J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant

Chef is one person running the restaurant. For the one hour we were there, He cooked for about 20 ppl, take orders , clean tables , take payments . The guy deserves all the respect . Please tip generously if you can .

J&M A-1 Cafe is truly a one-man show, with the chef handling everything on his own. He's a kind and hardworking guy, and I appreciated his effort. I stopped by late at night after the gym since it was nearby and open. The space is casual with table seating, and it's a cash-only spot.I ordered the Clay Pot Rice (Preserved Pork & Chinese Sausage) since there were signs everywhere for it, and the Salt & Pepper Fried Chicken Wings because the picture on the wall made them look great. The clay pot was underwhelming--very basic and lacking flavor. I really wish there had been more sauce to pour over the rice because it felt like I was just eating plain white rice with steamed Chinese sausages on top.The chicken wings, however, were well-seasoned, and I loved the jalapeno peppers the chef used. The spice infused into the wings gave them a nice surprising kick. Everything seemed to be made fresh to order, so be prepared for a bit of a wait.The old-school Hong Kong diner vibes and SF radio playing in the background added to the atmosphere. One thing to note: drinks, including water, are not complimentary--I was surprised with a $2.45 charge when the bill came.A hardworking chef running a whole restaurant solo is impressive, and the experience had its highlights. While some dishes stood out more than others, it's a convenient late-night option for a fresh-cooked meal.

I came into support this local business as it is run by singlehandedly by an elderly man.To keep it objective, the place is casual with close-spaced tables. Service is fast and simple - point to what you want and it comes out. The food is alright, my claypot rice came burnt and with limited vegetables and sauce, it was 90% rice. I was perturbed that when it came to paying, there was a discrepancy between what I owed and what I was being charged. The bill was written in Chinese and the owner had no interest in talking. I paid the bill without dispute but I won't be coming here again.

Small and quaint little hole in the wall restaurant. Cash only! Service was very quick and efficient. The owner is also the chef/waiter. We were one out of two parties there and we got our three dishes in about 10 minutes. We got egg rolls, beef chow mein and the chicken/salted fish fried rice. I wasn't expecting the food to blow my mind and it met my expectations as a small, owner-operated Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I did really like the fried rice though, tastes like my dad's!

We stumbled upon this restaurant as we searched for dimsum in SF Chinatown & were invited in by a smiling eldely Asian man who promised us "food good"! He was right! A frame of the wall confirmed this, too. We had a craving for duck, dumpling & noodle. The half roast duck was meaty, tender & had a dark & sweet sauce. It was like no other we've had. He recommended the House Combination Chowmein, "This very good!" It was perfectly seasoned & the crunch from the bean sprouts was a nice touch. The sui mai was flavorful & didn't need soy sauce. We had to take the Taiwainese dumpling home because we were very satisfied already. (We had it for dinner & it was still chewy, not hard, as it was at lunch. It too was seasoned perfectly that it was yummy in its own soup.) The restaurant is small & unassuming, no frills but clean and comfortable. He was the server, host and to our pleasant surprise, the chef!!! When we realized who he was and asked him, he flashed a big smile. It was great meeting you, Chef Leong! Thank you for a really delicious lunch

My husband and I were in SF for an event and hadn't eaten. We took to Yelp to find some good dumplings and this spot popped up close by.First off- make sure you have cash. (Luckily we did)What won us over immediately was when we walked in and the person greeting us motioned to a table and then tossed the menus casually on the table. This is no frills service and as soon as it happened my husband and I gave each other a look and immediately smiled.It's a tiny shop, but it has enough room for a few families or small groups. We ended up ordering a bunch of dim sum and asked the server what they suggested and ordered that too.We ended up getting chicken potstickers, minced pork and peanut dumplings, siu mai, pork and shrimp dumplings and per their recommendation the steamed Shanghainese dumplings.I think there was only one person working, but the food came out hot and everything was delicious.We would definitely stop by again.

Authentic and delicious!!!! Our party of 6 ordered quite a bit, but the Shanghainese steamed dumplings and the Hong Kong style wonton soup was my absolute favorite. The restaurant is not upscale, but it's on par with what you find in Chinatown. Prices are reasonable and the portions are a nice size. The gentleman that services us was also the same person that cooked the food. I suspect he is also the owner. Good service all around

The service here was phenomenal - we came and I believe they were closing up early due to lack of customers. The owner saw us and opened up just for us. We felt bad but he insisted we come in and he serve us. Unfortunately, most of the food we had tasted frozen and just reheated. The owner also let us use the restroom, which required us to walk through the kitchen, and it wasn't super clean looking. The prices were reasonable, and they are advertised to be open later than other dim sum places which was nice, but I wouldn't return.

Feb20241.5 I'd say. Missed a number of marks. Food takes a while, water and tea refills quite infrequent. We didn't want to battle crowds again so we landed here as a result. There was one other group aside from us since it is a small place, so not too busy by any means.We had ordered the shu mai, har gow, beef chow mein, a veggie rice clay pot, shanghai dumplings, spare ribs, and the salt n pepper eggplant. I'd say the most successful thing was the salt and pepper eggplant since it was nice and crispy, though it needed a sauce to go with it to really gel things. Or the chili green onion crumble you'd normally see with salt and pepper dishes. The seasonings and flavors felt all over the place for a lot of things. The spare ribs had no blackbean and missed the savoriness you'd usually get from the dish. The shu mai needed seasoning for the beef which was ok but could've been much better. The har gow had sat for a bit so a tad dry but workable. The chow mein was inconsistent in the cooking and some of the dish had decent flavor while you missed it in other bites. The shanghai dumplings much too thin on the skin and probably frozen. All of them broke apart trying to handle. The clay pot was the worst though. The sauce was mildly in the veggies but not enough overall. Most of the rice had just been burned to the bottom and really just filler. Bland overall unfortunately, and largely inedible due to the way it was prepared. Soy sauce helped a number of things, but can only do so much. Much better options in the area, and would rather have waited in retrospect.

Food was great and the owner/cook was fast. Great portions too. Authentic Chinese Food.