i-Skewers

Got an Amazon Local $ 30 deal. Went there for dinner w/​a friend. Food was o.k. Service was pretty good. Ordered the pineapple fried rice, steamed dumplings.

This place is officially closed since July 21, 2014. Would have been nice if I knew that before I bought the voucher. If anyone knows how to get a refund please let me know.

Sadness… Came by today to try this place out only to see a sign posted on front door that says (both in English and Chinese), business is closed as of ⁷⁄₂₁ due to slow business.
Had a Unilocal voucher that I need to get refunded now! Darn :(

Who doesn’t love dumplings? And noodles? And skewers? And noodle soup?
This place opened near our house on 29^th and Judah. I love Kingdom of Noodle on 18^th and Irving, and was feeling so guilty for finding another dumpling spot until I read on Unilocal this is a sister restaurant!
Prices are affordable, food is just as good, and they have skewers! Our favorites? Shanghai soup dumplings ($ 4.95), lamb dumplings ($ 7.95), and their wok-​fried green beans. Tried their honey-​glazed sweet potato ($ 3.95) since there’s so many photos on Unilocal and it was just okay — texture was interesting and the flavor wasn’t overly sweet — not sure if I’d order again though.
Their hot sauce is also totally different than Kingdom of Noodle. It has cumin, peanut, sesame seeds, and is so delicious. I put it on everything.
I also love that this spot isn’t as crowded and the service is attentive. They’ve been running a number of introductory offers on Amazon Local and Unilocal so give them a try!

Looks like a homemade meal as soon as you come in with all the women making dumplings on the left side of the restaurant. Takes up a lot of tables, so you might have to wait! Unfortunately, tastes a little too much like a homemade meal… definitely on the bland side and no MSG. Not the tastiest, but pretty healthy, authentic Chinese food. And cheap!
Service is pretty good, considering it’s an authentic Chinese restaurant. Atmosphere isn’t noticeable; location is in a very residential area, so lucky for those who live around here and are too lazy to cook some Chinese food.

I saw the Unilocal deal, $ 15 for $ 30 worth, so I go this place a try. When I go inside, I was already skeptical because it looked dark and dirty.
it is a lunch time, We order Pork Dumpling with Cabbage and Shanghai Soup Dumpling, 12 steamed dumplings per order on a platter. Except the shanghai dumplings which were 7 in a basket. the dumpling’s skin too thick, I think their tastes aren’t bad. We order Garlic Chowmein, We order Garlic Chowmein, it is very bad, too salty. and other one is Crispy Seasame Pancake with Beef, It was just okay, the dough was not flaky enough, it was dense and chewy. Last order is Curry Fish Ball, the fish ball only 7 piece per order, but it has eggplant and more than fish ball, and the sauce tasty very sweet. each order $ 6.99, This place is a steal.
The staff here, speaking in Mandarin.
我去這個地方一試，因為我看到交易，使用$ 15具有30美元價值, 當我進去，我已經持懷疑態度，因為它看起來又黑又臟。
這是一個吃午飯的時候，我們點了豬肉白菜水餃和上海的小籠包, 水餃每個訂單12個包子，放在盤子裡。除了上海的小籠包在一個籃子分為7個, 餃子的皮太厚, 我覺得他們的口味都還不錯. 我們點大蒜炒麵，這是非常糟糕的，太鹹. 而另一種是燒餅夾肉, 這只是還好，麵團不夠酥，最後點了咖哩魚蛋，魚蛋每個訂單只有7個，但它的茄子多超過魚蛋，以及醬汁太甜. 每個訂單6.99美元, 沒有真正的價值.
這裡的工作人員, 講的是普通話.

Came here just by chance on a random weekend trip to SF and I was pleasantly surprised.
The service:
They were super friendly and prompt. Sometimes service at asian restaurants leaves more than just a little to be desired but for a small dumpling house they were great. I was surprised that she kept coming to wipe water off the table from the spilt tea.
The food:
The dumplings were delicious. I had a pork and vegetable one and it was by far my favorite dish of the three. I was craving soup dumplings (and missing Ding Tai Fung back in Seattle); they were ok here. The wrapping was a bit thick and flavor was not as savory as I had hoped. The wonton noodle soup had delicious wontons but was bland so we needed to add vinegar, soy sauce, and hot sauce.
Others:
It is right next to the Judah line you feel and hear the train every 15 minutes.
Overall, great little place for affordable dumplings.

