Boiling BeiJing

It has always been a challenge to impress my native Beijinger father with the «Chinese cuisine» offered in the US. For this Chinese New Year, however, I hit the jackpot by taking him to Boiling Beijing.
The dishes at Boiling Beijing are all true to their native Beijing origins. We ordered the half and half hot pot with lamb, beef tripe, fish, shrimp, frozen tofu, lots of veggies, and a couple of cold dishes. For the Three of us it was plenty of food. The portion of each order was good, but the best part was with the sauce. My parents have both commented that the dipping sauce brought back memories from their decades spent in Beijing. And for me, the chef’s special fried sticky cake reminded me of the street vendors that I loved to visit when I was there as a child.
If you are interested in a taste of true Beijing food, this is the place to go. Don’t just order what you can recognize on the menu. If you have never had traditional Beijing food, ask the friendly waiters for recommendations. Too often people follow the standard «sweet and sour soup» route at a Chinese restaurant and miss the glorious culinary art that was hidden in the unusual or strange names of the dishes.
While I’m sure my now San Franciscan parents will be visiting Boiling Beijing sometime in the near future, I myself can only hope that the owner of the restaurant ventures out and open up his second establishment in the North Bay area, where good Chinese food is hard to find, let alone excellent authentic Beijing cuisine.

Love at first bite. Delicious food, super attentive service, and genuinely friendly staff.
The owner, Ray, is amazing. We came in without knowing the kitchen was closing in 8 minutes but we weren’t turned away like most establishments would do to latebirds. Instead, we were welcomed with open arms and ear-​to-​ear smiles.
ATTN UnilocalERS:
«Free soda and a HUG» with Unilocal check in. Ray really gave the Hubbz and I hugs. Which is cool cuz I’m totally a hugger :)
RECOMMENDATIONS:
— Pan Fried Dumplings:
savory leek and pork filling enveloped by pan fried dough, crispy on the bottom and chewy on the inside.
— Dry Fried String Beans:
crunchy bright green beans, wok-​fried with diced chilies and tossed with paper-​thin garlic slivers.
— Beef with Golden Garlic:
tender, peppery bite-​sized cubed beef served with whole cloves of golden garlic. The cloves were awesome, had the flavor of roasted garlic minus the soft, mushy texture and the consistency of roasted fingerling potatoes;
— Handcut Noodles:
made in house, rolled and hand cut then tossed in a smokey wok with julienned veggies;
— Dry Chicken Wings:
golden fried wings, with their house sauce on the side per our request. Their sauce looked and almost tasted exactly like San Tung’s infamous dry fried wing sauce but closer to home and with a higher Dept of Health score: D
PARKING & LOCATION:
Street parking is plentiful, located directly across Artichoke Joe’s parking lot, with its own small private lot adjacent to the restaurant. For larger parties, there’s a banquet room that’s equipped with its own karaōke set up! I can’t wait to host an event here.
GIST:
Reasonably priced for such generous portions. We came hangry yet there was so much left over. Food came out promptly and we were checked upon frequently.
Our first time at Boiling BeiJing won’t be our last. We’ll be back to see Ray and his staff soon, still dying to try their renowned hot pots.

We went here based on the other reviews and ratings and were impressed. The décor is simple and the lighting very bright. service was fast and knowledgeable, with great recommendations and tips on how to best cook the food. The tea was a little weak but appropriate for the dinner and there was plenty of it. We had half spicy hot pot with beef, lamb and fish as well as sweet potato noodles, spinach and tofu. It was very good with good sized portions.

I went for the lamb special. It was recommended by the wait staff as one of their spicier dishes. It was good. Having traveled most of Asia this was the most authentic Beijing style food I’ve had in the US. Very generous portions good for sharing. In my book it’s always a good sign when I’m the only round eye in a place. When the local Chinese population is coming here to eat you know it’s good. I was the first table seated at dinner time, before I left 15 other tables were full with business and family diners.

