Old timers remember it before it was Upholding Heaven. Which it had been for decades, before it became Mister Man's Tea Restaurant.
Long before then you could have cocktails there and eat casual noodles till past two in the morning. Quite a sprightly place.
The Universal Cafe went out of existence in the mid-eighties. I knew the place as King Tin, which closed in 2012. Then Mister Man revamped it, and opened up as the Washington Cafe. Which, this past summer, he completely repainted, dolled up, and turned into the Hunan House.
That's four different eateries that have occupied the spot.
Prior to 1984:
寰球酒家
UNIVERSAL CAFE
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
['waan kau jau gaa']
1984 to 2012:
擎天酒樓
KING TIN / NEW KING TIN
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
['king tin jau lau']
2012 till 2014:
文記茶餐廳
WASHINGTON CAFE
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
['man kei chaa chaanteng']
Since summer 2014:
湘菜館
HUNAN HOUSE
"By Washington Cafe"
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
['seung choi gun']
Mister Man is still involved, as the byline indicates. I suspect that he looked at Chinatown, realized that outsiders were a more profitable market segment than local residents, who are almost all rather skint for ready cash, and decided to go whole hog, and give the chain of fake Szechuan restaurants in the neighborhood some real competition.
One of those joints has since closed down.
No doubt they've also got ideas.
I have not eaten at the newest iteration of Mr. Man's culinary dreaming. The old version I liked; hot pot, tea restaurant specials, spaghetti, soup, sandwiches & quick dishes, congee, noodles, and a terrific cup of milk tea (好飲嘅港式奶茶 'hou yam ge gong sik naai chaa').
I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turns out to be an astounding success. Mister Man is hardworking, ballsy, and inspired. And he knows how to do a good restaurant.
Still, I prefer Cantonese food. Hunan, Szechuan, suburban American Chinese, Singapore noodles, and whatever they do in Peking, doesn't really appeal to me. Cantonese cuisine has all the flavours.
Hong Kong food is a weird fun variation.
Hunan? well, whatever.
Got milk tea?
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Showing posts with label Washington Café. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington Café. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
COFFEE, TEA, AND CONDENSED MILK: 飲間天堂
This man loves fried noodles. Seriously. During the weekend I went over to the Washington Cafe and ordered a plate of mixed seafood fried noodles. Shrimp and squidly bits with green onion and beansprouts over thin wheaten strands. Actually, not over; but in.
Decadent with a ton of hot sauce.
I'm a pig.
I enjoyed my meal.
Delicious!
文記茶餐廳 MAN KEE CHA CHAN-TENG
The Washington Cafe is where the old Upholding Heaven (擎天酒樓) used to be. Since it became a cha chanteng I've been going there nearly every month for food of which the doctor would disapprove. You know, HK teashop chow. They've got macaroni, baked pork chop on rice, salmon steak, and spaghetti (意粉) a la Hongkongaise. Plus fried stuff. And rice plates, stuff with Portugee sauce, soup.
Oh, and a ton of more acceptably Chinese stuff too.
Plus crustaceans.
WASHINGTON CAFE
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-398-1299
Yeah, no, it's not the Man Kee Cha Chanteng near Diamond Hill (鑽石山 'chuen sek saan') in Kowloon (九龍 'kau lung'), directly north as the crow flies from Kai Tak and Kowloon Bay (啟德、九龍灣). That one's located at 31 Yuk Wah Crescent (毓華里), near Yuk Wah Street (毓華街). Between Po Kong Village (蒲崗村) and Tsz Wan Shan (慈雲山), so it should be clear how to get there. Just a short walk from the shopping centre.
The Washington Cafe in San Francisco is at the north end of Waverly (天后廟街), on the block between Grant (都板街) and Stockton (市德頓街).
Also walking distance from somewhere.
And easy to get to.
正宗絲襪奶茶 JENG JONG SI-MAT NAAI-CHA
A cha chanteng (茶餐廳) is halfway between a convenient eatery and a place with affordable satisfying snackfood. The institution originated in Hong Kong after the war, and at the time offered primarily quick stuff that would revive the working man and get him back out on the construction site or at his factory shift. Over time the menus became more eclectic, and many of them practically invented Hong Kong western food (豉油西餐).
