Formerly The Gourmet Noodle House in the Richmond District. The new Alley House Restaurant also offers a wide variety of noodles and other authentic shanghainese dishes. Although the new interior was just painted a boring white color and the atmosphere feels a little bit cold, however, The spicy won ton, cabbage, and the green onion noodles were delicious. It doesn't matter how good or bad a place looks, as long as the food is good, that's the most important
Ben G.
The food was good (not great), and the portions were big. BUT it took forever to our get our food and the service was terrible. It's a shame, because the owner seems like a really nice lady. They should simply hire another two people for the kitchen.
Beth K.
I agree with the other review, the food is good but not great. Decent Shanghai dumplings but it should be filled with more juicy soup. The boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili was a little too spicy. It's a good fish soup dish but the spiciness creeps up on you so there should be less chili. The glass noodles in the soup are nice and they could add a bit more noodles.
Cindy L.
Get the sour cabbage fish soup String beans So good Can't wait to go back to try the other stuff Only complaint I had is the wait, we waited 40 minutes until the first dish was served. Hope they are able to hire more people soon.
Liv M.
Our favorite Shanghainese restaurant in SF closed this week, so we found this place on Yelp and decided to try it out. Overall pretty good - especially the Shanghai noodles! The noodles were very fresh and there was lots of lean pork and Napa cabbage. The XLB were not the best (not very juicy), but still good. The owners were very also nice. I'm sure we'll be back.
Daniel S.
I've been eating pretty bougie lately and needed to check myself. In a search for a new one $ restaurant, I found this new Shanghainese place located in the Richmond district. Only pictures of some of the food were posted, and they looked decent, so I gave this place a try. The restaurant is located on a corner on Geary street and parking wasn't too bad. To start, we had the fried pork buns. The buns were nicely fried on the bottom and were pretty tasty. The spicy dumplings that we ordered were also good but not spicy at all. They do have some hot sauce on the side which I used to spice up the dishes. For our mains we shared the Shanghai pork chop noodle soup. This looked nothing like the picture at all. The pork was slightly dry but I liked how they battered it. The broth was light but the noodz were food. Lastly, we had the boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili. This was one of our favorites. If you like that picked veggie broth taste, you will like this. Alley House serves up home cookin azn food. The service was okay with only one server for the whole restaurant. It was pretty full for a weekday night. They also have a Happy Hour 10% off 5:30 - 7:30pm Tuesday - Thursday / Sunday as of 1/31.
Lu L.
When I first came here, I ordered sauteed shrimps, house special beef flank noodle soup, pan fried Shanghai pork bun, rice ball Sweet rice soup wine. I thought it was delicious. I had Shanghai style food here. I recommend it here.
Yiru S.
I am from Shanghai and Alley House is the most typical and delicious Shanghai restaurant in the whole Bay area. The price is also very low compare to other Chinese restaurants. Especially, they are on sale currently, because they just have opened for one week. I have to say this is a must-try Chinese restaurant in SF. I would recommend Shu-mai, Rice Balls sweet rice soup wine, Pan fried shanghai pork bun, Spicy roust beef, boiled beef in chili sauce, Shanxi traditional noodle soup!
Fred J.
Unfortunately I think we just ordered the wrong things. We had the "meat folder" (I think they meant a sandwich!) and noodle soup with vegetables. Neither was particularly flavorful. We also had some fried tofu from the appetizer section which was better...but really, it's tofu...fried. Also, the service was exceptionally slow for this kind of a restaurant. We waited over 30 min for our food, and there were only 6 other people in the restaurant in the middle of the afternoon.
Denny K M.
America is a melting pot but it is also a diffusor. It takes what is best with each corner of our vast World and makes it its own but at the same time, it also changes its original character so it becomes uniquely American. So it is with American Chinese cuisine. Alley House just started a few days ago and it is clear that it is run with heart and soul by a new immigrant family from China. You can tell right away that everything is authentic here. I went there today twice for take-up, had three dishes: Stir-Fired Shanghainese Noodles, Ma Po Tofu and Ko fū (烤麸). They are all very good, especially the Ma Po Tofu, among the best I ever have. I should know. I just came back from Chengdu a week ago. It tasted exactly as I remember. Very impressed. Better go now before it "adapts" to our American taste.
