Ming’s Fong Lam

Tried Ming’s when I walked in to eat on Sunday. Sat down in the out dated dingy restaurant and figured I would give them a chance. There was only two other tables taken by two hispanic families ordering lots of food besides me. Thier food was decent, service was ok, prices were cheap. So I got a TO GO menu so I could order in the future.
Couple days later decided I wanted to get some delivery (because thier to go menu says the deliver for orders over $ 10). Called them up and asked for delivery lady asked me to come pick it up instead. I reluctantly said ok and continued with ordering my food. She took my order and told me to come now, so I got in my car drove over and get there and the chef and waitress were sitting down reading the news paper, empty place. Chef didn’t start making the food till after I walked in, annoyed I acted like nothing and waited for my food. I was back in my car food in hand not to long after that and headed home to go eat. I get home and the Vegtable Egg Foo Young I orderd was awful! One skinny layer of bean sprouts and super flour filled egg concoction poured ontop and black bean sauce saturating only the middle of flat pitiful pancake and nothing else not even onion! I have eaten Egg foo young at countless Chinese restaurants and I have NEVER seen such a crappy version of it made. So after attempting to try to stomach it down, I decided I had to call to complain… I HATE having to complain.
I called to complain when she tried to explain that there was no bread in it and that was the way they made it. Right as I was going to ask if they could exchange it for another plate she hung up on me. So I called back, thinking it was an accident, I asked again to please exchange it, she again said thats how it was made and I was very polite in saying I didn’t like it and wasn’t able to eat it. She then agreed to exchange the dish and asked me which one I wanted and said for me to come over yet again.
I get there and the chef is outside seemingly picking up trash outside of the front door. He took a long glare at me and the box of food in my hand, scowled at me and ran inside. There was a man at the counter ordering food as I walked in and the chef continued to glare at me while he listened to the man order and then ran in the kitchen to make it. Once the waitress was done taking the mans money for his order she turned her smile into a frown when I walked up. I smiled as I walked up and she immediately broke into a speech about how that’s the way they make that dish and that she wasn’t going to exchange but they would make me another one if I paid for it. I couldn’t beleive it I asked her why she made me come back if they weren’t going to exchange it and that I was sorry but the dish wasn’t to my liking. She made a semi racist comment about how she sometimes doesn’t like Mexican food (I’m Hispanic, but not Mexican) I told her I’m not Mexican and how I had tried egg foo young a million different ways (my best friend is Chinese and have cooked with her mom so im not foreign to Mandarin cuisine). She shook her head no no no, and frowned at me. I put the box of food on the counter and said they lost me as a customer. If your reading this I hope they lost you too!

Ming’s is great. The food is delicious and cheap. The ingredients and sauces are not of the highest quality, but if you are seeking Chinese food satisfaction for a good price this place delivers.

I love Chinese food. Have tried nearly every Chinese food restaurant in SF. And this place ranks top 3. I have been coming to this place for years. It is my go to spot for Chinese on 24^th.
I always get the combo (A). It is the perfect dish. Rice, beef & broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, fried won tong, and a cup of soup. Its huge, so I always share.
I agree, the customer service isn’t the best. But I am willing to overlook that for this restaurant just because I love the food and have been coming here for so long…

I want my money back. I work in the neighborhood and have walked past many times and wondered why it was always empty. A co-​worker and I decided to check it out yesterday for something different. We ordered pot stickers for an appetizer. I ordered the chicken chow mien and my friend ordered clay pot seafood. The pot stickers seemed to have been baked, not sautéed in a pan. The shell was a very thick and tough dough. Like an obese pot sticker. The filling was ok, but the dough shell was awful. I just ate the filling after choking down the first one. My chow mien had a pronounced orange citrus flavor. It was not a pleasant addition. I ate half of it because I was hungry, not because it was enjoyable. The tofu in the seafood clay pot was ok, but my friend gave the dish a thumbs down. They did not bring water to the table and when my friend asked for water, the waiter brought one glass — just for him. The décor was nice and it looked clean, but I really felt ripped off the entire time I was there. The service was poor– the waiter seemed disinterested. I seriously considered walking out without paying — the experience was that awful, and I doubt the waiter would have even noticed. I paid at the register and did not leave a tip. I might add that the prices were on the high side. $ 24 for two people at lunch. Needless to say I will not be returning.

Service — 7
Atmosphere — 6
Food — 8
Vegetarian Friendly — 8
General Awesomeness — 8
Great place. Great food. Get some dinner, enjoy it!

