Venerable Yank Sing dates to 1958, when Alice Chan opened a tiny dim sum restaurant in Chinatown. The flagship location has moved twice since its inception, and now occupies a large atrium space in the Rincon Center. Alice’s son Henry runs the restaurant with help from wife Judy and daughter Vera. Yank Sing means “City of the Ram” in Cantonese and refers to Guangzhou, capital of China’s Guangdong Province, a city known for its exceptional dim sum.

The atrium outside Yank Sing features a dramatic “waterfall,” kind of a like a huge square showerhead, which rains amidst patio diners far below.

As Yank Sing has continued to increase in popularity, the restaurant has added patio seating, ringed by industrial murals. Tables surround a central repository for the “waterfall.”

We started with a salad torn from Slanted Door’s a playbook: finely cut purple cabbage with jicama and honey roasted walnuts in an herb dressing. It had slivers of ginger instead of sections of grapefruit, walnuts instead of candied pecans, and it was certainly delicious, but the nearby inspiration was thinly veiled.

Har gow and siu mye, AKA steamed shrimp dumplings, are basic tests of a dim sum establishment, and Yank Sing prepares juicy and light versions of both dishes.

These steamed mushroom dumplings feature translucent skins and tender diced fungi within.

This golden-skinned Peking-style duck was being carted around the dining room as a tantalizing tease. The waitresses had to run to the kitchen to retrieve the pricey duck by the slice.

Each slice of duck meat was accompanied by a steamed clam-shaped bun. Also joining the crisp-skinned quacker were a pile of scallions and a dish of hoisin sauce. All of the ingredients converge in the bun’s velvety grip. The duck was a little too fatty, but the flavor was there.

These Shanghai-style steamed pork dumplings were terrific, filled with ground Kurobuta pork and eaten in a single bite from a soup spoon, so the luscious juices don’t spill. The accompanying dish contains red vinegar and slivered ginger, to spoon over the dumplings.

The only dud of the meal: inexplicably cold sugar snap peas that lacked snap.

These tasty string beans appeared moments after selecting the disappointing snap peas. With dim sum carts swarming the dining room, it’s hard to know when a better thing will come along. These tender beans came slathered in a pungent sauce containing tiny dried shrimp.

To stay at the forefront of dim sum, owner Henry Chan and chef Yu Chuan Liu travel to China to get ideas. Did the idea for these steamed lobster dumplings spring from a trip? These fish-shaped dumplings contain eyes made from lobster roe and huge chunks of luscious lobster meat within.

Potstickers featured achingly-thin wrappers and juicy pork within, plus a nice outer crispness.

Mushroom caps were filled with juicy ground chicken and browned to a nice effect.

With all this golden batter, it’s hard to tell there’s a soft shell crab within. The crab was tender and spurted juice with every bite, and while there may have been too much batter, at least it was crispy, oily, and flavorful. The pickled ginger shavings and green onions provided nice touches.

We really racked up the stamps, one for each dish. Ws, Xx, and Zs are big ticket items, but since Yank Sing uses top ingredients, it was generally worth the added expense.

Hours:
Monday – Friday: 11 AM – 3 PM
Saturday-Sunday: 10 AM – 4 PM

Also located at:
49 Stevenson Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415 541 4949
Open 11 AM – 3 PM daily