Chef Liu Mandarin Cuisine

I needed to pick up some stuff from my buddy in Mountain View and he suggested we grab a quick bite on Castro. We decided on Chinese but wanted to try something new and Chef Liu caught our eye. We were greeted by friendly faces and were welcomed in Chinese so things were off to a good start.

We ordered the Hunan lamb and garlic eggplant dish. Soon after ordering, I noticed that they had a special menu of 3 dishes for $24 that we weren't presented with. Since we had nearly reached te price threshold already, I asked if we could upgrade and, disappointingly, were discouraged to do so. The dishes we got were just ok, definitely not amazing for the price. The green onion in the lamb dish was super tough and difficult to eat so we mostly just tossed them aside.

I was really disappointed in the food and overall experience here. The only thing that really saves it is the service, which was extremely friendly. While they do have a dog-friendly patio, next time I will probably just find myself going back to HK Bistro instead though.

Food: 5/10

Service: 8/10

Price: $$

Atmosphere: 6/10