House of Nanking — Restaurant in San Francisco

Did I go to the wrong House of Nanking? I have had better meals at Panda Express.

Photos of Keanu Reeves decorate the dining room in some weird flex. Hey Keanu can you let me know when you're going to show up again so I can try the food that you eat there? My experience was crap.

While the dumplings were good which is why they got two stars for food but that was the only moment of culinary decency.

On the other foot, the Spicy Szechuan Sauteed Chicken with Peppers was so bland that my grandmother could have eaten it even though she has GERD. The plate was littered with a few odd pieces of chicken and a ton of vegetables. Coated in a layer of corn starch wetness this meal lacked any punch and should be avoided at all cost.

The biggest crime was the lack of spice.

Oh and the main plate showed up before the appetiser.

I felt no joy. Total cost $44 bucks and tip for a meger plate of food that I would have returned if I had gotten it from Panda Express.

The server was not rude but also not considerate. While ordering the server would just stop listening, turn and start another conversation with a co-worker or customer and then turn back to the table to ask what we just said.

I'm not one to crap on a restaurant. I understand how hard it is to make it and to keep a business going. But my experience at House of Nanking was not an experience at all. The food was bland, the service eh and the entire thing left me wondering how is this business still open in a community filled with amazing food.

I'm guessing that Keanu gets better food when he shows up. This may have been a great restaurant but now it smacks of a tourist trap that quit trying.

My House of Nanking rating: AAAC (Avoid At All Cost). While the dumplings are good, they're not good enough to warrant eating at House of Nanking.

If you want great dumplings, there are a plethora of places that will fill your belly with much more delicious dumplings, I recommend United Dumplings in the Marina.

If you want extremely tasty Chinese food go to Nanking Road China Bistro in the Sunset. 1,000 time better food and the server is nicer.

Keanu if you're in town, hit me up, I can take you to...

Honest review of this place we’ve been going to since 1999! When we first started going here, there was no menu for vegetarians….instead ‘Uncle’ would come to your table and ask you what your favorite dishes and flavors were and he’d send out food for you. Fast forward a few years later and there appeared a menu - tbh, we were so confused for the first few times, we had no idea what to order. Through trial and error, we’ve now found a list of our favorites. Today, we were passing by and decided to have an early dinner. We ordered all vegetarian and everything was delicious! We’ve ordered a variety of chicken dishes before and we like all of them - with Szechuan chicken and Sesame chicken being our all time go tos. Pros - DELICIOUS food, quick service. Cons - Dingy hole in the wall vibe that holds true from the entrance to the bathroom (it’s literally a graffitied closet that stores their bags and who knows what else in the bins), tiny space so the waiting is all outside (although they’ve expanded the seating area to the curb and they have a few more tables), long lines during lunch and dinner rush times ( this time I saw they have added heaters to the area where diners line up so you have some warmth while you wait - probably for a while!), food does vary in taste at times (for example- we always order the sizzling rice soup and the last time we ordered there was a healthy dose of curry powder in it! The fried tofu with peanut sauce comes with cabbage or chayote at times - I’m guessing when it’s in season?) the portions while good sized also vary in size at times. Service is a bit rushed and abrupt - they try to turn over tables quickly so you’ll see that they’ll be hustling, and rushing around. It’s not a place where you sit and wait for ‘courses’… your food comes quickly and almost all at the same time. The servers will being you what you need… quickly!

Given the cons, you’d wonder why we keep going for the last 25 years!!! Well, it’s comfort food for us now, and feels like visiting your favorite relatives’ house - you never know how good it’s going to be, but you know it’s...

Visiting SF for few days came here with my 12yo daughter who loves Ham Fried Rice. She loved the house fried rice made at your table which is a fun unique touch. Her favorite was the chow mein vegetable noodles. I loved the tender fall off the bone pork ribs appetizer with tasty sauce, the chicken green bean, and beef with broccoli. The chicken dim sum was eh, fun to experience it since we heard all about it in reviews, but wasn't amazing.

Service was super fast. But, be ready to tell what you want, the sweet older lady was aggressive and no non-sense. They'll suggest several things and you'll end up with 5 entrees and 3 appetizers and $150 bill haha. But, hey, sometimes trying everything is the best experience and the most fun. What we appreciated was that not fully knowing whatbwe wanted, she suggested things and we went with those and they tasted great. So, it worked out.

Atmosphere is a tiny little restaurant that is very loud. It was 8pm on Tuesday night and every indoor table was full. Just go in ready to speak loud. Nice people, but they don't mess around. Read menu and Know what you want and don't be timid. Food came out super fast. It's not the most clean place. Menus are laminated but not wiped clean and had a sticky residue on them, tables are sort of half wiped off, but not sprayed or sanitized between visits. Very cramped space.

It was a fun little place to walk around - the shops and restaurants in Chinatown are all on top of each other.

Parking we found 2 open spots on side of the alleyway, but if we hadn't found those, I imagine on a weekend it would be impossible to find one. But Tuesday 8pm it thinned out a slight bit.

We had a great time overall. The staff work very hard and the food is good. I might just suggest cleaning spotless a bit better. But the food was good and the fried rice at the table with the egg is the first time I've ever seen that so I thought that was soo...