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Ah Ma’s kitchen

4.0 (113 reviews)
Closed • 11:30 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Updated 1 month ago

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AH MA’S KITCHEN ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Good for groups
Dogs allowed

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Interior - Wall. Instructions to eat chicken (2/3)
Joyce K.

Dropped by for a late lunch on Thursday. Despite the 3 other tables, the place was relatively empty. For a party of 2, we were seated immediately. What we got: - Kiln Chicken, half [3/5]: Decent, but gets salty after a while. The kind of chicken dish that makes you want scallion ginger sauce to go with it! - Scrambled Egg and Pork Bo Lo bun sandwich [3/5]: Pretty decent. Pork was crispy. The pineapple bun added some sweetness to the sandwich's savory interior. It was a bit dry overall and needed more sauce, but all in all, it was decent. - Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup [4/5]: The wontons were superb! Savory, full of umami, with a slight sesame oil flavor. Would recommend getting the shrimp wontons themselves! All in all, a very homey vibe. Hong Kong milk-style milk tea was solid, though on the sweeter side despite asking for low sweetness. Comes already in a to-go cup, which is a plus, as we rarely finish our drinks and often ask for them.

XXXL boba
Christina L.

Solid place to eat! Very homey. Weekend lunch is not too busy. Not many tables, but not long of a wait. Order the wonton noodle soup (14.95), XXXL boba ($6.95) and kiln chicken ($17.95) The kiln chicken is juicy and flavorful. The employee helps with deboning the chicken at your table. The noodle soup had small dried shrimp to add to soup flavor, the wonton contains a mix of pork and shrimp. XXXL boba is grass jelly, but the milk tea was aromatic. My favorite had to the wonton noodle soup because it has a perfect balance of items and it was delicious.

Garlic Green Beans
Faith C.

Solid food at very decent prices. Kiln chicken is a must; the meat is super flavorful and juicy. It comes out piping hot and they break it up for you at the table. Our fave dish surprisingly ended up being the Beef Chow Fun. The noodle was extremely flavorful and had a ton of textures from all the veggies, egg, and beef. Highly recommend this one as well. Curry Beef Brisket had a ton of beef, as well as onions and bell peppers. They aren't skimpy on their ingredient portions at all. The curry itself was quite mild in flavor--I could have done with a bit more salt. Garlic Green Beans were alright. We like our green beans a bit crunchier; these were pretty soft. Our least favorite dish had to be the Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup ): The wonton itself was quite good, but the noodles and broth were extremely bland. Defo disappointed in this one. Our food did come out one by one, with quite a bit of time in between dishes, which meant we couldn't eat everything altogether until twenty five minutes after receiving the chicken that came out first. We noticed other tables having their dishes come out staggered as well. Overall, we enjoyed our meal. Not sure if I'd return, but definitely glad I came to try out the kiln chicken.

Kiln Chicken(Half)
Allena C.

We were looking for a Hong Kong-style café while in the Richmond District, and our friend suggested we try Ah Ma's Kitchen. We got lucky and found parking right in front. The restaurant was brightly lit, clean, and casual. We arrived around 7:30 p.m. on a weekday evening and had no trouble getting a table. *** OUR PICKS *** SALTED EGG YOLK GREEN BEANS ~ Our party felt the green beans weren't fresh and may have been frozen since they were all cut so uniformly. The salted egg yolk flavor was enjoyable, but the beans lacked the crisp texture of fresh green beans. 3.5/5 FRESH CUCUMBER SALAD ~ The cucumbers were refreshing, but they didn't seem to have been marinated long enough. We were expecting more of that tangy, garlicky flavor. It needed a bit more seasoning to give it that extra punch. 3/5 KILN 1/2 CHICKEN ~ Ah Ma's is known for its kiln chicken, and it definitely lived up to the hype. It was the best dish of our meal! It was juicy, tender, and served piping hot, so HOT that the server even wore two pairs of gloves to handle it! 5/5 We were planning to order the pan-fried noodles, but our server let us know they were no longer on the menu, which limited our choices. I wish I had better things to say about Ah Ma's Kitchen. The kiln chicken was excellent, but hopefully they can improve on some of the side dishes for a better overall dining experience. Based on what we've tried, I'd recommend sticking with the chicken.

Honey Walnut Shrimps(12)
Alisa B.

This place is going viral right now for their XXXL Boba Milk Tea and their Pineapple Bun Sandwich, but personally my favorites were the Stir-Fried Black Pepper Beef Macaroni and Salted Egg Yolk Green Beans! Cooked perfectly. So flavorful and delicious! These are MUST TRY items in my eyes!! The tableside hand-torn Kiln Chicken was really flavorful and saucy! A little on the dry side, but really tasty. Some of my friends really enjoyed the Mapo Tofu, Honey Walnut Shrimp, and Beef Chow Fun! Everything we ordered was a hit! I was shocked to see they even have bitter melon on the menu. We called ahead to reserve a table for 16 people and the staff were super accomodating despite being crazy busy on a Friday! I will definitely recommend this to more friends and dine here again!

