**** Ba Ren has closed
Well finally….I guess it's about time I get around to this. In part 1, I posted on revisits to China Chef and Dede's. In part 2, it was a revists to Si Chuan Garden Spicy City, complete with the requisite drama. But what is there to say that I haven't covered in one of my many posts? To make things worse, after a while you kinda get in the habit of ordering the same thing on every visit.
I mean how many posts on Cold Chicken in Spicy Sauce, aka "Saliva Chicken" can one write?
Over the last few visits we've broken away, and ordered a couple of items we hadn't ordered before, or had ordered on previous visits and had not particularly cared for. Of course, after so many visits, I really don't break out the camera much anymore. But here are a few we took photos of.
Lamb with Green Pepper:
If you think this is bell peppers, you're in for a bit of a surprise. It's not super spicy, but the peppers are also a bit sweet, and have that familiar "green" flavor of bell pepper. The lamb was melt in your mouth tender, with a nice soy flavor.
On one of our recent visits, Wendy, the wonderful woman who runs the front of house, remembered I was Japanese. She told the Missus, that the several regular Japanese customers love this dish, Stir Fried Beef with Pickled Mustard Greens:
And I can see why, if you love Zha Cai, you'll love these….in fact, if you love Tsukemono, and the slightly bitter flavor of mustard greens, you'll love this. It is just mildly spicy, but full of savory flavor. One of these days we'll ask Wendy if they can make a version of this with lamb.
Like any restaurant, anywhere, not everything at Ba Ren is a home run for us. I recall one really nasty Bamboo Pith Fungus dish I had several years back….. And this Dried Fish with Eggplant dish will not make our rotation.
The eggplant was done perfectly, but the chewy slices of what I imagine is reconstituted fish was just salty, and not much more. The dish was flat, and lacked depth.
And I guess if there's any reason to do a post on Ba Ren, it's for the seasonal menu. We haven't had the chance to check out much of it yet, but heck….maybe another post after I do?
On this visit we had the first item on the menu, the cumin lamb ribs. Not much meat on this, but man the flavor! If you love gnawing on bones….and maybe having a Tsingtao or two.
And there's a new menu of hot pot dishes as well.
We ended up ordering the lamb hot pot…which was a pretty massive cauldron.
This was pretty spicy, and had a good amount of Sichuan Peppercorns and herbs….just like Huo Guo. There's more than enough to start a major "heat-buzz", but not enough to melt your stomach lining.
Within the writhing red liquid were large pieces of lamb(the braising portions), bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, and other stuff.
Some Napa Cabbage leaves, and vermicelli noodles were also provided to add even more "bulk" to the hot pot.
This was way too much food for the Missus and I.
A dipping sauce of minced garlic, sesame oil, and scallions was also provided. The drill was that you'd add a spoonful of the hot pot broth to the bowl, and utilize that as a dipping sauce.
One more important note……on our last visit, we noticed that Ba Ren had dropped the prices on most of their dishes by $1-$2! When we asked Wendy about the price drop, she told us, "it is because taxes have gone up, and the economy is tough.
Also on our last visit we realized something….. we've been coming here for about six years! It just seems like yesterday when I made that u-turn on Diane Avenue, and noticed that a new Chinese Restaurant had opened up. Time sure does fly!
Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117