle.

I had previously tried to go to HON (ha) and failed (see my Dumpling House review for the explicit details). Be careful to note where you're at, because the Dumpling House next door is quite popular, and it typically has a line going out the door. If you're prone to attacks of sudden onset ADD like myself, you might just get in that line if you're not paying attention. And that would be tragic.

Since then I have been to HON twice, once for lunch and once for dinner, and I kind of love it.

Strangely, the item I love the most at HON is the steamed pork dumplings. I think dumplings are so satisfying, and the ones that are not deep fried tend to taste better to me. HON's dumplings do not disappoint. They are the perfect texture (and I'm a freak about texture), and cooked to perfection (I.e., HON gets that "steamed" does not mean "boil" the sh*t out of them). But all of that aside, order these dumplings simply for the sauce they come in--what the FRAKK is that sauce? It doesn't taste like peanut sauce to me. It's nice and cool yet pleasingly spicy and delicious. Yes, please.

I've also had the sesame chicken, since HON describes it as their signature dish. It's served with yams (or some kind of sweet potato) and a green apple garnish. The portion is huge (please be advised that you will need assistance finishing this dish, and that I'm available to help). But it's pretty tasty. It's very filling, of course, because it's fried. The yams are a surprisingly good element of the dish, although they will make you feel pretty full as well. I can get one order for take out and live off of it for three days, easily. Call me crazy, but I don't think it's diet.

I'll be back for the garlic fish and the melt in your mouth calamari, naturally. The soup looks bangin as well. I want all of it.

The interior of the restaurant is split into two rooms, mostly with large community tables. The service is supremely efficient (read: lightening fast). The Tsingtao is flowing like wine.  

Never mind the restaurant next door, this is what you want.

• 
• 

  Goodness

  Goodness

1/14/2015

Totally authentic, divey Chinese food perfection. We ordered the shrimp dumplings as an appetizer and it was perfectly crisp and the shrimp, peas and other veggies were super fresh and light. I had the Mongolian Beef over crunchy noodles for lunch and it was hot, fresh and perfectly spiced. This place is small, packed and the staff is more than ready to move you on your way, but it's worth it.

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  Mongolian Beef over Crispy Noodles #excellent

  Mongolian Beef over Crispy Noodles #excellent

9/4/2014

I ordered the Nanking chicken here and it was decent, not too salty which is usually my biggest complaint for chinese places.

My biggest complaint for this place is the one table setting for two that faces the window. My wife and I ate our lunch there, looking at the passerbys. She had just taken a picture of her plate on her phone meaning to IG it later. (Sorry yelp) and left it on the table. while we were eating, two thieves ran up and grabbed her phone thru the window and tried to steal mine and ran.

the restaurant is layed out like a maze of people so i couldnt run off after them. The owner suggested we call the cops if not for our lost phone (which i knew we were never going to see again) but for future tourists. who also might be eating at that same table.

the owner comp'd our meal for our trouble. so instead of a $420 meal, it was just a $400 meal if you include the lost iphone.

we called the cops and it turns out, the camera facing the street is a dummy camera, so no footage is being recorded.

he was wearing a hoodie and hat on a 90 degree day. and somehow i'm sure it'll happen again, likely when someone spots a phone on a table and a guy runs in and grabs it.

so the TL;DR version, got seated next to a window, got our phone stolen, with 0 chance of catching the guy.

12/29/2014

Given I'd been told of this place...in another state, I was truly disappointed to wait in line with a bunch of tourists (should've keyed in on that alone) to experience nothing other than an average Chinese food place. Apparently ownership changed a few years back so perhaps this is why, but needless to say we were less than pleased with the experience.

Menu was limited (the menu on yelp is accurate and inclusive of all choices) food was mediocre at best and service was AWFUL. Staff seemed miserable and literally stood over the top of my husband while he signed the check. Frankly, I'm ok with poor aka "short" service in this type of place considering it obviously stays busy, but the lack of remote concern regarding our dining experience or even eye contact for that matter, was disturbing. Especially considering we waited patiently in line for almost an hour at and were clearly to eager to try a "local" favorite. Our enthusiasm was greeted by a staff consisting of the seemingly inconvenienced.  

Overall expect nothing at all traditional or unique. Seriously, I had to ask twice at the table for chopsticks (both ignored as staff looked straight at me and turned to walk away) so ended up going to the register to ask a third and fourth time (I'm not kidding....4 TIMES!) for them myself. Truthfully though I was so excited to finally try this place out that I didn't care. Still super pumped, WITH my hard earned chop sticks, I rushed back... to shear disappointment.

In short, the food wasn't horrible, it just simply wasn't anything spectacular or unique for that matter either. It arrived quick after we finally ordered about 15-20mins after sitting down so it was hot and I will note, the peanut sauce on the "shrimp pockets" was tasty but nothing that I would return for. Regardless hot mediocre Chinese is better than cold so I gave an extra star for this alone.  

Main dishes were smaller than average sized and came with no rice or any other side item. This is also not a huge issue considering most portions are often too large BUT, I'd rather at least have good Chinese (X&Y or other various places in South Bay) and take leftovers, than pricey small portions of mediocre Chinese with poor service.

Finally, In all fairness, maybe we caught it a bad time (5pm on a Sunday) but I'd do yourself a favor and either ask the locals where they eat or at least avoid waiting in line for a potentially similar deflating experience. Instead, go somewhere with a line of 'returning' customers rather than out of towners/tourists and avoid an epic yelp fail.

