Whether slurped down during a hungover dim sum expedition, demolished after an afternoon run, or eaten as part of an elaborate multi-course meal, Chinese dumplings are some of the best comfort foods around.
San Francisco and the East Bay both boast quality Chinese destinations, many of them slinging their own variations on xiao long bao, shu mai, and a plethora of other dough-rapped delicacies, the simplest (and often most satisfying) of which are shuijiao, or boiled dumplings. With little oil or broth to get in the way of the supple wrapper and flavorful filling, these slippery, starchy treats are a fine way to establish a restaurant's dumpling finesse. In order to find the best in the Bay, we dropped into two perennial favorites: S.F.'s Kingdom of Dumpling and Oakland's Shan Dong.
See also:
Who Makes the Better Bread: S.F's Tartine Bakery or Berkeley's Morell's Bread?
Who Makes a Better Burger: S.F.'s Super Duper Burger or Oakland's True Burger?
Who Makes a Better Burrito: S.F.'s Taqueria Cancun or the East Bay's La Mission?
Our annual Best Of San Francisco issue dropped today, and with it more than 50 blurbs on our favorite aspects of food and drink in the city. This year's theme was Boomtown, which gave us a lot of room to explore S.F.'s classics as well as its newest achievements.
So we sing the praises of both the Wes Burger pop-up and the "hamburger sandwich" at Original Joe's; the sleek rooftop deck at El Techo de Lolinda and the chill back patio at Zeitgeist; the beautiful viennoiserie at B. Patisserie and the more rustic creations at Tartine; the high-tech charms of Local Mission Market and the decidedly low-key ones of Lucca Deli; the weird and wonderful brews at Mikkeller and the weird and wonderful brews at Toronado; the crust on the PizzaHacker pies and the late-night convenience of Marcello's.
Firestone Walker is a unique force in the brewing industry. Everyday beer drinkers know it as purveyor of perfectly balanced British-inspired beers such as Double Barrel Ale. Hopheads assume the brewery's most known for excellent pale ales (Pale 31), prototypical IPAs (Union Jack), or big Double IPAs (Double Jack). Sour geeks follow the wild, adventurous beers at its Barrelworks Facility, and boozehounds know it as handily one of the best brewers of spirits barrel-aged beers in the world. Whatever facet of the brewing powerhouse most tickles your fancy, it's hard to deny that when brewer Matt Brynildson puts his mind to mastering a beer style, he's typically successful.
See also: Beer of the Week: Cellarmaker's Taco-Inspired IPA
