The Claypot House

Wonderful place for Taishan People. Clay-​pot dishes are very close to authentic Taishan local flavors. A lot of traditional Taishan dishes, like pig-​stomach-​chicken soup, five-​flavor duck, lotus-​leaf steamed rice, and etc. Coming back regularly and the food is still as good as it gets. Recommended to have a try.

Decided to try this spot for the first time. Ordered pig stomach black
Pepper soup and pig tail in lotus leaf. Disappointment… THe man taking my order who is
Probably the owner was VERY friendly and I feel bad
For this review. The soup was completely bland with maybe 3 – 4 tiny pieces of pig
Stomach with less than half of broth in the tiny receptacle
It was served in (and cost the most!!) the pigs tail was tasty HOWEVER half of
The dish consisted of
Some sort of cheap sausage that I did not order. It’s like they decided to save some money on me (even though pig tail is dirt cheap) or just ran out of pig tails for the day. At least tell me there’s something else in my food! Cmon guys… I wish I could of given you a better rating. But this is not acceptable.

We used to go to the place Taishan before the upstairs caught fire and burned down part of the building. The owners relocated here and we finally returned to try it. The husband and wife team are still there as I saw them talking to customers.
They have extra help now and the place is larger as they took over a former business. I wouldn’t say the food is as good as it used to be. The pots are the same size but there is more rice than there is ingredients or meat. We tried 2 claypot rice. This is what they are known to make. It is not you typical Chinese restaurant. Sadly for health inspection purposes they only scored 87.
My salt chicken claypot was ok. The chicken was good but not that many pieces. You basically fill up on the rice which isn’t that good for you.
Hubby had the spare rib claypot. It was ok but that that many pork pieces.
They still give you soup but what used to be at least a whole container full you get less soup. I am sure their rent has gone up and with more staff they had to cut back on the ingredients.

The claypot is really yummy!!!
But I can not stand the environmentt & sanitation, I see a insect landed on the plate!!! That is REALLY disgusted!!! I will not going there next time. I don’t think they gonna pass the Health inspection.

I was having high hope for this place. Let’s talk about environment. Place clean and nice environment. Service good. But food, all tasted very plain, which I personally can cook better. I’m am authentic Chinese that loves Chinese food. That’s why when come to Chinese cuisine, I’m very particular. Food using very basic seasoning, salt, soy sauce, and pepper. That’s it. I can’t taste any other interesting flavour. Not even oyster sauce, Chinese wine or sesame oil etc. Really disappointed. I won’t come back. Nice service tho

Our friends suggested this place for lunch, so we decided to give it a try. Started with a complementary soup, nothing fancy, tasted ok. We ordered a frog’s leg & chinese bacon rice pot and I wasn’t impressed. My friends enjoyed it but I didn’t. The dish had no flavor and tasted very bland. Menu very limited, concentrating on clay pots.

Today I come to this place for lunch order porkchop & salt n pepper as you can see the picture I post there are more fat porkchop in plate taste with plain no salt … Looking good but taste nasty so any fat !! N it’s cost 12.95?! Clay pot so little for 9 $ taste okay thou

Clay pot rice dishes are like pure comfort food for me, just like home cooking, very authentic and satisfying. I didnt get my free complimentary bowl of soup? like another Unilocaler mentioned? so minus one star.
Excellent service, the food was very fresh and steaming hot when it arrived and didnt take too long, maybe 15 minutes max.
Im glad they have this new Clay Pot House restaurant, since the Taishan Café closed, this is pretty much the same type of restaurant, I’ll definitely come back to try the other interesting array of Chinese /​Taishan dishes
I like places like this, nothing fancy, just great food and casual atmosphere.
the prices are pretty reasonable and you get a good meal for not much money.

I come here for food, not for service. The clay pot rice is very authentic. I grew up in HK and service at this type of restaurant is never a priority. So I don’t understand why ppl talk more of service than food. Rice is the biggest component of this clay pot rice dishes because the crusty rice is the whole idea! It’s so weird to see all these complaints about the portion of rice here (aren’t you surprised by the American portion!?). If you ever ate clay pot rice in HK or China, the toppings are just adding flavor to the rice. The rice is actually the main dish!

Growing up, my favorite thing to eat was CLAYPOT RICE! Towards the end, the rice that is stick to the claypot is amazing too. crispy and crunchy. Its not like the ones you have in Asia but its pretty good. The soy sauce is flavorfun to add to the rice but not over powering. My favorites is the spareribs and or «lop may». YUM! It takes longer to make so order something else first, like their veggie dishes, my favorite is «tong choy». It taste really good. Seasonal. The seafood tofu pot is good too. I actually think most of their food taste pretty good. Also they give you free soup. Different daily.
Services is lacking but its a super causal chinese restaurant. Don’t expect great services. haha

I’ve been coming to this place since they opened their previous location. They serve authentic Taisan food (clay pot rice is their specialty).
I always get the clay pot rice #7 (spareribs, sausage and pork) and a veggie. My second favorite is prob the chicken clay pot rice. Don’t forget to eat the crispy rice on the bottom of the pot!

