**** 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!
I never get tired of the Ba Ren posts. Personally, I love the posts on seasonal and special items. I’m pretty illiterate when it comes to Chinese so if it wasn’t for your posts, I would rarely order off the placards.
i love ba ren and i love that pickled soup too! are they open late night everyday? wish they had this when i was still around because it sounds like a lot of fun.
ah! this sounds amazing! i wish u were my friends so i could eat ba ren as often as you do… alas, i have no friends to go to ba ren with (not fans of chinese and/or spicy), which takes hot pot out of the question…
This looks great! I think the only time I have raided the a restaurant’s fridge before would be at Noodle House. And I have also gotten things in and out from fridges and warmers at my school.
The Sesame Balls in Fermented Sweet Rice Soup look really good :). So much sweet rice in it.
Repeat is good – it means that Ba Ren is consistent ๐
the Missus is so lucky to be able to go out many times for her birthday ๐
I stumbled across your site from another site and had a wonderful time exploring. Having lived in SD, it was a lot of fun seeing the places you selected in your blog. Thanks.
Wow, all this looks fun and also absolutely delicious.. The ma la base is almost scary looking! I’ve tried the cold szechuan noodles in the past and it was so numbing hot it made my face twitch and my esophagus feel like I swallowed a pint of vodka! Good stuff though.
Hi Carol – Without the Missus, I’d be lost here as well.
Hi Sawyer – I found the menu hours kinda strange, because they used to close at nine or so….I’ll find out on our next visit.
Hi Angelle – I hope you find some friends who like spicy food so you can spend some time exploring Ba Ren’s ever-changing menu.
Hi ETE – That first sip of the fermented rice soup will always get you…it’s super “winey”…but the more you eat, the more you enjoy it!
Hi Meemalee – That it is…..
Hi Kat – We’ve kinda cut back…we used to do a whole week. I guess our stamina is not quite was it used to be.
Hi Oysterculture – No, thank you for visiting!
Hi Dennis – Not everything is super spicy here….we’ll grab a bite here one day.
Hi Kirk
I have some interesting videos about Sichuan food from youtube (some are Mandarin only, sorry) so you may need Missus translation :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcyEfsKTXjM
shuizhu mussroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouK7WQkBHI8
mapo blood/tofu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko6cxi_qdn0&feature=related
shuizhu niurou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az3noEfQ5BU
this is Sichuan food trip
Hi Mr Zhang (Jonathon?) – Thanks for those links, we’ll be sure to check them out.
No way Kirk, please keep blogging on Ba Ren!! After all, they have some of the best food around and there is always something new to try so there can never be too many Ba Ren posts!!! I too, am Chinese-illiterate and I look forward to your reports!! Today I hit the jackpot – a new Ba Ren post on mmm yoso!! I will definately be going in for Yie Shi!! Keep em coming!!
Hi PJ – I think you’ll especially enjoy this!
Great place and pretty innovative with the menu to keep regulars from getting bored. A sign of a good restaurant.
I’ve got to get to San Diego some time.
Hi Jeffrey – They do keep us interested, that’s for sure.
this is the kind of food that makes me want to be a better cook.
Hi Katie – From what I see on your blog, you’re a mighty fine cook!
Hi Kirk,
First just wanted to say thanks for all of your informative posts. Many of them have been really helpful in finding a new place to eat…unfortunately not this time.
A friend and I tried to eat here last night but were told we couldn’t order from the “Yie-Shi” menu because we couldn’t read it! They only wanted us to order from the regular menu. I do love the food here, but after seeing your new post & pics, we were pretty excited about giving this a try. We left the place kind of upset, especially when seeing other tables littered with skewers and bubbling hot pot.
Now I have to coax along another friend to come with me to translate, which shouldn’t be too hard once I send them a link to your post!
(All was not lost though as, luckily Jeong Won was still open late and we feasted on Korean BBQ!)
Oh no JCE – I feel so bad for you! Hmmm, maybe we can do something about it….let me think…….