But at all stages, from early beginning till now, serving milk tea (奶茶 'naai cha', 港式奶茶 'gong-sik naai cha', 香港奶茶 'heung gong naai cha'), yuen-yeung (鴛鴦) or mandarin ducks (coffee and tea mixed together, more milk-tea than coffee), Ovaltine (阿華田), and Horlicks (好立克).
All of which taste much better with condensed milk (煉奶).
Plus lemon tea with honey syrup and lots of lemon.
You can also get toast at such places.
It's very civilized.
Yesterday I fried up noodles and green chili peppers plus meat and egg, with lots of shredded ginger, before going out to do my laundry.
Afterwards I had a cup of half coffee and milk-tea.
Perhaps not as good as at the Man Kee.
I'll have to ask them if they can do 蕃茄豬扒 over 意粉.
I'm sure they can.
Their milk tea is very good.
非常好。
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Decadent with a ton of hot sauce.
I'm a pig.
I enjoyed my meal.
Delicious!
文記茶餐廳 MAN KEE CHA CHAN-TENG
The Washington Cafe is where the old Upholding Heaven (擎天酒樓) used to be. Since it became a cha chanteng I've been going there nearly every month for food of which the doctor would disapprove. You know, HK teashop chow. They've got macaroni, baked pork chop on rice, salmon steak, and spaghetti (意粉) a la Hongkongaise. Plus fried stuff. And rice plates, stuff with Portugee sauce, soup.
Oh, and a ton of more acceptably Chinese stuff too.
Plus crustaceans.
WASHINGTON CAFE
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-398-1299
Yeah, no, it's not the Man Kee Cha Chanteng near Diamond Hill (鑽石山 'chuen sek saan') in Kowloon (九龍 'kau lung'), directly north as the crow flies from Kai Tak and Kowloon Bay (啟德、九龍灣). That one's located at 31 Yuk Wah Crescent (毓華里), near Yuk Wah Street (毓華街). Between Po Kong Village (蒲崗村) and Tsz Wan Shan (慈雲山), so it should be clear how to get there. Just a short walk from the shopping centre.
The Washington Cafe in San Francisco is at the north end of Waverly (天后廟街), on the block between Grant (都板街) and Stockton (市德頓街).
Also walking distance from somewhere.
And easy to get to.
正宗絲襪奶茶 JENG JONG SI-MAT NAAI-CHA
A cha chanteng (茶餐廳) is halfway between a convenient eatery and a place with affordable satisfying snackfood. The institution originated in Hong Kong after the war, and at the time offered primarily quick stuff that would revive the working man and get him back out on the construction site or at his factory shift. Over time the menus became more eclectic, and many of them practically invented Hong Kong western food (豉油西餐).
But at all stages, from early beginning till now, serving milk tea (奶茶 'naai cha', 港式奶茶 'gong-sik naai cha', 香港奶茶 'heung gong naai cha'), yuen-yeung (鴛鴦) or mandarin ducks (coffee and tea mixed together, more milk-tea than coffee), Ovaltine (阿華田), and Horlicks (好立克).
All of which taste much better with condensed milk (煉奶).
Plus lemon tea with honey syrup and lots of lemon.
You can also get toast at such places.
It's very civilized.
Yesterday I fried up noodles and green chili peppers plus meat and egg, with lots of shredded ginger, before going out to do my laundry.
Afterwards I had a cup of half coffee and milk-tea.
Perhaps not as good as at the Man Kee.
I'll have to ask them if they can do 蕃茄豬扒 over 意粉.
I'm sure they can.
Their milk tea is very good.
非常好。
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Thursday, May 16, 2013
BEST MILK TEA IN SAN FRANCISCO
Over the past two years you have seen a term here fairly often that might have quirked your interest: Milk Tea (奶茶 'naai cha'). And perhaps you have understood that in the context of this blog and my own preferences it refers fairly strictly to the Hong Kong cha-chanteng (茶餐廳 tea restaurant) standard, that being strong black tea made silky with sweetened evaporated milk (淡奶 'daam naai'), served hot in a cup, and preferably that cup comes with a spoon and saucer. There must be a hint of bitterness and depth to the beverage, so that the taam naai will find a foil.
It may be new to some people, but to others it is almost shockingly old-fashioned. Old hat in any case. Trends have moved on, and though true aficionados will not deviate, others have developed a fascination with 'milk tea' made with fruity flavours and large gummy tapioca balls. Personally I like small pale tapioca pearls, because they are more fun on the tongue and far easier to process in the mouth and stomach, but the hardened digestive systems of teenagers crave the big brown things.
