As a part of documenting my experience in California, I’m going to start sharing my experiences with food here. I’ve asked my friends to recommend some of their best eats for cheaps… so this is going to be fun.
Today, I went to San Tung, a Chinese restaurant that is known for its fried chicken wings. Easily accessible from the Muni, and there seems to be plenty of parking in the neighborhood. Patrick and I arrived around noon, and there was a short line outside. I’d say the wait was approximately 20 minutes. As soon as you walked in, you pretty much saw everyone with a plate of chicken wings. While this restaurant served other dishes, it was apparent that wings were their *thing*.
So we ordered some wings and tried out a dish of steamed dumplings. The wings were pretty good—deep fried wings with a blend of sugary, salty, and peppery sauce. There were seasoned well, though a little on the sugary side. The balance, however, was right. The skin was crispy, and wasn’t over battered. When you compare the wings at San Tung to Bon Chon’s, I’d say that you could easily eat more wings at San Tung. For some reason, Bon Chon’s wings are so heavily battered, that the average person can probably only eat 6 wings before tapping out.
The steam dumplings were pretty good. I’d say the dumplings probably needed to *be* served with a nice vinegar sauce to really elevate the flavor. Nonetheless, it was decent.
Overall price was about $10-12 per person, and it was satisfying. I’d say that the one thing you shouldn’t do is order too much. The wings don’t look like they would reheat well compared to Bon Chons’ wings.
My only criticism of their wings is that once you get to the bottom of the plate, there is an excess of sauce, which makes the last 3 or 4 wings really… well, saucy. Some may like this, but my last couple of bites were a little too rich.
Would I go back to San Tung? Sure. It’s pretty solid. Truthfully, it’s not the best wings I’ve ever had, but it hits the spot when I want something similar to a Bon Chon’s.
Here’s San Tung’s address:
1031 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
Inner Sunset
If you have any recommendations of cheap eats in SF, please leave them in the comments below. Thanks!