Forty minutes before opening on a recent Friday night, San Francisco’s Four Kings had a line of nearly 20 people waiting outside.
The first 10 without reservations made it for the first seating at the counter; the next 10 provided a phone number and option for the second seating. Late arrivals weren’t so lucky.
The tiny Cantonese restaurant is nestled in a quiet alleyway in the Chinatown neighborhood. And for five hours, five days a week, it might be the hottest place in town.
Last week, Esquire named Four Kings the Restaurant of the Year while applauding the daring flavors and vibrant atmosphere created by chefs Franky Ho and Mike Long. It’s the latest in a line of accolades for an operation less than 10 months old.
As artistic as they are skillful, Ho and Long met while working at Mister Jiu’s, the Michelin-starred Chinatown restaurant. Their goal was to create an environment where people enjoyed working, in the hopes that the joy would translate to the customer.
Walk inside, and you’ll smell the chili oil and fried meats, hear Cantopop on the speakers and see old posters and Hong Kong magazine pages hanging on the walls. The folks without reservations squeezed in at the counter. A friendly server walked them through the menu and suggested a family-style feast that included about two small plates per person and plenty of sake or shochu to go with it.
A recent visit started with the Chiuchow olive green beans ($14), charred and spicy while preserving its moist and crispy texture. The delightful salted-egg squash croquettes ($9) tasted like mac and cheese bites, but with a crispy-fried, squash-filled crust. The escargot with chili oil-soaked, housemade milk bread ($24) was mouthwatering enough to make snail fans out of anybody.
Strangers leaned over each other’s tables to compare notes, then began trading bites with one another to figure out what to order next — a tall order, given the variety of dishes on display. The mapo spaghetti ($21), for example, packed some heat, but that didn’t overshadow the potent flavors that made this dish so irresistible.
The claypot rice with Chinese sausage and bacon ($26) and fried squab ($45) are the two most popular dishes on the menu. Between the crisp rice, salty meats and soft egg, the claypot dish may have been the most flavorful item of the evening, but so filling, we wondered how we’d find room for the squab.
Four Kings makes only 15 squab dishes per night, largely because it takes 10 days to prepare. The small birds are marinated, dry-aged, smoked and fried so they’re perfectly crisp on the outside and juicy inside texture. It was a bit gamey, as the server warned it would be, but the bird’s tenderness was incredible, and the simple toppings of fresh lemon, salt and Sichuan pepper tied it together nicely.
Taiwan Head Brewers, a craft beer imported by the chefs’ friends in Taiwan, provided a light hefeweizen ($10) that cooled the tongue between spicy bites. The server’s recommendation of Hakurakusei sake ($26 for a carafe, $52 for a bottle) was also a big hit at the table.
The mango pudding ($10) with fresh pear slices and housemade pear ice cream were the perfect finale.
We left the restaurant laughing and gratified — and amazed we were able to still get in without a reservation on a Friday night, albeit with a long wait.
Chances are, the wait is only going to get longer.
Details: Open from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday-Monday at 710 Commercial St. in San Francisco; www.itsfourkings.com.
