Forty minutes earlier than opening on a current Friday evening, San Francisco’s 4 Kings had a line of almost 20 individuals ready outdoors.
The primary 10 with out reservations made it for the primary seating on the counter; the following 10 offered a cellphone quantity and possibility for the second seating. Late arrivals weren’t so fortunate.
The tiny Cantonese restaurant is nestled in a quiet alleyway within the Chinatown neighborhood. And for 5 hours, 5 days per week, it is likely to be the most popular place on the town.
Final week, Esquire named 4 Kings the Restaurant of the Yr whereas applauding the daring flavors and vibrant environment created by cooks Franky Ho and Mike Lengthy. It’s the newest in a line of accolades for an operation lower than 10 months previous.
As creative as they’re skillful, Ho and Lengthy met whereas working at Mister Jiu’s, the Michelin-starred Chinatown restaurant. Their aim was to create an surroundings the place individuals loved working, within the hopes that the enjoyment would translate to the shopper.
4 Kings co-owner Mike Lengthy prepares salted egg squash croquettes for dinner, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, on the new restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
Stroll inside, and also you’ll scent the chili oil and fried meats, hear Cantopop on the audio system and see previous posters and Hong Kong journal pages hanging on the partitions. The oldsters with out reservations squeezed in on the counter. A pleasant server walked them by means of the menu and steered a family-style feast that included about two small plates per particular person and loads of sake or shochu to go together with it.
A current go to began with the Chiuchow olive inexperienced beans ($14), charred and spicy whereas preserving its moist and crispy texture. The pleasant salted-egg squash croquettes ($9) tasted like mac and cheese bites, however with a crispy-fried, squash-filled crust. The escargot with chili oil-soaked, housemade milk bread ($24) was mouthwatering sufficient to make snail followers out of anyone.
Chiuchow olive inexperienced beans at San Francisco’s 4 Kings, which Esquire lately named the Restaurant of the Yr. (Courtesy Pete Lee)
Strangers leaned over one another’s tables to check notes, then started buying and selling bites with each other to determine what to order subsequent — a tall order, given the number of dishes on show. The mapo spaghetti ($21), for instance, packed some warmth, however that didn’t overshadow the potent flavors that made this dish so irresistible.
The claypot rice with Chinese language sausage and bacon ($26) and fried squab ($45) are the 2 hottest dishes on the menu. Between the crisp rice, salty meats and smooth egg, the claypot dish could have been essentially the most flavorful merchandise of the night, however so filling, we questioned how we’d discover room for the squab.
Images of 4 Kings co-owners Mike Lengthy and Franky Ho adorn bottles of the favored barley beverage Ichiko Seirin on show, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, on the new restaurant on Industrial Road in San Francisco’s Chinatown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
4 Kings makes solely 15 squab dishes per evening, largely as a result of it takes 10 days to arrange. The small birds are marinated, dry-aged, smoked and fried so that they’re completely crisp on the skin and juicy inside texture. It was a bit gamey, because the server warned it might be, however the chook’s tenderness was unbelievable, and the easy toppings of recent lemon, salt and Sichuan pepper tied it collectively properly.
Taiwan Head Brewers, a craft beer imported by the cooks’ mates in Taiwan, offered a light-weight hefeweizen ($10) that cooled the tongue between spicy bites. The server’s advice of Hakurakusei sake ($26 for a carafe, $52 for a bottle) was additionally an enormous hit on the desk.
The mango pudding ($10) with recent pear slices and housemade pear ice cream had been the right finale.
We left the restaurant laughing and gratified — and amazed we had been in a position to nonetheless get in with no reservation on a Friday evening, albeit with a protracted wait.
Likelihood is, the wait is just going to get longer.
Particulars: Open from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday-Monday at 710 Industrial St. in San Francisco; www.itsfourkings.com.
Millie Boonkokua prepares tables at 4 Kings restaurant earlier than opening for dinner in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
