San Wang Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

SanWang, a well-known restaurant serving Korean Chinese cuisine (中華料理 중화 요리) in The City for nearly three decades that is located on Post Street in the heart of Japantown 日本町,which destination can be reached by riding Muni Buses 2, 38, 38R, 22 (maybe even 31 or 1 if you do not mind walking around a few blocks to explore the historic Fillmore District.) The owners are actually six brothers whose family like many other ethnic Chinese living in South Korean were originally from Shandong Peninsula which consists one of Big Eight Famous Chinese cuisine (Note: its old spelling Shantung also represents a special type of silk plain weave fabric used to make sombreros, Estilo Sinaloense. )

My favorite dish at SanWang is Chǎomǎmiàn (炒碼麵) (Jjamppong) a spicy noodle soup in red chili generously flavored with green vegetables (chives, bok choy, you choy, or sometimes Napa, depends), black mushrooms, meat (beef or pork) and a variety of seafood including Tiger shrimps (size 16/20 at least 4-6 pieces), scallops, clams (small but in shell), squid, etc. The noodles are house made possibly by the Brother No. 5 who appeared in “Martin Yan Mondays” (“If Yan Can Cook You Can Cook”) on KQED in 1980s.

Other signature dishes of SanWang are jajangmyeon(炸醬麵) Tangsuyuk (탕수육) (糖醋肉-Sweet Soup Pork) Kkanpunggi (깐풍기) (乾烹鷄-similar to General Zuo Chicken) Kkanpung saeu (깐풍새우) (宮寶蝦- Kung Pao shrimp) etc. Also, SanWang is said to process its own sea cucumber and you can try there or buy some to cook at home. SanWang is a popular destination for locals, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, White and even Pilipino like to host parties of banquets there. A few times I ran into a big table of 10-12 SFPD officers having a big lunch at SanWang.

Finally, I have heard a lot about another popular Korean Chinese restaurant called SanTung 山東小館(actually walked by many times seeing lines of usually young people on Irving between 11th and 12th in the Inner Sunset but never have tried its food as I am quite honestly skeptical if not worried about any popular restaurant resulted from social media frenzy. However, I will pay a visit in the next few weeks when I am roaming down there then give “my two cents” solely based on food quality, cooking skill, and overall environment without being influenced by or from any social...

So, the service and food was so awful that they’re popping my review cherry. I arrived at 9:39p not knowing that they were closing at 10, it was Saturday night after all. The initial greeting was fine and basically the best part of my dining experience. Once the man came to take my order, he was annoyed that I asked for suggestions and basically tried to steer towards whatever dish would get me out of there the fastest. I ordered the mu shu pork which was delivered almost as quickly as I ordered. The food was not seasoned; tasteless, bland and predominantly fried egg. They also failed to deliver my steam rice.

Immediately thereafter, quite possibly after the first bite if they even waited that long, my check arrived. As I hadn’t had a bite all day, I was going to eat. Then the young waitress came and asked me to pay while I was still eating. Fine, I put the credit card on the tray. By this point, the chairs are getting placed on top of tables all around me. She comes to pick up my check and tells me it’s a $20 minimum for credit cards and no, there was nothing posted to that affect, my tab was $17.35. I told her to charge to charge me the $20 as I had no cash. She looked at me dumbfounded. I just kept eating and made zero effort to engage further.

I’m a flight attendant. I’ve been far and wide. This was the most disrespected I’ve felt at a eatery and the worst mu shu I’ve ever had. Trust that all my SFO bound customers will know...

I have been going here with my family since I was a kid. They have a nice lunch menu, reasonable prices, generous portions, includes soup (egg flower), steam rice and Kimchi appetizer. My friend ordered the Mongolian Beef from the lunch menu and I opted for individual dishes. I started with the spring roll appetizer, which were four in count, deep fried, crispy and served with a sweet sauce to whet my appetite. The next dish was the jelly fish served with shredded cucumbers and minced garlic --- the mixed textures and savory crunch delighted my palette. Then, more seafood with the Honey Walnut Prawns. The walnuts are roasted with glazed honey, and the prawns are coated in their sweet, light secret sauce. Together they are served on a bed of fresh green lettuce. In my opinion, this is a meal in itself, and I consider it one of their signature dishes. Absolutely thrilling! Yet, the best was yet to come --- the Fried Flounder. It is a whole flounder, perfectly crispy fried on the outside, topped with a light gravey, and smothered with a medley of diced vegetables. The fillet was tenderlicious from gill to tail fin. Yes, after two and a half hours of dining, we practically had to be carted out in a wheel barrel. Oh, so good! The perfect place to dine or celebrate with family...