Well, it's been tough, since having that amazing dinner at Urasawa, I haven't been able to bring myself to eat for over a week. HA, yeah, right! I'm obviously joking. I've got about 5 more posts regarding restaurants in the Los Angeles area, including places like Deerfield Garden, and Santouka Ramen, albiet the Torrance location. But I thought I'd return back to San Diego, and do a post on a few revisits to various restaurants.
Shanghai City
*** Update – Shanghai City has closed and is now Spicy House.
The recent cold and rainy weather was perfect for Niu Rou Mein, so we made our way to Shanghai City. Looking back at my original post, I realized how terrible my photos were, so I brought my camera along.
Every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm, Shanghai City features a Chinese Breakfast menu, and though prices have gone up a bit:
Most items are still priced at a reasonable $4.95-$5.95 range, and there is no discernable difference in portion size between the weekend specials and during other times. One thing I have noticed, is that Shanghai City is much busier during weekend mornings since we first started coming here in 2001. Also, the crowd is now a bit more diverse, with more than a few Non-Chinese customers.
I of course had my bowl of Niu Rou Mein($4.95):
Just as good as always, the broth is spicy and rich, the noodles still have a nice "pull", and the beef is moist, and tender with a nice flavor.
In order to get me out of the Niu Rou Mein habit, the Missus decided to order a few different items, starting with the Chao Nian Gao(Stir Fried Sliced Rice Cake) with Pork($4.95):
Unlike the version we enjoy at Chin's, this dish was totally overwhelmed with the flavor of Sesame Oil, and you couldn't taste anything else. The rice cakes were very soft, but not mushy, almost like noodles, and I enjoy my Nian Gao a bit less cooked.
The Missus also ordered the Pickled Mustard Greens and shredded Pork Noodle Soup at Chin's so She thought she'd order that($4.95), instead of her old standby, the Eel Noodles Soup.
And though the noodles were good as always, the mustard greens had very little in the way of flavor, ditto the pork, and the broth while it looked rich, was on the mild side.
And of course, we couldn't leave without some Xiao Long Bao($5.95):
And though the quality of the Xiao Long Bao at Shanghai City can be wildly inconsistent, and the wrapper a bit on the thick side, we still think it's the best in San Diego. We have also noticed that during busier periods the XLB at Shanghai City is a bit better, probably due to turnover.
Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111
619-278-5883
Closed Tuesdays
*** An updated post on Shanghai City with new prices can be found here.
More Golden City – Yep, again! This time in the mood for some Roast Duck, we ordered a whole duck($15.95, $8.95 – 1/2 Duck):
I was surprised at how good this was! Really. Not oily, and not salty, roasted to perfection, this was much better than what I expected. Many restaurants will pour broth over the duck before serving to rehydrate the meat….no such thing here. It is not cheap, but quite good. I've never really ever gotten into the really sweet and lousy plum sauce that's served with roast duck……And Duck Fried Rice made with leftover duck is always a good thing!!!
The Gailan with Dried Fish($9.95), is Chinese Broccoli stir fried with dried-roasted fish:
The first time we had this, it was sublime; the Gailan had been peeled and so was soft and tender. The crisp dried fish added a salty-sweet flavor, and the garlic added a nice punch to pull it all together. It had been stir fried to perfection. The second time we had the dish was on a Sunday evening, and it was borderline terrible, the fish was hard and almost inedible, the Gailan was not peeled and tasted bitter, and was extremely fibrous, and the garlic was burned, and worst of all the dish had not been cooked correctly and it was slightly oily. We put it down to it being Sunday, and perhaps it was the 'B' team cooks running the show. So third time a charm? Well this was sort of a "tweener", the Gailan had not been peeled, but wasn't very bitter, and had been cooked well, the fish was perfect, but only a scant amount was provided. The garlic was burnt and bitter, I don't quite know what to say. Wildly swinging inconsistency is quite frustrating, and causes quite a dilemma…I mean, how can I recommend this dish if it's never the same twice?
Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Open Daily 11am – Midnight
I tried making the Gailan with Dried Fish, purchasing the dried fish from 99 Ranch Market.
I first toasted the fish in the toaster oven, peeled and blanched the Gailan, and thinly sliced a few cloves of garlic. I did a simple stir fry, and ended up with this:
It was okay, but I'm sure that I didn't use the right type of fish, it didn't taste right. Also, I should have used the Big Kahuna to cook this but was too lazy, high heat would've made a big difference. Still, it wasn't too far removed…….
So stay tuned, between the various restaurants visited in the LA area, I'll do a few posts on places like Kayaba, and even this place:
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Postscript – By request I added a photo album of Urasawa photos, and even did an album from the AKC National Championships.