San Dong House

Came here on a Sunday afternoon with my gf and was seated right away. We’ve been meaning to come here since they opened a few months ago, but never got the chance. We had plan on a sharing a bowl of noodles and some side dishes, but after reading the reviews, we decided on getting two ox tail noodle soup, stinky tofu, and beef pancakes. For those who say one bowl of noodles does not suffice for one person, you must be a competitive eater or you came on an off day — one bowl was plenty enough for both me and my gf. We barely made a dent on the beef pancakes and the tofu. We ended up taking both dishes home (both were still good a few hrs later). So here’s our take on the food:
Oxtail noodle soup — Def. a fan of the fresh hand-​pulled noodles, but we’ve had better oxtail. Love that they don’t put msg.
Beef pancakes — Delicious! The combination of the pancake, onions and cucumber worked perfectly together and left a tasty and refreshing taste in your mouth. We compared it to a chinese a burrito and
Stinky tofu — Light, crispy and airy. I’ve had better, but my gf wanted it and was quite happy with it.
Overall, a decent meal at a decent price. Looking forward to coming back and bringing the parentals.
*nom nom*

I was completely excited, practically giddy to learn that there was a secret all you can eat buffet for $ 11.99 a person, just 10 minutes away. Granted there is no sushi, no fruit bonanza, and a limited dessert selection. I just wish I didn’t tell my friends and family because I was dragged there for three consecutive dinners.
San Dong House is easily missed and when you walk it, it is an unremarkable Chinese restaurant with questionable cleanliness. Each time I arrived I asked if the buffet promotion was still running. Once I got the green light, it was time to order. For the buffet option, any dish on the menu is included but special drinks are excluded. I have tried:
spicy tripe ($ 5.99)
spicy beef & tendon combination ($ 4.99)
lamb skewer stick ($ 1.50 each) — thinly sliced and heavily seasoned with cumin
beef skewer stick ($ 1.50 each) — similar style as the lamb but slightly drier
fish ball ($ 1.50 each) — pre-​packaged fish ball cut in half with cumin seasoning
beef noodle soup ($ 6.25) — good noodles but no meat
spicy beef noodle soup ($ 6.25) — not spicy at all
xiao long bao (4.99 for 6) — average
sliced beef pancakes ($ 7.99) — dry, flavorless
pork with napa dumpling ($ 5.89 for 12)
pork chives dumpling $ 6.50 for 12)
lamb dumpling ($ 6.50 for 12)
sweet sticky rice ball ($ 7.89) — cooking wine taste with mochi sinking in sweet water
There other dishes were recommended by the owner, which turned out to be some of the best choices. He was very friendly and speaks English. He heavily emphasized that the noodle were hand-​pulled. Even though the food here is average you feel good when you are totally how much you saved.

So this is an interesting concept restaurant. I assumed they were not getting a lot of business, so they decided to do all you can eat (AYCE) for $ 13 per person. But it’s not a buffett, you still have a menu but you can order anything you want (except a few things like dessert) as many times as you want. But sadly all the food is pretty much just meh. It’s all okay, it’s just not fantastic. Except! for their hand-​pulled noodles, these were AWESOME. But not sure if those were worth the $ 13 I paid. Oh and service is just HORRENDOUS. So yeah there’s that too.
Pros:
— All you can eat ($ 13)
— Hand-​pulled noodles
Cons:
— Average tasting food
— Horrible, just terrible, just like run away from it, it’s so bad service

