341488 Fri Nov 10 02:38:27 -0800 2006 8 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2010441 I'm headed out for a month-long snack tour of Shanghai next week, and decided to tune up my xiao long bao taste receptors by hitting a couple of readily accessible places for XLB I hadn't tried before. Happy Cafe ("Xiao Chi Dian") in San Mateo was a happy find for me today, just the kind of hole-in-the-wall joint I love and always have high hopes for. My sole disappointment was that some of the Shanghai specialties like salty soymilk soup (yan doujiang) and scallion pancakes (congyou bing) are only available on weekends, so I contented myself with a steamer of XLB and a bowl of "small" wonton (xiao huntun)soup, which was satisfying if a bit salty. It's a sure sign of a Shanghainese kitchen when they offer both "xiao" wonton (a breakfast/brunch snack) and "da" (cai rou huntun) wonton, a meal in itself. The xiaolong bao were excellent, perhaps a tad oversized, with a broth slightly lacking in sharpness, but sporting wrappers as delicate as I've seen in the Bay Area. They are freshly made in house, according to the Shanghainese waitress. I've now got them as one of the three brightest stars in the Bay Area XLB firmament, along with Shanghai (Oakland) and Shanghai Dumpling King (SF). The restaurant, which has a maximum capacity of 25, was brim full at 1:00. The somewhat larger and more spiffy Shanghai Dumpling Shop (no more "Candlelight" references in evidence) in Millbrae was also a-buzz with activity and filled to capacity on Tuesday of last week. This restaurant is the sister restaurant of Shanghai Dumpling King (nee Shanghai Dumpling Shop) in San Francisco; from what I've heard, it's run by the wife of the SF establishment's operator. The XLB at the Millbrae venue, however don't quite measure up to the hubby's, being overly large, thick-skinned and somewhat on the bland side. Millbrae SDS puts out an excellent salty doujiang, however, as good as any in the Bay Area that I've tried, except perhaps for Old Shanghai's version. The shengjian bao which I also ordered (masochist that I am) were pretty but unremarkable. Happy Cafe Restaurant 250 S B St San Mateo, CA 94401 (650) 340-7138 Shanghai Dumpling Shop 455 Broadway Avenue Millbrae, CA 94030 (650) 697-0682 Fri Nov 10 02:38:27 -0800 2006 10255 Gary Soup 1 2010612 Everybody who goes to Happy Cafe orders the XLB, but for me they were slight misses past few times. The soup/broth were a bit bland and I still preferred the ones at Shanghai East. And these times were during Wednesday dinners (3 to 4 times too, 3 of time 3 weeks in a row). This hole in the wall's true gems are still on the Chinese only white board specials menu apparently offered only during Wed at dinner, that changes weekly, truly authentic homey comfort food Shanghainese xiao-che/small plates, like the oil fried soy marinated bamboo shoots (yoh mun xwun) (phonetic). I forgot what else I ate but a majority were winners. Last year the owners of Ming's Palo Alto were there (two weeks in a row too) having dinner as well (and also ordering off the white board only) + XLB. Fri Nov 10 04:24:46 -0800 2006 2010441 12872 K K 2 2010731 I guess I have been lucky but I have never a bad rack of xlb's but my all time favorite at Happy Cafe is the House Chicken, there verison of dunken chicken (not a lot of wine but lots of favor. We too like the white board. Fri Nov 10 05:56:31 -0800 2006 2010612 10686 yimster 1 2010780 I have recently returned from Din Tai Fung in LA; (can't compare to Taiwan nor Japan, and I heard Korea is doing well). I was a bit disappointed with the flavor and presentation this time, the flavor was a tad on the bland side, the folds and closure of the dumplings did not appear to be as nicely wrapped as I was use to seeing. I talked to Mr. Yang, and shared my comments with him, he said things were the same, but I can tell from the glass window that new apprentices were learning the ropes of how to correctly wrap a xiao long bao! Quiet surprisingly, I took clients to dim sum at Yank Sing not long ago(49 stevenson st, SF), and it was packed as usual, we got seated rather quickly, and started to order pretty much what came our way. I noticed one cart with xiao long bao; it was probably the best XLB I eaten in SF bayarea, considering it had been pushed around under the steam cart for sometime, I still would rate it at a close second to DTF, the dough was soft and elastic and retained the broth well, and very tasty. I was reminded by the push-cart lady if I would like to pre-order from the kithchen next time, she promised me that it would taste much better. It was probably the most expenisve xlb's I had, around $9.00 for 4 pieces. (It equates to $2.25 each piece, compared to DTF's $0.70.) http://static.flickr.com/34/96205018_85e4e54bf8.jpg http://static.flickr.com/19/96205539_653aa05f1b.jpg Fri Nov 10 06:54:23 -0800 2006 2010441 14138 Rina 2 2010787 I've had Yank Sing's xiao long bao (made with Kurobuta pork) at a special dinner banquet http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/39851#190075 and wondered if they could be as good at lunch time from a steam cart. Sounds like it . . . cool. Fri Nov 10 07:04:22 -0800 2006 2010780 10039 Melanie Wong 3 2043168 I got them on the lunchtime steam cart and they were awesome but yes definitely much more expensive than any other xlb i've ever had. Thu Nov 23 02:13:40 -0800 2006 2010787 10246 choctastic 4 2043309 I too recently order xlb at YS for dim sum. The wrapper was thin and the soup was plenty. The only minus was the filling, not much of it. Thu Nov 23 04:02:56 -0800 2006 2043168 12251 theSauce 1 2043457 YS continues to be my fav XLB place. I love all the soup that they get into the dumplings, with such thin elastic wrappers... I do wish they had more filling inside, though. I think they were 6 or 8 XLB for $9, not 4 for $9, but that's still a bit on the expensive side. Thu Nov 23 06:37:35 -0800 2006 2010441 44802 biotech bob 2 2044293 i remember getting only like 4 or 5 for $9 and thinking wth? Fri Nov 24 01:21:50 -0800 2006 2043457 10246 choctastic