*** Silver Ark has closed and is now Siam Nara Restaurant.
Man, three years, time sure does fly………
I'm not quite sure why Silver Ark always slips my mind. Perhaps it's the location, tucked away from the street. Or maybe because I usually have something already in mind when we hit Mira Mesa Boulevard. Still, three years between visits is pretty long. And it would have been even longer, had I not seen this banner on my visits to Manila Fast Food.
It was enough to pique my curiosity. Were the buy three dishes get a "live lobster" for $1.99 a sign of a desperate restaurant grappling to stay alive? If anything the banner was enough to get us into the doors of Silver Ark a few weeks ago.
To illustrate how long it's been since we've visited Silver Ark, the back wall used to be partitioned off, and housed a Chinese BBQ take-out area. That along with the weekday dim sum (Dim Sum only on weekends) are long gone I guess.
Sadly, we were the only customers in the place during the entire duration of our dinner.
After looking over the menu, and learning the "rules" - rice, soup, and noodle dishes do not count toward the total to qualify for the specials. We placed our order, and requested a crab ($5.99 special)….. but were told, "no crab today". So we decided to see what a $1.99 lobster looked like.
The first dish we ordered was the Salted Fish with Chicken and Tofu Hot Pot ($11.95):
This was one bland dish, with barely a hint of the salted fish fragrance. Not much chicken either. The dish was much better as left-overs the next day.
The best dish of the night was the Pork Intestines with Preserved Vegetable ($12.95), which was on the specials menu.
A bit short on fermented black bean, but there was a good amount of the sour and sweet preserved vegetable and a good amount of fairly well prepared intestine.
Actually, the Stir Fried Clam with Basil ($13.95) had potential.
This really coulda' been a contender….. The short comings are readily apparent. As in where's the basil? I found one sprig. No gravy/sauce? This was much too dry, and basically unseasoned in any manner. Too bad since the clams were of good quality, and were cooked to a perfect doneness. The green bell peppers were severely under-cooked.
And last….it's the $1.99 crawfish Lobster. We really didn't expect much, and in that vein, this more or less met our expectations.
The lobster was on the "cool" side, but was decently flavored with ginger and scallion. The sign does say "live lobster", and I'm sure that once upon a time this was without a doubt "alive". Perhaps during the last lunch hour? At least the meat was still meaty and tender, and hadn't seized yet. The sign should probably say "Recently Live Lobster"……
Overall, our meal was uneven, but okay, the portion sizes (except for the lobster) were generous. As for the specials, I think maybe the shrimp may be the way to go since you'll pay by the pound. We both felt that the food was under-flavored, though the quality of most ingredients was decent.
Dim Sum is now served only on weekends, and I noticed a couple of pages of lunch specials ranging from $5.95 to $7.95.
Silver Ark
8993 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
I live up by Silver Ark and your right, it’s really uneven and just a shell of what it was hoping to be when they opened. Just a note, I had Al Pastor off the spit at a place called Alex’s Tacos in the Baja Market in Escondido. Very good. I know you’re not up that way very much, but it’s good. They also tripa, birria, lengua, cabeza, etc but the Al Pastor is good. Closed on Mondays
too bad the taste didn’t meet up…the prices sounded really promising!
Was live ;-). Where the heck is the rest of the lobster?
That’s too bad. The whole point of the clam dish is the gravy!
I had the same thought about the lobster – where’s the rest of it?
We took out-of-town guests there in the summer to try the special. We found out an additional rule – even if you ordered six dishes, you could only order one lobster special.
It’s too bad that Silver Ark is so inconsistent with their food. The only advantage of dining there is getting dessert at the nearby yogurt or boba place.
I couldn’t believe it when I saw your snapshot of their banner. $1.99 for a lobster?? Too bad the taste wasn’t that great..
My sis and I saw that $1.99 sign too and thought it was a typo!! That place always looks so empty – I feel bad that I haven’t tried it out yet. But the prices of the regular dishes seem kinda expensive? $13.95 for clams seems a bit high to me?
Hi Roland – Thanks for the rec….I need to get up North a bit more!
Hi Kat – I really think they’re just trying to get folks in the restaurant.
Hi Billy – LOL!
Hi Jan – Gotta have that sauce…..
Hi Sandy – Well, I’d say that’s a two-dollar lobster if I ever saw one! I really hate those hidden rules….you know, they don’t even have fine print. It always makes me feel like they’re changing them to suit the moment.
Hi Kirbie – It seems to just be a way of getting you in the door.
Hi Faye – It depends on how you look at it. The prices are close to Golden City dinner prices, and above Sam Woo or Lee’s, but below China Max, Jasmine, and Emerald. We get kinda used to the late night GC prices, and it can be a shock if you look at things that way.
Hi Kirk,
I think in all the time I lived in Mira Mesa I only ate there once. I never did figure out when the BBQ take out area was open, it seemed to be closed whenever I went.
And I wasn’t impressed with the food, at least not enough to go back.
Hi Zompus – Sad thing is, this place has potential…..
Hello Kirk,
I hope now you understand intestine is NOT rectum.
Chinese don’t eat “Zhi Chang” only “Da chang”. Zhi chang includes the colon and rectum or the bad materials collection zone.
Da chang is primarily small intestine.
It is sad to see that the food is not as good as before! I agree with you that the food has potential. Those clams looked good but where was the gravy? And the poor lobster- that did not look like an entire lobster unless the lobster was ultra tiny.
Hi Mr Zhang – I always knew that, but since some of those English translations have been quite humorous, many of my comments are, how should I say it…. “tongue in cheek”. Perhaps you don’t understand my sense of humor????
Hi ETE – Yes, where is the gravy….
Who’s Mr Zhang ?
The power went out in our building yesterday, so I took the opportunity to get new tires around the corner. While waiting, I headed over to the sushi place in that mall, but it was closed. I wasn’t in the mood for Filipino food, so I reluctantly stopped in a VERY empty Silver Ark. I played it safe with some Shanghai noodles, which were OK.
Sad to see a place so empty though, especially at lunch. I don’t think that particular mall is good for eateries. The pho shop we used to frequent there was replaced by the now closed sushi restaurant. The Baja Fresh bit the dust, and now Silver Ark will probably follow suit. The Filipino fast food place seemed to be doing well though.
Fast food places in that mall seem to do well. The Popeyes and McDonalds always have a lot of customers, and I prefer this location of Yogurt World (larger, better parking). I think Baja Fresh bit the dust because it’s more expensive than the nearby Mexican places (Santanas, Robertos). The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf closed too, didn’t it?
As for Silver Ark, they seemed to have potential, but …
Himmmyreader – Mr Zhang is the person who shares the same IP address, uses similar bogus email addresses, and has almost a spot-on identical writing style. If you aren’t one in the same, you should meet each other. You could be long lost twins! ;o)
Hi Jan – Silver Ark has lasted for a while, but empty dining rooms doesn’t bode well.
Hi Sandy – Yes fast-food does well – ChowKing always looks busy.
Silver Ark has been replaced by a Thai restaurant, Siam Nara. They said they’ve been open about a month. The interior is quite nice, and the place was busy on a Friday night. Unfortunately, the food was just ok (lukewarm dishes).
I had no idea that Silver Ark had closed, but in re-reading these comments, it was inevitable. I guess I wasn’t paying attention whenever I was driving by on Mira Mesa Blvd.
Hi Sandy – Yes, I believe it’s now a Thai Restaurant. I need to get some photos of the new place, so I’ll do in an upcoming post.