I come here a lot for take-​out.
You have to pick the right dish to enjoy the food at Ming’s.
Try the Hong Kong Style noodle — crispy noodles topped with beef, prawn or roasted pork.
I love the crispy prawn.
I like the beef stew as well.
These are some items on the menu I don’t like. Avoid the chicken, they are deep fried breaded but almost looked like deep fried corn dogs. I didn’t like it too much.
Avoid the fried rice too.

Let me spell it out: M i n g ’ s F o n g L a m. This humbly unassuming restaurant rings very much true to its name. Situated in between several yuppified, yet modest eateries such as Local Eatery, Wise&Sons, Chili Cha Cha, and hordes of authentic Mexican taquerias named after reputable Mexican cities and probably after some recently deceased drug cartel czars: this Cantonese dining spot serves relatively generous portions… even amongst da mom n’ pop food standards!
This place has survived 15 years already on the 24^th Street Promenade-to-be…having maintained a steady customer base, which consists of loyal long-​time locals and flocks of frugal Chinese handymen who like their food whipped up real fresh, yummy and merely filling — minus the frills. I often order their combo seafood chow fun (for novices, the FUN segment means flat rice noodles that most Asian kids seem to really prefer while growing up, do I get a few nods, yeah??) with sexy glazed prawns, stir fried fish of the day, and all the works. Simply decadent! From flash-​boiled Chinese broccoli smothered in sweet oyster sauce to consistently delicious hot ‘n sour soup to perfectly crispy pot stickers to Mongolian lamb — I never get disappointed. Not to mention, if you dare to order anything topped with their succulent black bean house sauce. talk about chomping down merrily with forever flavor linger-​isms — fresh garnishes like julienne scallions and shredded baby carrots give it a zing!
Toss a couple of hot towels and better lighting, this spot would probably climb on the brink of 5 stars. Basically juggling between quantity and quality, their food undeniably wins on the quantity part. On the other hand, the quality is still respectvely on-​par because it never fails to make me full and giddy-​kiddy :) I’ve read a few whines about the cleanliness and the inevitable grease… never once had any tummy qualms… must be my iron-​cast stomach?
Ok guys, if you prioritize ambiance and some classic Stepford-​wife attitude, you should look elsewhere. because this restaurant is ALL about the food and frugal survival! Thumbs-​up, mostly… and I always give Chinese restaurants that have lazy Susans, a full chance and I am glad I totally did!

Ok I know the Host and his family runs the restaurant and the food is ok I guess I ordered the Chinese Chicken Salad because it doesn’t have MSG and I haven’t been there for a while. And most of come out greasy. I understand it’s Chinese food. But no I chose to do anymore, I feel sick to my stomach after eating too much MSG and grease. Yuck please stay away from this place at all costs.

Deserves four stars just because of the price to portion ratio! It is what it is: cheap but yummy Chinese food.

Ming’s Fong is the best Chinese food I’ve tried on 24^th street so far. While everything there is at least pretty good, their dinner special is PHENOMENAL. For only 7.95 you get a massive plate filled to the brims with sweet and sour chicken (the best I’ve ever tried), yummy beef and brocoli, fried brown rice, delicious wantans, tea and cookies. I can eat huge portions typically (i.e. Farolito’s Super Chorizo Burrito, no problem!), and the only time I’ve been able to eat the whole dinner special here was today after a very very long bike ride and I was famished. And it satisfied.
I’ve gotten their food to go a couple of times and it’s good, but it’s definitely way more worth the time to sit down there and eat the dinner special.