Sweet tea with balls.
But where to get?
波霸奶茶 BO BA NAAI CHA
Try Irving Street, reachable by taking the N-Judah streetcar.
Teaway Express
2142 Irving Street
San Francisco, CA 94122.
Wonderful Dessert & Cafe
2035 Irving Street
San Francisco, CA 94122.
Milk green tea, honeydew, lychee, taro, almond milk, or mixed coffee-tea-cream. With big brown gloopy balls.
If you don't feel like cruising out to the Sunset, there's Quicklies, with at least four locations in the North-East quadrant of the city - Kearny and Jackson, Powell Street near the Chinatown Library, Polk between Clay and Washington, and somewhere in the Tenderloin where the 19 goes.
There's also a place in the Financial District: Morning Brew Coffee & Tea, located at the intersection of Clay and Sansome Street, opposite the Mechanics Bank, next door to Self-Help for the Elderly (安老自助處 'On-lou Ji-Jo Chyu').
There are of course many other places. You will likely not find me there either.
I'm more likely to hang out in a bakery or chachanteng in Chinatown, where there are good things to eat in addition to the standard milk-tea, and noisy old people.
Old farts creating a racket make me feel young.
And milk tea cheers me up.
新檀島咖啡餅店 NEW HONOLULU
['san taan tou ka fei bing dim']
888 Stockton Street, San Francisco, CA 94108.
文仔記燒臘茶餐廳 YEE'S RESTAURANT
['man chai kee siu lahp cha chan teng']
1131 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133.
文記茶餐廳 WASHINGTON CAFÉ
['man kee cha chan teng']
826 Washington Street, San Francisco, CA 94108.
The New Honolulu has bakery items plus a full menu of cha-chanteng classics, Yee's Restaurant specializes in barbecue meats and soy chicken and they also have scrumptious roast goose, and the Washington Café is a lively bustling place with good food at good prices, but you might not recognize everything.
Go to any of them for lunch or dinner. They're not really suitable for dates, unless the person you are with isn't looking to be impressed by high prices and a wine list bigger than the real-estate pages. Dress casual, not up. Heck, go to these restaurants with someone you like who also likes you. Don't bother taking a "date" there.
Both of you should order milk-tea.
And share your food.
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
It may be new to some people, but to others it is almost shockingly old-fashioned. Old hat in any case. Trends have moved on, and though true aficionados will not deviate, others have developed a fascination with 'milk tea' made with fruity flavours and large gummy tapioca balls. Personally I like small pale tapioca pearls, because they are more fun on the tongue and far easier to process in the mouth and stomach, but the hardened digestive systems of teenagers crave the big brown things.
Sweet tea with balls.
But where to get?
波霸奶茶 BO BA NAAI CHA
Try Irving Street, reachable by taking the N-Judah streetcar.
Teaway Express
2142 Irving Street
San Francisco, CA 94122.
Wonderful Dessert & Cafe
2035 Irving Street
San Francisco, CA 94122.
Milk green tea, honeydew, lychee, taro, almond milk, or mixed coffee-tea-cream. With big brown gloopy balls.
If you don't feel like cruising out to the Sunset, there's Quicklies, with at least four locations in the North-East quadrant of the city - Kearny and Jackson, Powell Street near the Chinatown Library, Polk between Clay and Washington, and somewhere in the Tenderloin where the 19 goes.
There's also a place in the Financial District: Morning Brew Coffee & Tea, located at the intersection of Clay and Sansome Street, opposite the Mechanics Bank, next door to Self-Help for the Elderly (安老自助處 'On-lou Ji-Jo Chyu').
There are of course many other places. You will likely not find me there either.
I'm more likely to hang out in a bakery or chachanteng in Chinatown, where there are good things to eat in addition to the standard milk-tea, and noisy old people.
Old farts creating a racket make me feel young.
And milk tea cheers me up.
新檀島咖啡餅店 NEW HONOLULU
['san taan tou ka fei bing dim']
888 Stockton Street, San Francisco, CA 94108.
文仔記燒臘茶餐廳 YEE'S RESTAURANT
['man chai kee siu lahp cha chan teng']
1131 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133.
文記茶餐廳 WASHINGTON CAFÉ
['man kee cha chan teng']
826 Washington Street, San Francisco, CA 94108.
The New Honolulu has bakery items plus a full menu of cha-chanteng classics, Yee's Restaurant specializes in barbecue meats and soy chicken and they also have scrumptious roast goose, and the Washington Café is a lively bustling place with good food at good prices, but you might not recognize everything.