Formerly The Gourmet Noodle House in the Richmond District. The new Alley House Restaurant also offers a wide variety of noodles and other authentic shanghainese dishes. Although the new interior was just painted a boring white color and the atmosphere feels a little bit cold, however, The spicy won ton, cabbage, and the green onion noodles were delicious. It doesn't matter how good or bad a place looks, as long as the food is good, that's the most important
The food was good (not great), and the portions were big. BUT it took forever to our get our food and the service was terrible. It's a shame, because the owner seems like a really nice lady. They should simply hire another two people for the kitchen.
I agree with the other review, the food is good but not great. Decent Shanghai dumplings but it should be filled with more juicy soup. The boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili was a little too spicy. It's a good fish soup dish but the spiciness creeps up on you so there should be less chili. The glass noodles in the soup are nice and they could add a bit more noodles.
Get the sour cabbage fish soup String beans So good Can't wait to go back to try the other stuff Only complaint I had is the wait, we waited 40 minutes until the first dish was served. Hope they are able to hire more people soon.
Our favorite Shanghainese restaurant in SF closed this week, so we found this place on Yelp and decided to try it out. Overall pretty good - especially the Shanghai noodles! The noodles were very fresh and there was lots of lean pork and Napa cabbage. The XLB were not the best (not very juicy), but still good. The owners were very also nice. I'm sure we'll be back.
I've been eating pretty bougie lately and needed to check myself. In a search for a new one $ restaurant, I found this new Shanghainese place located in the Richmond district. Only pictures of some of the food were posted, and they looked decent, so I gave this place a try. The restaurant is located on a corner on Geary street and parking wasn't too bad. To start, we had the fried pork buns. The buns were nicely fried on the bottom and were pretty tasty. The spicy dumplings that we ordered were also good but not spicy at all. They do have some hot sauce on the side which I used to spice up the dishes. For our mains we shared the Shanghai pork chop noodle soup. This looked nothing like the picture at all. The pork was slightly dry but I liked how they battered it. The broth was light but the noodz were food. Lastly, we had the boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili. This was one of our favorites. If you like that picked veggie broth taste, you will like this. Alley House serves up home cookin azn food. The service was okay with only one server for the whole restaurant. It was pretty full for a weekday night. They also have a Happy Hour 10% off 5:30 - 7:30pm Tuesday - Thursday / Sunday as of 1/31.
When I first came here, I ordered sauteed shrimps, house special beef flank noodle soup, pan fried Shanghai pork bun, rice ball Sweet rice soup wine. I thought it was delicious. I had Shanghai style food here. I recommend it here.
I am from Shanghai and Alley House is the most typical and delicious Shanghai restaurant in the whole Bay area. The price is also very low compare to other Chinese restaurants. Especially, they are on sale currently, because they just have opened for one week. I have to say this is a must-try Chinese restaurant in SF. I would recommend Shu-mai, Rice Balls sweet rice soup wine, Pan fried shanghai pork bun, Spicy roust beef, boiled beef in chili sauce, Shanxi traditional noodle soup!
Unfortunately I think we just ordered the wrong things. We had the "meat folder" (I think they meant a sandwich!) and noodle soup with vegetables. Neither was particularly flavorful. We also had some fried tofu from the appetizer section which was better...but really, it's tofu...fried. Also, the service was exceptionally slow for this kind of a restaurant. We waited over 30 min for our food, and there were only 6 other people in the restaurant in the middle of the afternoon.
America is a melting pot but it is also a diffusor. It takes what is best with each corner of our vast World and makes it its own but at the same time, it also changes its original character so it becomes uniquely American. So it is with American Chinese cuisine. Alley House just started a few days ago and it is clear that it is run with heart and soul by a new immigrant family from China. You can tell right away that everything is authentic here. I went there today twice for take-up, had three dishes: Stir-Fired Shanghainese Noodles, Ma Po Tofu and Ko fū (烤麸). They are all very good, especially the Ma Po Tofu, among the best I ever have. I should know. I just came back from Chengdu a week ago. It tasted exactly as I remember. Very impressed. Better go now before it "adapts" to our American taste.
Restaurantji Recommends
The meat dumplings in spicy sauce are tasty. Not spicy but an interesting combination of hoisin and peanut sauces.
Fried beef with black pepper sauce and noodles was delicious. The beef was tender, and noodles were nice and savory.