1/11/2015 Updated review

Yummy food and a very nice waitress! We had these egg rolls that weren't rolls at all. Peggy recommended them and I loved them. It had eggs and vermicelli noodles. Pretty good eats. This was not your typical Chinatown dishes, very different.

2/21/2014

Featuring uncompromisingly tasty dishes like their famous* sesame chicken, fried shrimpackets (that contain actual succulent shrimp) in sesame sauce and my favorite, the insanely addictive house noodles...this is a restaurant I would regularly return to if I lived in this city.

My only major complaint is the blossom in my blossom tea was the only blossom that didn't blossom. I obviously demanded my entire meal be comped,** but the staff refused.

Truth be told, the service is a bit perfunctory; however, I've come to expect that from any excellent Chinese restaurant from coast to coast. P.F. Chang's has friendly servers, and I'd rather eat at the House of Nanking any day.
____________

*I'm not sure to whom, but it was good.
**I didn't actually do this. Don't do things like this, or nobody will like you.

• 

  Menu.

  Menu.
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  Blossom tea before the blossom.

  Blossom tea before the blossom.
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  Shrimpackets

  Shrimpackets
• See all photos from Peter D. for House of Nanking

1/8/2015

I just walked out and I am very weirded out and felt like the servers were very rude to me. First off i came in and no one was there. But the servers jst kept talking in their language and touched their teeth and ignored me. I said i wanted to order a big to go order for family style. And the lady looked at me with a disgusted look shaking her head. So i said ok i will just pick from your menu. AND An older lady looked at me and told me no i am not gonna do orders for you. TOO many!

So i just said OOOHHH kay and walked out. I mean there was no one there! Its not like it was busy or anything.

Dont order there for to go. You will waste your time walking.

1/31/2015 Updated review

Food was delish!!!! But beware, the service is a little....forceful. But the food is good, so it's worth it...

11/2/2014 Updated review

Update review

Food is still amazingly good!

Nothing has changed since last year.

Consistent.

• 

  Sunday night at House of nanking

  Sunday night at House of nanking
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  Awesome food. Never disappoints!

  Awesome food. Never disappoints!

9/13/2014

We came here with extremely high expectations and got shot down.
We got the Sesame chicken, Beijing beef, chow mein and pork egg roll.
Pork egg roll= while it had a good outside sauce and crispy texture, there was WAY too much pork to fit inside that tiny little roll and was a bit too chewy for my liking.
Chow mein= this was my favorite part of the dish, but came off just a bit too salty for some of the people in my party
Sesame chicken= this "famous dish" will forever live in my mind as the dish with the plastic in it, yes you read right. Plastic. If you dare to get it after this review PLEASE inspect the meat for any unsavory plastic bits.
Beijing beef= no flavor, just spice
All and I wouldn't come back here in the future

• 

  The plastic in the sesame

  The plastic in the sesame

8/15/2014 Updated review

I meant they were boring as in no flavor at all.

The two people who served us were cold and ambivalent.

Apparently the yelp PR representative who responded above was absent that day.

1/26/2015

It's like you've never had Chinese food before- so flavorful, delicious, fresh-- just really tasty!
Have been many times, and each time is amazing.

1/30/2015

We came to SF on family vacation and a friend of mine who lives here recommended the place, so we decided to try it. It was the WORST decision.

After we walked in, a waitress asked us how big the party was. I said "six" in both English and Chinese. She pretended that she did not understand me, and responded "One person? You can sit in the corner then." She was really rude and arrogant, and just turned around and left without seating us anywhere. Then someone else came and pointed us to a table.

Our waiter who took our order seemed to be just as rude and racist. When we asked them anything in Chinese, they would reply in English even though they were speaking Chinese to each other. We ordered a soup to share but they would not bring any additional bowls, although the table next to us received bowls with their soup order. We had to ask for rice with entree orders, and our waiter did not for once refill our drinks. They penned a gratuity onto our check. Some restaurants mention this may be added on the menu, but we saw no such warning. The waitress just stood by our table and watched us when we signed the receipt to make sure we paid the tip, which was very intimidating.

Overall the experience was just awful. The whole time we felt like we were treated with disgust and disdain. I would NEVER go back there and would advise anyone who wants a pleasant dining experience to avoid it at all costs.

7/7/2014

When I was a kid, every now and then I ate my Chinese friend's mother's cooking. Every time I had a belly ache and then the runs. No runs at Nanking.

Giving this place the full five stars. After reading reviews of other Chinese restaurants, wondering why they average 4 stars, going to those places and being disappointed, I think back to House of Nanking.

I don't eat Chinese often, but when I do, I hope that the food tastes fresh, not greasy or fried with cheap oil. Didn't taste cheap oil at this place. Not all Chinese food is the same. This is not a dumpling house.

It's unfortunate that so many people have not had a good experience regarding their hours. I went during lunch time and didn't have to experience those minutes when the staff wants to go home. Hey, San Francisco is not New York City where kitchens are open late. Maybe the restaurant should post closing time at 9.

Ordered the onion pancakes and calamari. Yum. Looking forward to trying something else.

1/26/2015

Family trip to San Francisco and I Google searched a place within china town. This is the first place that showed up. We decided to give it a try. Didn't wait that long for a table and food came out within minutes. Chow mein and chicken was good. Waiter was ok.