Go to any of them for lunch or dinner. They're not really suitable for dates, unless the person you are with isn't looking to be impressed by high prices and a wine list bigger than the real-estate pages. Dress casual, not up. Heck, go to these restaurants with someone you like who also likes you. Don't bother taking a "date" there.
Both of you should order milk-tea.
And share your food.
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Thursday, January 31, 2013
THE REMEMBERED LUNCH
The restaurant was half empty when she sat down, the mid-day rush had not yet begun. After carefully studying the menu, she chose a bowl of wonton noodle soup, and a side order of stir-fried mustard green stalks. Then, having dispensed with the essential preamble to lunch she drank a bit of tea and looked around with bright intelligent curiosity. She had never been here before.
That is to say, she came here once a very long time ago, when it was still a neighborhood standard. But when she started working downtown, she passed by one day and noted the decline. Like many old establishments, the spark of inspiration disappeared, and the owners coasted onward to a disinterested retirement.
Eventually it got sold, then gutted, remodelled, painted.....
An entirely new modern kitchen installed.
Hot-pot place on second floor.
For evenings only.
She had forgotten about the high ceiling. Many older buildings here had those high ceilings, as there was always a mezzanine loft above the business floor for storage, and often, living quarters. Her uncle's grocery store had had precisely the same thing. Back in the fifties he and his wife had lived there, but by the time her first cousin was born they had moved to a flat uphill, beyond Powell Street. As children she and her cousins had played above the store, sometimes disturbing boxes and releasing a cloud of dust over the racks on the ground floor. It always upset her auntie when that happened, and they'd be chased out into the street or forced to do their homework.
Two wide screens. One in the middle of the wall along the side, one above a front window. She presumed the one above the window had been placed there so that whoever was at the counter could follow the soap opera that was playing. It looked frightful. An elderly woman in period costume was weeping and flailing her arms, while a pie-faced maiden of thirtyfive-playing-sixteen stood by helplessly, looking theatrically anguished. And goobus-innocent to the point of slack-jaw.
She surmised that this was the smarmy good-girl daughter-in-law.
Far too pampered-looking to be the maid servant.
Not angry enough to be a daughter.
Her food came, and enthusiastically she dug in, yanking the yellow noodles fiercely up, skein dripping, to enjoy them while they were still al dente. Wonton noodle soup can also be served with rice-stick, if one has a calmer temperament. But tradition dictates thin fresh wheat noodles, added on top, barely cooked. Eat them fast! Con brio. It's sheer goodness!
While chewing she beckoned the waitress over and requested a dish with some extra oyster sauce. She loved oyster sauce. And she couldn't believe that it had not been invented several centuries ago.
Surely the combination of condensed savouriness and dense pourable darkness was ancient! It seemed like such an intuitive concept. Concentrate a wonderful flavour, and use it to intensify everything!
Dip the mustard green stalk, then bite and crunch. Another. Then dip one of the lovely dumplings. Lunch, away from the throng on Kearny Street near Bush, was something to be savoured. How much better if surrounded by an environment that represented home.
And eight lovely wontons! The broth, too, was excellent, but the dumplings were the star of the show. Fresh shrimp, barely chopped, bit of pork, handmade skins. Smooth, slick, sweet and juicy and savoury and textural at the same time. A hint of fragrance from the chopped garlic chives floating in the bowl. And perfect thin noodles to fill you up.
The plate of green stalks made it a balanced meal, the added oyster sauce satisfied the little girl within.
Without asking, the waitress refreshed her tea.
On screen, the dowager howled about ruination.
An old lady at the counter ordering food to go gave animated instruction on precisely how the fish should be cooked, and be sure to use ONLY fatty meat in the black mushroom duck combo - I very much like fatty!
Two tables over, a fat faced boy brat was objecting vociferously to his parents demand that he eat some more saang choi -- hate it, hate it, HATE it -- but the parents insisted.
At the table near the door, a painter in overalls lovingly absorbed a plate of fried porkchop and "Italian noodles", plus another cup of milk-tea, extra sweet please.
She dipped the last stalk in the oyster sauce.
Mmmmmmmmmm!
Heaven.
