I had a beautiful solo dining experience at SF Richmond District Chinese haunt called Taste of Old Street. Because of the presence of lots of skewers on the menu, it seems to me to be a Northern Chinese restaurant, but, like most Chinese restaurants in America, there were some offerings from all kinds of styles of Chinese food.
I got Lamb Skewers, Dan Dan Noodles, Cucumber Salad, and a beer (only Japanese beer offerings, but the Sapporo they gave me hit the spot). The meal ran me only around $35 including tip, which is not bad for a balanced feast for one; I find that it can be hard to get a decently balanced meal as a solo diner at Chinese restaurants.
The restaurant’s atmosphere was very casual, which was perfect, since I was in the mood to sit and write in a journal. It also seems to be a newer restaurant.
they serve until 11pm, which is rare for that neighborhood.
they have a few hard to find dishes, such as spicy pig brain saute, sauerkraut fish rice noodle soup, quail egg skewers.
the dan dan noodles on the menu are labeled “dry”. (i’ve never understood the high variability in the ingredients in dan dan noodles. a subject of future research).
(i’ve also never understood why cold sesame noodles is pervasive in ny chinese restaurants, but rare in sf).
looks like a winner, thanks for posting it.
臭豆腐 Stinky Tofu 8Pcs ($9.69)
I pigged out a bit because this was more or less my first meal of the day. I had the stinky tofu appetizer to start, which was deep fried dark tinted cubes of fermented tofu. It was topped with cilantro and pickled vegetables, and there was a spicy chunky dipping sauce on the side. The stinky tofu smelled like garbage as it tends to do, but taste wise was quite mild, with a crispy exterior and a spongy interior that was good for absorbing some of the spicy dipping sauce.
老成都担担面（含芝麻酱和花生酱） DanDan Dry Noodles(contains sesame and peanut sauce) ($12.95)
I had the dandanmian, spicy, which was very good. The noodles were toothsome and they were pre-mixed with the creamy spicy sauce which had a bit of pork in it.
麻辣冒串自选/Create Your Own Spicy Pot
I was hungry so I also had a spicy pot, where you can select what items you want, with a minimum of five items. I had some skewers - the pork belly ($5.5), the pork intestine ($5.5), along with bean curd sheet ($3), black wood ear fungus ($3), and some sweet potato noodles ($3) for starch. The spicy pot arrived hot in a metal bowl, in a soup / sauce covered by a slick of red chili oil, raw garlic, and cilantro. This was delicious. The meat skewers were pretty generous and cooked nicely. The intestine in particular was nice and springy without funkiness. The bean curd sheets soaked up the spicy sauce, as did the chewy and bouncy sweet potato noodles.
Didn’t it used to be a thing to post the website, or at least location? Current map icon points to somewhere in the Algerian desert, an unlikely location.