We had dinner yesterday at Boiling Beijing in San Bruno for a friends reunion, and the experience was amazing!
The food was very authentic same as what you can get in Beijing :) The Cloisonné(景泰蓝 Jingtailan) hotpot is very unique and rare to find, the elegancy of the hotpot itself worthes a big thumb up; and the meat/​veggies are fresh as well. We also ordered the spicy chicken hotpot, which is another treasure here, MUST TRY!!! Spicy beef combination was also awesome. Service is good they are attentive and responsive.
Best Beijing/​Northern China cuisine that I have ever had in the bay area, will return for sure :)

We are here again & ordered the same dishes:
–Spicy Beef Tendon (good)
–Hand Slice Noodle (very good)
This time I don’t see anymore flies around (so happy) & that’s why I gave a 4 stars. Pretty much I’ll come back soon!
*The staffs were very nice

Super disappointing. The check in is supposed to provide a free soda and a free hug. The bf didn’t get a free hug from the waitress and I had to provide it instead.
The sanitation standards at this restaurant are so low that it’s embarrassing. Two of our group of seven were in charge of «quality control» and they rejected almost half of the plates, bowls, and cups we were provided. It made me question the skill of the dishwasher and how scary the kitchen is inside.
We ordered a ton of dishes and none of them stood out. The handpulled noodles didn’t look/​have the texture I’m used to for handpulled and the broth was extremely bland. The split pot hotpot is not the pretty ones you see in most of the photos; it’s a solid copper colored pot and I was underwhelmed.
I’m really surprised by the overall high ratings of this place because there’s really nothing special. It’s times like these that make me really miss LA.

Can’t say that I would know if I ever had real Beijing style food, but this place was great! The flavors are definitely nicely balanced! I came here with my parents after work and we ordered 3 dishes which actually was more than enough for us!
Food quality was great! The cabbage dish we had was sour & spicy, but not a burn-​your-​tongue-​off spicy that you sometimes get with Chinese chilies. The tendon melted in my mouth when I ate it! It was amazing. And the third dish was a clay pot/​soup. It definitely served as a neutralizer of the palette between the two meat dishes we had.
Finally, this place gets a gold star for service. Our waiter was extremely helpful and friendly in suggesting what to get and my favorite was indeed the one he suggested! I believe he said something like «(insert dish name here) is very popular and good! Trust me.» Note: this guy is worth trusting.
I would say, however, that if you do not care for spicy food or have very little tolerance for spicy-​ness, this place *may* not be for you. If you like spicy, then I would highly recommend this place! Like I said before, it’s not a Szechuan-​esque burn-​your-​taste-​buds-​off, rather it’s a flavor enhancer.
If I’m ever in San Bruno, I’ll be coming back to try more dishes here :)

Waiter don’t know what they offer, missed orders, taste bad l, never here any more.
We do ask for exchange for wrong item they order and don’t let do that Bad service

Best Beijing food in bay area!
Maybe Beijing cuisine isn’t not as famous as Szechwan food, and most people only know about Beijing duck. To my opinion 涮羊肉 and 羊蝎子 are way delicious than that duck. Here is the only Poland in bay area that you can have taste of that.

This place is hard to find parking. You have to get lucky for street parking. It’s far in san Bruno. They serve pretty attentively and come check on you from time to time.
We ordered first item on the menu $ 30.95 for a pot of lamb hot pot. It’s not much at all. It was not spicy to begin with but gradually tastes more spicy. It’s quite tasty but the meat can be too soft and it falls everywhere in the end. Not sure if this is Beijing style tho. I never saw this when I was in Beijing.
Jian bing Guo zi: this tastes completely different from the real Beijing one. It’s very salty and not spicy. The wrap is very loose. The stuff you add is very different as well. It just tastes weird. I would not recommend this one to anyone who wants Beijing experience. Try the street food in Beijing for $ 2.5 RMB. That was my fav food from Beijing actually.