First time to visit this restaurant on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was hard to find parking on Clement v Street so I decided to let where I parked guide where I had lunch.
So sat down and looked over the menu. They had quite the variety of clay pot rice. Some were they usual ones like Chinese sausage, spare ribs… But I saw the yellow eel and had to try. They also had page of interesting dishes and I tired to order the black bean sauce snail but was told not in season. So I settled on the black pepper pork stomach soup.
The soup was quite good. The black pepper flavor really came through. I thought it was missing an ingredient. I couldn’t figure out what at the time but after discussing with my GF she figured it if… it needed Chinese sour vegetable. That’s how it’s made in Hong Kong.
The yellow eel clay pot rice was really good. Particularly after you add their special soy sauce.
I’d definitely come back here again to try their other clay pots and dishes.

Not your typical American Chinese food. So if you’re looking for chow me in or won ton soup you will not find it here. But their salt and pepper fish was amazing, free soup was refreshingly different, tofu was perfection. Definitely a change from the regular. A little dingy but friendly staff.

Terrible service! mixed seafood tofu clay pot was sour! We ask for new one, but we only got oily tofu! Wtf!

Clay pot rice is excellent for cold weather like now! This place mainly serves claypot rice (duh, hence the name!). You can choose the dish in different sizes: personal size, small size (serves 2 – 3 people), medium (3 – 4 people) and large (5 – 6 people). You can order the meal in different sizes depending the size of your party. Even if you have a huge party, you can order the small size and order different ones so you can try the different varieties. We ordered the one with chinese sauage, chinese pork belly and preserved duck and the one with chicken and mushroom. Both were delicious. The meal comes with a pot of soup of the day and a plate of veggie (usually lettuce).
Be prepared to wait at least 10 – 15 minutes because it does take that long to have the rice crispy on the sides, which is the best part!

You know that it’s legit when literally every face inside the restaurant is Chinese and all of the postings are in Chinese. This is the most authentic Toisan restaurant I have ever been to. Actually, come to think of it, this is the ONLY Toisan restaurant I have ever been to. I was saddened to hear that Taishan Café had closed down but I am thrilled that they opened this restaurant instead. For those of you that visited Taishan Café, this one is like 100X improved. At Taishan Café, I thought I was literally eating out of someone’s garage but here there are actually tables and servers that actually come to take your order! Now, if you’re expecting five-​star service, you won’t find it here. But, you will find truly authentic home cooked Chinese food like you’ve never had before.
Also for anyone who was not impressed by the complimentary soup, clearly just doesn’t get it. This is not meant to be gourmet food. This is home cooked Chinese food like from your Toisan grandma’s kitchen… if you had a Toisan grandma, like myself. And that soup was legit. So heartwarming and comforting on a cold windy San Francisco day. Seriously it was perfect and transported me back to my grandparents’ tiny little house in ghetto DC.
The claypots are pretty generous in size and are a must to order. Basically, instead of ordering white rice, you would order a claypot or two and eat it as a dish but also as the rice to eat with anything else you order. The bottom of the claypot always gets a nice crispy skin to enjoy at the end of the meal. Our favorite of the claypots was the Taishan Chicken – it was smothered in green onions… which is basically the best herb ever. We were super impressed by the other dishes that we ordered in addition to the traditional claypots:
— Lamb Stew — really flavorful tender chunks of lamb and bean curd sheets (made from the soybeans that comprise tofu but are chewier and almost have the consistence of pasta) and lettuce. very generous portion and probably my favorite dish of the night.
— Salt & Pepper Fish — fried crisp and delicious with a great pepper/​garlic/​salt flavor. We originally ordered the S&P Tofu but apparently they ran out… I’m not really sure how that’s possible since they offered us other tofu dishes but just couldn’t make the salt & pepper tofu dish. Anyway, we were perfectly satisfied with the substitute of fish instead. Absolutely delicious.
— Sweet Potato Leaves — I know it’s just a veggie but it was still delicious.

Came here few times. Always order their eel rice claypot. It’s good and the rice is well-​cooked except when they are super busy like weekend night. Better come in weekdays and be prepared to wait for 15mins+ since the claypot takes time.

