Gold Coin Trading

Best hotpot/​shabu shabu beef! Fresh and sliced to order. There are two choices of beef, get the less lean choice. They call it the snowflake beef.
I called ahead and told them what time I’ll be there to pickup.
Parking can be a challenge. I parked at the bus stop, ran in, paid for and grabbed my meat, then ran back out. In and out in less than 30 seconds.

The store owner there is nice and it’s the only place I know of in downtown SF to get meats for Hot Pot. A pack of sliced beef is about $ 20. They also have rice and sauces for sale, if you forgot to buy them. However, it’s quite popular among the Chinese community, and I had to wait 20 minutes in line to receive and pay for my order.

This place serves one of the best meat you can find in Chinatown. The family comes here often to grab the meat before a big hot pot day. They actually had everything we needed. We went into the shop at first for the meat, then ended up buying the meat balls, soup base, the gas canister. Heck they’ve got everything for your hot pot needs!
Overall you definitely need to know Chinese when arriving, have cash ready, and also be prepared for a line of people all asking for meat. Small shop but hey it’s Chinatown so can’t expect luxury.
We’ve eaten the meat from here couple of times and no we haven’t had any runs to the bathroom. That’s a plus for us!

There are only a handful of places on Unilocal that I’ve ever been really selective about reviewing because I don’t want other people to know about it. This is one of them. Why am I sharing this secret? It’s because ultimately I do care about this company and I want them so succeed. Succeed so they stay in business through the rent turmoil we are suffering from in the city. Succeed so I can have my hot pot sliced beef — all the time.
It looks like a hole in the wall. You’ll walk up to the cashier and there’ll be an Asian lady chopping up raw chicken beside you. You might question where you are, if you’re even in the right place. Don’t worry. You are in the right place, my friend.
Every time I’ve come here the cashier has spoken pretty good English. And every time I come here, just about every other person who walks in is also looking for hot pot beef. Just say you want hot pot beef, and state how many pounds. I would suggest about 0.5−1.0lbs per person. Might I add that my friends and I are also fatties? Regardless, leftovers are always welcome. The current going price as of June 2015 is $ 8.99/lb for the lean beef, and I think $ 13.99/lb (can’t remember) for the snowflake/​fatty beef. The lean beef is enough and it’s good, however if you want a party in your mouth I would say definitely hit up that snowflake beef. It’s a really great deal. Trust.
Also, they fresh-​slice their own beef. I went there and ordered 6 lbs from them and then sat around for the next half hour waiting for them to slice it for me. Tip: call ahead to order if you’re ordering a lot. Also, they only take cash.
Got the beef? Good. Now shabu shabu away!

gold coin trading specialty is fresh meat, something i should be interested in. problem is, i seldom buy it raw, usually it’s prepared for me by someone else.
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very tempted to buy some here. (north american noodle used to be here). beef looks fresh. specialty cuts available for specific asian/​chinese dishes.
worth a look/​see, try.

The snowflake beef is amazing! It tastes excellent.
One more recommendation is the fishball. It is really made by real fish! Taste great!

My go-​to place for meat when I make hotpot at home. Gold Coin is a mom and pop shop run by a couple but they have the most BOMB @$$ sliced beef, they call it «snowflake beef» in Chinese. It’s so good that it melts in your mouth instantly. I was introduced to this hole in a wall by a coworker; this is truly a hidden gem. You can easily walk by this store thinking it’s another shop that sells Asian snacks, but nope they sell mainly hotpot ingredients: fishball, tofu, soup flavor, sliced pork, sliced lamb.
A tip is to order ahead of time (Chinese), they usually don’t slice it till you order it, so if you order on the phone and ask for pick up, that’ll save you 5 – 10 minutes standing in a small space (another tip for you closterfobic peeps out there). I don’t know how good their English is but you can try ordering in English? Oh and don’t expect excellent service, I walked in once without ordering ahead of time and I totally got ignored for 5 minutes before I gave up and walked out.
Cash Only!

Not sure if Unilocal is filtering out the bad reviews due to the owners (?) buying this page, but I bought meat here thinking that with 5 stars, I would have little to no issues. I was incredibly disappointed. Yes, it was expensive compared to most places, but I would happily pay if the quality, weight and freshness matched the price. I bought some beef short ribs for BBQ and WOW I have never seen short ribs cut so thin. My guess was that my «batch» was a return order from a previous buyer that the owner (s) tried to cover their losses with me. Upon inspection of the meat shortly after purchase, the meat had the aroma of sour and spoiled milk. Compliments to the plastic bag for sealing that musky nonsense. The meat was cut thin. Very thin. Almost hot pot thin. I exaggerate, but whomever cut these short ribs, had to go out of his/​her way to make them this thin. I tried to reasoning with the owners (the wife? and then husband?). And the result… is why I have the unfortunate reason to write this review. I’ll try and be the better man and not comment on the harsh and rude things the owners have said and done when I went back for an explanation. I just hope this review will stay relevant and warn others of my experience. Maybe I might save a life… exaggerating again, but if I can save a poor sap’s wallet, then success!
***Edit*** ⁷⁴⁄₁₀₀ Health score… maybe I should have paid more attention to that number than the number of stars.
1) Improper thawing methods
2) High risk vermin infestation
3) Foods not protected from contamination

Thank you Unilocalers! Once again, Unilocal helped me find something I would never know existed. I came across this place before when I was Unilocaling for shabu shabu places. I never thought of Unilocaling for actual shabu meat, bc I always bought shabu meat from Japanese grocery stores.
We got invited to a hotpot dinner and we had to bring the meat. I took the 30 bus got off at Stockton & pacific and walked up a ½ block. It doesn’t look like much, but the old Chinese guy helped me and he even spoke English (which is surprising in Chinatown). I told him I wanted 2 lbs of snowflake beef for hotpot. He showed me the beef and weighed it in front of me before slicing it in the back. He was super nice and the beef was great!
Everyone said it was better than ranch99 beef, but the quality is probably inline with the Japanese grocery stores. It’s hard for me to judge without having both in front of me. My guess is it’s cheaper than nijya or suruki, but I’ll have to check next time. Overall, the beef and service were quality!

best hotpot meat ever!!!

