I just got the SF zoo membership. So I will be spending more time in the Sunset neighborhood as well as eating along 280 on the way to the zoo. I have been to the zoo a number of times already and have eaten at places in the Sunset like Dumpling Kitchen, Gourmet Noodle House, Outerlands, etc. But I’d love to branch out a bit more to places along 280 near the zoo like Daly City, Colma, Outer Mission, etc. I searched for threads for these cities/ neighborhoods and they are all 6-12 years old. Are there any current favorites in these areas that are not
Koi Palace (uh the wait…)
Little Yangon
How about Filipino restaurants? Any other cuisines that are more prevalent in these neighhorhoods versus other areas in the Bay Area? Thanks!
Maybe not as far out Mission as you were thinking, but the Excelsior has such gems as Maneelap Srimongkoun (Lao/Thai), Sungari Dumpling House (far northern Chinese) and Los Planes De Rendero (pupuseria). I haven’t been to Pamapaguena Cuisine (Filipino) but it offers kamayan (eat with your hands) meals and has generally excellent reviews.
I really like the roast duck at Win’s out on Taraval not too far from the zoo. Their chow mein is good too. I’ve noticed a number of unusual Cantonese items on their menu but haven’t tried any as I am out that way so seldom and always have the duck. Their menu has a Lamb/Ostrich section. They also serve a dozen or so jooks.
I look forward to reading about your new discoveries!
It sounds like soju bangs and bars wouldn’t work for a family visit, so I’ll leave those off (e.g. Dark Horse Inn)
Daly City
House of Silvanas (Daly City), cashew-based Filipino dessert similar to French macarons. A friend likes the Filipino restaurant Chibog a few doors down. Both are downhill in a weirdly designed parking lot
Banana Island has detour worthy roti canai, but the rest of the food is terrible.
Little Yangon : great job at the standards, and also have some more challenging dishes than most Burmese places.
I’m curious about newly opened Keith’s chicken and waffles
Excelsior/Outer Mission/Mission Terrace
The Stonestown Farmers market on Sundays has Happy Dumplings, a must-hit place which sells what they call Shandong style pan fried Bao
Rico Pan: 5488 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94112. In August I had a fantastic quesadilla (baked cheese and cornmeal Salvadoran cake)
Pampanguena Cuisine : Filipino. Kamayan (group) meal is a fun experience, and the food is great too. You may have to pre-ord
Ming Kee : Chinese roasted meats
Calabria brothers : Italian sandwiches and groceries
Maneeleep : Lao/Thai. I found my food toned down the last time I went here (a year ago), and they had simplified the menu
Champa Garden : Lao items are good, skip the Thai
Taqueria Reina : good burritos
Mexico Tipico : Posole on weekends, good tacos
Zanze’s Cheesecake : best cheesecake ever, whole cakes only, I pre-order every thanksgiving.
Hilda’s : Filipino desserts, usually sold out by 2pm
Pineapples : Dole Whip. Various Hawaiian dishes and shave ice I’ve yet to try.
Los Planes De Renderos : there are ton of pupuserias in this area, and this one is solid.
TY sandwich : good banh mi
These would be convenient enough from the zoo too and are more talked about:
Parkside
Egg custard tart at Mr. Bread
Hunan/Dongbei at Made in China
bing at House of Pancakes
Marco Polo for Asian gelato
Outer sunset or close enough
Polly-Ann Ice cream for Ice cream with asian/tropical flavors
North China Dumpling for dongbei and Shandong
shin toe bul yi for Korean
Thai Nghiep Ky Mi Gia for Teochew soups (duck noodles, dry)
Wow Thanks for all the recommendations everyone! This is great. Lunch or dinner for the adults. Zoo for the kids. Everyone is happy. I will research more into the recs.
I haven’t tried kamayan before, but everytime I read about kamayan the image of my kids eating ‘kamayan’ at every meal comes into mind. And they make a great mess every time so I am kinda hesitant (mental scars). How well does scooping up rice and juicy stuff from the leaves work in practice?
[quote=“Souperman, post:2, topic:6917”]
Sungari Dumpling House (far northern Chinese)[/quote]
What kind of dumpling do you like? How do they compare to places like the dumpling places in the Sunset?
I didn’t even know there’s a market there. Maybe I will combine my weekly market run with any zoo/ eating trip.
What are the more challenging dishes you are thinking about? We’ve been there a few times. We tend to gravitate to the noodle dishes since it seems to shine a little more. But would love to explore the menu more.
Do you mean these at the edge of the sidewalk? or the ones on the opposite corner of the intersection? I thought they don’t do takeouts during weekend lunch service? which annoys me because the wait is impossible at 2 hours and more and no reservations.
We do that too. We eat somewhere else (on the weekends), then come here and buy a box of pastries, then finish them off in the zoo. And I agree with your observation- they take forever. Last week we got a loaf to go also.
I actually favor the rustic noodles at Sungari. Try the “Shanghai” stir fried noodles (actually like nothing I’ve had in Shanghai) or the “Northern Noodles,” their version of zha jiang mian. I also like the wontons in chili oil. Despite the name, they don’t have that big a dumpling selection.
All of the Filipino places were closed yesterday, as were most of the others, so we ended up in Dumpling Kitchen. Dumpling Kitchen has a curious pan fried dumpling/ bun technique. We ordered them two visits in a row. Both times the meat right in the middle came out raw and we had to ask them to cook some more. They were good though once they were cooked through. But I guess is that their default cook time may be just a little short so the same phenomenon repeated.
The XLB was a bit inconsistent. On the last visit it was great. Yesterday the skin and the meatball was mushy. Seems like the XLB was a bit old.
Since I moved to the East Bay I only get to Little Yangon every other year or so, and it seems quite different to me each time. Sometimes vastly superior to other Bay Area Burmese and other times just okay. In fact, the online menu seems to have changed during the months I forgot about this post and left it in my drafts.
Two of the more interesting dishes I’ve had there were pickled shrimp, which I don’t currently see on the menu, and shrimp and sour leaf, currently on the menu as chin baung jaw, with bamboo shoots. This had a strong shrimp paste funk, but was quie tasty. They also have some salads less represented at other restaurants, like the yellow tofu and tamarind. And sometimes you can buy packets of fermented tea leaves and accompanying fried items to make your own at home.
As part of a last minute and impromptu excursion, we found ourselves for the first time at the zoo after months of absence. Quickly going through the recs on this thread- Maneelap Srimongkoun seems like gone for good. Yelpers said there is a for sale sign on the exterior. Pampanguena Cuisine is closed for their annual family vacation (good for them). I settled on Win’s on Taraval that @chocolatetartguy recommended for their duck. When I saw the exterior, I was pretty sure that Win’s was one of my first (if not the first) meals after moving to SF Bay Area permanently many years ago. In fact, its just half a block from my first place. I even showed my kids the exterior my old place after parking four houses from it. LOL. We all enjoyed the meal and I will write up a report soon.
Curious- has any one been to Vanida Thai or Sunset Best Seafood, near Win’s and Hong’s (szechuan)?
ETA: Also drove by the Armenian Community Center Hall. Has anyone eaten there?