* * * * *
Personally, I'm not so much an oyster sauce kind of guy. Sure, I like it, but it's something which I'd put on fried eggs (along with a dash Tabasco). And who orders a plate of fried eggs at a cha-chanteng? On the other hand, I've had their salt and pepper fried spare ribs, and asked them to bring me Sriracha -- they've got several bottles in the glass-fronted refrigerator at the wait station.
But mustard green stalk IS very good. And all crunchy cooked vegetables taste better with mr. Lee Kum-Shueng's marvelous invention.
Actually, so does a good beefsteak.
They've go that too.
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
That is to say, she came here once a very long time ago, when it was still a neighborhood standard. But when she started working downtown, she passed by one day and noted the decline. Like many old establishments, the spark of inspiration disappeared, and the owners coasted onward to a disinterested retirement.
Eventually it got sold, then gutted, remodelled, painted.....
An entirely new modern kitchen installed.
Hot-pot place on second floor.
For evenings only.
She had forgotten about the high ceiling. Many older buildings here had those high ceilings, as there was always a mezzanine loft above the business floor for storage, and often, living quarters. Her uncle's grocery store had had precisely the same thing. Back in the fifties he and his wife had lived there, but by the time her first cousin was born they had moved to a flat uphill, beyond Powell Street. As children she and her cousins had played above the store, sometimes disturbing boxes and releasing a cloud of dust over the racks on the ground floor. It always upset her auntie when that happened, and they'd be chased out into the street or forced to do their homework.
Two wide screens. One in the middle of the wall along the side, one above a front window. She presumed the one above the window had been placed there so that whoever was at the counter could follow the soap opera that was playing. It looked frightful. An elderly woman in period costume was weeping and flailing her arms, while a pie-faced maiden of thirtyfive-playing-sixteen stood by helplessly, looking theatrically anguished. And goobus-innocent to the point of slack-jaw.
She surmised that this was the smarmy good-girl daughter-in-law.
Far too pampered-looking to be the maid servant.
Not angry enough to be a daughter.
Her food came, and enthusiastically she dug in, yanking the yellow noodles fiercely up, skein dripping, to enjoy them while they were still al dente. Wonton noodle soup can also be served with rice-stick, if one has a calmer temperament. But tradition dictates thin fresh wheat noodles, added on top, barely cooked. Eat them fast! Con brio. It's sheer goodness!
While chewing she beckoned the waitress over and requested a dish with some extra oyster sauce. She loved oyster sauce. And she couldn't believe that it had not been invented several centuries ago.
Surely the combination of condensed savouriness and dense pourable darkness was ancient! It seemed like such an intuitive concept. Concentrate a wonderful flavour, and use it to intensify everything!
Dip the mustard green stalk, then bite and crunch. Another. Then dip one of the lovely dumplings. Lunch, away from the throng on Kearny Street near Bush, was something to be savoured. How much better if surrounded by an environment that represented home.
And eight lovely wontons! The broth, too, was excellent, but the dumplings were the star of the show. Fresh shrimp, barely chopped, bit of pork, handmade skins. Smooth, slick, sweet and juicy and savoury and textural at the same time. A hint of fragrance from the chopped garlic chives floating in the bowl. And perfect thin noodles to fill you up.
The plate of green stalks made it a balanced meal, the added oyster sauce satisfied the little girl within.
Without asking, the waitress refreshed her tea.
On screen, the dowager howled about ruination.
An old lady at the counter ordering food to go gave animated instruction on precisely how the fish should be cooked, and be sure to use ONLY fatty meat in the black mushroom duck combo - I very much like fatty!
Two tables over, a fat faced boy brat was objecting vociferously to his parents demand that he eat some more saang choi -- hate it, hate it, HATE it -- but the parents insisted.
At the table near the door, a painter in overalls lovingly absorbed a plate of fried porkchop and "Italian noodles", plus another cup of milk-tea, extra sweet please.
She dipped the last stalk in the oyster sauce.
Mmmmmmmmmm!
Heaven.
* * * * *
Personally, I'm not so much an oyster sauce kind of guy. Sure, I like it, but it's something which I'd put on fried eggs (along with a dash Tabasco). And who orders a plate of fried eggs at a cha-chanteng? On the other hand, I've had their salt and pepper fried spare ribs, and asked them to bring me Sriracha -- they've got several bottles in the glass-fronted refrigerator at the wait station.
But mustard green stalk IS very good. And all crunchy cooked vegetables taste better with mr. Lee Kum-Shueng's marvelous invention.
