Authentic Cantonese eats, top of the list are noodle soups and congee.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michael Li
The flavors are truly excellent and authentic. However, the service attitude of the person in charge (not sure if it's the owner or the manager, sometimes sitting with friends eating and drinking, sometimes stepping up to handle the checks) stands in stark contrast to the quality of the food. With familiar customers, there are smiles and warm attentiveness; yet when new guests raise simple questions or offer feedback about the dishes, the first response is not open communication or sincere acceptance, but rather deflection—even sarcasm.
No matter how delicious or authentic the cuisine may be, such inconsistency in the treatment of customers will inevitably limit the growth of this small establishment. For those coming here drawn by the reputation of the food, be mindful that the hospitality may not match the flavors. And to the manager: some honest self-reflection is warranted—after all, can such an approach to hospitality truly help your business flourish?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 1
Wendel Tse
We had a party of 6, all visiting for the 1st time on Labor Day 2025. I was pleasantly impressed that the pork congee I ordered without century egg came with shredded pork, which I find almost no other restaurant in the Bay Area does anymore. Almost all restaurants make it with slices of pork, which to me has a slimey mouth feel and is not authentic. Unfortunately, that was all that our group agreed was good. The dry style beef chow fun that we ordered, a measure of good Cantonese restaurants, disappointed. There was no wok heh, char, that is the signature of great chow fun. What we got was reminiscent of mass produced noodles sitting at a warming table at a takeout counter. And DO NOT order the Hainanese chicken rice! It was the last of 7 dishes to arrive at the table. The chicken tasted days-old dry. The rice was crunchy. We probably won't be returning anytime soon.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Collin Tse
As a big fan of Chinese food, this one is definitely a big miss for me.
I also had to wait a LONG time for my Hainanese chicken and rice dish to be ready for me to eat for lunch today, and unfortunately, it wasn't that great.
Sorry.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Pamela 19
I used to enjoy coming to this restaurant — the owner and a male server were always friendly, and I often paid in cash and left generous tips, especially since they charge an extra 3% for credit card payments. But after what happened today, I will never be returning.
From the moment I sat down, the service was cold and unwelcoming. I came alone and only wanted a light meal, so I ordered just one dish. A middle-aged female server with glasses immediately questioned me — “Only one dish?” — in a tone that felt judgmental and rude. It made me uncomfortable right away.
After I finished my food and paid, I noticed she was bringing orange slices to every other table — five or six in total — but completely skipped mine. I’ve always received oranges here in the past, so this felt like deliberate neglect. I waited a while, hoping she might at least check in, but no one even looked my way.
The most shocking part? As I was walking away outside the restaurant, this same server ran after me into the street, holding the tip tray, and grabbed my backpack to ask me for a tip. I was stunned. I explained politely that I didn’t receive any service — and mentioned the oranges — and she told me, “Not all customers get oranges. If you wanted them, you should’ve asked.” That’s ridiculous — I literally saw her serve oranges to every other table without being asked. If she wasn’t sure whether to give them, she should’ve asked me, not ignored me entirely.
By the way, I had initially left a 20% cash tip on the tray. But after receiving zero service and feeling disrespected, I took it back and left only the coins from my change. I think that was fair.
I’ve supported this place many times, but this experience was embarrassing, uncomfortable, and completely unacceptable. If you care about being treated with basic respect when you dine out, think twice before coming here.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Bill Lai
Great Hong Kong Style food and closed to the original Hing Lung in SF Chinatown. Attentive service as well!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
T Lee
I was traveling and was looking for a Chinese late night snack. That congee was mighty but a bit on the sweet side. The noodle dish is average or above average. That big fried dough not fresh so it’s all crunchy and hard.
I’m sure this place can cook up some nice dishes since I was traveling and won’t be back until my next trip to South San Francisco.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 3
mitoynoy b
The food is good but not great. There are some dishes that are good such as the congees, noodles. But the clay pot fish is not fresh.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Crispy Noodles, Chinese Donut, house special pan fried noodle 招牌煎麵, Combination Pan Fried Noodles, Chow Fun, 油條 H L Fried Bread, HK Style Beef Chow Fun, Shrimp Dumplings Noodles Soup, Chow Mein
Sam Ch
Good food. All 10 of us enjoyed it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Gina Jones
The food was cooked fresh and was delicious. Definitely going back to see if it was a fluke😀
While all the congees are good at Hing Lung Cafe in South SF, the pork liver congee truly stands out. It's a must-try dish that makes this cafe worth a visit!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
WowHo Q
I've been going to this restaurant name since 1980. They been struggling with the high cost of rent... Hope this will be there last time running around.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: 油条 H L Fried Bread, Shrimp Dumplings Noodles Soup
Jimmy Mui
This is the real original Hing Lung Cafe operated by the original owner, although the Chinese restaurant name has been changed recently (now 江記）. You don't get the original tastes from the Hing Lung imitators.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Valentine hongwatsu
前身為江記小館, 名為Cafe, 實為中餐館
Business hours are until 9:30PM, orders placed after 8:40PM will be required to be taken out. For those with Oriental faces who use credit cards to pay, there will be a special explanation that an additional 3% handling fee will be charged. In that case, cash was used for payment. The noodles in the meal were thin noodles and had a strong alkaline taste. We only ate wontons and couldn't finish the noodles.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Beck Chan
The pork ribs stir-fry was very greasy and the pork ribs were solid. Beef brisket rice rolls and the beef brisket is a bit hard. The above two types of meat are not enjoyable to eat? Porridge is perfect.
