TGI Thursday

Posted by Anita on 08.24.06 5:47 PM

dry fried chicken (c)2006 AEC In the pantheon of old standbys, San Tung ranks among the venerable elders. We’ve been eating there since one of Cameron’s roommates — ironically, a vegetarian — recommended it to us, back in the days when we were just a-courtin’. I can’t even begin to count the number of friends we’ve turned on to the pleasures of dry-fried chicken and other San Tung delights in the years since.

As with any long-standing friend, we’ve collected plenty of lore about ol’ San Tung, most of it based on stuff that’s no longer entirely accurate. Example: It’s still formally known as “San Tung Chinese Restaurant #2”, although there’s no longer is a #1 to be found. And ’round our house, we affectionately refer to ST as “closed on every wednesdays” in deference to the chinglish sign that used to grace the door. (It’s long been replaced by a just-slightly ungrammatical “wednesdays closed”).

You’ll see dry-fried chicken on almost every table at San Tung, for good reason: it rocks! (For those keeping score at home, we prefer the diced version to the wings, and alternate between the “wet” and “dry” variants.) If you’re a fan of the hot, you’ll love the little dish of kimchee that you get while perusing the menu.

We can also recommend spicy soup noodles, spicy peanut noodles, potstickers, pork dumplings, mu-shu whatever — if it’s got noodles or a dumpling wrapper, it’s going to be good — and the hot-and-sour soup is pretty respectable.

Service is brusque, as you’d expect from a restaurant in this particular genre — cheap Chinese, sans atmosphere — and you should be prepared to wait anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, or share a banquet-size table with other parties. But what it lacks in charm, San Tung most decidedly makes up for in deliciousness. We’re always happy when the craving strikes on a day that isn’t a “wednesdays”.

San Tung Chinese Restaurant #2
1031 Irving Street (at 11th)
San Francisco, CA 94122
415.242.0828
– 11am to 9:30pm; closed [on every] Wednesdays

restaurants
4 Comments »

 

4 Comments

Comment by Mary

Closed on Wednesdays? They take reservations? Just those 2 tips alone are more than helpful, so thank you! I’ve been a few times in the last year and am addicted. It’s good that I live in a different SF ‘hood or I’d be there far too often.

Posted on 09.07.06 at 3:23PM

Comment by Anita

Hi Mary! Yep, they do take reservations, and they’ll also put your name on the list if you call when you’re heading over. Glad to help support another San Tung addict 😀

Posted on 09.07.06 at 3:32PM

Comment by seamus

Howdy. Found your site from SFist. Glad you’re as hooked on San Tung as I am. I hadn’t heard of San Tung until I moved a block away from there, but I wondered why a crowd of people was standing outside there six night a week. Soon, I found out why, and the pounds just started accumulating. San Tung is the best.

Posted on 09.09.06 at 8:13AM

Comment by Anita

Hi Seamus (and other SFist visitors). I never knew until earlier this year that the cult of San Tung was so pervasive. I’ve got to get people to start trying the dumplings and noodles, though… they’re at least as phenomenal as the DFChix.

Posted on 09.09.06 at 9:33AM

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