Omg, this has got to be the best sesame chicken I’ve ever had! Other versions can sometimes be over-breaded and greasy, but these were perfect. They had large strips of chicken, only lightly breaded, and not greasy at all. The sticky sauce was absolutely amazing and the toasted sesames gave it an additional flavor dimension. SO good, definitely worth a return visit! 2 person lunch combo $14.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Holy monster Shanghai soup dumpling! Apparently, these are usually served with a straw so you can suck up all the excess soup from the bottom of the dish. The dough is way thicker than a normal sized soup dumpling and it has a different texture. I guess some people don’t even eat the wrapper. While I appreciate the novelty of this giant dumpling, but I prefer the smaller version to actually eat! 20 minutes for order. $2.50
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Large pile of shredded chicken, napa cabbage, onions, carrots, green onions, black fungus, and scrambled eggs. Served with mu shu pancakes. These are always fun to eat because you get to make yummy Chinese burritos of sorts. The hoisin (or plum sauce) tastes great with the mildly flavored filling. $7.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
I must say that these Shanghai soup dumplings rival those at Shanghai Dumpling King in San Francisco. These definitely come a close second. The soup inside is very delicious as is the pork filling. The dumpling skin is resilient enough to withstand my amateur chopstick handling. I’ve learned that they taste even better when eaten with the accompanying vinegar sauce. Just don’t get too anxious like me and burn your mouth with the hot soup inside – rookie mistake. Hehe! 8 pieces for $6.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
A perfect spoonful!
I love the garlicky vinegar sauce.
I get hungry just looking back at this photo. Pan friend pork buns are SO yummy, regardless of what my friend said about how they’re made. Let’s just say their not diet approved. I don’t care! I’ll sacrifice my waistline any day to eat these amazingly flavorful buns. Great job XLB Kitchen! 6 pieces for $5.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Noms, this soup was SO good! Hot and sour soup is one of my personal favorites, and this one was especially flavorful. It also had a great kick to it. They definitely didn’t skimp on the ingredients like some other Chinese Restaurants trying to save a buck. This was the soup of the day that came with a combination meal that my friend and I ordered. The meal was very affordable and we got SO much food. Definitely going back to this place for the delicious food! 2 person lunch combo $14.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
How can you go wrong with these fried, greasy morsels? Although they have no nutritional value, I love their warm crispy texture and the unnaturally pink sweet and sour sauce that accompanies them. These were free, so I can’t complain. Yum! Free with an order over $28.
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Complimentary green tea is good every time.
I’m not sure if I’m a big fan of these. Perhaps I should have eaten them while they were still warm. I decided to wait because they came with a sweet condensed milk dipping sauce and I figured they’d be better for an after-meal dessert. Not the case! They didn’t taste all that good when they were cold. Lesson learned… 2 person lunch combo $14.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Sweet condensed milk dipping sauce.
You can’t really mess up Chinese bbq pork spareribs, right? I mean all you have to do is marinate it, cook it, and voila – deliciousness! Not so. You certainly can make them really boring and forgettable. And Ton Kiang succeeds in doing this, sorry. There was very little flavor in these ribs, and even the fat was somehow bland if that’s possible. This is also one of their larger dishes you it’s gonna cost you more $$. Take my advice, don’t pull this one off the roving trays.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Steamed bean curd skins stuffed with what tasted like a meat and shrimp mixture, in a brown sauce and topped with chopped green onions.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
This was one of the few successes during my visit to ton Kiang. It was very tasty and the 3 pieces were decently sized. I’m not sure what the oily brown sauce was, but it had a nice mild flavor. I loved the texture of the soft, filmy tofu skin surrounding the dense meat filling. I don’t know if these skins were store bought, but I would love to see how they are made by hand. It looks pretty cool from what I’ve seen online!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Steamed Shanghai meat (pork) and soup dumplings.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
Are you kidding me?! This has got to be one of the worst Shanghai soup dumplings I’ve ever tried. I remember someone once saying that they didn’t like it when xiao long bao are steamed in foil cups, and now I know why! This dumplings were so dry and barely had any soup inside. The wrappers were thick and gummy, and the metallic reflection of the foil seemed sad compare to the beautiful, transulent green of a napa cabbage leaf or even a parchment round. If you want to try Shanghai soup dumplings for the first time, do not go to Ton Kiang!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Deep fried eggplant slices filled with a shrimp mixture.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
Yet another disappointing dish from Ton Kiang. These stuffed eggplants are one of my favorite dim sum dishes, and they managed to completely ruin it for me! You can see from the photo that the color is a bit off and that’s because this was one of the greasiest things I’ve ever eaten! The greasy was literally dripping off this thing once you picked it up with chopsticks, EW! It had absolutely NO flavor except from the excessive oil that end up coating your entire mouth. Good thing this was the last plate we had, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to taste the others from the oily film coating our taste buds. Sadness…
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Vittle Monster 