Hing Lung

San Francisco, CA

My cousin hosted a going away dinner for my aunts and uncle from New York and Vancouver on Tuesday night. A simple, not-fancy, decent grub kind of affair, not a show-off dealio. He selected his usual place - New Hing Lung on Noriega in the Sunset. I've been to this restaurant for dim sum (okay) and dinner (okay) - decent neighborhood Cantonese place with decent prices. Funny, I hadn't realized how much his family visits this restaurants until I heard the manager familiarly refer to his family as the "squab-eating family." LOL...XD. His two sons really LOVE squab.

My cousin had pre-ordered the menu so we could be eating almost as soon as we were seated. Fourteen of us were seated pretty comfortably around one very large table. We started out with a "laang poon" or cold appetizer platter. Slices of tender beef, pork "bologna" slices with that ring of fat/tendon/gelatin-stuff, and tofu skin accompanied the pickled daikon and carrots and long strands of sesame-oil coated jellyfish. The platter of squab followed as soon as the cold platter had been dropped off at our table.



Sorry for the lack of the photo clarity on the photos. The lazy susan was going round and round and I didn't want to use flash. I was only able to capture my plate of food since everyone had dug into the appetizer already. That beautiful flower was made from dyed, extra-thin slices of daikon and held together by toothpicks. The daikon and carrots were nicely sweet, tangy, and crunchy. The pork loaf was the generic store-bought stuff which was okay but had that bleh super-processed taste. The beef muscle (?) slices had nice pieces of tooth-bouncy tendon distributed throughout the meat, lending a nice textural contrast I like about this meat. The jellyfish was a bit oily for my taste and rather mild with the seasonings. I like my jellyfish strands with more heat and a bit more snap. I liked the "fu pei guern" or tofu-skin roll quite a bit. I must have gotten a plainer piece since others said the filling was overly salty.

The squabs were a fried a little too much for my taste, but still yielded tender breast meat and crunchy bones. My method:
1) Rip off drumsticks and thighs. Set aside.
2) Rips off wings. Set aside.
3) Remove breast meat into two even sections with skin intact. Set aside.
4) Pick carcass clean of meat.
5) Crunch on wings if crispy enough. If not, daintily remove remaining meat from wings with teeth.
6) Eat the smaller or less tasty looking breast.
7) Eat the remaning breast.
8) Eat the smaller or less tasty looking drumstick.
9) Savor the best morsel for last: the better looking or meatier drumstick.

I'm a dark meat gal. And a drumstick gal. ^^ I can see why my cousin's kids come here for the squab - really nice crispy skin.



Walnut prawns were the next dish to be served. The thin and sweet mayonnaise glaze gently enrobed the expertly fried shrimp. The candied walnuts were tasty, but the restaurant could have been more generous with the nuts - there were probably about 10 whole walnuts on the platter. Though the serving was not as crazy large as at Tai Wu/Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant, I thought this was an appropriately sized portion.

Following the shark's fin soup (decent rendition) was the scallops with broccoli.


Snowy scallops stir-fried with garlic, yellow chives, and carved carrots were served on a thick bed of perfectly tender-crisp broccoli. In addition to the usual carrot flowers and butterfly shapes, there were miniature lobster-shaped carrot slices! The tender scallops were covered in a slightly overstarched garlicky sauce which detracted from the dish. Sadness. I do like when restaurants don't overcook their broccoli though.


Next up was the Peking Duck. The buns were fresh and fluffy, but rather greasy. I was not fond of the preparation of the duck - the skin was not separated from the duck and the pieces of skin were cut unevenly. The duck was too dry, but the skin remained rather crispy.


The abalone, mushroom, and mustard green dish was next. I had less of a problem with this dish as my cousin had made it clear that it did include mushrooms. Though executed as well as Tai Wu, I preferred Tai Wu's version as the mustard greens were smaller and sweeter. Hing Lung's mustard greens were very sweet, but rather large and unwieldy to eat.


Now, the next dish was easily my favorite of the night (and a must-order): crispy-fried whole chicken with toasted garlic. Similar to the banquet staple of crispy-fried chicken (za zee gai) with shrimp chips, this version was covered with a handful of toasted garlic. The breast stayed unbelievably moist (salt injected?) and juicy. Each skin-shattering bite gives into sweet, succulent chicken balanced with the toasty, pungent garlic. Very very delicious...

Twin lobsters stir-fried in an onion, ginger, and garlic sauce were the next course.


Not the clearest of pictures (don't mind the ghosty hand), but the lobsters were a teensy bit overcooked. I'm always happy to eat this dish with family as I am not so embarrassed to use my hands, crack every single piece of shell with my teeth, and suck juices out of the shell. Generally, very tasty.


Whole steamed fish was course number 10. I love whole steamed fish with aromatics and light soy sauce. The flesh was sweet and tender, though I prefer it a bit less cooked for maximum tenderness.

Now usually, I think banquets tend to conclude with some sort of fried rice or noodles, but noooo, my cousin had MORE entrees in store. O_o (I was stuffed at this point.) Salt and pepper fried shrimp and sweet and sour spareribs.



I can't comment too much about these two dishes as I did not taste them. The spareribs did have that cloying sweet smell though. Yuck. We concluded the meal with a bowl of sweet tapioca and taro soup.

I have to give props to the manager as he made sure the dishes came out at a leisurely pace, unlike so many other Chinese restaurants as this is not a fine point. He also kindly provided us with a 32 oz+ styrofoam container of extra sweet soup for my grandma! That was very very kind and generous of him - we had simply asked for a styrofoam coffee cup and a lid for one serving of leftover soup. That alone gives a huge thumbs up to the care of this restaurant.

To be honest, though the food was not presented as beautifully or faux upscale as Tai Wu, I enjoyed this more basic meal much more than the Tai Wu meal a few weeks back. Less pretension, decently decorated surroundings, kind manager = more enjoyment. I thought the food was as good if not more tasty than at Tai Wu, though the latter restaurant has the edge in Walnut Prawns.