Shanghai Dumpling King3319 Balboa Street
(between 34th Ave & 35th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-2088
I crave xiao long bao (soup dumplings). The closest place for me to go in D.C. is Manhattan. With the large Chinese population in San Francisco, I looked up where to get them. Shanghai Dumpling King was named #1 or close to #1 on many websites. Located in the (outer) Richmond district of San Francisco, I found this place nestled among the hilly streets and a view of the water when looking down the large hill. Many people online talked about this place being a hole-in-the-wall with slippery floors, but compared to hole-in-the-walls I’ve been to, it wasn’t bad in the least bit – though the floors were, indeed, slippery. And I was the first person there. This review may not be very fair, because I had an extremely unfortunate problem, and that was catching a stuffy nose on the plane ride over. It was so stuffed up that my sense of taste and smell were almost obsolete. I was literally biting into the food, and immediately blowing my nose to get that split-second of flavor.
I was there for one thing only: XLB. But there were many mentions on other food to try when there. That saying, this is what I ordered:
“Normal” pork XLB – It was good, but it was nowhere as good as the ones I got in China and Manhattan at Shanghai Café. They looked great, and they didn’t rip apart when you picked them up. I just wish I could have tasted them more to give a better review.
Crab XLB – Same as above, but it felt like it had more flavor.
Ribs – These were just okay. I could have skipped this dish and ordered more XLB.
Green onion crispy pancake – There were two pancakes on the menu, and I think I ordered the wrong one. No worries, as this was good and very crispy.
Cloud dumpling/sugar puff – One of the workers was handing these out. There were 2 on the plate. It basically looked like a large, hollow donut hole with powdered sugar on top. It was very light and easy to eat even though they were quite large. These were highly praised online, but I didn’t get that effect.
Lion’s head meatballs – This was the last dish I had. By this time, my nose finally started giving way so I was able to taste these more. And thankfully, that came at a good time, because these were very good. 3 gargantuan meatballs in a sauce with a little spinach. Oddly, one of the meatballs was insanely saltier than the other two. I highly recommend this dish.
As I was wrapping up the meal, the place really started filling up. The table next to me had 4 older people. They were asking me my thoughts on every dish, and soon, we were reviewing each others’ plates. Obviously foodies as they were there because the show “Check Please, Bay Area” recently did a show on Shanghai Dumpling King. I commented on the long line of students going out the door and down the sidewalk, and they stated they’re a $5 college special that offers a lot of food. “Check Please” also talked about that.
Now that my taste and smell are back, I wish I can go back as well to give a more proper and fair review.
(415) 387-2088
I crave xiao long bao (soup dumplings). The closest place for me to go in D.C. is Manhattan. With the large Chinese population in San Francisco, I looked up where to get them. Shanghai Dumpling King was named #1 or close to #1 on many websites. Located in the (outer) Richmond district of San Francisco, I found this place nestled among the hilly streets and a view of the water when looking down the large hill. Many people online talked about this place being a hole-in-the-wall with slippery floors, but compared to hole-in-the-walls I’ve been to, it wasn’t bad in the least bit – though the floors were, indeed, slippery. And I was the first person there. This review may not be very fair, because I had an extremely unfortunate problem, and that was catching a stuffy nose on the plane ride over. It was so stuffed up that my sense of taste and smell were almost obsolete. I was literally biting into the food, and immediately blowing my nose to get that split-second of flavor.
I was there for one thing only: XLB. But there were many mentions on other food to try when there. That saying, this is what I ordered:
“Normal” pork XLB – It was good, but it was nowhere as good as the ones I got in China and Manhattan at Shanghai Café. They looked great, and they didn’t rip apart when you picked them up. I just wish I could have tasted them more to give a better review.
Crab XLB – Same as above, but it felt like it had more flavor.
Ribs – These were just okay. I could have skipped this dish and ordered more XLB.
Green onion crispy pancake – There were two pancakes on the menu, and I think I ordered the wrong one. No worries, as this was good and very crispy.
Cloud dumpling/sugar puff – One of the workers was handing these out. There were 2 on the plate. It basically looked like a large, hollow donut hole with powdered sugar on top. It was very light and easy to eat even though they were quite large. These were highly praised online, but I didn’t get that effect.
Lion’s head meatballs – This was the last dish I had. By this time, my nose finally started giving way so I was able to taste these more. And thankfully, that came at a good time, because these were very good. 3 gargantuan meatballs in a sauce with a little spinach. Oddly, one of the meatballs was insanely saltier than the other two. I highly recommend this dish.
As I was wrapping up the meal, the place really started filling up. The table next to me had 4 older people. They were asking me my thoughts on every dish, and soon, we were reviewing each others’ plates. Obviously foodies as they were there because the show “Check Please, Bay Area” recently did a show on Shanghai Dumpling King. I commented on the long line of students going out the door and down the sidewalk, and they stated they’re a $5 college special that offers a lot of food. “Check Please” also talked about that.
Now that my taste and smell are back, I wish I can go back as well to give a more proper and fair review.
1 comment:
omfg
i'm a sucker for xlb... even when they're not that good...
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