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House of Nanking
House of Nanking
(415) 421-1429
919 Kearny St
San Francisco CA 94133
San Francisco CA 94133
93% mojo
based on 191 reviews
Summary
Overall
Value
Service
Quality
Distribution
5
(62)
4
(25)
3
(14)
2
(19)
1
(33)
Monthly Average
No Data Available
191 Reviews
Featured Positive Review
Featured Negative Review
erw77
erw77
10/17/09
Some of the best food I've ever eaten
The onion cakes. A woman waiting for a table must have seen the look on my face when I put it into my mouth, because when she passed by she stopped and asked what that dish was. Our other dishes were good too, but the service could barely be called service. If you go in with that expectation though, you should be okay.
The one thing that really, really pissed me off, however, is that the owner came to take our check and credit card and said "no credit cards" then walked away. So my husband ran down the street to an ATM to get cash. While he was gone, I looked over to the table next to us and saw them pay WITH A CREDIT CARD. Since we had to pay a needless $6 for ATM fees for no reason, we didn't leave a tip. Still, I would go back again. That's how much we liked it.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
socaldudensf
socaldudensf
7/19/02
What a Joke!
This place is such an insult to Chinese cuisine. It amazes me how so many people proclaim this place "the best chinese food" around. It's no surprise that 98% of the patrons are non-Chinese and the 2% that are Chinese apparently lost their taste buds during the Cultural Revolution. First of all, the food is NOT authentic. Everything is made with the same sweet, starchy sauce. I made the mistake of taking friends from Hong Kong there and they wouldn't even finish the meal. The pot stickers were deep fried with peanut sauce on top. The only thing this place does well is marketing itself as the authentic "hole in the wall" chinese place.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Reviews
gmiller
gmiller
First To Review
erw77
erw77
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Some of the best food I've ever eaten
The onion cakes. A woman waiting for a table must have seen the look on my face when I put it into my mouth, because when she passed by she stopped and asked what that dish was. Our other dishes were good too, but the service could barely be called service. If you go in with that expectation though, you should be okay. The one thing that really, really pissed me off, however, is that the owner came to take our check and credit card and said "no credit cards" then walked away. So my husband ran down the street to an ATM to get cash. While he was gone, I looked over to the table next to us and saw them pay WITH A CREDIT CARD. Since we had to pay a needless $6 for ATM fees for no reason, we didn't leave a tip. Still, I would go back again. That's how much we liked it.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
The onion cakes. A woman waiting for a table must have seen the look on my face when I put it into my mouth, because when she passed by she stopped and asked what that dish was. Our other dishes were good too, but the service could barely be called service. If you go in with that expectation though, you should be okay. The one thing that really, really pissed me off, however, is that the owner came to take our check and credit card and said "no credit cards" then walked away. So my husband ran down the street to an ATM to get cash. While he was gone, I looked over to the table next to us and saw them pay WITH A CREDIT CARD. Since we had to pay a needless $6 for ATM fees for no reason, we didn't leave a tip. Still, I would go back again. That's how much we liked it.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Pros: the food
Cons: lack of service, the wait, smushed seating, price, lies
Recommended: Yes
esea50
esea50
Monday, August 31, 2009
Really Awful
This place was on our list to try for several years before we got around to going, it was a complete waste of time and money. I can't imagine why people wait in line for this stuff. We ordered the shrimp pancake and sesame chicken with sweet potato which we'd read were really good, and were disappointed in both. The owner came to our table and trained a new waitress how to fold the pancake, without even acknowledging us. No idea how clean his hands were. He had recommended the beef for the pancake and it was excrutiatingly salty and greasy. the sesame chicken was very sweet and greasy, and the sweet potatoes were fried hard AND coated with the same greasy sauce. The place looks okay until you sit down and feel the sticky table and menu, and the warm water in dirty looking glass mugs is gross. The couple next to us (basically at the same table, they don't even break them apart an inch or two for separate parties) had to ask for new plates, the ones they were given had hair and food on them. Even for Americanized Chinese food this sets a really low standard and it's also ridiculously expensive. My advice - save yourself the long wait and keep looking. Or ask a Chinese local where they go.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
This place was on our list to try for several years before we got around to going, it was a complete waste of time and money. I can't imagine why people wait in line for this stuff. We ordered the shrimp pancake and sesame chicken with sweet potato which we'd read were really good, and were disappointed in both. The owner came to our table and trained a new waitress how to fold the pancake, without even acknowledging us. No idea how clean his hands were. He had recommended the beef for the pancake and it was excrutiatingly salty and greasy. the sesame chicken was very sweet and greasy, and the sweet potatoes were fried hard AND coated with the same greasy sauce. The place looks okay until you sit down and feel the sticky table and menu, and the warm water in dirty looking glass mugs is gross. The couple next to us (basically at the same table, they don't even break them apart an inch or two for separate parties) had to ask for new plates, the ones they were given had hair and food on them. Even for Americanized Chinese food this sets a really low standard and it's also ridiculously expensive. My advice - save yourself the long wait and keep looking. Or ask a Chinese local where they go.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Pros: Made for a good laugh afterwards
Cons: Nasty, salty, greasy food. Dirty and sticky.
