Shanghai Surprise

We just came back from a really fantastic night out!

Dick has three colleagues visiting from the Shanghai office on business. One of the three is our friend, Aditya, who moved from SF to Shanghai in December. The other two are from China, and neither of them have been to the US before.

They are staying (for the weekend) at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square. Dick and I met them all in the lobby for cocktails. Dick had mentioned to me yesterday that the two Chinese colleagues were having a hard time finding something that they wanted to each at the Campus Cafeteria at work. He knew they'd really love some good Chinese Food. I suggested that we should all go to my favorite Chinese Restaurant, U-Lee! I figured that it's the most authentic Chinese Food that I know of in the City, and hopefully, they would like it, too. Plus, I'm always looking for an excuse to go there myself!

U-Lee was a huge success! I've been going there for more than 11 years now, and am on friendly terms with the family that runs it. What I didn't know is that the family is from Shanghai, and the food style is considered Shanghainese! This made our guests feel that much more welcome, as they were able to read the menu, and also speak to our hosts in Shanghainese. I only made one food suggestion (because you simply must have the potstickers when you go), and we left it up to our Shanghainese guests to order the rest.

We started with a delicious egg-drop soup, which I have to say is one of the best that I've had. Now here's the funny part: For years, I have teased Dick whenever he orders something like "Kung Pao Chicken" or "Sweet and Sour Pork". I have always assumed that these were Americanized Chinese dishes that weren't really "authentic Chinese". Apparently, I was wrong! Our guest from Shanghai ordered both! She did mention that the preparation of the Sweet & Sour Pork was just a little bit different than what she was used to, but otherwise thought that both dishes were excellent! Dick was so excited! All this time, he had been ordering authentic Chinese Food! We also had an amazing dish of baby bok-choy with Chinese Mushrooms, a beef dish with green onions, and a braised tofu dish prepared with curry. We had a great time chatting away with the owners of the restaurant, and our guests even took their business cards with them, in case they decide to return tomorrow night for dinner!

U-Lee is located right on the Hyde Street Cable Car Line. We figured we should give our guests (and ourselves) a treat by taking the Cable Car back to Union Square. As luck would have it, we waited less than 5 minutes for the Cable Car to come (we hadn't seen any pass during our entire meal). Another bonus was that today is another Spare the Air Day in which all forms of public transportation are free for the entire day. Seeing as cable car tickets cost $5/each way, that was a big savings for the 5 of us.

We enjoyed the Cable Car ride for several blocks (we all hung off from the sides) then we stopped at the corner of Washington and Powell. Something happened to the cables underground, and they had to empty out the car. This was fine with us, as we'd already had a nice ride, and figured it would be a nice walk back to the hotel.

Once we reached the corner of California and Powell, we realized that we simply couldn't go any further without first bringing our guests to The Tonga Room in the St. Francis.

Now, if you've never been to The Tonga Room, you really must go at least once in your life. Come to think of it, in all my 10+ years of living in SF, I've only been once, and it's been years. Anyhow, it's as kitsch as kitsch can be... it's basically like "The Tiki Room" at Disneyland, only, there's no talking birds. But, it's got everything else, and then some: tropical/luau set, fruity drinks, a boat/barge that floats out in the middle of the restaurant, and even an occasional rain/thunder shower!

We actually caught it on a pretty good evening. The radio station 97.3 (Alice) was hosting a party there for their morning show. When we walked in, the band on the boat were playing/singing "Jump" by Van Halen, and closed with "Dancing Queen" by ABBA.

After hanging out for a couple of songs, we headed back out, and eventually made our way back to their hotel.

I'm really glad that the night worked out so well. It was all fairly spontaneous, and I think everyone had a really great time.