The Night Market — Restaurant in South San Francisco

This is a place that looks good but both the price and quality of food don't match. A rice plate cost north of $16 each and a cup of Hong Kong milk tea (mind you, it is regular size) is about $6. Attached you'll see a photo of Hainanese chicken with rice and roasted duck breast with rice, and HK MT. 2 people, 2 rice plates, 2 MT, just north of $50 after tax and tips.

Roast duck breast was kinda dry and the meat was firmed. Hainanese chicken was not appealing nor it tasted anything like Hainanese chicken that one could have elsewhere in the Bay -- not very flavorful, not moist on the skin, it's just OK. The yellow rice isn't authentic, as it wasn't cooked with the chicken oil/broth when making a Hainanese chicken. There's also no soup but a bunch of cabbages with this meal. If you are expecting a authentic Hainanese chicken with rice, be it from Singapore, Hong Kong, or other places in the Bay -- I'm afraid that you'll be disappointed.

The milk tea wasn't authentic and when they served the MT, it was half mixed. The problem is that because the MT was sealed with plastic film, there isn't a good way to mix the drink thoroughly -- we tried inverting our drinks plenty of times, no luck; we then tried to stir our drink with the plastic straw, it mixed a little but breaks the plastic seal at the top to a bigger hole. It tasted less sweet than authentic HK MT, and the texture is identical to any normal MT (i.e. not smooth). So for a drink that cost $5.5 / 6 pre-tax, of that size, it is very expensive. Mind you that you won't be able to taste any tea flavor if that is your thing.

The place is clearly understaffed. They got a lot of to-go, pickup orders, so be prepared for a significant wait for dining in. Overall, it maybe worth a try if you are local, but not if you have to drive from the city, nor if...

The Night Market is an interesting place. They have impressively managed to replicate the feeling of an overseas night market/stall experience indoors complete with folding tables and plastic chairs. I tried a variety of dishes with a small group and overall the food was OK - nothing stood out to me. Both the desserts we tried were underwhelming. I do wish they had more condiments beyond soy sauce and sriracha. Here are my ratings: Siu Mai: pretty solid with some juicy shrimp. These are big and meaty. Hot oil dumplings: the filling of these tasted almost identical to the Siu Mai except they were in a sauce. The sauce leaned sweet and gloopy and not so spicy - I think this could use a bit more spice and ’麻‘ flavor to make the dish stand out Sliced pork belly with sauce: pork was tender and sauce was ok (tasted like dark soy sauce). The slices could have been much thinner IMO but everyone enjoyed it anyways Salted egg yolk pumpkin: probably my favorite and best executed dish that we tried. Crisp slightly salted exterior and nice fluffy interior. A delight to eat. Fish cake skewers: for some reason, I was expecting this to be a grilled rather than boiled skewer. This was very underwhelming. It tasted like they just boiled some sliced fish cake in chicken broth. I feel like they should provide some of the broth in the container (similar to oden) Sesame balls: very over fried but good taste

Overall I had a fun time here and I would still probably return to try some of their noodle or...

So, several years ago the first night market opened next to Spruce Cafe & Patisserie. It was chaotic then & they decided to remodel.

This Night Market is the remodeled version. The space/layout is relatively the same but there’s no more street noises being projected in the back wall like it did before.

When I crave for a bao, I got to this place because you get the best value. The roast pork belly is the game changer for me. For $12, you get two baos with hoisin sauce, green onions and the roasted pork belly. It also comes with mayo but I always tell them to put it on the side! Just trust me when I say this is good :)

I also get the marinated quail eggs here. You normally get 8 of them but lately, it’s been 10 pieces so just be aware of that.

It is a must when you just want to hang and chill with friends!

Other recommendations: • Popcorn Chicken • Passionfruit Jasmine Tea with Aiyu Jelly • Salted Egg Yolk Fried Chicken Skin (warning though, it can be oily & it really should be shared with bunch of people!) • Mixed Sauce Mini Rice Noodle

PS. the coffee place next door is definitely a much. definitely recommending...