The beloved fried salt-and-pepper chicken wings are well known at Capital, but they also serve Cantonese dishes that remind me of what my parents cooked when I was growing up. They have the best Chinese meatloaf around: a hand-chopped pork patty steamed with shitake mushrooms, salted fish, and a little bit of ginger (it looks like dog food, but looks can be deceiving). It’s hard to perfect. Charles Phan had it on the menu at his now-closed Wo-Hing General Store, but executive chef Michelle Mah made it bland and tasteless and charged twice the price. Another Capital dish I love is the steamed egg with seafood, a Chinese version of chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard). Always ask for the house soup — it’s free! — and check out the Tuesday prime rib lunch special served with rice and veggies for $13.
839 Clay Street (at Waverly Place), 415-397-6269, call for hours
