Mission Chinese Food at Lung Shan Restaurant, San Francisco

I arrived 10.55 for 11.30 lunch opening and got my name second on the list. By 11.25 the list was 16 deep which the restaurant swallowed comfortably. Before any orders were taken the place was about 2/3 full - not bad for a place with 60 covers before noon has even struck.

There's a lot of debate about this place on the Internet, especially on chow hound. Despite having travelled a fair bit in Asia, notably Taiwan, I don't consider myself any kind of expert on Chinese food, however it's clear the guys at MCF aren't trying for authentic dishes but rather a kind of fusion along the lines of California cuisine but using Asian dishes as the base rather than European ones.

I could smell the thrice cooked bacon before it was set down in front of me. Fragrant and tasty this was my favourite of the three dishes I tried. It was also the only one I finished. Portions are substantial for anything numbered 11 or up. Don't be fooled by the prices!

Next to arrive was hainam chicken rice. If I had to guess this dish is basically rice cooked in chicken stock with a little fried chicken and cucumber added after. I ordered it mostly because I'd read a lot of debate about its quality online. I liked it, but it's a side dish which I guess the $7 price implied.

Definitely not a side is the mapu dofu - indeed I'd say this dish, which comes with rice to serve over, could serve two
if they'd had breakfast (luckily I hadn't but I still only took the top inch off the bowl). It's hot - one of the hottest dishes I've had in a restaurant in a while. Allowing that it's also quite nice with firm tofu swimming in a meaty ragu with fiery Chili.

Overall I'd say this place is sort of an analogue to the street cafes you find in Hong Kong. Cheap, fast (I was in and out in 45 minutes) and fairly tasty. It's had a mission hipster make over with Christmas tree lights on the walls and paper dragons and lanterns hanging from the ceiling but it's essentially steer food for a city that doesn't really have any.

They are Recommended in the 2012 Michelin guide. And here too, so long as you don't expect every dish to be of the same high quality: two out of three ain't bad.