Ugh, no.
Let me break it down for you: Below-​average food from a menu that offers a hodgepodge of Northern Chinese comfort food. The beef noodle soup tasted like instant noodles, the pork with napa dumplings were a tad too watery and only tasted good with soy sauce, and the scallion pancakes were greasy, fried slices of bread with barely any flavor. And finally, the niu rou xian bing was an affront to the name. I grew up with niu rou xian bing – my mom makes the best version of these buns this side of Taiwan – so I know what they’re supposed to taste like. They are NOT supposed to taste like dry, flavorless slices of beef mixed like a salad with equally flavorless slices of celery and green onion, wrapped in an even more flavorless sleeve of fried dough. Gross.
Still, that’s not why San Dong House gets 1 star from me. It gets THAT because of the smarmy, obnoxious jerk of a waiter we had the misfortunate of dealing with all evening. He kept serving us lukewarm tea and I kept asking if he could refill the pot with hot water. Even though he knew I could speak Mandarin, he actually had the nerve to insult me for daring to want tea that wasn’t barely warm. I’m pretty sure he started spitting into our pot. Which is right about the time we stopped trying to drink the tea.
So, ugh, no.

My friends and I used the gopago app for this place because we had free credit. This was the WORST decision of our LIVES!!!
We walked into the restaurant and EVERY empty table had piles of plates, cups, and food. We already ordered our food on the app so there was no turning back. We asked for a table for 3 and they literally moved the plates that they were going to seat us onto the table next to us. I think they wiped down the table, but who knows. We tell them that we used the Gopago app and they gave us a weird stare. She goes to the back and then confirms that they got the order. The food was supposed to be ready when we got there but they didn’t even start cooking the food!
The food came out and it was nasty AF.
Stay far far away from this place. Trust.

Gung Hay Fat Choy.
SF Weekly was first on the scene:
First day of the year of the snake seemed like an appropriate time to find out if the noodles are worth celebrating.
Without a doubt yes.
Standard and whole wheat are both available. Softens in liquid yet still maintain their shape enough to be substantial. You get a lot and will eat a lot.
Mine came with a medley of seafood. Elsewhere a dish that might cost twice as much and not come with the noodles. Or with terrific service.
Things like pig’s feet are also on the menu. Thanks but no thanks. Plan to noodle on things just a bit longer.

My boyfriend and I visited San Dong House on a Friday night and the place had two other groups there at the time. It’s not a huge restaurant, but they do have a fair amount of seating. We sat ourselves and then the waiter came by to give us menus and tea. The tea was lukewarm, which was weird. But we drank it anyway. Upon refill, the tea was actually hot, as usual.
About the food:
–Pan-​fried pork buns (6 in an order, $ 5.99): these buns were a bit of the thick side. There was a lot of doughy breading and not so much filling. I guess they’ll make you full though, if you want that. The flavor itself is very mediocre. I wouldn’t order this again.
–Beef noodle soup ($ 6.25): My boyfriend and I enjoyed how simple this noodle soup tasted. The broth was nice, since it was a cold day (as usual), and they give you plenty of noodles. There was plenty for us to split. The meat itself was fine, and they throw in a few boy choy, also.
–Green onion pancake ($ 3.99): The green onion pancake was pretty good. It was flavorful, and flakey. The portion is very fair for the price too.
The two of us ate as much as we wanted and still had about ½ of the pork buns and ½ of the green onion pancake order left; so the portions are definitely decent. The place itself isn’t fancy, and it has a somewhat homey vibe to it. I saw quite a few people get orders for take-​out.

Delicious cheap eat! A spacious hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant!
Came here for lunch, and got fast service.
Food items I tried:
– Beef sandwich — possibly my favorite item — crispy dough at the right level of thickness, with beef and cucumbers — I love the texture!
– Tofu thin noodles — served cold
– Lamb noodle soup — hearty but not too heavy. The broth was a nice level of salty but not too much.
– Green onion pancake
Also the hand pulled noodles — freshly made! good texture! — order any of their noodle dishes:
– Dan dan noodles — I was told this was not authentic, but it tastes good to me
– Pork and bean sauce noodle — this is supposed to be «zha jiang mian», but the sauce was way too thin

I’ve been here multiple times and never had a bad experience until today. I was in somewhat of a good mood, so that I had a high tolerance for service, but after being here for 1.5 hours I snapped.
First they forgot one of our dishes… when we asked them about it, they said it was coming out soon, but in reality they just started cooking it. 15 minutes later we told them we wanted to cancel it, they said okay and bought us our check. They said the item was now done, and we can still cancel it if we want, and that our check didn’t include the item. We paid the bill. While we were waiting for our change, I did some mental math and realized the numbers didn’t match. We had been charged for the item even though it had been canceled. When I asked them about it, they look confused…“oh did you want to cancel it?” This is after we had told them several times in chinese and english to cancel it.
Thank you for wasting nearly two hours of my day. and in the end I’m still hungry. On top of all this. their noodles taste different. Why are they not making the hand made noodles anymore. No hand made noodles + ridiculous service= why come back???