I love their claypots! Ive been here many times and all the times I ate here the food is always
!!
They have different sizes for their claypots which could accommodate a bigger party, thats a plus! My quick tip for you newbies out there is once you get to the bottom of your rice claypot, pour the complimentary soup in there and let it soak so the crunchy rice on the bottom could come off easily… So good!!!
I never let asian resturaunt service turn my experience into a negative one because
just there for their food
2.this aint no 5 star resturaunt (who you foolin’)
3. If the food is good… Its all good.
4. You get what you pay for… the food.
I would recommend coming here on a slow day so you can enjoy the food, the workers are honestly really nice! Just a lil fluster minded sometimes but its all good!

Not sure what all the negative reviews are about, because this place never disappoints.
The complimentary soup is delicious, their entrees are extremely tasty, and the wait staff are very kind.
I would highly recommend!

Who doesn’t like claypot rice specials…
We ordered the eel special… my friend ate the whole thing…
and the preserved veggies with pork… I also finished mine… that was how good it was…
The reason I couldn’t give it a higher star rating was because of the cleanliness… lacks for sure… another were the damn flies all over…

Remember when this place was across the street in a much smaller space? Remember when they were in Outer Richmond, where Hakka is now? Remember when this corner location was a phở place? I’m happy to see «The Claypot House» occupy this space in Inner Richmond. It’s much closer to everything else, especially if you want to pick up dim sum to go, boba, banh mi’s, or donuts nearby.
I love this place, love all their claypot dishes. The owner is always happy and friendly. The menu has pictures if you’re not sure what to order, and the owner is always present to explain and make a few suggestions.

My, how things have changed.
Tai Shan Restaurant is the original name of this restaurant which was located across the street. After a fire wiped the slate clean, they moved to this larger space and modernized everything, including their I-​pad order system. I used to frequent their satellite location on Cabrillo which closed and morphed to become Hakka Restaurant. My parents enjoyed going there as parking was convenient and the owner/​host was very personable and friendly at that time. Now toting his I-​pad, the owner is all smiles when he greets his guests and takes orders. Here’s what we shared on a recent Friday evening:
Preserved meats and Chinese sausage rice (
) — Classic menu selection, this is the most common version of claypot rice that families order. With the salted meats and crusty rice that sticks to the claypot, one of the better renditions that I’ve had. Be sure to add their spicy soy sauce left tableside if you like a heavier flavor.
Dried scallop pork patty rice (
) — The lightest and probably most healthy dish that we ordered for dinner. Nothing really stood out as the dried scallop flavor was feint if at all existent. Needed the spicy soy sauce to perk things up.
Lamb stew rice (
) — The heartiest of the three rice selections that we ordered, the lamb was tender and not at all gamey. Liked the Yuba pieces that infused the sauce flavor and mixed well with the rice.
Steamed tofu with pork (
) — Another one of the healthier dishes that we ordered, this was just okay. Our dinner hosts who are regulars here said that the portions shrank from before (seven pieces now versus nine or ten in the past).
Lotus root and mixed vegetables (
) — Nice stir fry selection with a good variety of veggies including cauliflower (in season), wood ears, and snap peas. There is Chinese sausage in this dish so it is NOT vegetarian by any means.
Preserved vegetable and pork belly (
) — Artery clogging good… no really, good in a delicious way, but not so sure whether my heart can take this, Elizabeth!
The above plentifully fed our party of four and there were no leftovers to be had. They also served us a small gourd of house soup which consisted of veggies and pork pieces. The restaurant was about half full when we arrived but filled when we left around 8 pm. We happened to meet two gentlemen sitting at the next table who, like me, dined here for the first time. When we struck up a conversation about the menu, we learned that we shared many dining experiences from growing up, living, and working in Chinatown during the ’70’s and ’80’s. You could say that this place is a bit of a throwback to the food from that time.
The menu is pretty straightforward and they have seasonal specials like black bean snails when we were there. Besides the traditional claypot rice, they also offer lotus wrapped rice dishes. All of the above rice dishes had nice crispness to the bottom, though the rice above was a bit on the dry side.
The best description for this cuisine is Cantonese or Taishan comfort food. Your parents will enjoy this cuisine if they are from Southern China.

This is a recent discovery for Dono and me. The food is delicious. We always order the chicken and mushroom clay pot and preserved salty vegetables and pork clay pot. The only issue I have is the wait. Because clay pot takes a considerate amount of time and each item is cooked to order, the wait can be quite long, ranging from 20 – 40 minutes on a weeknight.
Nonetheless, I still love this place because it feels like family since it has a Taishan theme. The panoramic photo of Taicheng against the wall is very reminiscent.

If you like the crunchy rice that lines the bottom of the rice pot then you’ll love this place! I got the spare rib clay pot and the sauce they put on the rice is so good!!! The only downside is that it takes quite a while and they give you a lot of rice and not much meat. We also ordered the pig stomach and salt and pepper fish that were pretty good too.

