"At 2 a.m. the dining room is going off: tables full of boozy diners, food flying out from the kitchen, cups of tea refilling left and right. The number 21 tofu clay pot — or the soy-braised tofu depending on the translation — is the best $12 you can spend right as the witching hour looms over San Francisco: a ton of indulgent-as-hell tofu, garlic, and greens dressing the hefty bowl (be warned, it comes out piping). A smart shopper orders congee and scallion pancakes, too, and sees themselves through a fairly inexpensive feast of warming munchies; sesame balls, centers of purple treasure, serve as chewy after-tofu affairs. — Paolo Bicchieri" - Dianne de Guzman