HULU WA CHINA BISTRO — Restaurant in San Francisco

Straight forward, small, no frills restaurant in the Castro. Tight seating area surrounding the kitchen, and a 'loft-like' upstairs area overlooking the downstairs. First server took our orders, and the food began to come out. We thought they would bring plates, BUT what we had to eat from was little side plates (smaller than a salad plate). We noticed the guys at the table next to us were just eating directly from the plates the food came out on... kind of weird and really not acceptable to me. So, our food had to be eaten one item at a time.

We ordered: Hot and sour soup "Viggies" chow mein Braised 'crispy' chicken Moo Shu pork 1 small Asahi beer

The Braised crispy chicken was advertised to us as 'really spicy'... which is why we went with that dish. Quite honestly, it and all of the dishes were flat and flavorless. We even tried adding the chili oil at the table, and THAT was flat too! We commented to the server, and my partner even chewed on one of the peppers in front of him so he understood what we were talking about. He was shocked that he could do that.... The peppers were flavorless and had zero heat whatsoever. I also had to ask twice for my beer before it came out to me. Really not a great or even good experience here for...

Delicious gem in the Castro! (Coming from a picky eater )

This place is a fantastic find! As a Chinese person myself, I can be pretty critical of Americanized Chinese food, but Hulu Wa impressed me.

Everything we ordered was delicious and perfectly cooked. The sesame chicken wasn't greasy at all, and the meat was super tender. The XLB (soup dumplings) were spot-on, and the garlic broccoli had just the right amount of flavor. The bok choy pork buns were a fun twist on a classic, and the combo chow mein was a great mix of textures and tastes.

For the price, the portion sizes were great, and the whole restaurant felt clean and inviting. It's definitely a hidden gem – more people need to know about this place!

Highly recommend for anyone looking for delicious, affordable...

Great Chinese food! The ingredients tasted really fresh and pretty good portions for the price (SF prices nevertheless).

This restaurant opened about 6 months ago and its family run. Sarah, one of the people that started the restaurant immigrated back in 2017 to the city. She’s really nice and will tell you about their experience immigration and starting a restaurant business too if you ask. Their family runs the place! They cook good food and treat customers well.

I’d go back again :)

I had the General Teo’s prawns and garlic string beans which were really nice! They have a great selection of Chinese appetizers as well. They have a good vegetarian / vegan selection too, good amount of...