Hing Lung

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I rarely go into SF Chinatown these days, but when I do I try to stop by for either a Saturday or Sunday lunch at Hing Lung.  One of the few restaurants left still standing from my childhood.  I think almost every Chinese kid in the Bay Area has nostalgic memories of this place.  A Saturday or Sunday would usually be a family grocery shopping day in Chinatown followed by a stop here for lunch.  It used to be so popular tables would be almost an hour wait, but these days I don't think I've seen it over 30 minutes.  The trick is to go after the lunch rush around 1p or early around 11a.

Hing Lung's famous yau tieu and other fried dishes- I don't even know what it really is called in English.  I've seen it called Chinese donut and fried stick.

The menu in Hing Lung consists of quite a bit of items, but you can see by other tables that there are only a handful of items that people order.  Jook (Chinese Porridge) is one of them.  My favorite, tang ji jook (seafood porrdige).  There is something about the porridge here that is so distinctly delicious.  It has a slightly sweet aftertaste and the consistency is perfect.

Another popular porridge here is the Thousand-Year-Old-Egg porridge.  The salty egg gives a slight contrast to the sweetness of the porridge.

These fried donuts are seen on almost every table.  They are used to dunk in your porridge for a slight soak and then a crunchy bite.  You can see them being made fresh in the front window and they are made to order.  This guarantees they won't come to your table soggy or oily.

Another popular dish and my absolute favorite dish here - ja leurng.  Besides their deep fried items, Hing Lung is also known for making their rice noodle dishes fresh.  This dish combines both!  The freshly made donut is wrapped in a slightly sticky rice noodle and drizzled with a little soy sauce and sesame oil.  One bite gives you a chewy, but crunchy delight with a sweet aftertaste.  As a kid my dad would order 2 plates of these for my sister and I because we couldn't share.

    

Address:                  Hing Lung Restaurant
                                        674 Broadway
                                        San Francisco, CA

Type:                          Chinese, porridge, noodles
                                         casual

Chomp worthy:  yau tieu, porridge, ja leurng