One Saturday we were wandering around the city checking out some of the sights: Ocean Beach, the botanical gardens and several wine bars. We ended up in the West Portal area, which is a cute little neighborhood in the city, and quite easy to get to on Muni. As I was looking for a place to have dinner, I saw that Xiao Loong was supposed to have some pretty fantastic food, but they didn’t take bookings. As much as I often refuse to go places that don’t take them, we decided to check it out anyway, and Lo and Behold!, they had a table available for us pretty much immediately. And a lot of the tables emptied out soon after, so the restaurant itself didn’t seem like it really was that hard to eat at, but they definitely were popular given the amount of takeaway orders we saw moving out the door.
Outside of Xiao Loong 
Branded chopsticks…fancy!
Glancing at the menu, we saw several things that really made us excited. Of course, we had to order the Xiao Loong Bow because it is the house speciality. As we are also huge fans of Brussels sprouts, we had to order those with added pork belly. Finally, we got some fried chicken in a spicy sauce and some steamed rice.
I was really excited when the Bow arrived as they were glistening with steam droplets, and I really wanted to jump right in. They provide a few different sauces to have with it, so I had to try all of them. Also they are very hot inside, so if you put the whole thing in your mouth, you could burn yourself, so be warned! (Don’t make my mistake, people!) But overall, the dumplings were absolutely delicious, and they left me wanting more.
Xiao Loong Bow 
Xiao Loong Bow all dressed up for eating!
The mains also looked and smelled spectacular. The Brussels sprouts were perfectly cooked, and while I thought the pork belly was unnecessary as it was a bit chewy, my husband was a huge fan of it and was really glad we added it in. The chicken was also really tasty with a slightly spicy sauce and moist, crispy bits of chicken. It was all very moreish, and while we thought we had over ordered, we ended up eating most of it before we knew it!
Spicy fried chicken 
Brussels sprouts with pork belly
I was really glad we decided to give Xiao Loong a try, as I am apprehensive about going places without reservations, but it was much more delicious than your standard Chinese takeaway. I can see why people in the area were coming here to get theirs! If I ever find myself back in the area, I’m sure it will be a place I will want to return and try out some of the other fantastic sounding things on the menu!
Score: 4.5/5
Recommendation: Dumplings!
Xiao Loong
250 West Portal Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94127
