| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
|
A must!
|
| Sat, Sep 29, 07 10:00 AM |
rfverni |
Male |
60-69 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| A fantastic and delicious experience. The walking was easy. The information and sites wonderful. The food diverse and spectacular. Also, we became a big family by the end, enjoying the lucnheon feast and laughing at stories we were all telling. |
|
Good times
|
| Sat, Jun 30, 07 10:00 AM |
Ilsadohmen |
Female |
20-29 |
Local |
Couple on a Date |
| This was a very pleasant way to spend a day. The food was all excellent and though we are locals we would never have known which places to go into without Shirley. It was a good group size (10 total) and there was more food than anyone in the group could eat. We covered a broad range--breakfast, dessert, tea, lunch. It was less historical, however, than I would have hoped with the real emphasis on eating more than learning about the food or the area. |
|
|
Spectactular leader and a fantastic and fun tour
|
| Sun, Mar 25, 07 10:00 AM |
laurapw |
Female |
40-49 |
Combination |
Other |
| Shirley Fong-Torres led our group of 8, giving us an interesting history of herself and Chinatown as we walked and ate our way through the area. She was funny, warm, welcoming, and very inclusive of each and every member of the group. Food selections were plentiful and we were made to feel comfortable whether or not the food sampling was to our tastes. When one of the planned restaurants was closed on Sunday morning, Shirley remained unflappable and didn't give up on finding us jook for breakfast. We came across a lion dance and since the group wanted to linger, Shirley remained flexible and went and retrieved goodies from the bakery, the next planned stop, so we could stay and watch the dance.
It was a great way to sample lots of different foods with the comfort of someone knowledgeable ordering and explaining what we had to eat. I loved the tidbits that she shared about her upbringing, her family, and the ways of Chinatown.
My sister was visiting from NC and suggested that we look into a food walking tour because she had been on one in NYC and had such a good time. It was a great idea and a wonderful choice. I highly recommend it to anyone and I hope to enjoy it again - - next time with my daughter! |
|
|
what a treat!
|
| Sat, Nov 4, 06 10:00 AM |
merrill |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| Our tour of Chinatown was spectacular! Just when you thought you'd seen it all, and tasted it all, Shirley came up with another wonderful treat! The history of the area, the history of the people and more came alive with this tour! I'd recommend everyone take it on at least one visit to San Francisco! We're looking forward to a second visit and a second tour! |
|
|
I had a fabulous time!
|
| Sat, Nov 4, 06 10:00 AM |
jmstant |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| Shirley Fong-Torres is absolutely fabulous! She's vivacious and and fun and a great story-teller. Chinese food has never been my favourite - until this tour. The food was wonderful. It's a great tour for people on their own, because the group is small. There were 7 in our tour.
I can't rave enough about it. I've already recommended it to all my friends. |
|
|
I truly ate my way through China Town!
|
| Sat, Oct 28, 06 10:00 AM |
buglet71 |
Female |
30-39 |
Local |
Other |
| My goodness, if I had known we were going to eat so much food I would have paced myself a little better. When we stopped at the first place for breakfast, a really funky, hilarious place full of character (don't be put off by the looks of the place as the food was great) I just stuffed my face. I think I became so delirious with overeating that I have forgotten the order we ate things in! We stopped for the most deliecious tea with an informative talk, we ate a sweet, warm custard kind of tart on the street, we had THE BEST crispy duck and pork on the street and all the time Shirley filled us in on history, customs, the food and answered our questions. By this time I could barely walk I was so full of delicious Chinese foods but we carried on for Dim Sum which we shared with our group standing outside the shop. I loved all that eating outside and it helped we had a friendly group sharing and chatting. We walked through crowded streets while Shirley continued to educate us on China Town. And then if you can believe we went and ate lunch. This was a sit downmeal in a nice restaurant where Shirley ordered the food and we ate and ate. We had some very interesting dishes, those that I knew nothing about and probably would never have chosen! The group had fun eating and chatting around the table. I seriously could not believe I ate so much. Come hungry, pace yourself and be prepared for a LOT of food and information. Shirley was great; knowledgable, friendly, funny and popular with the locals. I highly recommend this trip, just be prepared for a few little things out of the ordinary!!!!! |
|
|
Entertaining adventure through Chinatown!
|
| Sat, Oct 28, 06 10:00 AM |
suzi2326 |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| We had quite an enjoyable time with Shirley. She's very knowledgeable and really knows her stuff. We tasted everything from 100 year old eggs to chinese custard. Learned about chinese teas, and ate delicious food constantly. I highly recommend this tour - it is unlike any other. |
|
|
Out of towners find tour well worth our time!
|
| Sat, Sep 2, 06 10:00 AM |
Durrwachter |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| We thoroughly enjoyed eating our way through Chinatown! Witty and courteous, Shirley enthusiastically led the group with flair. She answered our questions and showed us interesting glimpses of the history and culture of Chinese people in San Francisco. The food selections were delicious! We especially enjoyed the opportunity to try so many new dishes. Our tour group was congenial and a pleasure to meet. Thank you, Shirley and group, from the Iowans. |
|
|
Ms Fong-Torres was great fun. Food a bit plain
|
| Sat, Sep 2, 06 10:00 AM |
rgraves |
Male |
40-49 |
Local |
Group of Friends |
| Delightful company, but we expected more detail about the foods and more of the unique and special dishes of Chinese cuisine. Different regional styles might have been emphasized. The tour seemed more geared to the palate of a tourist from the Midwest than a person visiting from a large metropolitan area who has eaten Chinese food fairly regularly.
Where was the jellyfish, dried oyster, frog's legs, etc? The pork with salt fish and bitter-melon with beef were definitely along the right line. And the stories behind them, their culinary significance, were a treasured part of the tour. Add more of that sort of thing. Our expectation wasn't just to taste a lot of food, but to taste and learn about the really unique dishes that we would never know to order unless we spoke Chinese.
This said, I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting San Francisco who wanted to eat good Chinese food with the fun, exhuberant Shirley Fong-Torres. She is so worh the price of a ticket. |
|
Totally overrated!
|
| Sat, Aug 5, 06 10:00 AM |
llondon |
Female |
50-59 |
Local |
Group of Friends |
| While Shirley is a nice, friendly, energetic woman, she's a salesperson. There was a violent occurrence at the scheduled meeting point prior to her arrival and, when told about it, she seemed thoroughly uninterested, since it didn't affect her business. The tour got started more than 20 minutes late. Shirley told us we'd be moving from funky to elegant to questionable to fantastic. Why funky and questionable when I've paid $75? Breakfast was at a dive and was pretty vile. Our visit to a teashop was the highlight of the tour in that we were given a brief education about tea, had a tasting, and it was a lovely setting. We proceeded to the "street food" which was gummy, greasy, bland, cheap dim sum that we ate standing on Broadway. Then, the piece de resistance - our lunch. This was billed as a banquet that would fill you up for the rest of the day...at least that's what the reviews said. My friends and I were expecting quality, not just quantity. There was neither. We were taken to the Imperial Palace and told that it had been recently renovated. My friend used the bathroom and found it disgusting. The staff was unprepared for us when we arrived and Shirley had to get heavy with them. All this aside, the food was nothing I would eat if given a choice. We had some decent duck and a somewhat tasty prawn dish, but everything else was so dull that there were platters left on the table. No one was interested in a second helping. I overheard others on the tour talking about their disappointment as well. My friends and I feel ripped off. What saved the day was a trip to Mitchell's for ice cream right after this sumptuous feast! We were not full, to say the least. |
