Tag Archives: Zhong Shan Restaurant

Another Hakka restaurant closes

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Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens
Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens from Zhong Shan Restaurant

Last year, the owners of Ton Kiang, a Hakka restaurant with a long history in San Francisco, retired. Today Zhong Shan Hakka Restaurant closes. Chef/owner Jin Hua Li, who I featured in The Hakka Cookbook, has been one of my favorite Hakka chefs. I first met him in 2011 just a few months before I submitted my cookbook manuscript. I knew very few restaurants that served Hakka food. This one proudly announced it in their name, Hakka Restaurant. The menu offered many of the popular dishes served at most Chinese restaurants, but under “Chef’s Special” many Hakka dishes were listed.

Hakka Restaurant became our go-to restaurant in San Francisco for banquets and meals with family and friends. Over the years some of our favorite Hakka dishes were the Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens and the House Special Pan Fried Tofu. The restaurant drew local neighborhood customers as well as outliers as their reputation grew.

A couple of years ago, I heard that Chef Li had retired but now was opening a new restaurant. Apparently retirement grew boring. Chef Li and his wife, Bonnie returned to the business with Zhong Shan Restaurant on Taraval. Our favorites remained on the menu but there were new dishes to try. We had eaten several banquets there and was looking forward to returning once the pandemic ended.

But just last week Serena Dai, the San Francisco Chronicle food editor called to ask about the restaurant and its impending closure. Apparently they sold the restaurant. We went last Friday to order my husband’s favorite Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens, Salt-Baked Chicken and some extra dishes for my daughter. Hopefully, Chef Li will come out of retirement once again.

Fortunately, we still have access to good Hakka food when eating out. A San Francisco friend who has eaten at both Zhong Shan and Li’s first location said that the original Hakka Restaurant continues to serve good food. Chef Li had sold the restaurant to his sous chef so the food maintains much of the quality of the original chef. Hope to be back to Hakka Restaurant at Cabrillo and 45th Avenue soon.

Chinese feast at Zhong Shan Restaurant

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Last week, we dined again at Chef Jin Hua Li’s new business, Zhong Shan Restaurant on Taraval Street in San Francisco. Like his previous restaurant, he features Hakka cuisine. At our last meal at Zhong Shan, we tried many of the new dishes. At this feast we couldn’t resist ordering some of our old favorites from his Hakka Restaurant that he previously owned. Luckily, these dishes appear on the Zhong Shan menu, too.


We ordered the Steamed Pork Stomach with Chicken Soup and the Stuffed Duck in Lotus Leaf. Both of these labor intensive dishes require advance notice and are well worth planning ahead.

  • Steamed Pork Stomach with Chicken Soup


For the soup, he stuffs a pork stomach with a whole chicken filled with chicken feet, white peppercorns, and dried longans. The football-shaped stomach steams for 5 to 6 hours to create a complex broth imbued with the chicken essence, a slight peppery spiciness, and a faint sweetness. The server brought the stomach and broth in a huge white tureen. She lifted out the stomach, cut it open with scissors, and cut the stomach and chicken into smaller pieces. The golden clear broth was ladled into small bowls to sip. Bite-sized pieces of chicken and stomach were offered to eat with a dip of soy sauce.

  • Lotus leaf encases stuffed duck
  • Duck filled with Glutinous Rice Stuffing


In the Stuffed Duck in Lotus Leaf, glutinous rice laced with Chinese delicacies such as sausage, chestnuts, and dates fills a whole duck. The duck is browned, then wrapped in lotus leaves and steamed until the duck almost falls apart with succulent tenderness.

  • Braised Fried Tofu and Fish Fillet in Clay Pot
  • Minced Pork and String Beans with Olive


We tried a couple of new dishes. Braised Fried Tofu and Fish Fillet in Clay Pot will join my list of favorites. The delicately sauced tofu and fish simply melted in our mouths.
We also liked the simple stir-fry of Minced Pork and String Beans with Olive. What was the olive? The olive looked like small bits of dark leaves. Checking on the internet I find that the Chinese olive vegetable is a dark condiment of cooked Chinese mustard greens, minced green olives, spices, soy, and oil. Use it as a seasoning to add deep earthy, savory flavor.

