The Happy Crane

General Notes

Interesting "creative Chinese" restaurant that opened in Hayes Valley recently. The food was pretty good, but there wasn't really anything that really wowed me. Definitely on the expensive side, but perhaps not quite as expensive as first glance (unless you order the tasting menu, it's definitely not $100+ per person -- I'd probably recommend just ordering a la carte).

Dishes Tasted

• ★★★☆ lobster noodles -- the texture of the noodles are excellent, flavor is nice, lobster is cooked well.
• ★★★☆ chasiu iberico pork jowl -- lime ginger compressed apple, scallion rice. This was quite delicious. The combination of the apple and fennel worked well. Super tender and flavorful.
• ★★★☆ geoduck clam steamed egg -- one of my favorite dishes of the night, really enjoyed the flavors + the texture of the geoduck clam
• ★★☆☆ oyster pancake -- fermented chili sauce, chaozhou ramp dip
• ★★★☆ firecracker shrimp -- nori, shiso, mala glaze. A bit pricey at $9 a piece, but quite delicious.
• ★★☆☆ beef shin -- artichoke, master stock, celtuce, house chili vinaigrette. Pretty good dish, the vinaigrette is nice.
• ★☆☆☆ hamachi, etc? -- forget exactly what this is, but there was raw hamachi, and some miscellaneous vegetables in some dressing. The vegetables had an unpleasant texture and the dish was ... a bit bland. Alright