Boiling Beijing is a spacious restaurant located in San Bruno (but on San Mateo Avenue which is why I originally thought it was in San Mateo) that specializes in hot pot, Northern Chinese cuisine, and even some classic Chinese dishes to appeal to more Americanized palates.
Given the proximity to San Mateo and all their Chinese cuisine, Boiling Beijing had a high bar to compare but we found friendly service and solid food that made it a nice visit.
It wasn’t too busy when we initially arrived for lunch but it did fill up by the time we left. Most tables order some variety of hot pot and supplement with some dishes so we did the same.
We opted for a larger table though staff said the smaller tables were better for hot pot (closer reach, able to dip) because we wanted a bit more room, but it was nice of them to accommodate us. Our order:
Beijing Hot Pot — they have a variety of beautiful metal hot pots able to support two soup broths though ours was more plain. The center has a large hole which I think help disperse heat. Prices are by soup broth per person: plain, spicy with chills, or half and half. You then choose your meats and vegetables.
The setup is very similar to Little Sheep though the non spicy broth is more mild (water based with ginger and a few mild spices) while the spicy broth is similarly spicy but with less herbs. Prices add up as you choose meats ($ 6.95 each) and vegetables ($ 3.95) but it’s nice they have some set hot pot items with all items included for a fixed price ($ 30 – 32).
Overall, flavors were solid but the burner, hot pot container and ingredients (the lamb slices were thin and tasty) were not too dissimilar to what I’ve done at home with my simple hot pot setup.
Hand knife cut noodles in beef broth — $ 9.95. I really enjoyed the knife cut noodles and the slices of beef were solid as well, cut extremely thinly and cooked in the savory beef broth. Quite good.
Pork Leek Shrimp Dumplings — $ 8.95. These steamed dumplings were standard fare. With so many places serving dumplings, these didn’t stand out from the crowd. About 10 to a plate. Tasty, thick skinned and served with a vinegar soy dipping sauce.
Overall, we had a solid meal at Boiling Beijing. Service is friendly and accommodating and although the food takes about 15 minutes to come out, it’s simple and filling. I was curious about the hot pot but I think I can do it similarly at home or go to Little Sheep for a more well rounded experience.
Boiling Beijing accepts credit cards.

so excellent, so Chinese. I am sure if you speak Chinese here it would help. This place is a machine that is cranking out Chinese food to feed the Chinese. Seriously I came in to get some to go to take back to the hotel, — That was easier as our traveling guests had an infant. Well I was the only non-​Chinese in the place, and I am sure the only one who did not speak Chinese. As i waited couples came in, families came in, and they were greeted in the native tongue and oh so promptly seated and served. This place could be a really good video about how to run a restaurant. There were 2 cruisers who kept circling tables and the big dining room making sure everyone had everything they needed.
Our food was terrific and we enjoyed it back at the hotel, I am certain everything on the menu is wonderful, and I want to return and dine in for the next level of experience.

This place is pretty good!
The food: They have quite authentic Chinese food!
The service: The service is good. The owner tries to goes to every table to check if everything is okay. Although this might be difficult when there are many customers and long waiting lines. My friend’s scarf fell on the floor which eating, a waiter saw it immediately and picked it up for her.
The environment: The inside is very clean.
Definitely worth going back again!

I’ve come here 3 times now and have enjoyed every visit. The food is delicious and very authentic.
+ Delicious hot pot! Also very worth it for the amount of food you get. My favorite is to order the flour noodles they have and boil it in the spicy broth. It soaks in all the flavor and tastes great. They also provide peanut dipping sauce that’s made fresh.
+ House made knife cut noodles are also yummy. I ordered the beef noodle soup once and they generously refilled my soup for free. The broth is made everyday from scratch.
+ Superb/​juicy dumplings. I highly recommend ordering these! Also ask for the vinegar/​soy sauce.
For the most part, service is a lot friendlier than your typical Chinese restaurant. There was only 1 young waitress who is always irritated looking and seems to yell a lot at the others. The rest are nice and attentive.

SO GOOD! Do not regret coming here AT ALL! We just got off our flight and were debating whether or not to get a cab and come down here in the rain… and it was amazing! We got a split hot pot (plain and spicy) and PRO TIP: drink the soup of the plain flavor one after– it’s SO GOOD! All the food was good, we ordered lamb, fish, clear thin noodles, Napa, and tofu. Keep the tofu spicy and put it in first bc it takes time to develop flavor. Very spicy so beware if you’re not into that… stay with the plain which is still very good :) afterwards try the fried glutinous bean paste dessert: D the filling is unique and delicious… bean paste/​fruity/​nutty :)
The owner is very nice and the staff is efficient and well-​mannered.

