Ben Wah

Typical good-​quality Chinese. There was nobody there on a Saturday night. C’mon people, what do you expect, PF Chang’s (National chain)? There are very few decent Chinese restaurants in the neighborhoods (away from Chinatown) left in S.F. Go ahead and gentrify if you want, but nearby residents should be ashamed to provide no support for local businesses. What’re you gonna do when they’re gone, live on McDonalds?

So upset my husband works in a construction sight how can you forget to include utensils with his order. If it’s delivery don’t assume we have access to utensils. Never again will I order. I was about to place a large order but since we were not aware of the service we decided to try out with just a basic order, Good thing I did not do it. It would of been a disaster. You just lost 10 customers.

standard chinese food. They must do a lot of take out because the place is always empty.

Had time to kill before my doctor’s appointment and walked around the area looking for a place to eat.
The menu has your standard Chinese dishes and a few specials written on a dry erase board (making me wish I had ordered differently).
Ordered the lunch special of sweet and sour pork with fried rice, egg roll, and soup. The portion was pretty decent and tasted better than I expected. I’d definitely come back and order what is called «mongolian happiness three.»

I ordered the generals chicken, which apparently is all dark meat. It was inedible. It was basically one piece of mangled fatty dark meat chicken, covered in oil and corn starch, spidered over a pile of over spiced water chestnuts. Even the rice was so bad I couldn’t eat it. I pushed the food to the side and waited a few minutes. Tried again, since I felt bad not eating it. Couldn’t do it. It was honestly that gross.
I see good reviews on here for all white meat orange chicken. I’ll have to try that if I am forced to come back.

Got there early. At the time, it was a one man operation. The waiter, chef and cashier was one person. Later, for lunch hour, more employees arrived.
The food arrived hot. The prices were quite low. Many of the lunch specials were $ 6.30 and included all kinds of extras. The portions for everything were large.
The crispy beef tasted good. 3 stars. It had a sweet sauce.
Egg rolls were good.
Loved the egg drop soup. 4 stars. The egg rolls and soup were included with the lunch special.
Fried rice, (also included with special) was below average. 2 stars.
Crispy chicken was too dry for my taste. It was also a bit salty. My wife liked the chicken more than I did.
Visa and Mastercard are accepted.

So this was my second time here and still great like the first time. I had the crispy chicken dish and it was so good. good portions and for the price not bad
So the second time I went I ordered the crispy beef and man another good dish I only wish I would have got it over rice cause the sauce would have been perfect over rice but hey there’s always next time.
And another plus I left my scarf there from the first time and the lady remembered me and gave it back I hadn’t even known I left it

I will give it two stars only because the crispy beef is Ok, not great. The shrimp with walnuts, which was recommended to us by the staff was awful. Never have I had a Chinese meal made with mayonnaise so prevalent. We had just arrived back from a 100 mile traffic jam, starved and did not feel like walking to Gussie’s or Eliza’s. Just wanted to get take out. We were expecting Ok and what we got was awful. Next time, no matter how tired I am or how much of a headache I have I am going elsewhere. Should have known since there was no one in the restaurant and it was 7Pm Saturday!

Love Ben Wah! It’s very near Eliza’s but their servers make the difference whether I will cross the street or not for my meal. I see the same faces working there and always it makes me feel welcome. Even after I hadn’t been for 5 years, the server remembered me and my child, his name and age! It is an old cliché’ but if you go into a (fill in the blank) restaurant and most of the customers are native to (fill in the blank) you’re at the right place. Lunch specials are great but anytime the food is delicious and generous portions.

This place was pretty bad. I work nearby and saw that they delivered so I thought I would try it out. When I told my co-​workers that I was ordering they all wanted to order food as well. (We’re a lazy bunch that prefers food delivered to us. lol)
There was a total of 6 orders: (2) Fried rice, (2) chow mien, wonton and hot and sour soup. Nothing was edible. Now, I know that was harsh, but literally no one finished their lunch. The chow mein were way overdone and the noodles were so soft that they couldn’t even hold their shape. There was no flavor whatsoever. I hate to waste food but couldn’t come to finish my meal!
The fried rice was basically rice doused in soy sauce. Other than the soy sauce, there was no flavor. Both the wonton and hot and sour soup were not edible either. The wontons tasted like cardboard and the hot and sour soup was too vinegary. Had I ordered alone I would have given them another chance to redeem themselves, but when ALL of my co-​workers complained, you know it was pretty bad :(

