Street Food

After finishing a punchbowl next door, my friend and I headed here to try their food! They have a wide variety of skewers/​street foods to choose from! You just mark how many pieces you want on their menu and they prepare them for you!
We were surprised to find this place pretty empty, but hey at least our food came out fast! However, their portions are pretty small… even my friend who’s been to other places like this more than I have immediately said the same thing once we got our food!
— — — — —
We ordered:
— Quail Eggs — Not bad, but maybe if they wrapped it with bacon it’ll be better!
— Bacon Wrapped Enoki Mushrooms — Eh
— Pork Belly — Not bad
— Chicken Hearts — Meh.
— Chicken Gizzards — Not bad.
— Intestines — Good (My favorite)
— Beef Tongue — Small pieces. Skip.
Overall, this place was alright. The gizzards and the intestines were the only two that my friend and I really liked.

This place is very interesting. But I like it. I haven’t been here enough to grasp the whole menu but I must say that anything and everything that I have had has been amazing. My girlfriend is a fan.
I’ll start by saying this… I weigh my experiences heavier based on the quality and service. The server that I have had here has been the same the both times I have dinned which were a year apart. Amazingly she remembered that my GF was a vegetarian which I thought was awesome of her. She did provide great service my only dislike was the time it took to cash out. Overall I will continue to come back here and play with the menu. I would recommend everyone to try this place at least once.

The food is solid, that isn’t the issue. Service is just completely terrible, even if you’re the only person in the restaurant. I mean, come on.
After we ordered, it took at least twenty minutes to get our skewers. The first set consisted of mushrooms, fish balls, and meatballs, all foods that require little to no prep other than to heat and serve. I don’t see how our order could have been forgotten as, again, no one else was there.
After twenty minutes, the waitress realizes they don’t have everything we ordered in stock, no idea why that was a new realization.
Finally, we waited in total 45 minutes for some dumplings we ordered, only to learn the waitress never checked both sides of the paper with our order, so it was never put in. So that happened.
Seriously, not sure how they’ve stayed in business, especially as they’re constantly empty.

Came here once and not again. They call this place street food because of the grill items on the menu found in most other countries street food. The portions are small but the prices are not unlike typical street food.
The food itself is nothing special, no sauce or salts that would give it a wonderful flavor. Just a bunch of items put on a skewer and roasted over wood considering the smell inside.
But going inside does remind people a lot like street food. We were freezing inside as if we were standing in the street.

|| Food ||
Almost every thing on their menu is on a stick. From BBQ Pork to Pork instestines (bleh!)
|| Service ||
It’s horrible! This place is not very welcoming. As soon as I walked in, the waitress just looked at us. I only ordered six BBQ oysters, and it’s been 45 minutes! (I’m Unilocaling this while waiting lol). So we asked the cook and they said 2 more minutes.
We left the restaurant. It’s just horrible.

Love this place. If you love BBQ, you’ll love this place.
Try the bacon wrapped asparagus, pork belly, chicken wings… Almost everything we tried there is GREAT. The Fried Bananas are the perfect dessert to round things out.
Best thing is the price. Very reasonable. $ 1.5 average for each yaktori, and $ 2 for the Fried Bananas. Liquor is around $ 3−5…
The owners are friendly once you get to meet them. They are not service «smart»… one time we went there while the place is packed. They just said no room. I asked whether we can leave our name on a wait list. He had a blank face. I think it’s a language issue. I left him my cell phone, and 15 mins later he did call me when a table freed up.

As some of the reviewers here mentioned, the skewered «street food» was mostly skewered fried food and not barbecued/​grilled. Meat came out tasting dry and tough. After they fry it, they sprinkle it with this cumin or coriander spice powder and it is just overpowering. No likey!
The only thing we enjoyed were the two cold appetizer dishes we ordered, which were the spicy tendon and the spicy cucumber.
Perhaps they should consider grilling the street food. I think it would taste so much better and then, maybe, they’ll attract more business.

Bad bad BAD service.
1) Walked in and the server just looked at us… (this place is not so welcoming)
2) Made us wait for the last plate after we finished 10 min ago with the previous served plates… and forgot my friend’s rice that comes with the food he ordered.
3) I was told that there weren’t anymore honeydews when 5 seconds later, another server walks out from the back end door with two whole fruits of honeydews… lie correctly, pls!
4) TOOK MY CASH meant to cover my bill that I had placed with my credit card and the server decided to swipe everything on my credit card.
5) My friends and I left, and this guy – the server – didn’t even say anything. No thank you, what-​so-​ever after taking more than the percentage tip, which he doesn’t and didn’t even deserve on the first place.

