I ASKED AFTER a dish called "Shang Hai Lion Head" and the waitressperson said, and I quote, "This very very traditional Chinese food."

"Yeah, but what is it?" I said. –"Pork." –I knew that too. It's listed under "Pork" on the menu, right after "Szechwan Dragon Pork." Last thing, $6.95.

"What else?" I said. "Anything else?"

"Oh, napa cabbage," she said. She smiled. She was being patient and kind, trying to be helpful. There was nobody else in the place but us, just me and Crawdad. "Very very traditional," she said. "Chinese food."

"Is it good?" Crawdad asked, cutting to the chase. "Do you like it?"

"I am Chinese," she said, still smiling, laughing a little, very pleasant. But also cautious. She chose her words carefully: "Chinese people like it. I can't say. American people like hamburger. American people tell Chinese people, 'Hamburger very good,' but ..." She shrugged, resting her case.

I am American. I like hamburgers. I thought I saw what she was getting at: she didn't want to discourage us from ordering Shanghai lion head, but, nevertheless, she had to admit that she didn't like hamburgers.

I looked across the table at Crawdad, who also, being American, loves hamburgers, and I saw that she saw what our waitressperson was getting at too. We turned in unison and ordered in unison. By this time it was a no-brainer: Shanghai lion head!

What, are you kidding me? Chinese people who don't like hamburgers love it, and if that's not a ringingly resounding sort of backdoor double-reverse flea-flicker endorsement, I don't know what is. Plus my last name, as you may know, means lion in Italian and lion-spelled-wrong in several other languages, and I have, like many people, a head.

Speaking of no-brainers.

Ironically, Shanghai lion head is the closest thing to a hamburger I've ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant. It's a ground pork patty on a sesame-seed bun with ketchup and onions, napa cabbage, tomato, and pickle, fries on the side. Nah – I'm kidding. But it is ground pork. It's ground pork meatballs, four big ones, in a steamy hot bowl of meat juice and topped with a sort of a mane (I suppose, if you really, really stretch your imagination) of steamed cabbage leaves.

Damn delicious, damn delicious. We both loved it, to our waitressperson's delighted surprise. What surprised me though was how un-Chinese the dish seemed, which goes to show you lots of things, including (1) how little I know about very very traditional Chinese food, (2) how little our waitressperson knows about hamburgers, and (3) how, no matter how good they are, the Yankees suck.

Seriously. I mean, basically we're talking about meat and gravy, and cabbage. Rice. You know what I mean? "Howdy, hon, I'm home. Another hard day at the, um, grain elevator. What's for dinner? Shanghai lion head? ĦSwell!" I mean, meat and gravy and rice, give or take cabbage, means dinner in just about any language, including middle-American.

But, Jesus, have I told you where we're eating? I'm sorry. New City Lounge is the name of the place, and it's on Lombard between Laguna and Octavia, West Coast. I want to say Marina, but if this is the Marina, it's the slums of the Marina. It's where you'll find me, if you ever find me in the Marina. There or Moscone Park, playing ball.

Crawdad's going to be working in the Marina starting sometime this summer. If I was her, I'd quit that job right now. That's not what I meant to say; let's try that again: If I was her, I'd have lunch at the New City Lounge. They have lunch specials for $4.50 between 11 and 3. They have Shanghai lion head. The other things we tried were mu-shu chicken ($6.95) and spring rolls ($3.75) – which were also very good, if less fun to write about.

Excellent service, and it's just an all-around nice place. Pink walls, red carpet, comfy chairs, round tables, toothpicks at every table ... There's a Buddha and a couple of hello kitties to greet you when you come in. And photos of famous statues, by way of art.

I myself, personally, in this case, sat right under The Thinker, and it was thus, chin-in-handedly twisted up with pensivity, that I was inspired to say all the thoughtful things I have thought to, um, say, in this here ... thing. Which I have hereby written.

New City Lounge. 1779 Lombard (at Laguna), S.F. (415) 563-1927. Daily, 11 a.m.-midnight. Takeout available. Beer and wine. American Express, MasterCard, Visa. Wheelchair accessible.