Hulu Wa China Bistro

This is my third time here. This spot is lovely and delicious. The folks who work here are super kind and the food is great.

Cucumber salad is great here. The hot and sour soup is amazing. Garlic string beans are on point. The General Tso's is worthy of a legend.

Unfortunately, this corner of the Castro is the Bermuda Triangle of restaurants. Help this one survive. Your stomach will thank you.

Affordable, delicious, and great menu selection. Really a great neighborhood take out spot or a quick place to pop in for a no fuss lunch/dinner. I loved sitting upstairs by the window! They offer great, kind service here too. Will be back.

The Mapo tofu with beef has great spice and flavor! Thought I do wish the scallion pancake had a little more scallion flavor to it.

Came here with a friend and wow the food here is amazing and cheap!

Good:
- Super nice staff and really reasonable prices for good portion sizes
- The food came out super quickly
- The Mongolian beef was the best I've had in the city! So much flavor, and it was really chewy but pliable
- Nice place to catch up with friends, quiet interior
- The chow fun was really tasty and addictive, good texture and temperature

Bad:
- The place is small there are only really 3 tables in the space

Overall I liked how this was a new find and would come back.

I have been looking for my next go to Chinese food spot and I finally found it! I have had Hulu Wa a few times now and it has been great! The food is delicious and portions are pretty good for the price.

We ordered:
- General Tso's Chicken (10/10)
Have ordered this twice and it was delicious both times. Chicken was crispy and coated with just the right amount of sauce.
- Mongolian Beef (10/10)
Actually has some spice to it which is great because usually other Chinese restaurants hold back on the spice. This is one of my fav dishes here!
- Lumpia (5/10)
It was lacking flavor and filling. If the filling has more flavor to it then maybe I'd try it again. Would recommend you pass.
- Chicken Wings (6/10)
The wings were just ok. Again not very flavorful and was fairly bland.
- Sesame Balls (7/10)
These were alright. Some of the sesame balls felt chewier while other ones were a nice texture. The red bean paste inside was a little chalky but overall I enjoyed them.

Overall the actual entrees are delicious and flavorful. Skip the appetizers and just get the entrees. Can't wait to try their other dishes!

Do you feel you're always looking for your go-to Chinese takeout spot?

I found it!
Here it is!

Tucked into the corner of 17th Street right at the cable car turnaround is this sweet little restaurant with really terrific Chinese favorite dishes like won ton soup, beef and broccoli, salt and pepper prawns, chow fun and a smattering of juicy dumplings.

We had XLB that were so plump and soupy and one of the best won ton soups in recent memory with clear, flavorful broth and lots of shrimp and won tons.

My son ordered in Mandarin but hastily ordered pork fried rice instead of pork chow fun. I ordered the salt and pepper prawns which were salty, hot and crunchy.

They also have a good selection of vegetarian soup and entrees.

All the dishes were executed to *perfection*!

Attentive service, picturesque seating from the second floor (there's an elevator for wheelchair accessibility), chill ambiance.

They had at least as many takeout orders going out the door as those dining in.

We got lucky with street parking on Hartford, so driving was 5.5/10 on a degree of parking difficulty (2 blocks or less) and it's on several MUNI lines so very accessible.

Just go!
Dine in or takeaway!

Loving the throwback to Americanized Chinese mom & pop restaurants at this place. Kinda like the Panda Express menu, but much better quality. And those lunch combos are very reasonably priced for San Francisco.

Hot & Sour Soup: Pretty standard, but in a comforting way. Silky broth texture and chewy strands, like you'd expect. Nice sour aftertaste. A good way to start a meal.

Fried Crab Cheese Puff: These were shaped like egg rolls rather than typical crab rangoons. And they were kinda skimpy on the crab, so it was more like eating a bit stick of fried cream cheese. I like cheesy stuff, so that was still nice against the crispy shell. But I think a typical crab cheese wonton would have been better.

Lumpia: You can't go wrong with lumpia. Thin, crispy and full of minced meat. Nice sweet dipping sauce on the side. It remind me of grocery store frozen lumpia; maybe they make it in-house or maybe they don't, but it's still delicious.

Veggie Chow Mein: Well worth the $3 upgrade since this is way more interesting than white rice. Springy noodles and lots of veggies. Paired with a protein choice, this really did feel fancier than fast food.

Egg Fried Rice: Another choice for a $3 upgrade instead of white rice. Not as interesting as the chow mein, though still much better than boring white rice. Though it does pair well with a sauce heavy entree.

Orange Chicken: Freshly deep fried to order, so it's crispy even when tossed in the sticky sweet sauce. Seemed like all breast meat, which is fine by me. Quite nice size chunks too. The sauce had strong hints of orange peel, so it tasted lovely. Very intensely filling, so I had to take some home as leftovers.

Sesame Beef: I think I liked this more than the orange chicken. The beef was cut thin, nicely batter, fried crispy and had a good sauce. The long thin shape meant it was crispier than the thick chicken pieces. A must-try dish here!

We're in the final weeks of the old Castro theater and we had tix for Kiki and Herb. Prime criterion: something a short walk away. Asian was a plus. Hulu Wa was the choice and we made a reservation not knowing what to expect.

On the ground floor there's a long counter with about 4 stools at the entrance and a sort of L-shaped split banquet for another 5 or 6 people total. All other seating is up a staircase. Accessibility was vital that night so it's good that the reservation clicked into a downstairs table. Better yet would be to clearly delineate choice of upstairs or ground floor seating.

The service was excellent. The young man greeted everyone like an old friend he was delighted to see.

The wonton soup was very good. More of what I think of as wor wonton with pork, shrimp, wontons and vegetables. Char siu bao were steamed deliciousness. Everything you'd expect. There were three to an order.

Takayoki plating is dramatic and has all the flavors and textures for the taking.

We drank a lot of tea and servers were quick to care for teapot. I could easily see returning for some bites and beer on tap.

Delicious gem in the Castro! (Coming from a picky eater)

This place is a fantastic find! As a Chinese person myself, I can be pretty critical of Americanized Chinese food, but Hulu Wa impressed me.

Everything we ordered was delicious and perfectly cooked. The sesame chicken wasn't greasy at all, and the meat was super tender. The XLB (soup dumplings) were spot-on, and the garlic broccoli had just the right amount of flavor. The bok choy pork buns were a fun twist on a classic, and the combo chow mein was a great mix of textures and tastes.

For the price, the portion sizes were great, and the whole restaurant felt clean and inviting. It's definitely a hidden gem - more people need to know about this place! Service is also fast!

Highly recommend for anyone looking for delicious, affordable Chinese food!

Came here with a friend during lunch, the food was good... typical American Chinese and dumplings. I for one am glad we have a new Chinese place in the Castro. I had the crab cheese puffs (Rangoon), orange chicken , hot and sour soup, and an assortment of dumplings. It was was all good, and the pricing seemed fairly decent.

The restaurant is in a low traffic area, but I hope they do well. The last few restaurants here sadly didn't make it.

We ordered Bbq chow mein, Bbk fried rice, orange chicken and General Tsao's chicken. Everything was so fresh and flavorful! Best Chinese food I've had in SF yet.