So I’ve been here three times now and can tell you that some of their items are decent and some of their items are REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD! The lemon chicken *gasp with affection at its memory* was phenomenal. I’m Asian so I know my citrus chicken but I’ve never seen lemon chicken on an Asian menu before. Usually you see orange chicken or mandarin chicken or general tsao’s chicken which is really just another version of orange chicken. But LEMON chicken? That was a first. And I thought it’d be one of those light fragrant steamed kind of chicken with lemon in it. But this was your WHALLOP OF A LEMON CHICKEN! It was generously drenched in their fantastic lemon sauce with lemon slices all over it. It’s like having the sun, all tart and tangy and bright yellow and orange, bursting in your mouth on a piece of tender chicken. SO GOOOOOOOD! HOLY MOLY! SOOOOO GOOOOOD! I’ll always order lemon chicken!
There’s also two other chicken dishes they do really well. One was kind of spicy. I forget what it’s called but it had bell peppers in it. Very tender cubes of chicken. The other was black bean chicken. Again, just superb with the right amount of black bean.
Their egg rolls are HOT MAMA THIS IS ENORMOUS! It’s not like your typical egg rolls you see in those Chinese joints in the mall where they’re overly fried and there’s more dough than there is filling. This is a HUGE egg roll the size of a fist with LOADS of yummy filling inside such as sliced veggies like cabbage n mushroom n carrots n other stuff. It’s HOT though. So be careful. Do dip it in that orange sauce they serve the egg rolls with. Orange sauce is goooooood :)
I always always always order their green beans with garlic. They get it right every single time. It’s so tasty and so tender and yet crisp enough and GREEN! I want to try other things on the menu but I keep ordering this staple because it’s just so dang delicious.
This place is humble and no-​fuss. You can almost miss this place so slow down when you’re walking around this block to look for this restaurant. There are certainly other louder asian joints that have bigger signs and all that but this spot will give you just-​as-​good-​food and for a better price. They carry a pretty good drink selection too if you check out their fridge. Their bathrooms are clean too. Industrial, almost, and very basic but clean with running water, soap, paper, and a little window for ventilation. The bathroom is usually the best judge of character for a restaurant and especially with Asian restaurants and I’m pleased to say that it passed the test. Whew! Can’t wait to come here again!
Oh! And the arrangement in the restaurant, while small and quaint and a little on the old side, is actually quite interesting in terms of having smaller tables in the front room of the restaurant and having two large banquet-​style tables with spinning glass tops in the back of the restaurant. Very handy to have in case you have a large group of say 8 or more folks and y’all want to find a cheap and tasty and easy meal together. This restaurant can handle it :)

just DON’T go here! waiter was quite strange… the place was empty and it felt like they didn’t care if you were eating there or not! the chef was coughing and sneezing! :(

I am generally put off by small restaurants in the neighborhood with lace curtains on the front windows but I was hungry for Chinese food so I gave it a whirl. My take-​out order was Mongolian beef, and although they did not have noodles, I asked for pan fried noodles with vegetables and they made them. There was enough food for 3 – 4 meals — huge portions for one person and all for $ 13. The food is tasty and did not need the extra condiments they packed in the bag. Nothing distinctive about it, but filling and a nice change from burritos.

Ming’s is cool because it has giant portions of YUMMY Chinese goodness at very competitive prices.
The fish in black bean sauce with green bell pepper is killer. You can share it w/​another hungry person all for $ 5ish. How often do you even see this plate in your average [non-​Chinatown] restaurant?!
The waitress there Hates me, but other than that I love this place.
I love the inside décor & atmosphere, too.
It’s in my favorite SF neighborhood as well which rocks.
It’s not one of my all time favorite restaurants but I could almost say I love this place (!).

The three rats I saw hanging out in the dining area in my 15 minutes there should have been enough of a warning. If you decide to eat at this disgusting establishment just remember, you WILL get diarrhea of the most foul, nasty variety.
You have been warned.

I finally got tired of my regular rotation of restaurants in the SOMA near my workplace so I decided to branch out into the Mission recently in search of good lunchtime eats. I spotted this restaurant about two weeks ago and decided to try it on Wednesday. As I walked by I decided to peer into the window only to be startled by the waitress who just at that moment decided to peer out of the same window. I smiled at her and walked into the restaurant. I don’t know if my sudden appearance at the window startled her or not, but she smiled back.
There was only one other diner inside at the time. The waitress gestured to me to take a seat anywhere. The interior is dimly lit by hanging lamps and Christmas lights (
). Chinese lanterns, paper dragons and Christmas ornaments that hang on dust encrusted strings decorate the ceiling. All of the chairs are wooden and stained in that familiar dark rosewood color often seen inside Chinese furniture shops. There are three huge heavy-​duty round wooden tables with matching wooden lazy susans and many smaller tables with the easy-​wipe formica tops.
All of the place settings had forks out, so I guess I’ll be forking it for the second time in a week. With all this forking around I hope I don’t lose my chopsticks using abilities. As soon as I was seated the waitress brought me a kettle of hot tea with a menu. After walking 13 blocks in a light shower the hot tea sure felt good going down. The first thing I noticed when I opened the worn, laminated menu were the prices. I guess with the nice furniture and all I expected higher prices, but most of the menu items are pretty cheap.
At $ 3.98 for six Potstickers I ordered this along with the $ 4.98 Beef Stew Wonton Noodle soup. With prices like those I threw out any expectations of quality food. Just make it taste good, and I’ll be happy.
The restaurant actually got busier after 2 PM with a flurry of customers walking in and out with take-​out orders. The wait for my food wasn’t long at all as both of my selections arrived at the table simultaneously.
The potstickers (
) were browned on all three sides, but there wasn’t a single crispy side. The skin was thick and chewy and the all pork filling just tasted bad. I couldn’t pinpoint what the problem was, but simply put I didn’t like the peculiar flavor of the filling. It wasn’t a freshness issue either; there was just something mixed with the pork that made it taste odd. I wouldn’t order that again.
The Beef Stew Wonton Noodles (
) was actually very good. The beef stew had a nice mix of meat and tendons and was quite tender and very flavorful. I liked the fact that I actually found bits of citrus peel in the stew. The eight wontons were fairly small with a bland little pocket of chopped pork and water chestnuts. On their own they would probably be quite tasteless, but mixed with the other ingredients and the hearty broth it worked out well. The portion of thin, chewy noodles was on the light side but the big stalks of baby bok choy were very tender as well. There were also a few thin slices of carrot floating in the broth. I would order this again.
Bottled beer, wine and canned sodas are available and they do accept credit cards. The service is friendly. C’mon Unilocal,give us half stars already because this place is a solid 3.5 stars.

