**** Ba Ren has closed
I realize you all are probably pretty tired of my posts on Ba Ren, but I thought this one was interesting. For the Missus's "second" Birthday dinner, She, of course, chose Ba Ren. When we arrived, Wendy spoke to the Missus, and told Her of their latest special (it seems that they always have some new wrinkle), the "Yie-Shi" (night market special).
This latest special features ordering a "ma-la" base, which comes in three heat levels, the "spicy" is a bit thicker, spicier, and more vicious than Ba Ren's Huo Guo. Once you order this, you can than choose some noodles and snacks off the special menu for between $2.99 – $4.99. Tsingtao Beer is $1.50 a bottle, soda is 50 cents. You can only take advantage of this menu by ordering the hot pot.
The best, and most fun part is that after getting your hot pot($3/per person), you're given a basket, and access to the large refrigerator, and pick out skewers at your choosing. Each skewer is 25 cents a piece, you also grab your own soda and beer. At the end of the evening, they count your bottles, cans, and skewers, add your noodles, and tally your bill.
So if you ever wanted to raid a restaurant's fridge….here's your chance.
Our favorites were the beef, intestine, quail egg, mushroom, and potato. We ordered 3 noodle bowls, which are about two-third of the usual portion, and some Crossing the Bridge Won Tons. We
ended up taking two of the noodle dishes home, since we ended up eating forty five skewers! When I asked "Roy" how we did, he said, "this is about average, and big eater will eat forty, fifty skewers. In Qingdao, I personally eat over fifty skewers, some noodles, and a few beers." Yikes! So you can eat your noodles while waiting for your skewers to cook in the hot pot.
Well, since I've done a zillion posts on Ba Ren already, I'll keep the rest of the narrative to the minimum.
The Hot Stuff….
The sesame oil-garlic dipping sauce….really"smooths out" the heat.
The remainder of our Cold Sichuan Noodles ($2.99). Sorry, but I was still deciding whether I should take photos.
Spicy Sour Bean Thread ($3.99):
My favorite, the Pork with Preserved Vegetable Noodle Soup ($3.99):
The Crossing the Bridge Won Tons, personally, I enjoy the Hot Sauce Won Tons more.
And of course, there's the "hot stuff"!
All topped off with Sesame Balls in Fermented Sweet Rice Soup:
Sheesh…….we were stuffed! The tab came out just over thirty bucks with beer.
Some details: The menu says served only between 8pm and midnight, but we had this at 6pm, so you may want to ask. To take advantage of the special noodle and snack prices, you're entire table will need to go the "Yie-Shi" route, though you can still order off the regular menu to supplement.
Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117
Not to worry, it's not rerun season, I'll have a post on a "new" restaurant tomorrow!