Recommended: Yes
COR3YZ
COR3YZ
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Best Chinese Food
This is hands down the best place to stuff your face =] (I could be a slogan writer) Any chain Chinese restaurant can make chicken chow mien or beef broccoli, but none of them order for you like the House of Nanking, I went there and shoveled the food like I was in the military and didn't have another second. After eating so much and leaving I thought I couldn't eat at another Chinese restaurant again and I didn't not for almost 4 months. Yes its a little dirty with the mass of people in and out you dont have time to clean everything when people are hungry, yes they order for you its part of the excitement and shock if you have never been, and if there is a line out the door it means the food is damn good and if you leave your missing out on something special.. people need to understand this is a gold mine in the middle of San Francisco... the truth is you either love it or hate it but it is a food place and thats what I go there to do is eat. So i could careless if there is a little dirt on the ground or crowded at least I'm not eating out of a garbage can.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
This is hands down the best place to stuff your face =] (I could be a slogan writer) Any chain Chinese restaurant can make chicken chow mien or beef broccoli, but none of them order for you like the House of Nanking, I went there and shoveled the food like I was in the military and didn't have another second. After eating so much and leaving I thought I couldn't eat at another Chinese restaurant again and I didn't not for almost 4 months. Yes its a little dirty with the mass of people in and out you dont have time to clean everything when people are hungry, yes they order for you its part of the excitement and shock if you have never been, and if there is a line out the door it means the food is damn good and if you leave your missing out on something special.. people need to understand this is a gold mine in the middle of San Francisco... the truth is you either love it or hate it but it is a food place and thats what I go there to do is eat. So i could careless if there is a little dirt on the ground or crowded at least I'm not eating out of a garbage can.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Pros: Everything
Cons: the idiots who don't appreciate a mom-and-pop restaurant !
Recommended: Yes
osinto
osinto
Friday, July 24, 2009
Still the same, but different
Why do good things have to change?I went to this restaurant 5 years ago and thought I had discovered a gem. Now the owner took many steps in the wrong direction. They "updated" the walls inside and out, but still has the same cheap, slightly dirty look that we expect from a place like this. The best way to order is still to ask Mr Fang, the owner, to pick for you.We told him we wanted as order of dumplings, one pork, one fish, one spicy one middle spicy. Part of the charm of this place is not to know what you are going to eat.We saw the two couples struggle (we were sharing our table with them,it is this type of place) for minutes with their waiter to decide and we knew we had done the right thing whne we started to get our meal before they placed their order.. The food arrived presto,and it was above average. The dumplings were competent, the slightly fried fish pieces came with mercifully underdone green leaves( is that chinese?) and we got barbecued pork in a slightly sweet sauce with apples ( is that chinese?). Rice was rice. Nothing spicy though. Mr Fang failed, or he did not tell us that spicy is not the forte of his Cantonese cuisine. Another surprise was the bill. It doubled from 5 years ago. What was $20/25 for 2 people has become over $50. Of course Mr Fang, a good businessman that he is, looked at the lines outside ( we waited 20 minutes at 9 pm) and decided he could easy into a more comfortable retirement by cashing in on the tourists. But the prices are out of character with the place, the neighborhood and, yes, the quality of the food. The only question is that when he does retire, House of Nanking will just become another House of Nanking like so many in the suburbs serving General Tso's chicken and sweet and sour something. People that wrote other reviews complaining about the service, not getting a glass of water, etc, should go to McD's. This is not that sort of place. But,like my son said, there are no more hidden gems in the age of the Internet.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Why do good things have to change?I went to this restaurant 5 years ago and thought I had discovered a gem. Now the owner took many steps in the wrong direction. They "updated" the walls inside and out, but still has the same cheap, slightly dirty look that we expect from a place like this. The best way to order is still to ask Mr Fang, the owner, to pick for you.We told him we wanted as order of dumplings, one pork, one fish, one spicy one middle spicy. Part of the charm of this place is not to know what you are going to eat.We saw the two couples struggle (we were sharing our table with them,it is this type of place) for minutes with their waiter to decide and we knew we had done the right thing whne we started to get our meal before they placed their order.. The food arrived presto,and it was above average. The dumplings were competent, the slightly fried fish pieces came with mercifully underdone green leaves( is that chinese?) and we got barbecued pork in a slightly sweet sauce with apples ( is that chinese?). Rice was rice. Nothing spicy though. Mr Fang failed, or he did not tell us that spicy is not the forte of his Cantonese cuisine. Another surprise was the bill. It doubled from 5 years ago. What was $20/25 for 2 people has become over $50. Of course Mr Fang, a good businessman that he is, looked at the lines outside ( we waited 20 minutes at 9 pm) and decided he could easy into a more comfortable retirement by cashing in on the tourists. But the prices are out of character with the place, the neighborhood and, yes, the quality of the food. The only question is that when he does retire, House of Nanking will just become another House of Nanking like so many in the suburbs serving General Tso's chicken and sweet and sour something. People that wrote other reviews complaining about the service, not getting a glass of water, etc, should go to McD's. This is not that sort of place. But,like my son said, there are no more hidden gems in the age of the Internet.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Pros: Mr Fang,food
Cons: everything else, particularly prices
Recommended: Yes
sky705
sky705
Monday, July 6, 2009
Best Chinese Food EVER
There was a long line, and they crammed our party of 10 into a space big enough for 8, but the owner was charming and sweet. He promised to take care of us and the next thing we knew, dish after dish was being placed on our table and people were fighting over every last scrap. From the first course to the last everything was delicious, and they accommodated our friends with peanut and seafood allergies no problem.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
There was a long line, and they crammed our party of 10 into a space big enough for 8, but the owner was charming and sweet. He promised to take care of us and the next thing we knew, dish after dish was being placed on our table and people were fighting over every last scrap. From the first course to the last everything was delicious, and they accommodated our friends with peanut and seafood allergies no problem.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com
Pros: Food is fantastic!
Cons: Small space, always a wait
Recommended: Yes
Business Details on House of Nanking
Phone Numbers:
Primary Phone: (415) 421-1429