Xiao Long Bao Kitchen

When Mom's tofu house was closed I ended up here. Seems like a quick family friendly place.

Order:
{#1. Xiao long bao dumpling}
- very juicy and tasty, good portion of pork. Just thought the skin was a tad thick, other than that, amazing

{#56. West lake beef soup}
- Personally I take out the cilantro since I'm not a fan but they're still good. Foolproof option

{#96. Black pepper beef}
- Not the best but also not the worse. Also thought it was on the saltier side. Although it's a black pepper beef there were sooooo many peppers haha

{#113. Soy bean, bean curd sheet w/ preserved vegetables}
- Not my favorite. Thought it was wayyy too salty

Not a shabby place for a quick dine!

We struck out with Dumpling "Empire" last time thinking that if dumpling is in your name that you should have at least decent xiao long bao (xlb). Although Yelp average rating is 3.5 stars, we decided to take a chance because you don't dare name your restaurant xlb kitchen if it isn't decent or they would be laughed out of South SF.

First good sign is that you hear patrons speak Mandarin and see some tables ordering xlb. Now this is what xlb should be, very moist with a good amount of juices inside the dumpling (look at the pic). When you bite into it, a burst of flavor.

Their boiled dumplings hit the spot. Loved the filling, so much at you don't have to rely on the hot sauce.

Because it was a very cold night, ordered the sweet sour soup, perhaps not a good choice. But it was way better than what you get at PF Chang's (sodium city).

Bean curd with fried tofu is a good choice if you had a meat fest the whole week and want to have a lighter meal.

Typical Chinese restaurant service, don't expect a lot of thank yous and smiling faces. Hey, at least they get the food out fast.

XLB!? I'm so there. After all, I'm all about the little guys...well, if not for burgers and pizza (...and lobster, and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets). So, if you are going to be so bold as make it part of your name, they gotta be phenomenal, right? Well.

1. Xiao Long Bao - Small, no soup, not made right at all. [$11, 2.5 stars]

2. Salt & Pepper Pork Chops -- too deep fried, but very tasty. [$13, 3.5 stars]

3. Spicy Wontons -- about 6 large wet dumplings (this, I wanted fried) with peanut and chili paste thrown on. Good, but far from great. [$7, 3.0 stars]

What did I like about the Kitchen? (To me, They've lost their XLB name)
========================================================
Certainly not the warm and friendly service, nor the décor (square box, minimally decorated). But there is a certain charm here. Locals, were eating things other than dumplings, and instead soups and things with green beans, cabbage, and bok choy -- everyone had an order of green onion pancakes. In fact, since I was the token white guy amongst the real deal Chinese peeps -- I felt transported to another land, and for that -- I'd come back again. That, my friends, is my favorite thing.

My family, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins came here with my grandpa for a Father's Day dinner. My uncle called ahead for reservations for 10 people at 6pm and luckily, there was enough room to accommodate us. When we got there, it wasn't that crowded, and throughout our dinner, it wasn't that crowded, maybe because it was Father's Day and people would have gone out for lunch instead of dinner. This restaurant is your typical Chinese restaurant, with the entrees being family style and the service being attentive when needed, especially when it came to refilling our tea (probably because it wasn't that crowded).

Food:
- Salt and pepper fish fillet: The outside was nice and crispy and the fish was soft on the inside. The fish is seasoned with jalapeño peppers so it adds an extra yummy spice.

- Shanghai style stir fried noodles with pork: The noodles were nice and starchy, and was seasoned well. The noodles were a little oily, but other than that, it was delicious.

- Braised string beans: The string beans were crunchy, fresh, and delicious. This is one of my favorite dishes, and it definitely didn't disappoint!

- Lion head meatball casserole: This was my first time trying this and it was delicious! This dish comes with 3 huge meatballs, cabbage, and vermicelli noodles in a beef broth. The meatball was moist, but the soup was kind of salty.

- Pan fried pork buns: The buns were small and yummy, and for the proportions, there was more bun than meat, but it was still good!

- Minced pork noodle: The meat is served on top of a bed of noodles, so once it is mixed together to incorporate the flavors, it tastes delicious. The noodles were al dente (hard chewy) though the sauce was kind of salty.

- Garlic pea shoots: I tried looking at the menu to find out what the exact name of the dish was, but I couldn't find it specifically on the menu, but this dish is common in Chinese restaurants. Even though it was a little salty for my liking, the pea shoots were crunchy and fresh.

- Xiao long bao: We ordered 3 orders of this dish and it was all gone within 10 minutes! It was hot and juicy, so hot and juicy that it burnt my tongue when I bit into it! The skin was nice and chewy, and there was a good portion of meat, making it super delicious. Each order of this dish comes with a soy sauce with ginger strips sauce.

- Green onion pancakes: The pancakes were crispy and doughy, and there was not enough green onions. There was one piece that was burnt, but it was no big deal. Other than that, it was delicious!

