Yank Sing

I have certain traditions with some of my friends: Pizza, fried chicken, boozy brunch, and dim sum. One of the things I was told was mandatory on a visit from one of them was to find a place for dim sum. Well I knew of a place. I also knew it was quite expensive. However, as you may have read in previous blogs, I find my time quite precious. And since I only knew of one dim sum place that took bookings (though expensive), it meant a late morning lie-in and arriving just in time to get seated. It also didn’t hurt that it’s quite close to home. It definitely seemed like a win for me, so Yank Sing was the choice.

Sui Mai

Soup dumplings

After we sat down, we started accumulating a good selection of dishes. Yank Sing does a trolley service which is apparently becoming less common, as my friend pointed out to me. (Most places we went to in London don’t do trolley service, I think there may have only been one.) The downside to the trolley is that it’s very difficult to not just start grabbing a bunch of dishes. Since Yank Sing is known for it’s soup dumplings (and my friend is a huge fan), we had to get an order. We also grabbed some sui mai dumplings and some prawn dumplings. At one point, I may have been too into eating to get photos of all the delicious dim sum we devoured. The soup dumplings here really are very good. In fact, pretty much all the dumplings we had were top notch.

Fried Taro Dumplings

Onion Pancake

I was intrigued by these round doughnut looking things that turned out to be their way of making onion pancakes (we were both used to the flat ones, and it turns out we prefer them that way). As everyone was a huge fan of the fried taro dumplings, we had to get an order. They were light, crispy and flaky on the outside and the inside was absolutely delicious. So delicious, we decided another order was absolutely necessary.

Scallop Skewers

Char Siu Buns

Potstickers

Other things we tried were the potstickers, char sui buns, scallop skewers, turnip cake and a duck bun. Most of these were absolutely fantastic. I have had better char sui buns, but these were definitely tasty. The scallop skewers are a must if you go, as they were really amazing. I’m a huge fan of turnip cake, and Yank Sing did a great job with it. The duck bun was nice, but after being in the UK where everywhere has duck pancakes, it just felt like a cheap imitation in comparison.

Turnip Cake

Duck bun

We finally had to get dessert. I’m a sucker for the lotus seed sesame balls, so we had to get them. I also can’t get dim sum without getting egg custard tarts. The sesame balls were fantastic, I think I ate a bit more than my fair share. The tarts were also top notch, with a really flaky crust and a sweet, not very eggy interior. I think they may have been a tad on the sweet side, but I definitely thing it’s better to have them too sweet than to taste like sweet scrambled eggs.

The service is a bit tricky here, as they do really want you to get everything right away and get out. I prefer a more leisurely dim sum experience, so sometimes we would take a break from ordering and enjoy what we had. It got a bit difficult to get them to stop after that, but if you’re persistent, you can do it! Also, they do have a menu on the table, and it’s a good idea to check it. The table next to us had a bit of a shock when they got their bill as some of the dishes are quite expensive. I mean, they are tasty, but you definitely can cut out some of the ridiculously expensive ones for some of the cheaper dishes. I usually focus on the dumplings (the soup dumplings can be pricey, but the others are a bit more reasonable).

Lotus seed sesame balls

Egg custard tarts

I’m sure there is probably one or two more things that we ordered and scarfed down before I even contemplated taking a photo of them. I guess that says something when you really just want to eat things before you think about the photography. (You’ll be pleased to know that sometimes I do in fact put the camera away during a meal and just enjoy it!) I’m a huge fan of Yank Sing. I imagine there are probably better and/or cheaper places in the city to get my dim sum and dumpling fix. However, as I really hate waiting, I appreciate the fact that I can just go right in with a booking. And the food is still REALLY good, even if it’s on the pricey side. (Even my friend from Hong Kong agrees!) I’m sure I’ll be back again and again to enjoy. Unless someone wants to point me in the right direction for something better. Feel free to do so in the comments!

Food: ★★★★☆
Service: ★★★☆☆
Atmosphere: ★★★★☆
Value: ★★☆☆☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

Yank Sing
49 Stevenson St
San Francisco, CA 94105