I came back for the hand pulled noodles (which they were not making, and could not explain why) and the beef pancake rolls (which were not saucy, or flavorful enough).
What you’re left with is some very, very mediocre Chinese food.

…she kept putting on lip-​balm.
I’m referring to one of the waitresses. Every time I was glancing up at the HDTV (hoping they would switch from Mandarin TV to sports or Korean drama), there she was… swipe…swipe.
I’ve been meaning to try this place out, so I dedicated my Friday lunch-​adventure with this spot.
I got the Oxtail Noodle Soup for lunch along with a side-​order of the Green Onion Pancakes.
D-​Man verdict:
–The oxtail noodle soup was quite good. The soup itself had a lot of star anise flavoring and they boiled the heck out of the oxtails that it was very soft in texture along with the chewy tendon bits. Love it. Also, the broth was very clear and not very salty. The noodles were chewy and cooked just right. They threw in several pieces of baby bok choy, so I got my vegetables in hehe.
–The green onion pancakes were piping HOT right outta the flash-​fryer. Because they lightly blanched the ‘cakes in hot oil, it was not greasy or oily… slightly crunchy outside and moist/​chewy on the inside. I was dunkin’ these GO-​cakes in my oxtail soup.
–I was also served two side veggie dishes (bean spouts and lightly-​oiled/​salted cabbage).
Solid meal at a very reasonable price.
The menu had a lot of interesting selections for the next visit.
I’m rating this about 3.7.
…high-​five!

I never ate here when I lived in the area; I didn’t even know it existed. I saw Ken K.‘s review though and bookmarked the place.
I’ve been here twice. The beef noodle soup is okay. And while I only came away with a mild thirst, the soup tasted like it had a lot of MSG in it. It had the flavoring of instant noodle soup. The noodles themselves were nice and QQ, though I prefer hand cut over hand pulled. The oxtail noodle soup was much better, both the meat and soup. I would return for this.
Skip the xiao long bao. It had thick skin and contents did not pay off.

After seeing San Dong pop up on this random list of best Chinese restaurants in SF (see link), I decided to give a try one evening.
I’ve grown up here and do agree with most of those picks in the article, but I’ve never heard of San Dong… and I’m a fan of hand pulled noodles. It was empty upon my arrival. Only 2 other tables were occupied later. Huge menu, but I stuck with the basics: beef noodle soup, dan dan noodles, XLB, green onion pancake, and green beans.
We could see the cook in the back pulling the noodles, so that was a good sign. The green beans came out first. Portion size was huge and was pretty tasty. The dan dan noodles arrived. It was in a bowl of broth. I’m more accustomed to eating it in a thicker sauce; however, I was disappointed in the dish overall. The noodles were too thick and doughy for me. The beef noodle soup arrived and again, I was not liking the noodles. The broth was also not as flavorful as Kingdom of Noodles on Irving and 17^th. The green onion pancake was crisp and thin and I enjoyed that. The XLB, surprisingly, was actually quite good. The skin wasn’t too thick and the broth inside was the perfect temperature.
So, while I came here to try their hand pulled noodles, which were a disappointment, it was the XLB that left a longer impression. I may have to try ordering some of their other dumplings… if there is ever a next time.

Beef rolls were Yums! Loaded with slices of beef, green onions and cucumbers. Huge portion, but the pancake wrapped around it could be a bit crispier.
Beef noodle soup was ok. I like the fact of hand pulled noodles. but lacks a little «bounce» in texture.