A hidden gem in San Bruno. Came here after playing badminton with colleagues. Didn’t try the hotpot, but all dishes we ordered were super delicious.
Some of the items are reminiscent of what you would find in Sichuan restaurant, quite spicy and packs a punch. The highlight was probably the homemade dumplings, absolutely delish! The more typical leek pancake was surprisingly tasty, not what you find in HK dimsum joints, but very authentic thick pancake packed with flavor.
The servers were very friendly and prompt, price reasonable. Would like to come back to check out the hotpots!

Immediate tip: If at all possible, avoid going to the bathroom while you’re here, or at least not before your meal if you can (wash your hands before?! haha). The men’s room is disgusting and smells like it was built over a sewage pipe. It’s very odd for a new restaurant, much less one with relatively ornate decoration in the dining room.
That aside, on to the good stuff. The food here was amazing. So amazing that I went here two days in a row. This may be the best food at a Chinese restaurant I have had. This is particularly interesting to me for two reasons. I don’t think I have ever eaten at a restaurant two days in a row before. Ever. Second thing is that I think the highest rating I ever gave a Chinese restaurant before is 3.5 stars.
First day I ate here we had the Chinese crêpe, black pepper beef with golden garlic, and chow mein. I never get chow mein at restaurants but my friend insisted. It was delicious, not too oily, with good portion size, and tender chicken. The highlight was the beef with golden garlic where whole cloves of garlic were roasted as part of the dish. Fantastic.
The next day I was heading home with a group of friends and we were planning on eating somewhere else. When that plan fell through, I told them about Boiling Beijing and they all wanted to give it a try. The four of us shared the hot and spicy chicken (a friggin plate full of red peppers; it was crazy spicy, and crazy good), hot and spicy fish fillet (was also very spicy, but super good with tender fish, lots of onions, peppers, etc. in a hot bowl), shredded cabbage (had the consistency of chow mein noodles but with different veggies), and the zucchini and loofah vegetable (home-​cooked taste with a good white sauce). It seemed like you can’t go wrong with any of the chef’s special dishes.
Other plusses: food is priced reasonably well.
Neutral: staff seem friendly enough, though half of our servers had a hard time answering our questions about food items.
Major negative: Read bathroom comment above.