Honey glazed deep fried sweet potatoes made me SO HAPPY! They were so deliciously crispy, yet soft in the center… a little bit sweet and a little bit savory. Heaven in my mouth.
Also, really liked the green onion pancakes, dumplings, skewers (of course), and the prices. Comfort food at its best.
I did get the free plate of chow mein through the Unilocal deal, and that was far from their best dishes. I wouldn’t have paid money for that, so good thing it was free. It was pretty bland and oily. Definitely keep to the dishes they’re known for and stay away from the chow mein.

With all the amazing Chinese restaurants all over San Francisco, there is absolutely no reason to come to this place unless you thoroughly enjoy horrible service. I thought I was saving time by ordering online so that the food would be ready when I got there for takeout. Even though there was only one customer in the restaurant they had not even started cooking my food. Also they argued with me that they would not accept my amazon local deal even though I had confirmed on the phone before coming in that I could use it for takeout.
Sounds similar to other complaints about Unilocal deal bait and switch tactics where they will sign up for any deal to get customers to come in only to deny honoring their promotions. Lesson learned.

It was lunch time, ok, late lunch and since we were in the area, we decide to use of Amazon Local voucher and check out I-​Skewers. We had no issues with parking as there were plenty of spaces right in front. At 3pm, there was one diner in the restaurant and some of the workers were eating their lunch. The waitress, who I think might be the manager/​owner, stated that we had our choice to any table.
Read from Unilocalers that the go-​to items were the dumplings and the noodles. They also had soup noodle/​dumpling dishes, grilled items/​skewers, pancakes, and fried rice/​noodles. We asked some items in mind and asked the waitress for recommendations. Given we were the only customer needing service, the food was our order was quickly brought out.
Pork and shrimp dumplings — a dozen to the order. The dumplings fillings consisted mainly of pork. Felt the dumpling skin was a little thick. (
)
Green onion pancakes — very thin pancakes, which I like. As with these type of pancake dishes, expect it to be a little oily. (
)
Bean sauce noodles — the bean sauce was well prepared. Nice flavor consisting of minced pork and diced preserved tofu and julienne slices of zucchini. The noodles are hand-​pulled noodles were thick with a chewy consistency, which is common for noodles that are hand-​pulled. (
)
Lamb skewers — four skewers of lamb with a side salad. Lamb was tender and cumin spiced. You might not enjoy it if you are not fond of cumin. (
)
Deep fried tofu — a good sized plate of deep fried tofu that were halved. It had a nice crispy exterior.
(
)
Overall, friendly and prompt (I hope so since we were the only customers) service with good food.

Other than the fact that they do NOT honor their Unilocal deals, their food did not meet the standards.
My friends and I were around the area and decided to stop by. We ordered:
–lamb and chicken skewers, which were so packed with cumin that both tasted the same.
–pineapple fried rice, nothing special.
–xiaolong bao, chives and corn dumplings, which were pretty good.
–fried honey yam; not impressed. They cut the yam slices too thick.
If you’re not gonna be that great, at least honor your Unilocal deal, it could’ve earned you an extra star!

We redeemed an Amazon Local offer. Purchased $ 15 for $ 30 food.
We stepped inside the restaurant. It seemed more like a storefront than a restaurant. To the left of the entrance is the work area where they’re busy making the buns and dumplings. And a separate prep area. Lots of chopping.
We sat at one of several tables. The three of us decided on one order each of shanghai dumplings, pork and shrimp dumplings, green onions pancakes, beef chow fun, chicken chow mein, and lamb dumplings. 12 steamed dumplings per order on a platter. Except the shanghai dumplings which were 7 in a basket. I’m not sure what was in the upright freezer in the main dining room but the server piled a bunch of frozen dumplings and took them into the kitchen to be steamed for us.
Beef chow fun had too much junk for my liking — carrots, celery, onions, bean sprouts, etc. and the beef was too dry. The chicken chow mein was very good. Piled high on a plate with tasty spaghetti like noodles.
As we were eating we were advised no more lamb dumplings. The server suggested Chinese spinach dumplings. Sure we said. Then wondered what Chinese spinach was. Tasted fine. Chopped greens with Chinese vermicelli. A lamb dumpling was tossed in by mistake. Too pungent. Good thing they ran out of lamb dumplings.
Even though it’s called I-​skewers, we didn’t order any. Just seemed odd.
Overall a pleasant lunch. We paid an additional $ 10.00 plus tax.