My bestie’s BF loves the clay pot here, so I was convinced to give it a try.
She ordered the House Special Rice Clay Pot for me.
(It comes with Taishan Yellow Eel, preserved Chinese Sausage, Pork and Frog Legs) ⁴⁄₅ well cooked, very flavorful! I didn’t enjoy the side order soup that came with it.
Most likely be back for something else.

Hmmm my mouth waters whenever I think about this place. I’ve been a fan since their old location across the street when they were Taishan Café! Then it burnt down and I was so sad!!!
One night when I was eating at Shabu Club I saw Clay Pot House across the street. Omg I knew it was Taishan Café reborn and I wanted to leave Shabu Club, but too bad I ordered already. So I came the weekend after.
Service is still not that smooth due to new spot, workflow, and staff, but menu is the same and food is just as good. Things I usually order are the spare rib Chinese sausage/​preserved pork clay pot rice, bitter melon, seafood clay pot, and daikon clay pot. Free jug of soup is always a plus.
Pour some soy sauce over the food at the edge of the clay pot rice and let it cook longer so the bottom rice gets crispy. Come early before 7pm to avoid the line.

Came here on a Saturday night… at 8pm and there was a half hour wait. I’ve passed by this place since it opened and didn’t realize it was so popular.
Before coming here, I thought my mom makes this stuff, how much better can it be? Well the answer is, it’s not. They have a large random variety of choices of meats and etc. That’s great and all but out of the three claypots we got, the ratio of rice to meat was ridiculously uneven. There was very little meat to go with the rice. The only awesome part is that the rice around the claypot is crispy, but what I am to do with the regular rice when there’s no more meat to eat with it?
You also get a complimentary soup… it’s ok, kinda bland but filled with random veggies and a little meat.
The owner seemed to be really friendly. He’d come around to see how we were doing and walked around to other tables. The other service staff seemed to not speak English well… and I guess that’s ok given that the restaurant was filled with only chinese people but then what about the people who want to come in and eat who don’t speak Chinese?
My mom can make this better at home and that’s where I draw the line with it comes to good food. If my mom can make it better, why am I paying someone else to cook for me?

Their new location is much more spacious and can accommodate more tables than before.
While the servers are a bit inexperienced, the owners are very hands on and make sure their customers are taken care of.
The clay pots are great, the duck is a must and the salt + pepper tofu is pretty bomb.
It didn’t take us that long to get our food unlike what other Unilocalers said. $ 34 for 3 dishes. Not that pricey although some dishes can run up to $ 14.95 and larger clay pots can be $ 38.

Whats with all the negative reviews? This place is da bomb!
Free soup – I mean real soup, not the usual «sweet and sour» or «egg drop» crap, but authentic soup served in a soup pot? Check. Authentic claypot rice? Check. Nice lotus leaf rice wrapped in lotus leaves? Check. Cheap prices? Check. Clean interior? Check.
In terms of food, the quality seems to be consistent with expectations – pretty much what’d I expect in terms of decent quality claypot rice. Claypot rice is usually pretty hard to get right, so kudos to them. The minced meat was pretty flavorful, as was the preserved sausages and such!
The service was also pretty good – nothing bad I can point my fingers at. Things came promptly and the servers seemed polite. That seems to be different from other reviewers’ experiences, so perhaps it might be different the next time I visit.
Keep up the good work! This is definitely the place to go if you’re craving claypot rice.

This place definitely hits the spot. I was a very loyal customer at their previous location, which was just a few blocks up from this location. However, there was fire damage, and they had to relocate here. Since then, they expanded, and added more tables and seating. They have hired new staff as well. The customer service is still great, but at the old location, the service deserved 5 stars. The owner is always there and is super nice and welcoming.
I usually order the chicken and mushroom claypot, accompanied by salt and pepper tofu. While you wait for your food, they always give complimentary soup, which always hits the spot.
When the claypot arrives, you can ask them for an egg and crack it into the pot if you wish. One must always add their jalapenos into the pot. It adds more flavor and a little spice to the goodies.
I highly advise everyone to come here. This is one of my favorite places to eat at!

You can’t really complain about service because the place is literally a hole in a wall/​small business owned Chinese restaurant. Typical service I would say and u literally just come here for the food. If u want good service then go to a foo fee Chinese American restaurant
On to the food — ordered lamb stew with lettuce with no rice. Sooo effin good. Sauce and meat was very tender
Sausage and pork = salty goodness. Had the large cause we had 4 people but definitely too much rice vs meat portion. I do love the crunchy rice at the bottom!
Veggies — really flavorful
Fried pork ribs = I could and would eat the entire plate. Salty but not too salty plus it was all pork not just fatty meat
Overall, pretty good experience. Was kinda busy in the beginning but there was only two people working.
Maybe Chinese diners was just there to eat and leave. That’s how it goes I suppose. Can’t really complain!