Kiln Chicken(Half)
Melissa C.

My friends and I wanted to try this place for the XXXL boba which is essentially grass jelly in the shape of a very large boba in a milk tea drink. The flavor of the jelly was alright but it was fun to eat it as if it was a large boba. Items ordered: - Shrimp wonton noodle soup: Can't go wrong with a wonton noodle soup. This dish tasted great and would be perfect for a cold or sick day. - Hot and sour soup: Great sour flavor. Easily shareable for 3-4 people - Garlic string beans: A little oily but overall had a good flavor. Lots of string beans in the dish - Half kiln chicken: The signature dish of the restaurant! A staff member brings it out wrapped in foil and prepares the dish at the table by removing the bones and getting as many pieces of meat. Would get again! - XXXL boba milk tea: Recommend getting if it's your first time to experience eating the XXXL boba and sharing with 1-3 other people!

The bun wasn't as flakey like some in SF on my social media feed. I wonder if I need a spoon or a fork to eat it ? ( Questions in my mind)
Juan V.

What came first the chicken or the bun? The age old question . At this location it seems like the chicken is the star of the show and the bun is the supporting cast. It seems many people talk about the best chicken sandwiches in the city but overlook which ones are the most unique. There is a place which uses one of my favorite buns. I usually eat the buns by itself but when you put a chicken breast or chicken thigh in between which makes a major difference in flavor. The sweet and savory kicks in and makes it delicious. Located on Clement street it's called Ah Ma's Kitchen. Walking on the streets of San Francisco inland and not by the Bay or in the Bay on Clement street there a lot places to get buns in SF. One place serves a chicken sandwich with Hong Kong style buns. I got the Scrambled egg and Chicken Bo Lo Bun sandwich. It was tasty and with a not too sweet bun and the savory mix of chicken made the combination amazing. The egg and chicken combined with soft a bit sweet Chinese pinneaple bun makes this chicken sandwich different than most chicken sandwiches in SF and a must try because Ma and Ah Ma knows best. Take a Spring stroll is almost ending although Summer feels like it already "begun" with this weekend heatwave San Francisco experienced lots of "sun"especially when there are lots of events in the city in the month of June to enjoy and have some" fun"and also enjoy an unique chicken sandwich in between a "Cantonese bun" Some stories on social media saying you from the San Francisco Bay but live not in SF are "fiction " a total "contradiction" there is a fair "distinction"because last I checked the restaurant is located inland on the streets of San Francisco not the Bay is where you find "Ah Ma's Kitchen"

Sweet & Sour Pork
Jennifer L.

Food is okay, the hype is definitely there Tried the XXXL boba milk tea and it was slightly disappointing in taste with the giant 'boba' being made of grass jelly missing the mark on the texture The sweet and sour pork was dry while the hot and sour soup fell flat in flavor The redeeming dish was the stir fried black pepper beef macaroni Maybe I ordered the wrong things?

Viral chicken sandwich-DO NOT ORDER. Kinda gross
Amy W.

I came here for the viral chicken sandwich on a pineapple bun. It was pretty bad. the meat was chewy, the bun was dry. I ate about 1/4 of it and gave up. Avoid.

Beef Brisket Casserole
Melody L.

Stopped by Ah Ma's Kitchen on a Sunday afternoon and there were already 4 parties ahead of us on the waitlist. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes before being seated, which wasn't too bad for a weekend crowd. For ordering, they give you a big physical menu to look through, but you actually place everything through a QR code at the table. Once the order was in, the service was pretty quick. They are known for their Kiln Chicken, which came out last. They actually have someone bring it to the table to open it up and break it apart right in front of you. To be honest, it didn't look all that appetizing while they were tearing it apart, but it tasted pretty good in the end! Everything else we ordered was really good too, and the portions were solid enough that we had some leftovers to bring home.

Scrambled Egg w.Pork Pineapple Bun
Elaine Y.

