Mission Chinese Food is one of those San Francisco legacies that people always talk about. “Have you been to Mission Chinese?” “I love Mission Chinese.” I regret to inform you that until recently, I had never been to Mission Chinese nor had I ordered them for takeaway. I’m not sure why. It’s not as if I don’t get Chinese takeout occasionally. I just feel like I don’t really go out for Chinese that often, unless it’s Dim Sum. (Although that appears to be changing.) The other half had heard about it finally, so going to Mission Chinese moved close to the top of our list, and when we were out for a day in the Mission, it inevitably became our destination for dinner.
I don’t even know how long Mission Chinese has been there. It’s one of those hole-in-the-wall looking places, that if you didn’t really know about, you may not even stop in. Their menu also does not read exactly like what you would expect from your everyday Chinese, which, in my humble opinion, is a good thing. I like unusual stuff! I like trying new food!
We ordered the vinegar peanuts ($6), the stir-fried Brussels sprouts ($16), the crispy golden mountain roll ($14), the sichuan carbonara ($19) and the kung pao pastrami ($21). Yes, you read the right, one of their signature dishes is kung pao pastrami that they make with their own cured pastrami. Everything sounded great, if just slightly unusual, so we settled in with the bottle of sake that we ordered and waited for the food to arrive.
The peanuts arrived first, so we dug right in. One would probably not expect peanuts to be this amazing, but they were incredibly tasty. The vinegar they were soaking in really added a lot to the flavor, so we were very excited to try more. Next were the Brussels sprouts and the mountain roll. I really enjoyed the sprouts, but my dining companion thought they were a bit bland. Honestly though, the more they sat in the sauce, the better they got for me, and reheated the next day, they were absolutely amazing. The mountain rolls were like spring rolls wrapped in lettuce wrapped in noodles. They were awesome, and I would get them again in a heartbeat.
Up next was the sichuan carbonara, which may have been my least favorite dish. It consisted of noodles in sauce with an onsen egg that we mixed together at the table. It didn’t really come off as a carbonara, and the sauce was quite runny. It had nice flavor, but probably isn’t a dish I would order again. The kung pao pastrami, however, was a revelation. The smokiness of the pastrami really worked well with the sauce and the veg, and it was even great the next day!
Sometimes places that are overhyped really are just that: Hype. Mission Chinese really exceeded all my expectations with their original takes on very flavorful Chinese dishes. The venue itself seems a bit divey, but the service was pretty awesome all around. I’m really excited to go back and try some of the other dishes they have on offer like garlic fried chicken and the cumin lamb ribs. I’m glad I found some amazing Chinese in the city!
Score: 4.5/5
Recommendation: Kung pao pastrami, golden mountain rolls and vinegar peanuts!
Mission Chinese Food
2234 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
