Mama Ji's — Restaurant in San Francisco

Dim sum before 10am? Sure!

Sadly, our visit had to come to an end. The big decision of the day for me was naturally where to eat! A few restaurant names were thrown at us from our local friend. Our only restrictions were that it had to be close to our hotel, and we needed to be finished by 12 noon in order to head to SFO. The name Mama Ji's was mentioned, so I hopped online to check out their pics and menu. I was a little turned off by what I saw, but you know what? I'm glad we tried them.

ATMOSPHERE: The simple eatery is in the middle of a residential area in the Castro, with regular table seating and a few outdoor sidewalk seats. It's not a traditional Chinese restaurant by any means. No gaudy chandeliers, no big floor vases, not a big dining room at all. Quaint, simple and clean.

Because we came in on a Sunday morning just before 10am, we were the only ones in there. By the time we left an hour later, the place was jam packed!

MENU: Dim sum items though no cart, dumplings, rice rolls, steamed buns, noodles, soups,vegetable dishes, chicken/pork/beef dishes, dessert, teas, wine, beer.

A nicely printed order paper inside the menus are used to mark down your items.

FOOD: Pan Fried Pot Sticker Though they're listed under the deep fried category on the menu, they we actually steamed and pan fried the traditional way. The 3 gyoza were on the larger size, stuffed plump with pork and shrimp, and were nicely finished with crisp bottoms. Went perfect with the bottle of dark vinegar on the table.

Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms 3 big mushrooms caps were stuffed with a heaping shrimp mixture and sat in a pool of a mildly sweet & savory sauce. Nice and light.

Pork Shumai One of my favorite dim sum items were tasty as expected here. The 4 pieces of pork mixture encased in a won tun shell were nicely steamed and flavorful.

Noodle with Chili Bean Paste Yowza, this was absolutely orgasmic! The noodles were a thick chow mein style, simply boiled, then topped in a thick, brown chili bean paste gravy that consisted of ground pork, frozen peas and carrots, garlic, and jalapeños. Maximum savoriness and extremely delicious, and not spicy. Highly, highly recommended.

Shanghai Dumplings These 3 little dumplings sat in mini baking aluminum pans that were steamed with a pork mixture and were very juicy when biting into them. Be mindful of geyser-like squirts lol!

BBQ Pork Rice Roll Similar to a look funn dish, or what I refer to as Chinese burritos. The big rice rolls were stuffed with char siu and bits of cilantro (yuck for me), steamed, sliced, and covered in a thin, savory brown sauce. Delish!!!!

Steamed Golden Lava Buns The only disappointment of our meal, IMO anyway. I'm a fan of Chinese custard tarts, but because they weren't available, we thought we'd try this as the menu lists it as "flowy egg custard". I knew they weren't tarts but knew I'd get that custard flavor that I love. What came were 3 white steamed buns with a yellow dot marked on the top. Tore off a piece, and this thick yellow liquid poured out. It would've been good but the liquid custard was super gritty like unbaked custard. Yuck. Pass!

SERVICE: The female worker who was possibly the owner was friendly, and food service was quick.

OVERALL: Nice menu, tasty food,...

A couple Sundays ago, my friends and I wanted to get dim sum, but the usual Richmond spots were overflowing with people. We decided to come here since we had to get one of our friends from the Castro anyway. I wasn't sure how to feel about a restaurant with Szechuan food and Dim Sum under the same roof. That's weird. It's like having mushroom risotto and chicken tikka masala on the same menu. I like to think of myself as a pretty open minded person so I mean, why not?

Ha Gow - They were plump and filled with nicely cooked shrimp. The shrimp stuffing was underseasoned and needed more young bamboo though. Also, the skins were too tough. Most Bay Area Dim Sum places make ha gow skins too delicate, but MaMa Ji's fall on the other side of the spectrum.

Siu Mai - Not enough shrimp or shiitake. The flavor is mostly dominated by the ground pork so it could use some more balance.

XLB - Plump and juicy. The skin wasn't too thick, and there was a good amount of broth inside. Some more ginger and green onions would help, but these weren't bad at all.

Pan Fried Radish Cake - These tasted pretty good. There was a good amount of radish, dried shrimp, and Chinese sausage mixed in. The thing that bothered me was that they didn't seem pan fried enough. They came out piping hot, but there was zero browning on the top and bottom. I'm not sure how to explain that.

Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf - The rice was stuffed with a good combination of pork, shiitake, and dried shrimp. I like having some Chinese sausage in there, but it's not crucial. One thing that stood out to me was that there was a plain egg yolk inside. Usually when there's an egg yolk inside the rice, you're supposed to use salted egg yolk as a flavoring agent. A plain egg yolk doesn't really add much to the rice. I don't even like sticky rice with the egg yolk, but if there's one inside, it should be salt brined.

Fried Shrimp Balls - These were probably the best thing we had here. Thin, crispy waves of batter on the outside with juicy, tender shrimp paste on the inside. There's not much to complain about.

We also ordered a Szechuan dish just for the heck of it. I'm a big fan of Szechuan style garlic pork belly, but the one at MaMa Ji's wasn't all that great. The pork wasn't very tender, and the sauce wasn't that flavorful. I could taste the highlighting flavors of garlic and Szechuan peppercorns, but it didn't have a strong base. Maybe it needed more soy sauce or stronger stock, but I think there are better versions elsewhere. Little Sichuan in San Mateo and Z&Y in Chinatown make great garlic pork belly and Szechuan food in general.

Given the location, it's hard to expect MaMa Ji's to compete with more established restaurants in other parts of the city. For a place that stands out by offering this kind of food in the...

The food at this restaurant is undeniably excellent, but the behavior of the staff—particularly one waiter—severely detracts from the overall dining experience. I recently took my boyfriend out for dinner, and from the start, the waiter’s attitude was dismissive and unprofessional. When we asked for recommendations on the menu, his curt response was simply, “I don’t know.” Later, when we inquired about their available teas and other beverages, his repeated answer was, “I don’t know,” with no effort to find out or assist us further.

While I understand that language barriers might pose challenges, this was not the root of the issue. The waiter’s attitude escalated at the end of our meal. When we requested the check, he became visibly irritated and raised his voice at me, demanding a tip. I calmly explained that tipping is earned based on service quality, and unfortunately, his behavior did not meet any reasonable standard. Instead of accepting this, he continued to insist, loudly drawing unwanted attention to my partner and me, to the point where other diners were staring. My boyfriend eventually spoke up, telling him that he shouldn’t demand something he hadn’t earned. We left feeling embarrassed and deeply dissatisfied.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. I had a similar experience during a prior visit with a friend. We ordered takeout, which totaled around $70. I tipped $7 through their payment system, only to discover later that the restaurant staff had fraudulently adjusted the tip to $80. I had to contact my bank and the restaurant to resolve the issue. This dishonest behavior is completely unacceptable.

While I’ve met the owner and found her to be a lovely person, I’m unsure if she is aware of how her staff is conducting themselves. It’s shameful that such behavior is allowed to persist, as it ruins what could otherwise be a fantastic dining experience. I fully support tipping when it’s earned, but people need to understand that tips are optional and should be a reflection of good service, not a mandatory surcharge. The behavior I experienced here goes beyond poor service—it’s unethical and...