I think I’d be a fan of this place if everything wasn’t drowned in grease!
Coming into this place, I already liked it. Cute décor and atmosphere. I liked the concept of how everything is on a stick and it’s pretty much a snack so you can try a lot of different things. My sis and I tried:
BBQ Cilantro: I’m a HUGE fan of cilantro and wanted to try it BBQed. Not too amazed. It was a small bunch of cilantro wrapped in some rice paper and I guess it was BBQed though I didn’t really tasted it. It was also hard to bite apart so you kind of have to eat the whole thing in one bite.
Bacon lychee: To my surprise, this was probably one of my fave. I loved the sweetness of the lychee and the salty and fatty of the bacon. Probably my fave of the night
BBQ squid: Exactly what it sounds like minus the BBQ. I couldn’t taste it.
BBQ chicken gizzard and BBQ chicken gristle: Honestly, I can bare differentiate between the two… pretty much tasted like crunchy chicken
What I dislike (beside the massive amount of grease that came with every stick) was that there was no marinade or flavor to anything. I guess it’s nice if you want to taste the real flavors of what you’re ordering, but I added the pepper salt thing that was on the table to everything.
Overall, I really want to support this place, but too much oil, no flavor and the prices add up quick because of the small portions!

Disclaimer: Come here after 10PM when you literally have no dining options in San Mateo.
This is the late night joint of my dreams. Lots of skewer options, good (alcoholic) drinks, a beer tap selection that’s small but excellent. I could easily rack up a large bill off of the $ 1 bacon lychee skewers. Sweet and bacon-​y and delicious all in a small stick. There’s also a stick of grilled bao bun. No meat filler, just that white, doughy goodness grilled over a fire. It’s heaven in stick form! The Chinese sausage fried rice is excellent. Fluffy rice with lots of ingredients.
It’s pretty quiet which makes dining pretty laid back. Expect to see me here regularly.

Street Food offers a la carte Beijing-​style skewers and other small dishes. For about $ 1 you can pick from about 70 different skewers! Because of the economical price, there is no need to bring a large party to sample their menu.
My favorite item was the BBQ Eggplant. For only $ 2, we got a large serving of creamy, well-​seasoned eggplant. The eggplant was so rich and creamy I had a hard time believing I was actually eating a vegetable. The Shredded Dried Bean Curd provided an excellent reprieve from the onslaught of spicy skewers. My girlfriend was blown away by the BBQ Oyster. Not only was the oyster absolutely massive, the spicy broth complemented the taste of the oyster, rather than overpowering it.
The Wontons in Chili Sauce, with a scant amount of bland meat, was very underwhelming, and was actually the most expensive item on our tab. This seemed like the only disappointing dish.
We were pleased with our visit here. We got to sample a ton of different skewers, yet we only explored a fraction of their offerings. If we’re ever craving skewers, or delicious eggplant, we’ll stop by Street Food again.

Been meaning to come here ever since they opened and finally checked that box yesterday. I think this place suffers from some bad marketing. First off, the name is just not good. It needs to be something like, «Izakaya Szechuan» cuz that’s basically what this place is: skewers of food and beer.
Most of the dishes here are spicy. We went with the little spicy and it was still pretty potent. So beware. Other than that, I really enjoyed the food we ordered. Some of my favorites were: pork belly, bacon lychee, chicken heart, grilled man tou, and the mixed plate. The mixed plate is basically a bunch of left over animal bits in red chili oil sauce. That doesn’t sound very tempting, but it’s one of my personal favorites since I grew up with it. Mmm. Leftover animal bits. Seriously, it’s good.
I was surprised at the grilled man tou. First off, man tou is basically rice bread. So putting it on the grill just made it into rice toast. I’m surprised it never dawned on me to eat it in any other way besides steamed. I love toast and I love man tou. This just upped the ante. Gonna have to do this for breakfast one of these days.
I had a good experience here. The prices are also very reasonable compared to the Japanese Izakayas in the neighborhood. Gonna come here again. Gotta support my peeps.

