Where to go for dim sum
Wondering where to go for dim sum in San Francisco’s Chinatown? The days of dim sum carts, loaded with pork buns and dumplings, navigating their way through restaurant aisles, has waned. These days, most of Chinatown’s dim sum parlors offer takeout and dine-in options, sans dumpling trolleys.
We popped into some of the best dim sum takeout joints and tea houses and sampled everything from pork buns to fresh Chinese tamales. Take a video tour with us at www.mercurynews.com/eatdrink-play. Then get out there and nosh for yourself. Here are six hot spots to get you started, including three presidential picks.
Good Mong Kok Bakery: Head here for shrimp dumplings and char siu bao pork buns. Open daily, takeout and cash only. 1039 Stockton St.; 415-397-2688 Wing Sing Dim Sum: Try the dumplings and bamboo leaf-wrapped sticky rice, mung bean and pork tamales. Open daily, takeout and cash only. 1125 Stockton St.; 415-433-5571
Delicious Dim Sum: The lotus paste-stuffed amber tamales are a specialty. Closed Wednesday, takeout and cash only. 752 Jackson St.; 415-781-0721 Great Eastern Restaurant: When President Obama dined here in February 2012 — check out the photos on the wall — he’s said to have ordered half the menu, which includes shrimp and pea-shoot dumplings, deep-fried meat turnovers and eggplant stuffed with shrimp paste. Open daily at 469 Jackson Street; www.greateasternsf.com.
Washington Bakery & Restaurant: In May, former President Bill Clinton stopped by this bakery. You, too, will want to sample the tasty custard tarts and other tempting pastries. Open daily at 733 Washington St.; www.washingtonbakerysf.com.
Eastern Bakery: Clinton ate here, too, way back in July 1996, when he sampled the lotus paste mooncake. But don’t miss the sesame balls stuffed with black sesame paste, especially when they’re freshly made and hot. Open daily at 720 Grant St.; www.easternbakery.com