House of Nanking

House of Nanking: San Francisco, CA

An endearing little place near Chinatown in San Francisco. Well .. its actually a darkish kind of place which can be surprisingly noisy. We chanced upon it while walking by, ate, liked it and have been coming back since. The owner-lady is a woman of few words. She sat the three of us down with 3 people from another group on a table meant for six. Thats the norm here. Vegetarian? (nod from us). You like musroom? (nod nod). Spicy? (nod). Tofu? (nod). Okay. That's it!! She made us the most amazing combo kind of thing with garlic sauce, musrooms and tofu. We didn't even touch the menu! Thats the way it is in Nanking. Tell them what you like ..  share tables with complete strangers .. go with the flow and enjoy the experience.

They also sometimes have a flowering kind of tea .. there the tea is wrapped in a dried flower and once they put it in hot water, the flower slowly opens up. Good show for the girls.

The green onion pancakes are highly recommended.
Definitely worth visiting. Be prepared to wait 30-40 mins. I once went here around 9pm and there was a 30 min wait in the rain outside!

Food: **** Ambiance: *** Price: $$
Last visited: late 2009