I've posted on all of these places before, so I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum.
Ba Ren:
*** Ba Ren has closed
I think it was Joseph who asked if there was anything new at Ba Ren. And yes, there's a new seasonal placard.
We tried a few dishes recently – this is the top item on the placard - Dry Cooked Short Ribs($15.99):
Cross cut beef short ribs are used in this dish.
Lot's of flavor, heat from dried chilies and a good amount of Sichuan Peppercorns. The short ribs could be a bit more tender, but the juices created from this low oil style of cooking were really good. Good contrasting textures from the mung bean sprouts and chinese celery.
Twice Cooked Beef – the last item on the placard($9.99):
In this case it's brisket. A bit too salty for me.
A dish called something like Fish Filet with Mountain Peppers – second to the last item on the placard($10.99):
The pickled green chilies in the dish are known as "Mountain Chilies" (ye shan jiao).
Man was this dish hot, and the vinegar in the dish made it even hotter. As usual the fish was prepared perfectly, soft, yet keeping shape.
Here's something from the regular menu that I don't recall posting on before, mainly because it's so rich I can only bring myself to eating it about once a year. It's also one of Ed from Yuma's favorites. It's innocuously called Sichuan Pot Roast ($13.99) on the menu, and it is indeed served in an earthen pot.
It's a pork shank slow cooked, along with a Lions Head meatball, boiled egg, and Lily Buds. The "soup" is very rich and hearty, not spicy at all.
Links to all my posts on Ba Ren can be found here, here, here, and here. I was initially going to do this as my 500th post, but that occasion just came and went in a flash.
Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117
Speaking of pork fat….ummm, we were speaking of pork fat weren't we? We were having lunch at Golden City recently, and had ordered the usual suspects….when the Missus decided to order another item from the lunch specials…something like Steamed Pork with Minced Preserved Vegetable ($6.95 – lunch special price). And when we arrived we were a bit shocked.
First off this was quite a bit off food…..and I don't think the Missus thought it was pork belly! Better for me, I say….. Minced preserved vegetable in a think brown "gravy", the pork belly was tender, but very mild in flavor.
All my other Golden City Posts can be found here, here, and here.
Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Open Daily 11am – Midnight
Shanghai City Updates:
*** Update: Shanghai City is no more.
We recently had another one of our regular breakfasts at Shanghai City and quickly noticed something…..all the prices had been raised. It's reflected on the updated placard.
So now everything is $5.95, I guess it was inevitable, the Niu Rou Mein was a great weekend bargain at $4.95.
On this day the Missus had her Eel Noodle Soup.
But I decided to try a few other items. I ordered the Beef Roll – Niu Rou Chuan ($5.95).
For the price I expected a bit more. The bread was very flaky and oily, and there were but two slivers of mildly flavored beef in the roll.
Pass.
"Alex" commented on a previous Shanghai City post that the Shanghai Chao Nian Gao is worth a try, so I ordered it.
The flavors were quite good, nice soy with a sweet edge. I still think that Shanghai City over cooks it's rice cakes a bit.
My previous posts on Shanghai City can be found here and here.
Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111
Finally, here's a few photos from a recent visit to Emerald. For Dim Sum…..
The most interesting item was this:
I'm pretty sure that the chicken and shrimp in this "roll" was wrapped with Bamboo Pith Fungus (zhu sun)…..especially after tasting it. The Missus, who loves Bamboo Pith Fungus, loved this.
As usual, the items ran the gamut from the mediocre:
to pretty good:
I was glad that nothing suffered from sticky wrapper syndrome, where everything gets stuck. But for some reason it seemed that some of the wrappers were on the really thick side today.
Still, it sure hit the spot.
My previous posts on Emerald can be found here and here.
Emerald Seafood Restaurant
3709 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hope I didn't bore you all too much. We've got some new stuff coming right up.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!