Authentic Cantonese eats, top of the list are noodle soups and congee.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
The flavors are truly excellent and authentic. However, the service attitude of the person in charge (not sure if it's the owner or the manager, sometimes sitting with friends eating and drinking, sometimes stepping up to handle the checks) stands in stark contrast to the quality of the food. With familiar customers, there are smiles and warm attentiveness; yet when new guests raise simple questions or offer feedback about the dishes, the first response is not open communication or sincere acceptance, but rather deflection—even sarcasm.
No matter how delicious or authentic the cuisine may be, such inconsistency in the treatment of customers will inevitably limit the growth of this small establishment. For those coming here drawn by the reputation of the food, be mindful that the hospitality may not match the flavors. And to the manager: some honest self-reflection is warranted—after all, can such an approach to hospitality truly help your business flourish?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 1
We had a party of 6, all visiting for the 1st time on Labor Day 2025. I was pleasantly impressed that the pork congee I ordered without century egg came with shredded pork, which I find almost no other restaurant in the Bay Area does anymore. Almost all restaurants make it with slices of pork, which to me has a slimey mouth feel and is not authentic. Unfortunately, that was all that our group agreed was good. The dry style beef chow fun that we ordered, a measure of good Cantonese restaurants, disappointed. There was no wok heh, char, that is the signature of great chow fun. What we got was reminiscent of mass produced noodles sitting at a warming table at a takeout counter. And DO NOT order the Hainanese chicken rice! It was the last of 7 dishes to arrive at the table. The chicken tasted days-old dry. The rice was crunchy. We probably won't be returning anytime soon.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
As a big fan of Chinese food, this one is definitely a big miss for me.
I also had to wait a LONG time for my Hainanese chicken and rice dish to be ready for me to eat for lunch today, and unfortunately, it wasn't that great.
Sorry.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
I used to enjoy coming to this restaurant — the owner and a male server were always friendly, and I often paid in cash and left generous tips, especially since they charge an extra 3% for credit card payments. But after what happened today, I will never be returning.
From the moment I sat down, the service was cold and unwelcoming. I came alone and only wanted a light meal, so I ordered just one dish. A middle-aged female server with glasses immediately questioned me — “Only one dish?” — in a tone that felt judgmental and rude. It made me uncomfortable right away.
After I finished my food and paid, I noticed she was bringing orange slices to every other table — five or six in total — but completely skipped mine. I’ve always received oranges here in the past, so this felt like deliberate neglect. I waited a while, hoping she might at least check in, but no one even looked my way.
The most shocking part? As I was walking away outside the restaurant, this same server ran after me into the street, holding the tip tray, and grabbed my backpack to ask me for a tip. I was stunned. I explained politely that I didn’t receive any service — and mentioned the oranges — and she told me, “Not all customers get oranges. If you wanted them, you should’ve asked.” That’s ridiculous — I literally saw her serve oranges to every other table without being asked. If she wasn’t sure whether to give them, she should’ve asked me, not ignored me entirely.
By the way, I had initially left a 20% cash tip on the tray. But after receiving zero service and feeling disrespected, I took it back and left only the coins from my change. I think that was fair.
I’ve supported this place many times, but this experience was embarrassing, uncomfortable, and completely unacceptable. If you care about being treated with basic respect when you dine out, think twice before coming here.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Great Hong Kong Style food and closed to the original Hing Lung in SF Chinatown. Attentive service as well!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
I was traveling and was looking for a Chinese late night snack. That congee was mighty but a bit on the sweet side. The noodle dish is average or above average. That big fried dough not fresh so it’s all crunchy and hard.
I’m sure this place can cook up some nice dishes since I was traveling and won’t be back until my next trip to South San Francisco.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 3
The food is good but not great. There are some dishes that are good such as the congees, noodles. But the clay pot fish is not fresh.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Crispy Noodles, Chinese Donut, house special pan fried noodle 招牌煎麵, Combination Pan Fried Noodles, Chow Fun, 油條 H L Fried Bread, HK Style Beef Chow Fun, Shrimp Dumplings Noodles Soup, Chow Mein
Good food. All 10 of us enjoyed it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The food was cooked fresh and was delicious. Definitely going back to see if it was a fluke😀
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Fried Rice
Restaurantji Recommends
While all the congees are good at Hing Lung Cafe in South SF, the pork liver congee truly stands out. It's a must-try dish that makes this cafe worth a visit!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
I've been going to this restaurant name since 1980. They been struggling with the high cost of rent... Hope this will be there last time running around.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: 油条 H L Fried Bread, Shrimp Dumplings Noodles Soup
This is the real original Hing Lung Cafe operated by the original owner, although the Chinese restaurant name has been changed recently (now 江記）. You don't get the original tastes from the Hing Lung imitators.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
前身為江記小館, 名為Cafe, 實為中餐館
Business hours are until 9:30PM, orders placed after 8:40PM will be required to be taken out.
For those with Oriental faces who use credit cards to pay, there will be a special explanation that an additional 3% handling fee will be charged. In that case, cash was used for payment.
The noodles in the meal were thin noodles and had a strong alkaline taste. We only ate wontons and couldn't finish the noodles.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
The pork ribs stir-fry was very greasy and the pork ribs were solid.
Beef brisket rice rolls and the beef brisket is a bit hard.
The above two types of meat are not enjoyable to eat?
Porridge is perfect.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
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