Chef Charles Phan built such a juggernaut with The Slanted Door that when he decided to open a Chinese restaurant in SoMa, his Phans expected immediate greatness. What they got was a very good Chinese restaurant that has faults but still outpaces the competition in San Francisco. Heaven’s Dog also has one of the city’s best cocktail programs. San Franciscans should be grateful.

We sat in the dining room, surrounded by kitschy dog paintings. Notable bartender Thad Vogler is working to open Bar Agricole, but in the meantime, the friendly giant is commanding the Heaven’s Dog bar. He made us four different cocktails, dealer’s choice.

Only one cocktail was on the menu, the Biarritz Monk Buck (2nd from left). The yellow cocktail with complex spicing combined Tariquet Rye Armagnac, Yellow Chartreuse, organic ginger, lemon and soda. We also received a Martinez (3), a precursor to (and improvement on) the martini that features gin and sweet vermouth; a frothy variation on a Clover Club (1) with gin, egg white and nutmeg; and a classic whiskey cocktail (4) with some nice bite, incorporating Rye, Angostura bitters and some old school “gum syrup.” The final three drinks were accented with lemon peel.

We split four dim sum-style appetizers with a fairly high success rate, beginning with salt & pepper squid ($13), featuring supple flaps of seared cephalopod tossed with spicy red chilies and toasted garlic.

Braised pork belly in clam shell buns ($9) weren’t as impactful as Ippudo’s version, or even David Chang’s take, which started the craze at Momofuku. The lacquered pork was good, but the limiting factor was the bun, which could have been fluffier.

Shanghai dumplings ($8) had pretty good pork flavor, but their skins were a little too thick.

Siu mai ($8) were nearly ideal, combining an especially juicy blend of pork, shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. Too often, the oven-faced dumplings are too dense, but not at the Dog.

Dumpling-friendly condiments consisted of spicy mustard, chile sauce, soy sauce and fresh ginger.

Our two meat dishes were both big winners. Juicy slices of lemongrass pork chop ($19) were plated with an earthy mix of porcini, black trumpet and honshimeji mushrooms and showered with scallions and fried garlic.

Crispy half Petaluma duck ($20) was “cured in fragrant spices” and showcased crispy skin and smoky, aromatic meat.

Spicy clams ($15) were small and tender, but were overpowered by a basil and herb broth.

To balance out the meal, we also ordered a couple vegetable dishes.

To balance the richness of our meat dishes and pork-fueled appetizers, we felt obligated to order two vegetable dishes. Organic pea shoots ($9) were simply sauteed with garlic and fried shallots.

The better veg was the plate of crinkly, slightly bitter kale ($9) tossed with fermented black beans and ginger.

Desserts aren’t a Heaven’s Dog strength, but it was still worth ordering the intense chocolate sorbet ($7) with cherry “compote” – whole, explosively flavored cherries.

Jasmine tea granita with milk, mango and melon ($7) was fine, but ultimately not worth ordering. The bowl of fresh fruit and flavored ice was too simple given the price.

After dinner, our waitress, Ashley, arranged an introduction with Chef Andy Wai, who used to work at Harbor Village and had his own restaurant in San Mateo called Chef Wai. It seemed like he had a good approach and attitude.

SoMa might be a challenging location since it’s not residential and it’s considered a developing area, but San Franciscans are clearly sleeping on a new winner. Heaven’s Dog could still use some fine-tuning, but it’s hard to think of a better Chinese restaurant in San Francisco at the moment.