**** This location of Chin's is no longer.
I usually update our "rotation page" a couple of times a year, and thought this would be a good chance to do so. So over the course of this week, I'll post a few revisits and come up with a revised page at the end of the week.
I thought I'd start with"Chinese breakfast" at Chin's, since there are a couple of changes. First,
service now starts at 930 am on Saturdays and Sundays, something I posted on here. Secondly, there's the English translation of the menu, which has been in place for a while. It does seem that the menu is missing a few items though…… oh, and prices have gone up a bit, 20 to 50 cents per dish. We are, of course waiting for Chin's on Convoy to open up…..
And yes, the interior still looks like it was once a Marie Callendar, or some other corporate restaurant:
The "backbone" of our order does seem to revolve around the same items, like the Suzhou Smoked Fish, which my MIL tells me tastes just like China:
The Shao Bing with Five Spice Beef, a dish of which FOY "YY" tells me, "I would eat breakfast more often if I could have this all the time….":
And one of my other favorites, the Steamed Bun with Pickled Mustard Greens and Mushroom:
It's not always steamed perfectly, but when it's on, it's quite good. Hot and fluffy, the filling a melange of sweet, savory, and a pleasant mild bitterness that just hits all the right spots for me.
Enough of the reruns, here's the third newish thing about this location of Chin's; a seasonal specials menu:
I'm not sure about the seven bucks for shaved ice, but we did order the Da Bing with Smoked Meat ($6.25 – the first item on the menu):
I probably would have enjoyed this much more if I hadn't had a wonderful version of this at Northern Restaurant in Rosemead. The smoked meat was very mild, and somewhat artificial in flavor, almost like the stuff you'd buy at 99 Ranch Market, and instead of a hearty and savory pork and fermented bean dipping sauce, this was straight up hoisin. The Da Bing was good, if a bit on the oily side, but it was actually the best part of the dish. I did consume all of it, because, well, I'm a sucker for these type of dishes. Overall, decent and I'll take that in a pinch.
A bit later while talking about this meal, the Missus told me that the second item on the specials menu was Tea Smoked Chicken Leg. Of course I exclaimed, "why didn't you tell me?" To which She replied, "I really didn't like you much at breakfast!" She had a point, getting paged at 1am in the morning will do that to me…. But to add insult to injury, instead of Tea Smoked Chicken, I got Kaufu (wheat gluten)!
How does that saying go; "there hath no fury like a woman scorned….."
Chin's Seafood & Grill
9355 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Chinese breakfast served 930 am to 2pm Saturdays and Sundays.