La Petite Chinoise : LPC

We’ve been very lucky on this trip. Not a day went by without good food. We’ve been so lucky also to have complete strangers online and on the streets recommend good places to eat. Coming from Paris where it is impossible even to get the right directions to streets, it’s a real surprise to me how friendly people are in San Francisco. What’s in the water here?

We were walking round and round by Fisherman’s Wharf, trying to find decent lunch that is not flooded with busloads of tourists. We must have been looking quite despondent when someone asked us if we needed help. This complete stranger took into account our criteria and suggested three of his favorite places in and around Fisherman’s Wharf. We were ready to get out of Fisherman’s Wharf, so we picked the recommendation furthest away.

We walked up Polk till we reached Sacarmento, which was a ways ahead. We were actually happy to see a line outside Swan Oyster Depot, since we needed to catch our breath after the long hike up the hills. (And See’s Candies were next door, so I had time to buy a box of Halloween candies too. *smile*) We joined the long line waiting outside Swan and struck up a conversation with two women in front of us and chatted over a glass of chilled Chardonnay. The wait was long, but we ended up chatting to the people in front and behind us in line. Everyone loved Swan and was helping us decide what to order.

Swan opened shop in 1921 and was later sold to the Sancimino family during World War 2. Swan has now been in the Sancimino family for three generations. Eating at Swan is what I would call an “All American” experience. Service is warm and friendly. Clients are jammed cheek by jowl at the long bar (only place to eat here!) facing a wall of rubber duckies and baseball paraphernalia. The menu is written on chalkboards. A 1960s radio is spitting out cheerful pop music. The catch of the day is laid out in the front window: crab, sweet shrimp, prawn, sea urchin, salted cod, herring, scallop, salmon, sardine, tuna… There isn’t much décor in the place and no effort has been made to beautify it either. The food is simple. There is no fuss about anything. Everyone seems genuinely happy chatting away and chomping down the fresh platters of seafood.

I had a bowl of homemade clam chowder for US$5.50, a combination salad of chopped iceberg lettuce, sweet shrimp, prawn and crab for US$15.50 and a beer on draft for US$4.50.

Swan Oyster Depot
1517 Polk St (between Sacramento and California)
San Francisco, CA 94109
Tel: 415-673-1101
FYI:Swan closes at 5pm, so don’t expect to go for dinner.