I give them 3.5 stars. I came because there was a Living Social deal, $ 15 for $ 30 and their previous Unilocal reviews were good. I got there, checked in on Unilocal and noticed a free chow mein for checking in. I showed the lady and she automatically yelled at me, NO!.. ok don’t need to be rude, no where does it say that if I purchase a deal I can’t get my free chow mein through checking in.
Now on to the food:
Shrimp, pork chives dumplings and XLB, both solid and tasty
Shrimp and fish balls clay pot dish– this tasted very clean in a clear broth with some vermicelli noodles vegetables and the balls were good
Beef Pancake– It was just ok, the dough was not flaky enough, it was dense and chewy
Spicy beef noodle soup– This was very good! Nice thick handmade noodles, yummy beef slices and soup was perfectly spicy.
Beef Skewers– Lots of flavor in the beef, yum
Garlic Chicken wings– This dish looked very good but it was not amazing. I don’t like the way they cut a wing into 3 pieces. Sauce was not amazing, just real sweet.
Overall their food is good but a bit pricey if I didn’t have the living social deal.

Pretty good. A bit greasy for some of the items, but overall pretty good.
We ordered take-​out for the following items:
— $ 3.95 Green Onion Pancake: since we ordered takeout, the pancakes were steaming in the box, so no longer crispy. we pan-​fried it, much much better.
— Beef Chowfun: greasy, too greasy, beef tasted like vinegar, is it supposed to be like that?
— $ 6.95 Mustard Greens with Pork Noodle Soup: the noodles were good, the soup was pretty good, healthy just like the way I like it.
— $ 5.95 Pork & Napa Cabbage Dumplings: Yummm, but it didn’t come with any sauce.
— $ 6.95 Garlic Green Beans: a bit greasy, but when is it never greasy?
Not sure why this place never has more than 1 table of people, it’s pretty good. I know they have other restaurants, I guess this is the main noodle/​dumpling production place considering they actually have space compared to their sister restaurants.

A slightly bizarre, yet tasty experience.
The name i-​skewer might be selling the place a bit short, since they also have lots of handmade noodle and dumpling dishes. It was obvious that pretty much everything was homemade, given that in one half of the restaurant 4 or so ladies were wrapping dumplings non-​stop. That in addition to the clutter, the dark atmosphere, and the fact that we were the only customers made me question whether we were in a restaurant or some other sort of operation.
Despite, my slight uneasiness, we were promptly attended and served.
The lamb skewers were cumin-​ey and flavorful.
Both the lamb and pork dumplings were very tasty.
The spicy beef soup with homemade noodles was great.
I don’t know if we went at a weird time (730pm on Tuesday?), but for the food alone I definitely recommend you give it a shot…

One of the workers said this place was Dongbei (northeast) cuisine. They have an army of older ladies making dumplings by hand, which is usually a good sign. Come here for tasty skewers (use the cumin-​chili sauce at each table with them!), dumplings, and awesome honeyed & lightly fried sweet potato slices, all at a low price! Note that a number of things on the grilled section don’t actually come on skewers like I’ve seen in other places, e.g. the chives. The order of grilled chives is huge; probably suitable for sharing with 4 at least. The tripe was seasoned with their dry cumin-​chili spice-​a very nice change of pace, and not overcooked.
Right now you get $ 5 off your next visit if you spend $ 35 or more. Avoid the free chicken chow mein with checkin; it’s pretty bland.

This place is awesome for the price, value, speed & service. Parking kinda sucks on weekends but you always end up finding a spot.
Originally, my family liked this place for the cheap and yummy dumplings (which are their main thing) and the green onion pancakes but I’ve fallen in love with their hotpot. It’s the northern style with spicy broth and lots of cumin. comes with a lot of ingredients and cooked perfectly! I’m not sure how else to describe it but it’s freakin’ awesome esp. if you like cumin. Great on a winter night.
I think my family tried almost every item here and I’ve loved each one.
Plus you get free noodles if you spend over $ 50 or something.

