M.Y. China Review, San Francisco

M.Y. China is the long awaited restaurant from TV Celeb Chef Martin Yan and the Koi Palace folks. It is located on the 4th floor of the San Francisco Centre shopping mall, right under the dome. Koi Palace is clearly the best Cantonese Chinese restaurant in the SF Bay Area, so we couldn’t wait to dine here. Our last visit was in January 2015.

Be sure to read our Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum.

Why did we dine here? – Reputation of the partners, finally a nice, clean modern Chinese restaurant.

Summary – MY China
Insider Tip – Make reservations. Stick to less fusion-y items.

Cuisine – Chinese
Chef – Yong Dong (Tony) Wu
Location – Downtown San Francisco, Westfield SF Centre
Opened – December 2012

Decor, Vibe – MY China is a beautiful modern restaurant with an awesome bell over the bar, wide open kitchen, transparent frig, and modern open dining room. Nice mixed race audience while all the folks in the kitchen were Asian.

MY China Menu

MY China’s Menu is pretty concise with small plates, noodle dishes, entrees, and some options for vegetarians. There are some authentic Chinese dishes and some more modern ones.

Signature Dishes – Dim Sum, Hand Pulled Noodles

Website MY China Menu

MY China Food Picks:

Singapore Sling ($13) Blue Coat Gin, Benedictine, Cherry Heering, orange liqueur, pineapple gum, lime juice, grenadine, Angostura bitters was recommended by the server.  A good sized balanced classic.

Har Gow (3 for $7) shrimp, served with spicy soy sauce were super expensive, but surprisingly decent. Thick wrapper, large shrimp, but not as good as Koi Palace’s, yet above average. They cheat by placing each on a metal holder.

Shiu Mai (4 for $6) pork, shrimp, wild seasonal mushroom where also expensive but also worthy.

Salt & Pepper Calamari ($8) was really fried squid, but superbly done.

Stir Fried Chang Fen ($7) rice noodle rolls, wild seasonal mushrooms, X.O. sauce was excellent. It can in a hot skillet and remained sizzling for a while. Small rolls of tender wide noodles along with sliced veggies.  Great for vegetarians.

Wild Boar Scissor Cut Noodles ($14) bean sprouts, scallions, wood ear mushrooms, Shaoxing wine was made in house. A very good dish that simply lacked enough noodles. Reminded us of Flour and Water syndrome. Tender noodles, good quality non gamey meat. Several noodle dishes are not made in house, so make sure you order correctly.

Beef Hand Pulled Noodle Soup ($14) slow simmered rib eye, baby bok choy, star anise was a classic Taiwanese version. Robust broth, strong star anise, and nice fresh noodles. On our last visit, the broth was a bit too spicy.

Da Dao Big Knife Fish Noodles ($17) shrimp, scallops, calamari, shitaki, enoki, jalapeno, XO sauce also hit the mark.  Noodle dishes are pretty good here.

Dan Dan Noodles ($12) chilled noodles, pork, peanuts, chili garlic sauce were also nice noodles. Surprisingly good and worth ordering.

Braised Beef Short Ribs in a Clay-pot aromatic herbs, dried chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, hoisin sauce ($25) was a misnomer. This is a stewed beef brisket that we had to ask for bowls to eat. Zesty sauce elements, tender long boiled beef that deserved some rice.

Wok Stir Fried Lamb ($20) pepper, onion, cumin chili powder hit the spot. A reasonable amount of spice along with some good quality lamb that almost tasted like beef.

Wok Seared Beef Filet ($16) Sichuan peppercorns, Shaoxing wine came with a ton of arugula. The beef was tender, yet a bit too spicy.

Crispy Roast Chicken ($16) fennel slaw, salt plum seasoning was a classic Chinese dish. Crispy skin and juicy, tender meat.

Peking Roast Duck ($20) green onions, cucumber, hoisin sauce, house-made pancakes was also nicely done. Everything carefully laid out for assembly.  Tender sliced meat, scallions, plum sauce, cucumbers.. Interestingly they did not have any whole ducks.

Forbidden Rice ($8) red rice, brown rice, egg, wolf-berries was a solid artsy fried rice dish. A must for vegetarians.

Stir Fried Baby Bok Choy ($8) fried garlic, salted fish sauce, Shaoxing wine was pretty standard fare.

Sichuan Fried Green Beans ($8) were pretty spicy.

Grandma’s Gai Lan ($12) with garlic and Chinese sausage, looked messy, but hit the mark.

Chilled Eggplant ($8) with yuzu vinaigrette was a very good cold vegetable dish. A must for vegetarians with its clean, crisp flavors.

Sugar Egg Puffs (4 for $6) are light doughnuts topped with sugar. How can these not be good. Koi Palace’s version is still better.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
East Meets West Cocktail ($11) Chrysanthemum infused Tito’s Vodka, orange blossom honey, lemon juice, on the rocks was a bit odd. Hidden potency, weird reminder of the tea, too small a portion.

Mojito ($12) had a Chinese plum hit to it. Really weird.

Tea Smoked Pork Belly Sliders (2 for $8) picked daikon, cilantro, Sichuan Peppercorn oil was an ok starter. Crunchy pork skin and veggies, big bun, good flavors. Could have used even more fat! This dish is more modern than authentic.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bao (2 for $5) was overcooked although the filling was good.

Wild Boar Juicy Dumplings (4 for $8) ginger, garlic, M.Y. seasoned salt were served in fancy black spoon (meant to hold the soup) within the steam. They were so hot that it impossible to eat for several minutes. This is taking the Koi Palace cupcake tin too far.  Give people regular steamed dumpling and do it right.  A glaring example of Cantonese folks doing Shanghai dishes.

Stir Fried Green Beans ($8) were clearly undercooked.

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
Monkey King ($12) St. George’s B & E Bourbon, crème de peche liqueur, gum, forbidden bitters, ginger and ginseng tincture was overwhelmingly strong.

Meyer Lemon Egg Tart ($8) citrus honey reduction, chrysanthemum cream. Head to Golden Gate Bakery instead!

Service – MY China had decent service although the server goofed several times with our ordering. She was barely to been seen after ordering. On our second visit, the waiter actually carded  us!  Quite flattering to think we were that young..

Value – MY China is not cheap, but inline with restaurants of this caliber in high traffic locations.

Alternatives – Restaurants similar to MY China include the new Hakkasan and still tops, Koi Palace.

Verdict – MY China could have easily disappointed us, but surprised us with solid Chinese food, some of it more Americanized. It provides a good introduction to real Chinese food, making it more accessible to a wider audience. This restaurant is a no brainer if you are shopping at the mall.

More people will be ready to venture to true San Francisco Bay Area Chinese food at restaurants such as Koi Palace, R&G Lounge, and Great Eastern.

MY China Overall Rating: (Very Good 2.5)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Very Good)
Service Rating:	(Good)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Excellent)
Value Rating:	(Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Casual
Parking:	Paid Lot
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$14 - $25