Chung King

My co-​workers and I celebrated the upcoming new year with a meal at Chung King. We ordered the $ 138 set menu. It came with crab and egg drop soup, steamed crab, chicken, mixed veggies, fried flat fish, mushroom over lettuce, fried sweet pork, and shrimp with walnuts. Rice was extra. $ 1 per bowl. The meal was good and filling. One co-​worker took the leftover chicken home.

Updated review.
I still love this place and the food is still really good. And fresh. And cheap.
Medium sized Chinese restaurant — clean and no frills.
Sweet & sour pork chops (ging do gwut) are still THE BEST in the city. I brought my boyfriend here and now he craves this place for that dish.
My family comes here every few months so I’ve tried probably everything on their menu. it’s all good and there’s usually no wait though it seems to have gotten a bit busier last few times I’ve came.

I wish Unilocal would let you give no stars, because that’s exactly what they deserve. This place not only gave me food poisoning, but it was one of the absolute worst dining experiences of my life.
To start, the food was bland. I got the beef chow fun, and granted the portion was huge, all of my leftovers are now in the garbage. The bok choy was actually decent, but I’m so upset that I had to throw that away as well.
The waitress was rude as hell. I should’ve know this place was terrible the moment she slammed my drink down on my table. She never checked on me while eating, and I had to wave her down in order to get a box for my food. Once my check came, she rudely told me that there is a $ 20 minimum for credit cards, which was posted nowhere, including the Unilocal site. She said «you can use the atm next door». As I struggled to box my food up in order to do so, she grabbed it from me and said «ugh, I’ll just do it». As I walked out the door to go use said atm, the other waitress ran out the door and watched me the entire time I used it. After returning, I paid and left. Done and done.
I am NEVER eating here again, and would suggest very strongly that no one ever does either

Establishment has been in Chinatown for 30 years… great food… a must try in Chinatown…

Food was excellent! The Kung pao chicken was delicious, the fried spare ribs were on point.

This place has one plus — it’s always available for cheap prices as long as you fit the bill (i.e. you are Chinese and speak Canto). Other than that, my family and I have been coming here for over a decade, and nothing has dramatically changed. The bathrooms have become slightly dirtier, the place is falling apart a little bit more, and the food portions are a little smaller for a bit of a price hike. The quality of the food is just your usual flash-​fried wok stuff with nothing too creative. We do the Chinese thing — steamed fish, clay pot lamb, clay pot catfish, pea shoots, etc., and it’s all really the same flavor and the same amount of MSG and sodium (which is heavy). You’ll never be wanting for a seat as there are two floors, and you know exactly what you’re getting. Service? It’s your standard Chinese restaurant. Expect gruff and quick. Heh, heh, heh.

I have been coming here for years! The food is decent and you can tell them no MSG! The restaurant is clean and their prices are amazingly affordable for Chinese food.

My family said the food was not very good. But my cousin and I thought the sweet and sour spareribs were bomb. The meat fell right off the bone!

Had dinner with my parents on Wednesday, June 17^th around 5:45pm. Parking was fairly easy to find as we got to Chinatown before 6pm. There were about 3 – 5 other parties in the restaurant.
*Giant clams: with noodles, garlic, cilantro, ginger and green onions
Yum! The clams were tender and the noodles had a nice chew. One of my favorite dishes. We got 2 orders so 4 halves altogether.
*Goose and lotus root
Didn’t really care for this. The goose didn’t have much meat and the flavor was very one note.
*Lamb stew in clay pot: with bean curd and lettuce
Not one of my favorite dishes in general, but my parents seemed to enjoy it. I liked the lettuce and veggies.
*Pea shoots: sauteed with garlic
Cooked perfectly. I hate it when pea shoots are mushy. Could have used just a little more garlic flavor though.
*Beef chow fun: dry
The best dish of the night. Great flavor and dry fried nicely. Also, an excellent portion.
My parents told me you get 10% off the bill any time. You just have to ask for it. Not sure why they know this. Maybe from a Chinese paper? So try if you’d like. Doesn’t hurt to ask, right?
I really liked the clams, pea shoots and beef chow fun, but I’d pass on the other two dishes next time. A solid place to grab Chinese food if you don’t want to wait at one of the more popular places nearby. In fact, my parents went there again last week, so Chung King is doing something right.

Came here for a week early for Mother’s Day… sat downstairs this time. Chung King is a great choice for Cantonese food done right. Service will always be what it is (friendly, rude, FAST and lacking all rolled up together), but we still like this place!

We wait like an hour for our first plate… The waitress was horrible! I’ll never come here again!

Lady was so rude when we tried to ask for a substitution of rice instead of veggies on a lunch plate. She literally said «the plate is already 6 dollars what more do you want?!» In such a scornful tone. Substitutions my friend was willing to pay extra for. Food was decent so I guess you get what you pay for…

Very tasty and fresh seafood dishes available at extremely affordable prices prepared quickly for patrons to enjoy.

Twenty dollars minimum for credit card otherwise cash only. A nice atmosphere once inside. We got our food it was great. A little bit of a wait but for the price you can’t complain. I would come back again.

