1701 Noriega St, San Francisco CA 94122
(415) 566-2203
Parking: street parking
Last Visited: October 14, 2017
Food: 2 stars
Atmosphere: 1 to 2 stars
Service: 1 to 2 stars
Price: $
My uncle said that Menkee was worth going back to, but oh, where to begin? Enter the restaurant and it's not particularly impressive. The tables are sticky. You won't get greeted. The paper postings of specialty menu items taped to the walls are all a bit ragged. What seems out of place is the colorful golden yellow set menus that are on stands with USB outlets. I didn't bother to see if they were working.
When the menu did arrive, it was almost shocking how inexpensive dishes are, but note that the place is cash only. Given that the prices are so low, the descriptions of dishes should be taken with a grain of salt - more on that later.
- Ong choy with Bean Curd - At first, this seemed like the best deal ever. The vegetables are fresh, but then it was noticeable how much ong choy stalks were present - these were too tough to chew, but the overall flavor of the dish was good. Then I found the hair in my food. Ugh. There was no way it was my hair - it was too intertwined into the veggies to be mine. $7
- Stuffed Fried Tofu - It turned out that this was the best dish of the evening. Six blocks of tofu were stuffed with fish paste, deep fried, and topped with a bean sauce. However, the quantity of fish paste is so minuscule that in some cases, I've had more peanut butter spread on a PB&J sandwich than the thickness of the fish paste here. It would have been better to charge the same amount and not stuff the tofu. Good crunch on the outside. No foreign objects found. $3.25
- Pan-Fried Oyster Pancake - Classic chiu chow style restaurants always has this dish on the menu. This was like a patty of dough with some minuscule pieces of oysters and some cilantro sprinkled in it. The outer edge is crispy and golden. The inside is a little too moist and doughy - not what I was expecting and not particularly tasty once you eat all of the edges. $7
- Chiu Chow Style Beef over Rice - As this was one of the items on the set menu special, I thought it would be worth trying. It's essentially strips of beef, green bell peppers, and onions that are stir fried with some chili pepper flakes. Although the beef was okay, the rice was lukewarm - likely left over from lunch. The rice was barely even warm when it arrived at our table and was likely microwaved. $5
It looks like it's a family owned restaurant and the family members are working in all roles from the kitchen to the server, but unfortunately, the server was never cracked a smile and was far from attentive. Don't even get me started on the restroom - while it was likely clean, it needed a huge face lift. The stains were quite disturbing - avoid it if you can.
If you must go, I suggest take out.
440 San Mateo Ave, Suite N1, San Bruno CA 94066 
- Mango Sago - Fresh mango slush, sago, and coconut milk - This tall drink certainly had all of the ingredients listed, but the mango slush was only at the top and had not been thoroughly incorporated throughout the drink. It's not put in a cup that allows you to turn it upside down, but even stirring didn't help that much. The flavor is concentrated in the mango slush only. In general, the coconut flavor was also present, but not intense enough. $5.75