I wanted to be one of the people that rave about the meat pancake, but it was not to be. It was cold and too chewy. The Dan Dan noodles need a scissors as they are just too damn long to eat. We also had the Kung pao chicken which was just a greasy mess.
So glad I tried it so I can stop obsessing about the photos of the meat pancake, but will never go back.
Also the table was REALLY sticky — gross.

The fambam loves getting dinner together and my brother in law had a noodle craving. He was raving about the handmade noodles at San Dong, which sounded delicious and I was immediately sold. We caravanned over and I scored us a table before they got busy.
The table shared the green onion pancake which was really delicious, along with some lamb, shrimp, and chicken rib yakitori. I got the oxtail noodle soup. I’ve never had hand thrown noodles before and they were a welcome addition to my soup. They’ve got a chewy texture that you just can’t find in the packaged stuff. The oxtail is very tender and the soup had good flavor and there’s a lot more dishes I can’t wait to try on the next visit.
Parking can be a pain in the area but it’s totally worth coming here for the noodles alone. You can even watch as they’re being made, which is always a fascinating process. It’s a good place for groups as our party of 6+1 proved and we will definitely be back!
Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁶⁄₁₀

Yo, it’s da Beef-​No Guy again.
O — It’s Lu Wei Wang mon!
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English name = San Dong House (and BBQ)
Chinese Mandarin name = Lu Wei Wang
Wang and Dong are not the juvenile definitions from urbandictionary.
Wang (pronounced wahng) = King
Dong (dohng) = East.
It doesn’t mean it’s pointing eastward to the king (or like a king, or Congressman Weiner).
The key here is their Chinese name, Lu Wei Wang, where Lu = Shandongnese cuisine (as in, Lu Cai or Lu Tsai), Wei (as in wei dao) meaning flavor and taste, and Wang, stating their claim that they are king (purely subjective at this point, ditto for the flavors of Lu cuisine).
It’s Memorial Day, and BBQ is on everyone’s mind. And getting bone ass drunk. But the BBQ in reality at this restaurant are the various Northern style skewered meats and veg, which we stayed away from and were not sold on.
Stick with what they do well: starch based goodness like dumplings, their «dien xin» (aka Northern starch based dim sum, mostly baked breads/“bing” or chive boxes) and of course, do not miss their signature fresh hand pulled and made noodles
San Tung on Irving is arguably the first ever Shandongnese restaurant around and pretty much ruined people’s view of what Lu cuisine should be for everyone (in both good and bad ways) by using lots of spices (e.g. the 5 spice beef noodle soup that gives it the needed taste boost in the broth), flavoring ingredients, and of course M$G like nobody’s business.
SDH looks like a family run operation, and it shows in their food. Nothing fancy, not everything is stellar, and the menu is wide as it is deep. You’ve got your stir fry, cold appetizers, and other regional Chinese fare that might not fit in, but is there.
Cold appetizers: near the cashier is a counter where you can see the various cold side dishes. Or sample 3 in a combo for about six bucks or so. Marinated bamboo shoots are ok, ditto for seaweed. The tofu thin noodles were average. It’s nothing like the beef noodle shops in Taiwan, but it is there.
Beef tendon noodle soup — the tendon was cooked just about right, small cubed sized pieces (perfect for little kids), and about two pieces of leafy greens /​non Canto bok choy (tsing jiang tsai) in the vein of A&J, and of course excellent slurpy noodles to go with it. The broth? Well it had some flavor (not bland) and was very homey and light, almost like Kingdom of Dumplings. If you are a ramen or won ton noodle snob, and want a complex broth, you will not find it here. At $ 7 ish (cash only) this bowl hits the spot. The noodles are absolutely the highlight, and maybe not everyone’s bag but definitely better than Grace Garden’s in Burlingame (or Sun Tung in San Mateo). No MSG aftereffects here which is good. Oxtail noodle soup might be a good contender next time.
Instead of the boiled dumplings, we got the luobosi dzen jiao, or pork and turnip/​daikon shred steamed dumplings. Sad to say, not so excellent. I prefer them boiled. For now I give San Tung the edge for the boiled pork and cabbage dumplizzles.
Do what the Japanese do in noodle houses in Japan.
Slurp da chit up. But not too loud.
That way you get to savor the texture of the noodle on the way infor the full on experience of deliciousness. Yes it is all about the fresh hand made noodle here.
While you are here, enjoy a Beijing Yogurt (Bei Jing Suan Nai), where there are now 3 flavors: tart, honey, and low fat. New packaging, and now there’s a branch in NorCal (opened up from SoCal via Bluecherry Yogurt) to help with expansion. Gotta have some of this Northern chit to go with the Shandong style la mein noodle chit.
During the meal, the chef in the back preps more noodles from scratch. As he puts the dough together and kneads, he slaps and slams that bulk on the counter and you hear the whack thwack thwack sounds, like how some sushi chef likes to slam the giant clam to make the clam muscle move. Maybe Congressman Weiner can learn something here before he twitters like a twat again.
Part of the ambience.

