Give Me Some Food

What are the three things that determine restaurant prices?

There's your jeopardy style question for the day.

Felix and I were amazed...no. Aghast and befuddled (in a good way) at the price we paid for dinner last week in the Outer Richmond. Some whore gave me a tip to go to the Shanghai Dumpling King to  consume these little delicate packets of heaven:

Those are the Shanghai Dumplings- within them is a little bit of pork, and a wonderful boiling broth that spurts into your mouth and can burn the bejesus out of your tongue so you won't taste anything for a week.  These were my favorite- due to the broth, they seem to have a lightness and not as much outer dough as the:

Beijing Dumplings. These are Felix's favorite.  Along with the pork, they are loaded with chives- so it's better if both you and your date eat them :)

Ok, but back to my speaking of the prices. Felix goes to Yank Sing with his work every so often and he was remarking that a plate of 10 dumplings would be somewhere between twice and three times as much at Yank Sing! I believe him, and I like these dumplings better. It's a crime that because Yank Sing is so well known and popular and placed conveniently in the city, that they should get to charge insane prices for ok dumplings! Our bill came out to $22, but we also ordered two diet cokes, a vegetable:

And when I asked if they had something sweet- our server asked us to give him ten minutes.

"I'm curious to see what he brings out. I'm sure it's worth waiting for." Felix remarked

"As long as it's not red bean soup- I think I'll be happy."

Five minutes later, he appeared with these:

Very simple. Just fried dough with sugar. They tasted like the spawn of a donut and a funnel cake. And of course they were fresh out of the fryer- and the heat melted the sugar a little bit. Yum. So we thought that all of that for $22 + tip was a great deal. Now you do not get any decor which is to be expected at any good Chinese restaurant, and the place is pretty small- be prepared to wait (though we got right in). I'm not sure if they take reservations.

So young man, go west, and head a little out of your way if you are tired of dropping $100 every time you go out to eat somewhere in the eastern part of the city.

Shanghai Dumpling King
3319 Balboa St. ( at 34th ave.)
San Francisco
415-387-2088