I’m really flattered (and honored) that a few of you think I’m some sort of Chinese food Foursquare Emperor Sith Overlord who checks in everyday at some random Chinese restaurant when I’m not photographing properly done nigiri like paparazzi in pursuit of Kim Kardashian or the Duchess of Cambridge, all while looking for some Moo Shoo Poo Poo Doo Doo Jedi ass to kick.
P. S. I don’t use 4Square.
But not really, I’m just a fan of the chit when it’s done right.
A few of you have already sent me this article which hit the bandwidth last Tuesday AM:
As if the great MBauer needs any introduction as to his top 100 Chronicle picks for best SF restaurants, which has been a bit of a yawner in the last 10 predictable years.
Or that Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club director) is trying to shoot the next Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and found his next idol of worship by the non Chinese community, and that is Cecilia Chiang. She is arguably the first non Cantonese Chinese woman who introduced regional Chinese to the San Francisco Bay Area landscape and has quite a life story. Unfortunately her son Philip co-​founded PF Chang’s and undid all the work her mother worked so hard to accomplish. But that’s another «irony» for another time. Maybe the new movie should be called «Cecilia Dreams of Chinese Food, but has nightmares and relapses about PF Chang’s».
Both Cecilia and Wayne for some reason think there’s nothing good or exciting (or innovative) in the Chinese food landscape. Of course one can’t compare HK, TW, or China with SF Bay Area. I mean really, does everything have to be elegant, banquet, high end, shark fin/​fish maw/​sea cucumber/​dried abalone/​Pecking Duck (yes someone spelt it that way before!) /​lobster xiaolongbao (or made with Bluefin)? I think not.
The fact of the matter is, there’s good food out there. You just have to go out and seek it. And Street Food is definitely getting better and better.
What’s particularly noteworthy is a restaurant’s ability to iterate and improve, whether it is introducing new menu items, or just nailing down signature offerings and getting better with each visit. With Street Food (chuan bah /​skewer bar), they are doing exactly the latter.
For example, in the most recent visit, the pork intestine skewer was completely nailed down… crispy exterior with a rich fatty interior with a texture rivaling bone marrow (and not for wussies). The amount of spices for each type of meat is carefully controlled so that it’s not the same orange sauce all over (resulting in nasty used napkins that look like you’ve been eating microwaved melted cheetoes buffet). Spices, cumin, paprika like flavors, are used in moderation so each spicy skewer (should you request spicy) is pretty well balanced, instead of tasting very similar to each other from the first visit a while back.
Chicken gizzard, beef, pork belly, sweet potato, corn, lamb, enoki mushroom with Yuba, grilled fish, shrimp, are all done nicely these days.
There’s now no minimum two skewers per order for the BBQ. Perhaps they saw the reviews and decided to change this policy.
They now have a skewer fondue, except instead of cheese, it’s numbing spicy pot. It’s been the rage in Sichuan/​Chengdu for some time now. Not some territory this Sith is brave enough to conquer.
Don’t miss the beef noodle soup. It is a modest sized portion, allowing you to down several skewers. The broth is not polluted with chili oil and all sorts of other crap that other restaurants do, and tastes a lot more natural and homey. The slices of beef are some type of shank (niu jian) with good spots of tendons in them, all sliced very thin but work really well. Good decent noodles, and the whole thing worked great, which was a fantastic surprise. A rare commodity in San Mateo, considering the typical noodle soup bowl is either done to high levels of disappointment, or way overpriced with no soul whatsoever. The fact that it took some time to arrive, meant they put more effort into it, as pedestrian as this really is.
They also offer Beijing Suan Nai here (Beijing style yogurt) of which the regular flavor is very tasty. Poke the straw through the yogurt cup and slurp away. Much more effective than drinking hot tea to wash down the grease and spicy heat.

Came here for the first time the other night with the gf and would probably be back again but just for a quick or late night snack. As far as the food is concerned, it was a toss up of both good and not so good. We ordered several skewers like ck hearts, pork belly, spicy enoki mushrooms and egg plant which were all good. Then we ordered the asparagus which didn’t come in skewers and was very bland… so I think there’s a real difference in taste among the different skewers… CHOOSE WISELY! lol
P. S. — prepare to spend a hefty sum if you plan on getting full off skewers…

Street Food takes over a phở place. there was a lunch special so went for that.
menu: appetitzers, soups, noodles, bobas, wasn’t given skewers checklist/​menu.
eats: choose 3 appetitzers (7.99) from list of nearly 20 choices.
–pork belly in garlic sauce
pork belly gelatinous, nice garlic sauce
–fried calamari
nicely fried, tab doughy, nice chew, no sauce given, dipped in garlic sauce
–spicy beef tendon.
tendons chewy, not tender, nice sauce
pour: lasnigtas beer (4)
–kind of flat…
leftovers
–not a lot of seating
–would have ordered some skewers if aware of it.
–3.5 stars food not quite 4 stars
–4 stars for value,