Came to Ah Ma's Kitchen and enjoyed it! We ordered several dishes to share and all of them were pretty good! We started off with the XXXL boba because why not? Turns out, the boba is actually grass jelly which is nice because that's a little more refreshing and generally easier to chew. It also pairs well with the robust HK milk tea. Having said that, if you were looking for a boba experience, it will leave you pining for that chewiness. Next came the salted egg green beans, kiln chicken, and black pepper beef macaroni. Honestly, all of these are recommended. The beans were crisp but very bold with that salted egg yolk flavor. The kiln chicken is essentially XL foil wrapped chicken from dim sum but I can appreciate the table side presentation to really highlight how tender the chicken is. I did find the "special sauce" or jus to be a tad salty though. As for the macaroni, I applaud their use of a gluten free pasta. The springiness of the noodles were really good and ironically I had a second version of this later in the evening (despite never seeing it ever before?) with regular semolina pasta and Ah Ma's was world's better. We also added the spicy wontons which came sitting in this mala soy sauce that was really good! Would have as a dip for everything! As for the pineapple bun sandwich, it was just okay. I personally could have used more mayo to give it some unctuousness. It was pretty dry sandwich in my opinion. The lettuce and tomato also didn't pair well with the pineapple bun and detracted from the experience too in my opinion... All in all, I would come back if I'm in the area.

Chloe S.

Everything was delicious! We were especially surprised by the stir fried black pepper macaroni, it was savory, and had that wok flavor. We came for the xxxl boba and juicy chicken. The boba is grass jelly, while fun we found the jelly to be a bit bland. The milk tea itself wasn't as strong as we would have liked but still a solid drink! The chicken was juicy and the staff even removes the bones for you at the table! Note that they only serve half chickens if you want to reserve a whole chicken be sure to call ahead! The fried rice and porkchop pineapple sandwich were unexpected hits. The fried rice comes with lettuce for that crunch!

The sign on the walk about the roasted chicken
Sabrina L.

For Mother's Day ( Sunday ) lunch with 11:30 am reservation, fortunately we ( party of 9 ) were able to have reservation and got seated right away. When the time we arrived, there is a crowd for waiting list. Inside setup just like its name, very home / grandparens' house, neat and clean. The chicken is juicy and flavorful, a bit too salty for me. The rest dishes are flavorful as well, but a bit too salty for me, glad the service is good enough to keep filling water for me, with water, I can enjoy the food. The clay pots we ordered had very similar flavors/tastes, even ingredients. The XXL boba milk tea was fan to have, taste wise more like honkong milk tea. If your appetite tuned for hongkong cuisine, then you will surely enjoy it. The restaurant is relatively small, limited seatings, also you need to be lucky with on the street parking ( that is typical SF). The food portion is on the small to medium side, the surprising Mother's Day small gifts made the overall experience bumped one star, food quality and value 3stars, extra one star for the service.

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Ask the Community - Ah Ma’s kitchen

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Found this spot on TikTok and it looked Instagram worthy, so my cousin and I headed over on…read moreSaturday for a late lunch [def have to go back for brunch]. We decided to share a mimosa flight, spring rolls, and ahi scoops. Even though it wasn't brunch, they still allowed us to order a brunch flight, and they were so polite and helpful throughout 4.8/5. The inside is tiny, but quite stunning, clean, and gives a lot of opportunities for insta-worthy pics 4.9/5, I only wish there had been an actual photo wall. Now to the food. The crispy spring rolls were cooked perfectly, and seasoned well. The clear noodles and veggies were so yummy. I asked for soy sauce because that's what I prefer over sweet sauce, but honestly they needed nothing 4.8/5. The ahi scoops had the best seaweed salad on it that I have EVER had, the wasabi cream on top was the show stopper, and I don't even like wasabi 5/5. We shared the flight and was more than tipsy from two drinks each, flavors on point champagne delicious 5/5. Overall

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It's been over 6 years and a lot has changed in that time…read more A friend hosted a birthday dinner here on a Saturday night for a party of 12. Finding street parking 1.5 blocks away, I walked in and the hostess seated me at a long table to the right of the entrance. I was a little early which gave me time to study the menu. The dining room was mostly full already. When my party arrived, our host ordered several appetizers to share and asked each diner to decide on their own main meal. We tried three small bites as follows: a. Boneless fried chicken, soy garlic (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=KYa0rZOUsOqjeQpdJelYAA) - Korean style crispy boneless chicken; these were as described with a slightly sweet and sticky glaze. b. Popcorn salmon (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=92ZddPT6Qo2TiIur8YOpZA) - Bite size fried salmon with spicy salmon; I did not recognize that this was salmon until the 3rd bite. c. Bulgogi quesadilla (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=ymymJkLHfLRpJgYcbNFUCw) - Quesadilla with bulgogi and cheese; it makes for an interesting combination, again the sweetness from the meat meshing with the rich and savory cheese. I chose the pork plate (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=tYaxEnKifiKWh7TzfzH1rA), spicy; marinated sliced pork savory sauce cooked with veggies and glass noodle on sizzling plate, served with rice (more meat $7.00, brown rice $2.00 supplement charges). I had this with regular rice and the normal portion which was plenty. The flavor was consistent with K style cooking and, being full from a heavy lunch and the apps, I ended up bringing home half of this home, rice included. It seemed that everyone enjoyed their meals and everyone had boxes to bring food home so the portions are generous. In reading my original review, the food again rates 3.5 stars for me but it was interesting to see how the menu changed to include ramen and soups too. The two gals who tended to our big party (not an easy task) were efficient and cordial as they removed empty plates and bowls and refilled water glasses regularly. The dining room filled up by the time we left with a younger crowd. There is an extensive soju menu so that may be a draw too. With the # of restaurants in the Richmond, doubtful that I would return here other than for parties like this. Also, I lean towards more traditional Korean cuisine.