EDIT: Something fishy is going on. This restaurant is truly bad and I cannot fathom how true Chinese could approve of it. I went through all the reviews and found many 1-​review reviewers, and half of them don’t even live in California per their own profiles! Most wrote short and similar reviews, half talking about how «authentic» this place is.
BEWARE…
Originally:
9÷26÷15: I am ashamed. Very ashamed.
I joined my gf and her friends for this dinner, and most likely they picked this place cause it’s pegged currently at 4.5 stars. Yes, Four Point Five STARZ. Top 99% of Unilocal right? So it must be totally amazing…
The food is bad, and the service even worse (not like I care about service at authentic Chinese places, but just sayin’.) So, when this huge degree of discrepancy between Unilocal’s rating and my own is found, I always assume the wrong demographics are doing the rating, especially for Chinese restaurants. I expect certain people to go for things like «mu shu» or «broccoli beef» or the likes, which can skew ratings to such tastes. So I looked through the reviews, and yeah, there’s some of that, but surprisingly there’s quite a few Chinese people rating this place too… COME ON guys… where have you been eating???
(And… two reviews in Chinese! But strangely both people have only reviewed one place – this one. And both the same length, one single paragraph. Hmm…)
First off, it needs to be mentioned: this place is SLOW. And that’s not just me – you can see throughout the reviews. Not only are they crazy slow, they put everything out of order! Our appetizer came after almost ONE HOUR! (Or maybe even more) We were fed up two separate times and were just about to cancel when they brought the food out. Yes, we reminded the waiter – didn’t Unilocal.30min passed before getting that dish, after telling her. Really really bad. So how was the food?
1. F3. Jian Bing Guo Zi $ 5.95: This was the one I was talking about. My friends ordered this before we arrived late. Didn’t get it until the end of the meal, when we were all full and ready to leave, so I guess that would have been over 1hr. This is an appetizer – a Chinese crêpe wrapped around a Chinese fried cruller. And it tastes disgusting!!! I asked all the girls if this was the way it was supposed to be, since they all immigrated from China recently – hell no they said. The cruller itself was okay, though not great. But the crêpe kinda sucked, and whatever sauce they put it made it all inedible. We threw most of it away. ¹⁄₁₀.
2. J13. Hot and Spicy Shrimp $ 16.95: One of the better tasting dishes of the night. The shrimp were typical Chinese sized, shell on, fried. Flavor was good. A bit overcooked, but not badly. BUT, there were only like 6 – 7 of them! This dish is about 85% red peppers (no, they’re not meant to be eaten), 5% peanuts, and like 10% shrimp. Most is to be thrown away – all filler. Did you see the price? – nearly $ 17! That makes this the most expensive shrimp I have ever seen, even at the most expensive Chinese restaurants. Total rip. ⁴⁄₁₀.
3. C10. Spicy Beef Tendon $ 8.95: Good taste. Texture is quite good – it’s pretty al dente, much more than the usual Chinese preparation, but I actually liked it this way. Much more chewy. Sauce was thick and added good flavor. But REALLY SMALL. You can see from my photo – the broccoli crown split in two is almost ¹⁄₃^rd of the whole dish! Worth $ 9 – maybe… barely. ⁶⁄₁₀.
4. T1. BeiJing Hot Pot Combo (Lamb Ribs) $ 29.95: This restaurant’s namesake – The Specialty. So if your restaurant is named after this, I expect it to be awesome. Well, I guess you know what’s coming… a giant letdown. So, it’s basically a Chinese-​style hot pot, but specifically for this stewed lamb. They put a big pot over fire in front of you, with some stewed lamb chunks inside. You get two servings on the side of tofu, rice noodles, and cabbage. The lamb didn’t taste good and was low quality. The soup was okay, but nothing special. I mean, it was edible, and if your mom made it you might actually be grateful. But not for a restaurant-​level dish, and certainly not note worthy at all! And it was thirty dollas!!! Huge ripoff. It was unanimous at our table – total disappointment for all. ²⁄₁₀.
5. T13. Soy Bean Sauce Whole Fish $ 16.95: Fish was good actually. Flavor was pretty good. Could have been crispier, but the flesh was moist, and the fish seemed pretty fresh. No complaints here. ⁷⁄₁₀.
6. J11. Beijing Style Soy Sauce Braised Pork $ 12.95: This was kinda liked stewed pork belly. The pork belly wasn’t the best quality – far fattier than typical. But still, it tasted good enough. ⁵⁄₁₀.
Again, half was sub par, and some even terrible. And everything was way overpriced. And the service/​speed was god awful. And… just don’t come k?
If I saved just one person’s night, I consider this review worth it.
²⁄₅
#chinese #szechuan #sichuan

Located across from Artichoke Joe’s, this spacious restaurant is two months young and adds diversity to the good eats in San Bruno.
The restaurant was previously obtained by JK Kitchen and even though the interior is the same the food is different. The the staff is very enthusiastic and friendly. I was able to chat a bit and found out that within a month they will start offering hot pot in these beautifully ornate pots. (see photos).
Dishes were flavorful and servings were good enough for sharing.
I noticed a free Wi-​fi sign in the restaurant but forgot to check myself.
Like all new establishments, they need refinement and I hope that they will continue to grow and do well.
What you need to know:
— Street parking — There’s also some parking spots located to the side of the building
— They prepare fresh soy milk each morning. Perfect to enjoy with Jian Bing Guo Zi.
— They offer an americanized section of options for those who prefer a less than authentic fare
— Check in on Unilocal and receive a free soda and hug. Hug is optional. ;)