When people ask about the best Chinese restaurant in Pac Heights, Eliza’s is usually the first name to come up. Don’t get me wrong, I do love me some Eliza’s. However, I think Ben Wah (just down the street on California @ Divisadero) should also make the list. It’s definitely not as fancy or Americanized as Eliza’s. It’s more of a greasy mom & pop operation. More suited for take-​out than dine-​in. But make no mistake, they always serve reliable Chinese cuisine.
I come in here a few times a month for their pork pot stickers (6 for $ 4.85), and an order of their won ton soup ($ 4.55 for a large bowl). My other go-​to favorites are the chicken fried rice ($ 5.75) — which is large enough to feed a family of 4; and their sizzling chicken with snow peas ($ 8.15), as well as their chicken in ginger & garlic sauce.
Everything is stellar and reasonably priced (especially given the portion size). Service is friendly and quick. I can phone in my order at 7pm and have it ready for pick-​up by 7:15pm. All orders come with your standard fortune cookie.
At the end of the day, Ben Wah is not going to win any culinary awards. But it’s definitely a solid neighborhood Chinese restaurant, and I’m grateful that it’s walking distance from my house.
** They do free delivery for orders over $ 20.

Ordered from them on Tuesday for lunch/​dinner. My dishes were so good that my coworker, after sampling my food, ended up ordering her dinner from them the same day!
What I ordered: Mixed vegetable with tofu and basil, prawns with lobster sauce and fried rice with chicken. The vegetable dish consisted of eggplants and green beans, an unusual combination that worked well together, combined with soft tofu and a generous amount of basil leaves. So good! They were also very generous with the amount of prawns as well as, unfortunately, cornstarch. So maybe pass on that dish next time. The fried rice was good and plentiful. The 3 dishes ended up providing me 2 lunches (plus a lunch for my partner) and a dinner for me and my partner. Can’t beat that!

So went in fore bbq fried rice which smelled funny and honey walnut prawns
were bad. I told the waitress and immediately walke out

I have helped run my family restaurant similiar to Ben Wah’s back on the east coast for 25 years and know what is good Chinese Food. These guys have it right and their food is quality. I don’t usually give rave reviews but I feel they deserve more recognition than what there is. (Our family restaurant is still operating on the east coast in Toronto and it’s probably one of the most famous in the area we are in). Highly recommended.

Classic greasy spoon Chinese. The string beans were good. Chicken w broccoli — good except for grisly chicken. The hot and sour soup was too black pepper spicy!

This place has been here forever so I figured it was about time I walked a couple blocks further to try it. Also the name appeals to the part of me that is still 13 years old.
They serve perfectly acceptable take-​out quality food at very reasonable prices (the six dollar lunch is rapidly becoming an endangered species in this town) and they’re quick and friendly. It is not a high end dining experience and it is not for people who are hung up on authenticity. Eating here will not score you any foodie cred.
However, if you are hungry it will make you not-​hungry for a relatively small amount of time and money.

Solid neighborhood Chinese restaurant. Super reasonable prices and friendly staff. I especially like that they have individual rice plates at all times of day, not just for lunch specials. That’s really what bumps this up from 3* to 4* — saves me $ compared to when i end up getting a bunch of different dishes from other restaurants that don’t have rice plates. Quality of food is on par with other typical Chinese restaurants. Hot and sour soup is exceptionally good
I’ve never seen more than a handful of people eating in the restaurant, but they do a brisk to-​go business.
Verdict: come here for cheap, quick, and good tasting Chinese takeout

Oh Ben Wah, what happened to you?
We used to love your mongolian beef and dry-​cooked string beans. Your garlic-​szechuan chicken was always a standard option.
And now?
Your beef tastes like a meat that shall not be named. There is no spice to your sauce, and I felt a little sick after my last meal.
So sad. I will give you one more try, just in case your line cook was having a bad day.

Ben Wah: GAH… gross
too greasy, too oniony, no wonder the place is always empty. Is this a front for drugs or what?

I am surprised that this place gets only three stars. I really like this place. It is clean and has a nice uncluttered and modern appearance. The restaurant’s fish tank, which is an ubiquitous feature of the Chinese food concept experience is clean and well maintained.
The food is always good and reasonably priced. I usually order the rice plates. It comes with soup and spring roll /​or wan ton. Their sweet & sour pork is excellent. The vegetables are fresh and have the correct amount of al dente. They use the correct amount of batter on the fried pork. They also serve fried rice or brown rice with their rice plates at no additional cost. The fried rice is consistently well made, though nothing to brag about. Not too dry or too sticky or too hard. Their rice places are one of the best deals in town for Chinese food.
I would definitely go this place again.