Non King
Written: Feb 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good place to breakup with someone. You won't have to say a word..she'll dump you.
Cons: It's okay but doesn't belong on SF's best list.
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| umandi's Full Review: House of Nanking |
This past weekend, I pigged out at three of San Francisco's finest (or so they say.) The first stop was the House of Nanking...I just couldn't stay away after hearing all the hype (from folks on epinions.com!) :-)
AMBIANCE and CUTLERY
Yes, everything you hear is true. It stinks to high heaven. It's a dirty hole in the wall. Of all the aluminium spoons and forks at our table, none were clean. But since I expected it, I wasn't too alarmed. The "kitchen" was right where we sat...and I spied the cook and a helper randomly picking meat with bare hands and dipping ladles everywhere. Again I wasn't too alarmed...afterall everything is cooked, right? But if they tried to run this operation in LA, they would be shut down pronto. Oh, the bathroom ain't too pretty either.
FOOD
Coming right to the point: average. I did go with high expectations. We ordered stuffed mushrooms for appetizer, pork fried rice, vegetable chow mein, vegetable moo shu, and Tsingtao beer. The mushrooms were very good. The beer was good. The mooshu was ok. The rest were well, palatable. Come'on I cried (internally of course), where's the excellent Chinese food. This was common greasy baloney. And I know how good Chinese food can be.
SERVICE
Bad but again no big deal since I expected nothing else. When I asked for list of beers, the waitress confidently pointed to a shelf on the wall (with 7-8 different beer bottles.) I wanted Shanghai beer. No, she said dismissively. Only Tsingtao available! Okey-dokey.
SUMMARY
It's not bad...kind of reminds me of dumpy dives college students hang out at. If you work in the neighborhood or something, it's okay to stop by for a greasy lunch. But heck, driving into SF to give the tastebuds a tingle at Nanking is inadvisable. Luckily, my plans comprised more than a quickie at HONK...else I would've gone bonkers. I'm still trying to figure out why this restaurant has such a cult following.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
umandi
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Location: Bay Area
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 5 members
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