Trendy = Quality. Not this place!!!
Written: Feb 24 '01 (Updated Feb 27 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
 |
|
| Quality of Service: |
|
|
|
Pros: Dishes come out fast.
Cons: Overrated greasy food, bad service, long lines, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.
The Bottom Line: If you're a food connoisseur, avoid this place! If you only dine at trendy joints, even if the food isn't good, then come on down!
|
|
|
| akfool's Full Review: House of Nanking |
Nearly 10 years had elapsed since my last trip to the House of Nanking. This past week a friend and I decided to dine there. My opinion of the popular dive from previous meals had been that the food was just average, the service was rude, the interior dirty as a grease trap. Well, some things do change. The quality of the food is now below average, the stone-faced owner and wait staff still cold, pushy, and rude, and the place is filthier. I usually love eating at dives, but with this joint doing such brisk business, has the owner ever thought of buying cleaning supplies or hiring a janitor? I always laugh and shake my head in bewilderment when I see a line forming outside. Why some called this the best Chinese restaurant in San Francisco or the best bang for the buck is beyond my wildest nightmares.
The food at Nanking is greasy, seemingly MSG-laden, with the dark, spicy sauces all tasting the same. The sesame chicken and minced pork with rice noodles I had this time around fit that bill. I will give points for the creativity of some of the dishes. I can also see how there can be decent dishes periodically. However, there are just far too many misses than hits. Some may call the food Shanghai or Hunan-style or whatever, but the bottom line is it's really just hip "American-Chinese" food. Authentic Chinese it's not. It's not even Asian-fusion. House of Nanking is definitely not a place for food connoisseurs. I think it attracts many who think chop-suey is good, authentic Chinese. Nanking caters mostly to Caucasians and tourists, not surprisingly. There is absolute truth to the notion that a Chinese restaurant full of Chinese locals is a good sign that the food is very good there. You do the math.
Prices at Nanking aren't that cheap either. For a Chinese restaurant it's in the medium-price range. Portions are smallish. Even the tea isn't cheap. It should be free.
It's funny how people get a kick out of rude service. The folks at House of Nanking have taken a page out of Sam Woh's book on poor customer service. Sam Woh is an old Chinatown restaurant that, for many decades now, is worldly renowned for its brash, obnoxious wait staff. This restaurant revelled in rudeness way before House of Nanking's inception. The Nanking staff probably figured if bad service worked for Sam Woh's, why not try it. The late Edsel Ford Fong, Sam Woh's notoriously rude, mean, loudmouth, sexist waiter, made poor service an art. Like him or hate him, he was a character and a Chinatown institution. At least HE had a personality.
For reasons unknown to mankind, House of Nanking will probably continue to attract customers, those who buy into or make themselves buy into its overrated, over-hyped reputation as a good restaurant. I'll laugh and groan when Bay Guardian readers again chooses it as the Best Chinese Restaurant in the annual Best of the Bay poll. Of course, it won't win in any other poll. The owner of Nanking will continue to laugh his way to the bank. And I'll continue to frequent the real restaurant gems for truly delicious, authentic Chinese cusine, while hoping the Nanking crowd never discovers them.
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
akfool
|
|
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.