Shan Dong

Shan Dong is the kind of place you go to when you want real Chinese food without the fuss. Located on 10th Street in Oakland, it's straightforward and honest in what it does. The menu covers all the bases you'd want: soups like sizzling rice and hot and sour, chicken dishes ranging from cashew to kung pao, beef preparations with everything from broccoli to black bean sauce, and solid pork options like twice cooked and mu-shu. Most entrees run between seven and nine dollars, which means you can actually afford to eat here regularly. Beyond the usual suspects, there are some dishes worth zeroing in on. The Iron Platter section has sizzling preparations with combinations like beef and scallops or fresh black mushroom with scallops and prawns. Start with things like pot stickers, fried wonton, or onion pancakes if you're hungry. The soup list is genuinely extensive, not just filler, with regional variations like Hunan spinach and bean curd soup and Szechuan cabbage soup alongside the classics. Everything here feels like it's built to satisfy rather than impress, which is exactly what makes it work.