Yes, even more "COMC" (clearing out the memory card) posts. Here's a potpourri of revisits of the Chinese Restaurant variety for ya'.
The Golden City hot pot project:
I'm sure you find the photos of the "golden oldies" from Golden City kinda boring, but here are few anyway…..
Kwai Fei Chicken:
Though s bit inconsistent at times, the Kwai Fei Chicken is still one of my favorites here.
The lunch specials are still reasonably priced, with items like the Pork Chops with Spicy Salt.
Though the Peking Duck appetizer has gone up in price. If you want the dish served with minced Duck in Lettuce Cups, it'll cost you $25 now. The duck is still carved tableside.
At one point, I thought I'd try to run through all the hot pot offerings, including the seasonal specials. After a while, I just ran out of momentum, and to be perfectly frank, motivation. But here are a few photos for you.
The Golden City Seafood Hot Pot.
At the time we ordered this, it was priced at $16. Not bad, but I wasn't too impressed with the flavor and the quality of the seafood…except for the Sea Cucumber.
And though I enjoy the Chaozhou Beef Stew, I also enjoy the Beef Stew hot pot on occasion.
When done right, it is full of soft, buttery beef tendon. I also enjoy the slices of daikon radish in the dish. The "sauce" is well flavored and balanced. On not so good days, the tendon is rock hard, and the sauce edges toward too salty….or too bland.
I started losing motivation when we started ordering stuff like the Salted Fish with Taro Hot Pot.
There was very little salted fish, and this was very bland…….it was like eating paste, something I haven't done since well, elementary school. After a while all the hot pots started blending into one, and I stopped taking photos.
Though I will never forget the look on the faces of the orange chicken eating gringos on the table next to us when the Ground Pork and Salted Fish arrived and the scent hit their noses.
I think one of the guys threw up in his mouth a little when the next dish, Kwai Fei Chicken arrived…..per his mumblings, I guess Kwai Fei Chicken does look like "raw chicken". Sigh……like I always say, some folks are better off eating at Panda Express.
Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
More Sam Woo (not the "Killer Whale"):
We go long periods of time without eating at Sam Woo. But eventually we always return. Perhaps we miss the sodium and MSG induced edema…….. We've had our share of not so good meals at Sam Woo, but on this visit, we enjoyed ourselves. It seemed like we hit Sam Woo at the perfect time, even the older Server there, the one whose tongue is a sharp as a cleaver, smiled and said, "I haven't seen you in a long time" made this a nice little meal.
Clams with Basil:
The Missus's clam and shell inventory came out…… She always does a mental count of clam meat versus shells, thinking that we get more shells than clams. The clams were plump, the flavor decent…….
Sam Woo Seafood Pan Fried Noodles:
Though it pales in comparison to other restaurants, for $7.95, I think this is worth it. Plus, I'm a sucker for these. This was why we came here, I was craving some pan fried egg noodles. Most of the seafood was "meh", but I just wanted the noodles………
And finally:
From what many consider to be the "wrong side of the pig", fried Pork Intestines. These weren't too bad, there was that dark, dank flavor, that I've slowly (very slowly) come to appreciate. The intestines didn't have too much "debris", a nice way of saying "stuff that the pig should have gotten rid of before it met its maker".
We both thought the intestines could have been more crisp, and were on the oily side. The slices were also lukewarm, which made us feel a bit too "raw" if you know what I mean. There were a few pieces oozing grey matter, which we saved for those who would appreciate such things, i.e. Da' Boyz.
As much as I grumble about Sam Woo in San Diego being not up to the standards of the SGV locations, this was a pretty good meal…….
Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 103
San Diego, CA 92111
I hope everyone is having a great week!