Biscuits and gravy: Stir-fried wheat and corn meal biscuit, left, and stir-fried strips of pancakes are a few “hometown specials from old Beijing,” as EBR puts it. Photo by Kimberly Chun.
By Kimberly Chun
Note to self: forget Grant, Clement, and even Irving Street – I’m beginning to believe that San Mateo is the real Chinatown. Every time I venture south to the Peninsula ‘burb, right around B Street and 25th Street, I’m stumbling over some great little dumpling joint or unpretentious enclave of regional Chinese cooking, tucked away in an otherwise shrug-worthy strip mall.
My latest find: Everyday Beijing Restaurant on the sleepy, sunny end of South B Street, across the way from a newish, cavernous branch of Espetus Churrascaria. A spartan interior in the tradition of no-nonsense Chinese dive restaurants, though the space is bright and airy. But what a menu: the long-form dinner version is 150 items deep (give or take a beer or four). Not only do you get only-viable-if-you’re-Chinese items like marinated pig ear strips, but mystery items like “Tofu Cluster with Beijing Sauce.” I haven’t had a cluster in eons!