Braised Spareribs

Chef Li sent us a new offering on his menu, Braised Spareribs. Not sure what the official name is, but we found the moist, tender, pork ribs cloaked in a dark, savory sauce to be a winner.

  • Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green
  • House Special Basil Eggplant
  • Hong Kong Style Spicy Clams
  • Sauteed garlic pea sprouts

Must-have favorites rounded out our menu. Chef Li makes the best Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green. I love the House Special Basil Eggplant with its soft, seductive silkiness. The Hong Kong Spicy Clams are deep-fried to crust the exterior, then stir-fried with chiles and garlic. The bright green Sautéed Garlic Pea Sprouts brought a fresh note and balance to our feast. We all agreed, it was an incredible meal at a bargain price!

  • Zhong Shan Restaurant
  • Hakka Cuisine
  • 2237 Taraval Street (between 32nd and 33rd Avenues)
  • San Francisco, CA 94116
  • (415) 592 8938
Zhong Shan Restaurant Exterior


New Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco

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Welcome a new Hakka restaurant to San Francisco. Zhong Shan Restaurant recently opened in the Sunset district. If you have eaten at the Hakka Restaurant on Cabrillo and 45th Avenue, you’ll find this restaurant familiar because that chef/owner has taken over this restaurant.

In 2011 I had interviewed Chef Jin Hua Li, chef/owner of the Hakka Restaurant and featured some of his recipes in The Hakka Cookbook. Since my introduction to the restaurant, we feasted on many wonderful Hakka dishes at his restaurant on Cabrillo and 45th Avenue.

A few months ago, we dined with a group of friends at the Hakka Restaurant and met two young waiters who told us their father was the new owner and chef. We were surprised because the food tasted very similar to our past meals at this restaurant under Chef Li. The sons told us that Chef Li had sold this restaurant to their father and opened a new restaurant on Taraval.

Menu at Zhong Shan Restaurant

House specials on Zhong Shan Restaurant menu

New dishes freshen the menu. The number of House Specialties have almost doubled.

Last weekend, we tried Chef Li’s new restaurant Zhong Shan. Happily, the food and menu are similar to his previous restaurant. Our old Hakka favorites were still there—Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green, House Special Pan Fried Stuffed Tofu, and Pumpkin Strips with Salted Egg. New dishes freshen the menu. The number of House Specialties have almost doubled.

  • Pork Stomach with Chicken
  • Tiger prawns with Soy Sauce
  • Japanese Tofu with Baby Mushrooms
  • Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf
  • Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens
  • Salt & Pepper Pork Neck

Our friend, Paul, who had eaten at both the old and new restaurants, ordered the meal. In addition to our old favorites we sampled some new dishes. Pork Stomach with Chicken pleasantly surprised us. Strips of chewy-crunchy pork stomach tumbled over chunks of moist salt-baked chicken. Pungent, burning wasabi electrified the flavor. A fine mince of black truffles added a subtle earthy aroma to the egg enriched custard-like Japanese Tofu with Baby Mushrooms. Salt and Pepper Pork Neck offered a stir-fry of flavorful, chewy pork neck strips with crunchy green beans. Tiger Prawns with Soy Sauce brought big plump prawns, butterflied in their shells, and lightly seasoned with soy sauce. They were finger-licking good. Spicy Squid with Black Pepper Sauce featured scored squid pieces stir-fried with green and red pepper chunks.

Paul also ordered a couple of dishes not on the menu. Oysters and Eggs brought moist oysters gently cooked with beaten eggs for a simple comforting dish, not laden with oil. Chinese Broccoli (gai lon) with Salted Fish is a variation of their Sautéed Chinese Broccoli, however, this version is lightly seasoned with a smidgen of good quality salted fish. It did not taste fishy or strong. Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf and House Special Fried Rice Noodles balanced our meal.

Zhong Shan Restaurant contact information

The new restaurant appears a bit smaller with no upstairs dining room. The decor looks fresh and new. Judging by the full noisy dining room, Zhong Shan Restaurant already scores as a neighborhood favorite.

Zhong Shan Restaurant contact information

Zhong Shan Restaurant

2237 Taraval Street (Between 32nd & 33rd Avenue)

San Francisco, CA 94116

415. 592. 8938