An okay choice for Northern Chinese/​Shanghainese food with an emphasis on homemade dumplings. The décor is simple and no-​frills, but still clean and tidy. Some of the food was under-​seasoned – even for the mild flavors of this region – but the quality was still better than other places I’ve been to.
Garlic String Beans: Not to be confused with garlic-​infused beans. These beans will not taste like garlic pods, but rather soy sauce-​stir-​fried string beans tossed with many cloves of garlic. A good choice for vegetarians who like LOTS of flavor (⁴⁄₅)
Soup Dumplings: The ubiquitous xiao long bao. Everything is homemade, as evidenced by the thicker, irregularly cut skins. The pork filling was tender and the broth was piping hot, but it was missing the ginger/​crab/​scallion combo of flavors that give XLB their reputation (²⁄₅)
Pork with Napa Dumplings: Solid and well-​made, with delicious, tender meat and soft, homemade skins. Unlike the XLBs, these were seasoned so well that they rendered the accompanying vinegared soy sauce unnecessary (⁵⁄₅)
Garlic Chicken Wings: Smothered in an incredible, thick, garlicky sauc– perfect for lovers of the stinking rose. The chicken however suffered from a bizarre cut that was NOT user-​friendly – the dish consisted only of wingettes, and each were cut into 2 – 3 pieces, making for many tiny pieces that were 80% bone. I’m not sure if this was an attempt by the restaurant to save money or just a strange chef’s choice, but it was frustrating for everyone at the table. If you can get past that, this is your dish (³⁄₅)
Pork and Mustard Greens Noodle Soup: My last meal on earth will include this dish, but it will NOT be made by i-​Skewers. Everything was cooked well – the meat was tender, the greens crisp, the long noodles al dente, but the broth was terribly under-​seasoned, lacking any pork or mustard green flavor (³⁄₅)
Mandarin speakers: 95% of the time when I’m at a Chinese restaurant with non-​Chinese speakers, they designate me the ordering person who chooses all the dishes and handles all communication with the staff. I usually get no say in the matter or am out-​voted by everyone else at the table. If this is your burden as well, you understand the frustration of being a Mandarin speaker in predominantly Cantonese SF. Not always an advantage, right? Well, like almost every other SF Chinese restaurant, the staff here are Cantonese. However, they all seem to be able to speak Mandarin pretty well. So rest assured that you can communicate with the staff here no matter which Chinese language you speak. Well, as long as it’s either Mandarin or Cantonese. If it’s any other Sinitic language, you’re screwed. :)

Sunset is fast being overrun by hipsters and they’re taking over the neighborhood restaurants! All of my favorite dumpling joints were once easy to drop into but the wait exceeds an hour in some places. Luckily, a newish place popped up on my radar that was only 2 blocks from my girlfriend’s place so we decided to walk over and check it out.
The first thing you’ll notice is the Chinese ladies in the windows making fresh dumplings. That’s the first giveaway that the dumplings here are legit. We decided to share the green onion pancakes, pork and cabbage dumplings, beef noodle soup, and yams. I loved every dish and there was a certain authenticity to them that is rare to find. My favorite was the green onion pancakes and dumplings and I’d probably order those every time!
Service was kind of spotty because the server was also a dumpling maker who was cranking them out in a corner. I have a feeling that this place has the same owner as Kingdom of Dumpling because they are so similar. I like this place better though. No parking woes, no lines, and no hipsters!
Food: ⁸⁄₁₀
Service: ⁵⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁶⁄₁₀

I love this place. I need to brush up on my mandarin though.
the ladies that work here and the owner [brother of kingdom of dumplings] are very friendly. a nice change from some other chinese restaurants.
I’ve order the beef ball soup the last few times here. the broth is so delicious! Theres something a little spicy but cooling about the soup here. and the clay pot is filled with so many items! lichee… lotus roots… beef balls… tofu…seaweed…enoki mushroom… the list goes on. scope out my close up photo. also the sweet potato is also very yummy. lightly fried and drizzled with a touch of honey.
People should start coming here for their hang over fixes!