Overall, this place is great for eating out with family. The dishes were delicious, though there were some dishes that were saltier than others. Other than that, I would definitely come back here when my family wants to get together again!

We came here for one thing and one thing alone.. the XL Xiao Long Bao!

The Good:
- THE XL XLB ($3.00), definitely the high point of eating here. I loved everything about it, especially the price and the large amount of soup and meatball inside. I can probably get full off eating 4 of these.
- Parking, lotsa street parking around this street. We managed to find a spot right across from the shop.
- The regular sized XLB was good; very soupy and had a durable thin skin that didn't break upon picking up.
- Good place to do family style. We also ordered some beef noodle soup & sweet/sour chicken .Flavor was spot on and the portions were definitely meant to be shared with 2-3 people.
- Clean interior, even the servers had color-coordinated shirts

The MEH:
- The wonton in spicy sauce... if you're thinking this is similar to the ones from Din Tai Fung, don't be fooled. The sauce had an odd peanut base, and just didn't go well with the wontons.

Overall Impression: Good. I'll be coming back for that magical XL XLB.

Missed the mark a bit this time around...

It wasn't particularly busy the day that we went, but several things still fell through in service and food provided.

As a appetizer, we opted for some chili oil tendon. YUM. Super flavorful and refreshing. The garlic, cilantro, chili oil mix was very good. And the tendon was sliced nearly paper thin which allowed it to take in a lot more flavor.

As for our main meal, we began with some non-negotiables: XLB and Pan Fried Pork Buns. The XLB was actually pretty good - juicy, skin not too thick, and delivered steaming hot...but the accompanying vinegar did not come with ginger slivers. Trust me, it makes a huge difference. As for the pan fried pork buns, they were extremely doughy this time. Grandma stopped eating it halfway through saying it was sticking to her teeth. Disappointing, considering how this is actually my favorite between the two.

Next came the Shanghai pan fried noodles. This is a no-frills crispy noodle dish topped with a bed of seafood, chicken, and vegetables in a gravy. The gravy, unfortunately, was pretty heavy handed on salt this time.

Then came the Mu Shu Lamb. Kudos for making their own wraps, but thumbs down for the filling delivered wet (oily and tossed in sauce). A great mu shu (pick your protein) should be a dry stir-fry, flavors elevated during assembly by the accompanying hoisin sauce and some fresh green onions, which by the way, were missing. The flavor, though, was spot on. And it's worth mentioning that this is actually a deceptively hard dish to get right.

Last came the Ja Jiang Mein. Kidding. We never received it and had to cancel it.

Whenever my coworkers and I are craving dumplings for lunch this is our go to! This restaurant is nothing fancy and it's a very homey vibe.

After looking at the menu, we get our usuals - an order of XLBs and rice cakes with pork and preserved vegetables. We also ordered a pork chop with vegetable fried rice clay pot to try this time.

The XLBs are super yummy and quite juicy. However some of them did break pretty easily and the soup spilled out. The rice cakes are also really good too, sometimes they are a little bland, but the hot chili on the side they have fixes that! The clay pot was alright, I thought the rice was a little bland, but the chili sauce saved it! However, the pork chop was pretty dry and a little over fried - I wouldn't order this again.

Overall, this is a solid place to get lunch during the weekdays whenever I'm craving dumplings. I definitely want to try their noodle soups next time and get more of their dumplings! This place is on my top 5 for XLBs in the Bay Area!

Food: Yummy, tasty, fresh... just a tad bit salty
Service: Good
Atmosphere: Good- clean but nothing spectacular

Will I return: YES! Because I love dumplings!

Location: Easy to get to, plenty of street parking. Beware of meters on weekdays. Love that I can enjoy fresh dumplings without having to drive all the way to the city.

Family Owned. Everything hand made. Chinese veggies; they have most of the leafy veggies in Ranch 99 ranging from ong choy to achoy to mustard greens to bokchoy. etc..

Can ask them to prepare ong choy with garlic instead of using the salty fermented bean curd.

XLB all handmade; eat with a spoon. Be careful.. insides are very hot.

Great place for family style cooking. Pumpkin black sesame tong yuan; handmade. Big; very good.

Oops is been a year since we've been here. Husband and I were looking for a pretty authentic Chinese food. Authentic for us means fried rice has more flavor than soy sauce. And I've been on a search for a good salt and pepper pork chop that I use to get from this restaurant years ago that is so hard to find.

xiao long bao - had to try it since we've never had it. I liked it, husband not. But he's not into those things.
lemon chicken - I made fun of my husband for ordering this but he wanted a familiar American Chinese food. Too much batter, I think they just put this on the menu to cater to people like my husband
fried rice - flavorful! Definitely what I was looking for
salt and pepper pork chop - yes! I found a spot I can go to. Not too much batter and just so yummy