Ling Ling Cuisine Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

I took a friend of mine who just moved in the area for lunch here today. It was our first time in this restaurant. Unfortunately, we are disappointed for the most part.

Parking is horrendous so if you plan on driving, be prepared to spend time looking for a parking space on this busy street OR be prepared to park at least 6-7 blocks away into the residential area.

The place is small with about 4 tables in front and I think about the same number of tables in the back. It wasn't too busy when we got there around 12:30ish so we got a seat in front.

And we were glad we were seated in front. The place was really loud with customers practically yelling at each other AND the kitchen is pretty much in middle of the eating area so you hear a lot of kitchen staff shouting and banging of pots and pans. We found that we had to raise our voices to hear each other talk. I could imagine how much more noisy it is if we sat in the back. If you want a quiet place to chat, this isn't the place to go to.

For the food itself, we were actually pleasantly surprised with the portion of the food. Our lunch dishes came in big plates with a good heap of white rice.

My mongolian beef lunch dish was good/OK but I found myself looking for beef under all the onions. I love my onions...but since it's mongolian beef, I expected more beef than onions!

I asked my friend about his beef stew with tofu lunch dish. He only finished about 2/3 of his food. He said that the beef was quite tough, and had to chew through it. Like mine, he said there were twice as much more tofu than beef.

I was happy and surprised at how gigantic the pot stickers are! But sadly, when I bit into them...it was more dough than filling.

The service staff was nice though. There were two ladies who helped us and was friendly when we asked for forks and water. The service was quick. So 5 stars for...

I think Ling Ling is the only Chinese restaurant on San Bruno Ave that cooks decent spicy chinese food. The food quality is a hit & miss though. It varies depending on which chef cooked it. We usually pickup to go. The kung pao chicken & mongolian beef are sometimes a bit bland & meat chucks are a bit too thick & big for me so I tend to cut them into halves & then restir-fried them with some soy & chili oil or jalapenos/chilis. The Shanghai noodles are thick & flavorful the way we like it. The shredded potatoes & salt & pepper pork chops are good as well. But, sometimes the porks chops aren't as crunchy or crispy as we like because they didn't cut an opening to let out the steam. They do take credit cards. I wish they did deliveries since parking is kind of difficult. Their to go containers are cheap plastic containers that aren't really meant for hot food. The containers usually breakapart at the folding area so I normally transfer the food to glass containers at home. Sometimes, the containers would be slightly warped at the bottom from the hot food too which...

I dont ever rate Chinese restaurants that are located in densely Chinese populated area. This is because they tend to be authentic but service is almost always poor.

Trying this place for the first time I chose the eggplant in garlic sauce lunch special after checking with the server what the ingredients are. The dish came out and there was no meat to be found (although I was told there would be shredded pork). I flagged down a server whom seem to be the owner and told her about my problem. She told me that the dish doesnt come with any meat, and I told her that I had only order the dish based on what I was told. She then proceeded to tell me that if I want meat in the dish then she will have to charge me dinner plate price for $5 extra. I told her NO! She then proceeded to offer me a "upgrade fee" of $1. I told her I am just going to leave because it was not my fault and I dont feel I should pay extra for their mistake. She then instructed the kitchen to put some pork on top of my dish.

I will NEVER be back to this...