Would go back so rounding up from 3.5 stars. Street Food is a good place to get some quick casual eats in downtown SM. Given the negative reviews regarding pricing, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the prices were on par with other similar restaurants in downtown SM. Here’s what to expect:
1. Sit down and be handed a laminated menu and a dry erase marker to mark off your choices (+ points for not wasting paper like the yakitori places)
2. Get 3 – 5 skewers/​shabu strings per person (shabu strings are skewers that have been boiled hot pot style instead of grilled). Share an appetizer or two and round out your meal with noodle/​rice dishes.
* BBQ Pork Belly — Nicely cooked, not excessively fatty, and had good cumin and fennel seed spiced.
* BBQ Sweet Potatoes — Perfectly cooked 5 cubes on a skewer
* Shabu Cauliflower — very spicy, but a good option for vegetables. One of the larger portions
* Bacon Wrapped Lychee — One of the smaller portions with 3 per skewer.
* Bone Broth Wonton Soup — there’s no bone in this. Just a shio-​style broth with seaweed and wontons.
3. Hand the menu to the waiter. Get your food within a few short minutes. The food all came out pretty quickly, and was well paced.

I spent over $ 23 here and still left hungry. I ordered 9 skewers and was only impressed with 3 of them.
The BBQ Squid skewer ($ 1 ea) and Bacon Asparagus skewer ($ 2 ea) are so deceiving. When you imagine a skewer, you’d expect about 4 – 5 cubes of whatever to be on it, right? So imagine my disappointment when I received my squid skewer with two tiny pieces of squid on it! And then there’s the bacon asparagus skewer with only three tiny pieces. I will say the bacon asparagus skewer was delicious. But, each piece of asparagus wasn’t even close to an inch long each!
Standout skewers were the BBQ Beef Tongues ($ 3), the BBQ Pork Belly ($ 1.50), and the BBQ Beef Kabob ($ 1.50). The beef tongues were so juicy and flavorful! It was well seasoned with a kick of cumin. You have to order it if you’re here. The beef and pork belly were also delicious. And we received a good proportion of meat on all of them.
Pass on the BBQ Sausage skewer ($ 1.50) and the BBQ Chicken skewer ($ 1.50). The chicken tasted bland and the sausage is nothing special.
The worst by far was the BBQ Dried Tofu skewer. It was so burnt that I’m surprised they served it. And the little patches that escaped unscathed had no flavor.
Our Street Food Special Squid appetizer ($ 4.99) came out last. It arrived in a foil pocket with a yummy concoction of squid, butter, green onion, and tons of garlic. I thought it was really flavorful and yummy, but my companion complained that he could have made this at home.
Overall, I would only come back for the beef tongue. Everything else was either disappointing or something you could make at home. My friend preferred the Japanese skewers, which are more expensive, but also have more flavor and will leave you feeling full.

This place is one month old as of this review, so it was pretty empty. Awesome, since we didn’t have to fight any crowds for now.
The minimum per skewer type is 2. In terms of skewers, we ordered the beef, lamb, shrimp, sweet potato, croaker (fish), & enoki mushrooms. We also ordered the bone wonton soup (main) dish. We were asked if we wanted the skewers spicy. Their idea of spicy beef was more black pepper. It was almost too much. The lamb was tasty however. The enoki mushroom was wrapped in tofu skin and was pretty moist. Be prepared to sort thru bones in the croaker, which we expected. The bone soup was savory. I would order that again.
We will be coming back here again before it gets popular. Probably late Fri & Sat nights if they continue to stay open until 1am.

There’s only one word to describe everything that I have tried: spicy.
Everything that they have cooked for us is covered in red hot pepper (I think that’s what it is.) and it just left my mouth burning. The only thing that wasn’t spicy was their BBQ Sweet Potato which I thought was YUMMMM. We ended up ordering 4 orders of that. There was also this noodle soup that we thought was really good.
Service was alright. They were attentive at first, but it took me asking them twice for water before I even got a refill. Tea also cost $ 2 which I thought was crud. Bathroom was clean and cold.
Overall, I would come back. It’s not bad. The prices are cheap that you could easily eat up to $ 100 if you don’t be careful, lol.

If you like Chinese style BBQ and Shabu Shabu, if you live in San Mateo and don’t want to drive far to Cupertino Village or TLT in Fremont, this is a good place to cater your craving.
Food is really OKAY. I have definitely had better.
Two things will make me like it more — 1. more cumin makes the meat taste better. 2. $ 1 for one piece of napa cabbage leaf? Kidding me?
I can see that this place is trying to target the american crowd since it is a little off the very authentic taste. The market for Chinese BBQ is still quite open and I hope they will be successful.