Come here if you want to experience 1970s 1980s all over- Chinatown style! This place isn't the best in terms of food, but it's an affordable, dive (dim sum), and decent in terms of portions and taste. You can choose to ignore the facade or look at it's age as memories of the past.
Why should you come here?
#1 Affordable/Decent Quality: I've come here several times for various lunch banquets. For a little over $100 per table meant for 10 diners, I've dined here with 7-9 entree items for lunch. Besides Yi Ben House (which by the way closed as of last year in Chinatown off Pacific Avenue and Stockton Street), nowhere else in Chinatown and probably in San Francisco can you get decent lunch "banquet" dive style for the above price. The portions were sizable and enough where we had about 1/3 of the food leftover with a full table of hungry patrons. During the Moon Festival, the restaurant also offers the cheapest moon cake in Chinatown (think under $10 for the pack- 2/3 less than the brand names they sell at the stores). I enjoyed the chicken marinaded in soy sauce and the thin noodles w/chicken. Oh and the congee was decent too!
#2 A Trip Down Chinatown History: This place is ancient- as ancient as the owner (see point #3). It reminds me of Old Chinatown- from the walls to the decor to the carpet. It's run down and totally dive style, but you can't help but get a real taste of the casual dining of the past - and with past prices too. Also, if you rent the above floor for a party, there is a sound system. The sound system itself is NOT that old, but turn on the karaoke machine and all the machines got seemingly older as I sat eating last week. Old school Cantonese pop music and songs reminiscent of the golden age of HK music (think Sam Hui years) and old Taiwanese singers like Deng Li Juan. As you listen to the music, you can't help but feel like you traveled through time. And for those experienced eaters of dim sum, you might just be surprised at some of the offerings here. For instance, there was a "goji berry" dessert on our lunch banquet menu. I kept thinking what the heck is that? Alas, it came in 4 giant blocks with goji berries and I had a flashback of those days when my grandmother use to make them - the same Toisan/Taishanese way!
#3 The Elderly Granny Owner: Where else is the owner so involved with the daily operations of their restaurant? At this place, the owner oversees the banquet/luncheon operations, serves as the waitress, the hostess, and the cashier. Either she does not want to hire extra staff or she is an uber micro manager. She must be at least 70+ years old and is quite ancient yet adorable in the degree of involvement she has with the daily grind. Props to her. She is a bit blunt and slightly rude at times, but she is so cute! Look out for her- she's taller than the average granny, skinny, doesn't smile a lot, and loves wearing an apron. During the Chinese New Year, she also partakes in selling moon cakes. If this piques your interest, the waitresses are just as old as her! It's almost like her staff started with her and aged with her.
#4 Toisan/Taishan Cuisine: Pre-1980s Chinatown was mainly Taishan/Toisan folks. Take a look now and you will realize that while there are a lot of Mainland (Mandarin) tourist checking out Chinatown, many of its residents are still from the Pearl River Delta Region. Gone are the elderly Toisan ladies that use to knit scarves and hats along Stockton Street, but this place reminds me of the past and my childhood.The way they prepare some of their food is quite toisan. You can call it dive, comfort, and totally casual, but eat here and you will get a sampling of how dim sum use to be.
On Powell between Pacific and Broadway. Close by MUNI lines 10,12, 1, 45, 30, and 8x. read more