Probably not the cleanest restaurant ever but the food is the greatest. Been coming here for years and never have I had a bad experience. Tina is very accommodating and really friendly. My all time favorite Chinese spot. They make the best Hongkong style chowmein, salt and pepper shrimp, salt and pepper pork chop, Roast duck, pea sprouts… Everything ! They make the drive to the city well worth it. They even make tapioca with coconut milk dessert when we request it .
They definitely deserve 5 stars!

Worst service ever!!! Super Bad attitude (especially the owner), long wait. I know you guys are very busy, but theres only one waiter in the whole restaurant besides the owner. They should hire some more people n dont save that kind of money!

It isn’t easy to find a clean, inexpensive, reliable Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, but this is it. My grandparents first took me here a few years ago, and I come back almost each time I’m in Chinatown. I recommend their ma po tofu, broccoli chicken, and all of their noodles (haven’t tried them all, but have had many of them so the odds are good that they’re all good!!)
The service could be better. They’re quick, they kept filling up our rapidly decreasing tea pot, but not very friendly. Then again, I don’t come here for the service.

I enjoyed my first-​ever visit tonight! Had the Yang Chow fried rice and combination sizzle platter with squid, prawns, broccoli, scallops and beef and I enjoyed both entrees. Service is good. Lovely, lively packed atmosphere on this Saturday night. I will return next time I visit San Francisco!

Well, it seems that a lot of the reviews are about the bad customer service, and I hate to add fuel to the fire, but the service we got was not bad at all – probably because we’re Chinese-​American. Taking this into consideration, I suppose my comments about the customer service can be disregarded if read by someone of another ethnicity.
Not sure if this is the same aforementioned bespectacled waitress, but she smiled back and said «You’re welcome» when we thanked her as she set down our dishes. She even filled the teapot right when our tea ran out and struck up a friendly conversation with us. Perhaps because we came at a slow time, the waitresses were less stressed and thus more amicable. However, the waitress without glasses (WG) might have been considered rude when she hovered over us while we looked over the menus, when she urgently told my grandmother four dishes were more than enough for three people, worriedly questioned the fact that we did not order a meat dish, and later asked if the four dishes were enough, trying to prove, unnecessarily, that she was right. As racist as this seems, this behavior and attitude is normal of Chinese restaurants.
As for the food, we ordered the Yang Chow fried rice, Singapore-​Styled vermicelli noodles, eggplant with fish sauce, and tofu with mushrooms and bok choy. The fried rice was not bad, pretty typical. The noodles were a bit salty for my taste, and not spicy as advertised – and I say this as someone that can’t take spicy things. Also, the bell pepper slices were undercooked, so that was slightly annoying. The eggplant was good, though my grandmother found the skin a but tough. As for the tofu (the WG suggested a «water tofu» which was supposed to be better, but it was oddly still fried), I found it delicious. My brother found it a bit too salty though. The bok choy was also good, but my grandma said the mushrooms were not good. I don’t like mushrooms though, so I couldn’t give you an unbiased opinion about that.
I wouldn’t mind going back, but maybe that’s just me.

Please don’t tell Hunan Homes I came here. I feel like I cheated on them by going to their next-​door competition, but I was lured by another place that serves steamed chicken. That was really it plus the fact that Chung King has garnered quite a bit of praise according to my fellow Unilocal reviewers. I figured it was worth a try, so Jamie W. and I sauntered over there last Friday hoping the proprietress of Hunan Homes would not be out on the sidewalk having a smoke. Mission accomplished. Once we entered, we noticed the set-​up was similar to Hunan Homes except the walls were white and the tablecloths pink. But I was having a panic attack since I didn’t see steamed chicken on their menu. I was starting to hyperventilate.
When the waiter came by, I asked if they still made the steamed chicken. He just nodded his head and wrote it down. The manager then came by about ten minutes later to ask what I wanted. «Steamed chicken» I said demurely. She responded — «Barbecue chicken? OK.» «No, no, I want steamed chicken.» I started to feel like Jack Nicholson in the coffee shop scene in «Five Easy Pieces». Before I got a chance to tell her to hold the chicken between her knees, she said yes, they can make it for me. Jamie decided to be by-​the-​book and ordered the $ 10.95 Deluxe Dinner B. Wow, he threw the flexitarian diet out with the bathwater, but I took advantage since he shared the Won Ton Soup with me (see photo). Meh. Then his dinner plate came, and it looked like food court night at the mall.
He got the Mongolian Beef and the BBQ Pork Fried Rice accompanied by a greasy-​looking Egg Roll (see photo). Like I said, food court fare. Jamie didn’t look terribly excited eating it. Mine finally came out, and it was the Steamed Chicken covered in Scallions accompanied by a ramekin of the familiar Ginger Garlic Sauce (see photo). It was pretty good but frankly not as well prepared as the one next door. I think it was the way the chicken was cut, a bit too mass murderer with a machete for my taste as I was struggling with random bones with alarming frequency. I also ordered as a side dish, the $ 4.50 Sauteed Tender Greens, which was a plate of bok choy lacquered in sesame oil but at least with a nice crunch (see photo). Will Hunan Homes forgive me for my straying?
FOOD — 3 stars… passable Chinese fare, not a standout dish to be found
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… not much on warmth here
SERVICE — 2.5 stars… see above comment about ambiance
TOTAL — 3 stars… the third star is for making the steamed chicken even though they took it off the menu