My Little Dragon Bags

I've sure most of you have already been to the wonder that is DinTaiFung in Arcadia, California. The only American branch of the famous Taiwanese "little dragon bag" restaurant, DinTaiFung serves up xiaolongbao, succulent little pork dumplings inside a thin layer of dough, like you've never tasted before. The secret is to inject almost-frozen meat juice into the piece of pork before it's cooked, and then wrap it in the dough skin, steam it, and then juice melts into the juicy soup that xiaolongbaos are famous for.

Since we don't have any DinTaiFung chains up here in San Francisco, though, the closest thing to authentic is: Shanghai Dumpling King, located on Balboa Avenue in the Outer Richmond, between 34th and 35th avenues.

This tiny restaurant is literally a hole in the wall, but it's not a secret that this place is good. The Chronicle's reviewed it before and it's known among SF circles to be the best place in the city to get our little dragon bags of pork.

Shanghai Dumpling King serves up Shanghainese cuisine, which means lots of sweet and soy-sauced dishes. Now, here's my honest opinion of the restaurant.

There are only three good dishes on the menu, four if I'm feeling generous and not-so-picky. I'll run through all of them right now.















Our first candidate is the obvious one. Our little dragon bags. Xiaolongbao. They may not make them pretty as one can tell from the picture, but these are pretty darn authentic. I already wrote an entry on how to eat them properly, and these don't disappoint when it comes to juice-sucking. $5 will buy you a steamer of 10. A good deal for some good dragon bags.















Lucky number 2 is the Shanghai rice cakes, or chao niangao. This is super soy-sauced, chewy, hearty, and the tiny slivers of meat and vegetables are perfect for balancing the soy-saucey goodness of the rice cakes. The texture is the best part. Wait, no. The taste is the best part. Wait, no. Okay, they're both good. This is also a must order when you come here.















And our last finalist is the green onion pancake, lovingly known to many as congyoubing. It's got green onion. It's flaky and crispy. I think I've said enough. Go eat it.

There you go. The three good items on the menu. Everything else is standard Chinese food. The shengjianbao, or pan-fried dumplings, can be pretty good too, but sometimes I think they're just a bigger version of our little dragon baos.

So if you're somewhere in the Outer Richmond, braving the fog and the cold on one of Mark Twain's favoritest of summer days, come inside and let the juicy pork warm you up. It's gooood.

Shanghai Dumpling King
3319 Balboa Street
(between 34th Ave & 35th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94121 (415) 387-2088

After you have a bite to eat here, stroll down Balboa Street and visit the grocery shops, go to the bank, or catch a movie at one of the few independent art-house theaters left in the city: the Balboa Theater. The Outer Richmond is a pretty boring place, but it's still a very San Franciscan neighborhood. There's the local public school where my little sister attends, with all the ghetto fabulous Chinese kids; there's the small eateries spanning from 35th Avenue downwards which the high schoolers frequent during lunch time; there's the fog, of course; there's Muzzy's Attic for your quirky and eclectic furniture needs.

So, yes. Eat your dumplings. Take a walk. Embrace the fog. Watch a movie.

Maybe this popcorn from the Balboa Theater will be enough to entice you.















Till next time,

Peace, love, and little dragon bags!