I generally don’t care for Chinese food, It’s usually too bland and greasy for me. I was once told by a Chinese woman that I was insensitive to her culture because I’d rather eat almost anything before Chinese food and didn’t want to eat it every time we went out, that romance ended badly.
I needed a walk and some dinner, I decided to head down to 24^th ST and see what grabbed me. One thing I didn’t want was any kind of Central American food. After walking around a bit I decided to give Ming’s a try.
I ordered a Black pepper beef in Iron skillet. It had a picture of a chili pepper next to it on the menu which I thought was the universal for spicy, it had a nice flavor but not remotely spicy. I also ordered the house wine for $ 2 and was surprised that it was decent plus they filled the glass right up to the rim.

Number of occupied tables on a Sunday night: 4
Number of tables that were once occupied and still had piles of dirty dishes: 3
Number of customers under the age of four: 5
Screaming laps of the restaurant completed by the five young hooligans: 112
Number of TV’s competing for attention: 1
Percentage of murals depicting coffee farmers: 100
Chances, out of a hundred, that this was once a taqueria: 97
Price of domestic beer on the menu: $ 1.75
Price of imported beer on the menu: $ 2.00
Number of greasy noodle dishes on the menu: 0
Rank of greasy noodles among reasons for coming to a dive like this in the first place: 1
Number of vegetarian dishes ordered by our party of two: 2
Number of these dishes that turned out to be bland yet satisfying: 2

Ming’s is definitely the perfect spot for the zone of being over the idea of cooking your own food for dinner and you’ve already had like 3,000,000 burritos this week but you still want to spend $ 4. The only thing I’ve ever ordered there is the vegetable fried rice and it rules. It’s plenty of food for one and usually I myself can only eat half so it’s like BAM, lunch tomorrow included. All the prices there are something really random like 3.77 so that it evenly rounds out to the dollar amount. This really helps step up Ming’s game for getting casual food quickly. Here is how it goes:
1. You call Ming’s and order a vegetable fried rice with tofu but no egg (or you can get the egg but I don’t because I am VEGAN okay see my last review ps. this place is probably totally sketchy if you are a vegan who cares but I am not)
2. You drink some juice and listen to a 7″ (that’s 2 – 3 songs digital music people), maybe something to get your body pumped for this awesome experience of fried food.
3. You walk a block or two (or ride your bike if you are really hungry or you love bikes that much) to Ming’s Fong — I say about this far because I want to emphasize that this is a serious local eatery, like it’s for us lazy southeastern Mission people. You don’t gotta be riding your bike over from like 16^th and Valencia or any of that shit where you can get the magic of Asia AND Latin America AND maybe the Middle East or Africa for 5 bucks or whatever. There should be the option of one of those bubble maps where I could show you at what distance it would be worth your while to go here or take the time to go a little farther for something a little better.
4. You hand over your four dollars even, get your snacks, and leave. Don’t as for too much soy sauce or you will bum the nice lady out.
My roommate has a broken wrist and is also really lazy so due to him there are pretty regular trips there. At first we thought the owner lady didn’t like us (I get extra soy sauce and he gets hot sauce and EVERY time she seems sad) but then we realized the language gap issue and she seems to have warmed to our deal of never ordering anything else and thus never spending more than $ 4 at her establishment. Maybe she’s just resigned to the fact that we are cheap and boring, but whatever, this stuff rules.