Actually, so does a good beefsteak.
They've go that too.
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Saturday, September 01, 2012
COMFORT FOOD AT THE MAN KEE
He didn’t recognize me. Not surprising, as it’s been over sixteen years.
Besides, all white people look alike.
Especially when you’re not looking.
Friday was slow at the office. So I headed into C'town for a late lunch.
Which was extremely enjoyable.
I had just finished a wonderful bowl of preserved egg and lean pork rice porridge, and was working on my milk-tea when he came in.
It’s a new restaurant, but in the location where one of the old-time Chinatown eateries had previously been.
The business that occupied the space before had existed for many years, but it didn't look like my kind of environment and I never went in. They did roast duck and charsiu, which I love, but something about place just didn't appeal.
Consequently I have no idea whether it would have even been worth it.
The current proprietors, however, should definitely prosper.
Which I suspect shall indeed happen.
And I hope it will.
文記茶餐廳 (MAN KEE CHA TSAN TENG)
WASHINGTON CAFE
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-398-1299
This wasn't the first time I 've eaten there. It's only been open for a month, but they're well-organized, and it already feels like they've been around forever. That's only partly due to the smoothness of their operation, the efficiency, and the courteous capability of the staff.
The Washington Café is likely to become a favourite haunt. Clean, hospitable, good food, and a comfortable-feeling high-ceilinged dining room.
It is nice being there. Home.
Their extensive menu is idiosyncratic, if you aren't used to Hong Kong style Western food interspersed with standard Chinese restaurant offerings and American diner fare.
Spaghetti? Yes, spaghetti.
Plus sandwiches, ox tongue, beef haslet, salmon with bacon and spinach, and octopus balls with curry or Portugee Sauce. Choice of rice or spaghetti ("Italian noodle").
House special New York Steak, yau choi or gai lan with oyster sauce, chicken lai-fun soup, clam chowder, West Lake minced beef soup, wonton, noodles..........
Three dishes set price any choice plus soup, nice for families.
And rice porridge.
Excellent rice porridge.
Here are your porridge choices:
粥類 PORRIDGE (JUK LEUI)
及第粥 assorted pork giblet porridge $4.75
艇仔粥 sampan porridge $4.95
鮑魚雞粥 abalone and chicken porridge $6.50
爽滑魚片粥 filet of fish porridge $4.95
魚片皮蛋粥 preserved egg and filet of fish porridge $4.95
魚片瘦肉粥 filet of fish and pork porridge $4.95
魚片豬紅粥 filet of fish and pork blood porridge $4.95
爽滑猪肝粥 pork liver porridge $4.75
爽滑豬紅粥 pork blood porridge $4.75
海鮮粥 seafood porridge $4.95
蝦球粥 prawn porridge $4.95
帶子粥 scallop porridge $4.95
蝦球帶子粥 prawn and scallop porridge $4.95
皮蛋瘦肉粥 preserved egg and pork porridge $4.75
皮蛋牛肉粥 preserved egg and beef porridge $4.75
窩蛋免治牛粥 minced beef and egg porridge $4.75
雞球粥 chicken porridge $4.75
北菇雞球粥 black mushroom and chicken porridge $4.75
白粥 plain porridge $3.25
That's a very good selection. Someone in Holland who LOVES rice porridge will probably be really jealous upon seeing this.
For which I apologize. See, that's one of the reasons to live in San Francisco.
Instead of Holland.
The first time I ate there was in early evening, and it was filled with people happily scarfing down yummies.
I got seated at a table with two other single diners.
Who both thoroughly enjoyed their food.
Wonton noodle soup.
Gonna have to try that.
The person I mentioned at the beginning of this post looks older than when I last saw him. Not as happy or carefree as back in the day. He's been married for nearly two decades, his oldest kid must be going to college now.
I hope what he ate cheered him up.
AFTERWORD
敬
The restaurant that had been there before was the New King Tin (擎天酒樓).
For the first word (擎 king: raise hand, lift up, support, uphold) the phonetic element is 敬 (ging: respect, venerate, salute). King (擎) may be found under the hand (手) radical in the dictionary. Hand, plus thirteen strokes.
Ging (敬) is under 攴,攵 (bok, sui: rap, tap, strike lightly) plus nine strokes: 茍 (gau: urgent; to be cautious). Which is under 艸 (cho: grass - sometimes four strokes, sometimes six).