This tiny market in Chinatown is packed full of shabu foods and condiments. This place really is a one-​stop shop for all your shabu needs. The only thing they do not sell is ponzu sauce, but the owner is already looking into stocking it just because I asked for it. That is great attention to customer feedback in my opinion! The owners are very nice and appreciative of their customers. The quality of the thinly sliced shabu beef can’t be beat. I used to buy my shabu beef from Nikiya Supermarket in Japantown. Not until I tried the beef here at Gold Coin Trading did I come to realize that the more expensive version in J-​town does not even come close!
Parking can be pretty tough here. But put their number on speed-​dial because they will prep your order in advance AND even carry it out to your vehicle if you call in advance. WOW.

This store is like any typical store in Chinatown … they sell the basics. However, what sets this store apart from the other stores is that they have the BEST shabu beef in SF. It’s very thin, very fresh, marbled and cut just perfectly. Just for the beef itself, it gets 5 stars.

It doesn’t exist. It’s not real. Go away. This is obviously *NOT* the best place to buy beef for HotPot in SF. Do not go here. Stay away.
If you come here looking for gold coins, you will be disappointed.

Chinatown’s BEST Kept Secret! SHHHHH…
As an avid coin collector, my dad would be sorely disappointed if he walked into Gold Coin Trading to find they don’t sell coins but instead sell my ultimate fav… MEAT! Yes, I’m quite the Carniwhore.
What better way to warm up in this cold SF than with shabu/​hotpot at home which is exactly what my friends and I decided to do for our monthly get-​together dinner on Thursday.
As a disclaimer, though I’ve passed by numerous times, I never set foot into Gold Coin Trading, a living room sized market that sells meat and dry foods. My friend did all the shopping. Thanks, Linda!
Among the various meats Gold Coin Trading sells, their crown jewel is the Snowflake Beef aka the «Kobe Beef of China» which has very similar marbling to the real deal. It was the first time that I’ve ever heard of Snowflake Beef so hungry for more information I tried to do some research on it. Unfortunately, I only found one article online:
. The «snowflake» marbling in the beef is created with fat deposition in the muscle making the beef more flavorful, juicy, and tender.
At just $ 12/​lb, you will get beautifully marbled slice-​to-​order Snowflake Beef for shabu/​hotpot (American Kobe is currently about $ 100/​lb).
A quick 6 – 8 second dip in the pool of broth will give you mouth-​watering melt-​in-​your-​mouth like buttah beef. The Snowflake Kobe-​like Beef is so deliciously rich in flavor from the lovely white flecks of fat that it rivals the Kobe from Shabu House.
LIKE BALLS?
I DO. If you do too, another delicacy you will find at Gold Coin Training are Chicken Testicles which is good for *ahemcoughahem*. Yup, you’ve read right! Like humans, the balls came in various sizes; hmmm, I learn something new every day.
Simmer the balls until its firm with a slight bounce to it when you poke/​squeeze it. Upon biting into it, the testicle has a pop to it (like sausage casing) with a mild flavor and texture similar to a soft tofu.
Being a sharing person, I kindly tossed some cooked balls into my guy friends’ bowls. Though I got some glares and the evil eye, their sake-​induced appetites couldn’t seem to resist it. MmMm, protein! Yup, that’s what SHE (I) SAID.
OTHER NOTE (S):
*Cash Only

This place is 2 Legit 2 Quit! Fresh shabu meat, red with lots of fatty white marbles… ordered 5 lbs yesterday, killed it allllllllllllll

best shabu beef everrrrrrrrr!!! no one can top this place for now

This Gold Coin Trading Co is one of the best markets around especially in Chinatown. This store maybe a bit small with only 2 or 3 workers here, but some of their items are very moderately priced. The Vitasoy drinks were 50 cents each carton and the chip ranges from 30 cents to $ 1. Most of the rice sacks I see at this market are on the pricey side. I’ve noticed that they have only 50 pound sacks of rice available. Overall, the staff here are knowledgeable, friendly, and courteous.

Although their store’s name may lead you to believe that they sell gold coins, they have the BEST fatty beef for shabu/​hot pot EVER!
Just go in and say that you want X pounds of fatty beef (snowflake beef/​marbled beef) for hot pot and they’ll show you the meat. The guys always asks me if I want the leaner or fattier option. I tend to get leaner for more meat since the meat is already really fatty and beautifully marbled.
Then they’ll cut off a chunk of the frozen beef, weigh it, charge you and bring it to the back to slice it super thin for your hot pot/​shabu pleasures.
BEWARE!!! The meat is expensive. I think it’s about $ 12.00 a pound. But it’s ooooh so worth it!!!
If you don’t want to wait for them to slice it, you can always call ahead with your order.
Although it’s a little shady that they bring it to the back to have it thinly sliced, I am confident that they give you all the meat that you paid for.

BEST HOT POT BEEF HERE! I ordered 2lbs yesterday for hot pot and the beef literally melted in my mouth! I got the «SNOW FLOWER FAT COW» It’s Chinese translate into english! :)