Shanghai Dumpling King

Knowing I am always on a quest for good Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) I had some friends suggest Shanghai Dumpling King for brunch the last Saturday of my San Francisco trip. Luckily, the weather was rainy and grim so there wasn’t too long of a wait and the tiny restaurant. About an hour later I was happily stuffed walking out of there full of delicious Shanghainese treats.

Here’s the run-down :

• Xiao Long Bao - The reason we came here… This was fantastic. It rivaled what I had before at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia & Singapore. The ones here were delicious and I haven’t been to Din Tai Fung in a few months so I’d have to have them side by side to really pick a winner. We got two orders of these.
• Fried Rice Cakes w/ Preserved Pork & Vegetables- These were kinda blah. It tasted too healthy and plain.
• Scallion Pancakes - These were awesome. They much crispier and less greasy than anything I had before and they had a bit of sesame seeds on them giving them a bit of a twist. This was 3rd time I had scallion pancakes in a week and they definitely stood out as the best.
• Spicy Ma Po Tofu - This was soft cubes of tofu in a spicy brown sauce. I didn’t like the the sauce and the tofu was… well… tofu. I wasn’t really a fan of these, but my vegetarian friend seemed to like them.
• Preserved Egg w/ Tofu - These were interested. They were covered in dried shredded pork that almost looked like bits of wool. It was unique, but I didn’t really enjoy it as much as the other stuff.
• Pot Stickers - I actually liked the vegetarian ones better than the pork ones. It was nice to have some veggies in the rather pork-heavy meal and the veggie ones seemed to have more flavor.
• Spicy Pork Dumplings - These came in a bath of spicy oil and topped with some sliced scallions and ginger (I think..). Either way, these were fantastic. It wasn’t actually that spicy to me, but it was pretty tasty and I would definitely recommend ordering it.

Shanghai Bites ended up picking this spot as the #1 place in Gary’s weeklong Xiao Long Bao tour of San Francisco. I’ll have to try the #2 spot in Oakland next time I visit.

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