Tin (天) means sky, the heavens, and that which is divine.
File all this under trivia.
艸
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Besides, all white people look alike.
Especially when you’re not looking.
Friday was slow at the office. So I headed into C'town for a late lunch.
Which was extremely enjoyable.
I had just finished a wonderful bowl of preserved egg and lean pork rice porridge, and was working on my milk-tea when he came in.
It’s a new restaurant, but in the location where one of the old-time Chinatown eateries had previously been.
The business that occupied the space before had existed for many years, but it didn't look like my kind of environment and I never went in. They did roast duck and charsiu, which I love, but something about place just didn't appeal.
Consequently I have no idea whether it would have even been worth it.
The current proprietors, however, should definitely prosper.
Which I suspect shall indeed happen.
And I hope it will.
文記茶餐廳 (MAN KEE CHA TSAN TENG)
WASHINGTON CAFE
826 Washington Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-398-1299
This wasn't the first time I 've eaten there. It's only been open for a month, but they're well-organized, and it already feels like they've been around forever. That's only partly due to the smoothness of their operation, the efficiency, and the courteous capability of the staff.
The Washington Café is likely to become a favourite haunt. Clean, hospitable, good food, and a comfortable-feeling high-ceilinged dining room.
It is nice being there. Home.
Their extensive menu is idiosyncratic, if you aren't used to Hong Kong style Western food interspersed with standard Chinese restaurant offerings and American diner fare.
Spaghetti? Yes, spaghetti.
Plus sandwiches, ox tongue, beef haslet, salmon with bacon and spinach, and octopus balls with curry or Portugee Sauce. Choice of rice or spaghetti ("Italian noodle").
House special New York Steak, yau choi or gai lan with oyster sauce, chicken lai-fun soup, clam chowder, West Lake minced beef soup, wonton, noodles..........
Three dishes set price any choice plus soup, nice for families.
And rice porridge.
Excellent rice porridge.
Here are your porridge choices:
粥類 PORRIDGE (JUK LEUI)
及第粥 assorted pork giblet porridge $4.75
艇仔粥 sampan porridge $4.95
鮑魚雞粥 abalone and chicken porridge $6.50
爽滑魚片粥 filet of fish porridge $4.95
魚片皮蛋粥 preserved egg and filet of fish porridge $4.95
魚片瘦肉粥 filet of fish and pork porridge $4.95
魚片豬紅粥 filet of fish and pork blood porridge $4.95
爽滑猪肝粥 pork liver porridge $4.75
爽滑豬紅粥 pork blood porridge $4.75
海鮮粥 seafood porridge $4.95
蝦球粥 prawn porridge $4.95
帶子粥 scallop porridge $4.95
蝦球帶子粥 prawn and scallop porridge $4.95
皮蛋瘦肉粥 preserved egg and pork porridge $4.75
皮蛋牛肉粥 preserved egg and beef porridge $4.75
窩蛋免治牛粥 minced beef and egg porridge $4.75
雞球粥 chicken porridge $4.75
北菇雞球粥 black mushroom and chicken porridge $4.75
白粥 plain porridge $3.25
That's a very good selection. Someone in Holland who LOVES rice porridge will probably be really jealous upon seeing this.
For which I apologize. See, that's one of the reasons to live in San Francisco.
Instead of Holland.
The first time I ate there was in early evening, and it was filled with people happily scarfing down yummies.
I got seated at a table with two other single diners.
Who both thoroughly enjoyed their food.
Wonton noodle soup.
Gonna have to try that.
The person I mentioned at the beginning of this post looks older than when I last saw him. Not as happy or carefree as back in the day. He's been married for nearly two decades, his oldest kid must be going to college now.
I hope what he ate cheered him up.
AFTERWORD
敬
The restaurant that had been there before was the New King Tin (擎天酒樓).
For the first word (擎 king: raise hand, lift up, support, uphold) the phonetic element is 敬 (ging: respect, venerate, salute). King (擎) may be found under the hand (手) radical in the dictionary. Hand, plus thirteen strokes.
Ging (敬) is under 攴,攵 (bok, sui: rap, tap, strike lightly) plus nine strokes: 茍 (gau: urgent; to be cautious). Which is under 艸 (cho: grass - sometimes four strokes, sometimes six).
Tin (天) means sky, the heavens, and that which is divine.
File all this under trivia.
艸
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NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
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All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
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