Rong's - Chinese/Jiangnan, San Francisco

3420 Balboa St, San Francisco CA 94121

San Francisco CA 94121

(415) 702-9918

Parking: street parking

Hours:  Tues-Sat 11am-2:30pm, 5pm -8:30pm; Sun 11:30am-2:30pm,  4:30pm-8:30pm

https://www.rongssf.com/

Last Visited: June 15, 2022

Food: 3 to 4 stars

Atmosphere: 3 stars

Service: 3 stars

Price: $$

Rong's opened during the pandemic, and it would be easy to walk by this place without taking notice of it. The decor is modern, sort of like it used to be a Japanese restaurant maybe because of the wood and the curtains. From the name, you can tell it's likely not owned by a Chinese-American...the food seems to confirm its authenticity.

It's a bit confusing to see their super simple menu offers Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, and housemade tea, as in fruit tea and milk tea.  Their menu also mentions 'Tea O'clock.'   The menu also offers a small variety of snacks, like curry fish balls, seasonal fruit in sugar coating, and deep-fried buns with condensed milk.  So is it a snack/tea shop or is it a restaurant?  If you aren't confused yet, you'll see the menu is sorted by protein, carbs, soup, vegetarian dishes, and vegetables with meat - not your typical arrangement.

When we came in at 5pm, there wasn't anyone there.  We ordered a few dishes, but one of the most popular dishes, a house special chicken, wasn't available.  Nevertheless, we proceeded and the server was happy to answer questions we had.

- Dry-Fried French Beans with Minced Pork - Good wok air, slightly spicy, very fresh.  This is a solid dish and if you like a hint of spice, it's perfect. If you want it
more spicy, you can probably ask for it.  A touch of sweetness balances out the flavor. Some of the meat is a bit fatty, but still acceptable.  $15.99

- Homemade Pan-Fried Flat Noodle (20 min) - This was a pleasant surprise.  If you like rice noodles that have been pan fried, the kind where it's cut like a pie and placed on top of meat and vegetables to display the beautiful browning, this might fit your tastes well.  Also, if you like eating sweet rice cakes (Korean or Chinese style), these flat noodles have the same level of chew, without the stickiness/glutinous part.  Rice fun (also known as ho fun) are browned as a cake until the two sides are crispy.  Then, it's cut into strips and the fresh chicken thigh chunks and cauliflower stir fry in a bit of gravy covers the top.  I would recommend trying this dish - it's unique and comes with a lot of cauliflower.  For this price, I'm glad they included a lot of meat.  $18.99

- Vegetable Fried Rice with Salted Meat - This dish was less of a value compared to the others since the quantity was smaller, but the rice is stir fried well and the salted meat is of a decent quality.  Sometimes, you get preserved meat that has off texture, but this was just fine.  Snow cabbage is diced fine and offers a good texture contrast with its slight crunch.  Good.   $15.99

The good: Each dish contains a large amount (or relatively large amount) of fresh vegetables.  The taste of most dishes aren't too heavy - it's reminiscent of home cooking and not overly greasy. There is good wok air in each dish. Also, the server is really nice.  She checks to see if you have allergies (unusual for a Chinese restaurant) and frequently comes to refill your water. 

The bad: You can't use the bathroom here.  Apparently, customers aren't allowed to go to through the kitchen to reach the bathroom, so you need to go to the coffee shop next door.  I don't know how to explain this one.  Order times are long.  There weren't to go orders, and there weren't other tables filled with diners.  We were the only ones there the entire time.  We just had to wait at least 15 minutes for the first dish and even longer for the others, not counting the one where the menu indicated a 20 minute wait.

I'll note that I would go back to Rong's, but only if I were in the neighborhood and not in a hurry to use a restroom.  It's not a destination, but solid, almost like home cooking.