My first experience with San Dong was a to-​go order of noodle soup. I would highly recommend not getting it to-​go. It just doesn’t taste as good as when you get it fresh and piping hot in the restaurant.
I did finally get to go to and eat at the restaurant. The noodles are what they’re known for. We went with the sour vegetable pork noodle soup, beef roll, jelly fish, onion pancake and bok choy.
The noodles themselves are good with a nice and chewy texture. But the broth was lacking in flavor. I had to add a little soy sauce for more taste. The jelly fish, onion pancake and bok choy were good. You can’t really go wrong with jelly fish, and its one of my favorites in those Chinese cold cut dishes. The best part of the meal to me was the beef roll. The flavorful beef and crispy roll made my taste buds very happy.
Overall, this is an OK place for a cheap meal. The noodle soup hasn’t won me over, but I’ll definitely be back for the beef roll and cold cuts!
The hours say 11am-​11pm, but if you’re planning to go around 10, call to check if they’re open first.

I should have read the reviews a bit better ! I am told the hand-​made noodles is what you come here for.
A friend and I dropped in for a late night dinner and were getting hungry as we watched the clock tick with restaurants shutting down by the minute.
The potatoe dish had a weird raw-​ish texture but wasn’t actually raw. It was hardly spiced and had thai red chillies and seems to have been fried in sesame oil, seasoned with some salt. Neither of us could finish it.
I loved the spicy chicken dish thought it was a little too bony for my liking — they were all wing joints but maybe that’s the whole idea I guess. I like the taste of it though and I could like to pick those up with my fingers instead of trying to deploy chopsticks in vain;I enjoyed it with my steamed rice.
Nonetheless, after all is said and done, I now want to come back for their famous noodles!

Awesome brand new Shandong cuisine restaurant with made to order hand pulled noodles soup for $ 6.99! Note that the noodle master goes home at 10:30pm, so the last noodle order is around 10pm.
The place is in the same block as Roadside BBQ, it replaces Teo Korean restaurant so u can still see the exhaust hoods on the ceiling.
The menu is very extensive. In addition to the hand pulled noodle soups, they have some dim sum, handmade dumplings, skewers (Beijing style street food), BBQ, offal (internal organs) dishes, seafood, fried rice/​chow mein, family style entrees, a long list of dessert drinks (pearl milk tea, juices, smoothies, etc.) and even 2 stinky tofu dishes under the vegetarian items.
The owner/​manager is fluent in English and Mandarin, but our waiter had limited English skills. Everything is made to order, so just be patient. So far I liked everything I’ve tried, the homemade dumplings (12 for $ 5.99-$ 6.99), soups, and a few skewers ($ 1.50-$ 3 each). The hand-​pulled noodles are delicious!
Hours: daily 11am-​midnight (Fri-​Sat until 3am).
The menu says open until 3am everyday, that’s a mistake.