Lichee Garden
Lichee Garden, a long-established, home-style Cantonese restaurant on the edge of North Beach, puts out two dishes that define comfort food for my household–egg foo young ($8.50) and War Won Ton Soup ($6.25). (War won ton has some exotic ingredients in it; you may prefer barbecued pork or shrimp won ton soup.) I know you can order these two dishes in scores of restaurants around town, but I would put up Lichee Garden's versions against any Chak Siu, the chef-owner, has a magic touch with all the homey food that comes out of his kitchen. What makes these two so delectable is good chicken stock which forms the foundation of the won ton soup and the homey blown sauce for the egg foo young. His broth tastes like pure chicken and when it moistens a bowl of tender, gingery, perfectly seasoned, pork-filled won tons along with bok choy, barbecued pork and a variety of dried and fresh seafood, fungus and vegetables in war won ton, the chicken broth takes on some of their flavors, and becomes complex. But the goodness of chicken stock dominates and the won tons here are so fresh and succulent that you can easily make a meal out of this soup.

Don't, because you need to order Egg Foo Young. I am not embarrassed to recommend this Americanized dish because it's so downright delicious, actually a loose, fried, bean-sprout-and-onion omelet with soy-tinted brown gravy. I like it with juicy shrimp in it because the combination of Chinese-style shrimp and eggs is so luscious. The sauce, just salty enough to season the golden omelet, makes the dish viable with rice. You'll be making the pilgrimage to Lichee Garden's comfortable, green-carpeted dining room with solid wooden chairs and old-fashioned Chinatown decor. No glitzy gold and crystal here. Lichee feels like a teahouse. Sunday evenings may not be the time to go, when the dining room is filled with extended families at huge round tables, but on other nights, or, at dim sum lunch, you can always find the occasional small square table for two or four. Of course, there are at least 15 other Lichee preparations that I love, but for the sake of this dish-driven survey, start with the won ton soup and egg foo young. You can't go wrong.

--San Francisco Examiner


"...the Dim Sum is excellent..."
--Michael Bauer, San Francisco Chronicle

"Probably the best wonton soup in town--the best Hong Kong-style crispy noodles, and great platters of crispy Peking-style spareribs."
--San Francisco Focus

"...the city's best Cantonese cooking. Seafood is the highlight..."
--Good Life

"Best value in town for Cantonese cooking."
--Patricia Unterman, San Francisco Chronicle