3751 Geary Blvd, San Francisco CA 94118(415) 668-1588
Parking: street parking
Hours: Tues-Thurs, Sunday 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm; Fri-Sat 11am-3pm, 5pm-9:30pm; Closed Mondays
Last Visited: December 31, 2019
Food: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
Wei Guo House has been open for about a month now. With a limited menu of double-boiled soups, dim sum and appetizers, clay pot rice, porridge and rice noodles, the selection may seem a bit small, but of the choices available, the food is reminiscent of good home cooking and comfort food. Note that if there is tape on the Chinese portion of the menu, it's not available.
The decor is pretty simple - brightly lit, a counter for ordering take out with a view to the kitchen, and a very open layout that is visible to the outside. It's a cafe-style setting - very simple with some booth seating new the windows.
Pricing is moderate, but clay pot rice and double-boiled soups have always been seemingly a bit more expensive because of the expertise it takes to get a perfect crust on the rice in the clay pot and double-boiled soup just takes time to cook.
- Double-boiled watercress with duck kidney soup - Unlike most soup that you order at a Chinese restaurant which is cooked to order and boiled in a wok, this is is cooked in a tiny crock that easily serves two if you're using small bowls. A single person could easily drink a whole one too. A serving of watercress, a few spareribs, and a single thick slice of duck kidney are cooked together over many hours in a double boiler. The flavors of the ingredients have melded together and the broth is hot, but not so hot as to burn your mouth. If you grew up drinking this type of soup, this will remind you of what mom or grandma used to make. Solid. $6.99
- Seaweed siu mai (4 pieces) - While the pork siu mai inside the seaweed is much like any other siu mai, the unique thing about these is the seaweed wrapper. The seaweed flavor is strong, but not overpowering - a nice briny taste that I would recommend if you enjoy eating seaweed. Good. $5.99
- Pork spareribs and preserved meat clay pot rice - A good-sized clay pot is filled with rice and pork spareribs, ginger strips, Chinese sausage, and preserved pork belly top the rice. Green onions top the meat. Clay pot rice typically takes a while to make, and it was no different here. The rice was cooked through and the spareribs had been marinated until tender. Soy sauce mixed with seasoned oil is available at the table for you to mix with your rice. While it looks like sometimes the rice is cooked to a perfect crust so that you can scrape it from the pot, I didn't find that crust at the bottom of our rice. It was still tasty, but that's what prevented a rating of five stars. This is a great dish for a cold night. $13.99
- Singapore Style Rice Noodles - Since we were still hungry after the first three dishes, we added this one. Singapore Style rice noodles is flavored with curry and contains strips of barbecued pork, bell peppers, onions, and egg. It's rare to find al dente rice noodles, but these were perfect. The noodles had just the right consistency and the dish had 'wok air' - perfectly hot in temperature. We were impressed by how well done this dish was made and of all of the dishes, this is the one I would recommend the most. It's also a great deal since the serving size is large. $10.99The chef/owner came by after our meal to see if we liked the food, and he seemed to do this with all of the customers.
Overall, the food is good and if you don't have time to make Cantonese-style soup at home, this is a more than acceptable option. While I wouldn't mind going back because the food here is solid, there's just a lot of competition in the area, so I would more likely check out other places before returning. If you're going to go, get the Singapore style rice noodles.
