I would like to mention that El Greco Grill (two locations: Campbell and Cupertino) and 365 Mediterranean Deli on 1691 Branham Ln, San Jose, CA 95124 are AWESOME Greek food joints. They are owned by real GREEKS. Please sponsor these small businesses, which are in danger of closing. Happy eating!
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Thanks for reminding. I’ve wanted to go to El Greco since its first mentioned here a year or two ago. We have been in a takeout rut these days so we’ll gladly give El Greco a try soon. And its not far too.
Ming Kee, soy sauce duck rice plate, end of the day special. After I order and paid $8.50, there was some discussion among the 4 employees and one of the young translators asked if I wanted a full half duck instead of the quarter for an extra $2. Indeed I do. Then after I agreed there was some more discussion and the elder woman seemingly overruled them and my translator said - oh how about $1.50. Even better. So $10 for a half duck rice plate. So so good, this place is a gem.
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Looks good. How is their standard of hygiene? What about Covid-19 protocols?
Well they were all wearing masks, but the shop is pretty small so I wouldn’t say there was 6 feet between customers.
Adding the house special Guilin rice noodles from Guilin Rice Noodles House in Parkside in SF to the list. There’s not a huge number of places serving Guilin rice noodles around locally. I’ve only had it before a few times at Classic Guilin Rice Noodles in Oakland Chinatown before this (I don’t think that Guilin Rice Noodles House is affiliated with them).
Did a little bit of research on this dish - Guilin is a city in Guangxi, a province in southern China directly west of Guangdong province. I’ve never been but it is famous for its beautiful natural vistas and also its rice noodles.
The Food Ranger goes to Guilin:
I’ve gotten the house special GRN a few times via delivery. It has a base of Guilin mifen, which are spaghetti shaped tubular rice noodles, and is topped with tripe/stomach, thin beef slices, “golden” crispy pork, pickled cowpeas, crispy fried mung beans, thinly sliced pig ears, and half of a boiled egg. This is a “dry” noodle dish but there is also a bit of meaty gravy underneath. It comes with optional soup and a small container of chili oil.
Really good noodles. The rice noodles have a nice springy texture and are not very heavy. The “golden” pork is basically a piece of pork that has been fried so that the exterior is crispy and golden, and then sliced into thin slices. That along with the slithery gelatinous chewy pig ear slices and the tripe bits along with the crunchy fried mung beans and slightly sour pickled cowpeas (wish there were a little more of these) made for a great texture and flavor combo. The gravy on the bottom when mixed in added savory flavor as well. The optional soup that you can get on the side (no extra charge) is pretty bland but is also a perfect palate cleanser between bites of noodles. If you don’t like offal or pig ears they also have bowls with just the crispy pork or beef slices.
Mixed up:
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Thanks for the report, I’ve been meaning to try this place. Is there anything else on the menu you’ve tried and would recommend?
The only other dish I’ve tried is the hot and sour rice noodle soup, which was also good. True to its description its the same rice noodles in a broth that is hot and sour, topped with ground pork, tofu puffs, mushrooms, lettuce, and some other things.
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Hi @brisket44,
Nice! I had no idea Ming Kee had soy sauce duck on the menu! 
How did it compare to their excellent soy sauce chicken? Thanks.
You know what, neither did I which is I took a picture of the menu, but it’s not listed. I thought I misheard him but when I got it you can see it’s got the soft gelatinous tender skin like in the soy sauce chicken, not roasted. It’s definitely less salt concentrated than the roast duck, more delicate, the duck flavor is more pronounced.
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I mean I guess it is possible he said soy roasted duck and I got one that was under roasted, but I had the roast duck a few weeks ago and it seemed different to me.
Hi @brisket44,
Yah that looks nothing like their normal roasted duck (which is delicious). So I think it’s what you mentioned, a daily special. Good to know. 
Thanks.
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Any specific reason you’d ask this question about this specific place and not others?
It’s because Chinese BBQ meat is mostly handled by bear hands. Also, usually the butcher converses quite a bit with the customers, creating saliva droplets on the food if no mask is properly worn.
I for one disagree. Kitchens with improper covid hygiene and chatty chefs exist everywhere, not just roasted meat joints. The thousands of roasted meat joints in Hong Kong aren’t known to be COVID and SARS hotspots.
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The poster specifically mentioned the staff are wearing masks. You don’t know they had “bear” hands, though if they did, that would be oddly entertaining. Your question has something thinly-veiled to it that isn’t friendly.
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The meat maestro at Ming Kee isn’t the chattiest fellow, I always get a friendly nod but he’s quite focused on his butchery.
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I just had sushi take-out from Masa’s Sushi & Grill on 2210 S Bascom in Campbell. Excellent Covid-19 protocol. Excellent food quality and generous portions.
BTW, don’t confuse this place with Sushi Masa or other Masa’s.
Guisados Del Patron, new taco joint from the Tacos Patron folks, but this one specializes in guisado (“stew”) meat and veggie tacos. Funny both of their shops are on S. Van Ness but 9 blocks apart (this one at 17th the other at 26th). I had the Tinga De Pollo, Mole con Pollo and Cochinita Pibil ($3.25 each). ( I think there was another board that showed a bunch of veggie options beyond the pic I posted) All were excellent with distinctive flavors and came with pickled onions that had a strong Mexican oregano flavor. They were stacking tortillas that came out of a toaster oven like contraption but I couldn’t tell if they were just heating and stacking them or if they were handmade (I had questions but the owner was power washing the sidewalk and I couldn’t hear a damn thing).
There’s a place in LA called Guisados that I’ve been to a few times that does a sampler platter with sort of small one bite mini tacos, so you can get 10 for $10 if I recall and it would be great if they did something like that since there are so many varieties to try. I also recall a couple super spicy habanero sauced tacos that I was hoping Patron would have but did not see.
Overall really good and nice addition to the SF taco scene.
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I got takeout at Yi Jin Chang Fen in Berkeley (2132 Center Street) last night. Easy online ordering, and 20 minutes after I ordered, my items were bagged and waiting for me. You pay at the restaurant, and there is parking in front so you can park, grab, and go. Parking is easy during these COVID times, but it won’t always be that way since this place is right next to Cal.
I tried 4 rolls: shrimp, shrimp and beef, corn, and bbq pork. All rolls are wrapped with lettuce, something that my family does that gives the rolls a nice crunch, and something I don’t see when it is served at other restaurants. Cheung fun (noodles roll) texture was silky with a nice chew, even an hour after after picking it up. Both shrimp rolls had a lot of white pepper, and the bbq pork was on the sweet side. All rolls had generous filling, and the rolls not cylindrical, but rectangular. One order is one big roll, enough for two people. I cut them in 1/2.
I’ll be back to try their other offerings, but I am crazy for cheung fun so it is going to take discipline to deviate from the rolls, especially now that I know they’re really good. Sorry, the only pics I took were after I remembered and ate half of the roll, so it doesn’t do the food justice.
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