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Le Soleil - Basil & sprouts

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I wish I could tell you how the food tasted but unfortunately we never got a chance to try it out…read morebecause our server never put our order in. We came in to a restaurant with a few tables that didn't look too busy for 3 people to manage without difficulty. The beginning part of going into a restaurant was normal. We were seated right away and got our waters. Our order was taken in a timely manner. After 20 minutes of waiting for our food, we were wondering where our food was. A table that came in after us got food before us. After about 30 minutes of waiting for our food, I finally asked a server if he could check up on our order. He sent our server to our table and he apologized that our order never went through and asked us to re-order. At that point, we just left because we also had a fussy baby with us. I was not about to wait any longer. There were 3 of them working but no one came in to check up on us once. Our server was apologetic but overall, it seemed like the workers didn't care if we were there or not.

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Back again…read more Celebrating with friends for "Clem Howard" birthday. Happy Birthday! Owner - Jeannie Kim, as always amazing. Bring out special dishes and joining on the celebration. Server - the duo Awesome Adrian & especialle Sierra, both never stopped. They made sure we had everything we need all the time. There was a drink I got. "Boss Lady". It was light a fruitie. Just perfect. This dinner was the talk of Japantown. "Prime Rib" every Wednesday with Chefs amuse bouche, wedge salad, mashed potatoes, cream of spinach, house made cornbread - served with chefs signature dessert! The deco, is so elegant here. Seating and lighting made the place. So relaxing. I am back all the time. It is a must try.

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4.2(478 reviews)
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Amazing service! I…read morecame as a party of 2 at 5:20 (just before opening) on a Saturday night and we were the last party to be seated as the first round of walk-ins! We got seated right by the window, so lovely! The ambiance is so nice and the decor is so cozy and cool. We got the free peanuts and cucumber salad first- so flavorful and a nice way to whet our appetite. The scallop vermicelli was SO buttery and flavorful. I wanted another order!! The claypot rice came steaming hot and full of meats! Get something to cut it with! The black bean clams were delicious but a tad salty so it's nice to have with the claypot, or even an order of veggies and plain rice! We ended our meal with shaved ice that was layered with black bean, custard, and boba! So refreshing and a perfect end! I would come back 10000%

Five of us dined here to celebrate a birthday. According to the one who managed to get the…read morereservation, it's quite popular and the reservation is one of the coveted ones in SF. Anyway, having tried it, I can say it was good, but not so good that I'd expend that much energy to secure the reservation. Have to say, service was really great. Servers were attentive without being overbearing, which is always welcome. We ordered several dishes and dined, as they suggested, family style. To start, we were given two complimentary dishes, the roasted peanuts and the smashed cucumbers; both were nice appetizers. We ordered the Chiu Chow green beans, the Mongolian beef noodles, the claypot rice with lop cheung and bacon, the salt 'n peppa prawns, and the whole fried petrale sole, the last two being on the day's "specials" board. The winning dish was definitely the green beans. All the food was good, but seemed to be a bit overly salted and highly spiced. The piece of beef I had from the Mongolian beef noodles was tender, but one of my friends thought her piece was a bit tough and too chewy; we all thought the beef could have been cut into smaller or thinner pieces. We also shared two desserts since it was a birthday celebration (there are only three options offered). We had the red bean shaved ice and the mango pudding. Both were good (not "oh, boy, yummy" good, but good). Nice to try. The price wasn't outrageous ($200 including tax and tip), but I think this will be a "been there, done that" experience for me unless a friend absolutely wants to go again.

Photos
Four Kings 四大天王 - View of kitchen

View of kitchen

Four Kings 四大天王 - Creamy potato salad with tofu dressing

Creamy potato salad with tofu dressing

Four Kings 四大天王 - Sichuan cabbage (@joeynht)

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Sichuan cabbage (@joeynht)

Ah Ma’s kitchen - asianfusion - Updated October 2026

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