If you ever want my undivided attention, all you need to do is say "chicken wings". If you've read through enough posts, you know that I kinda have a thing about chicken wings….. from Fish Sauce Chicken Wings at Que Huong to trying my hand at making Chicken Alice's legendary Chicken Wings, and Kyochon, to the granddaddy of them all; doing a Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing tasting. I guess I've got a thing 'bout them wings…….
Recently, I got a taste of some wings from a Chinese fast-food joint called City Dragon. It really wasn't too bad. I thought the name sounded familiar, and sure enough when I drove up to the place, I realized I had been there before.
Located next to Ray's Mexican Restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard, I'd actually once gotten some
pretty generic Chinese food from this place.
And the menu does nothing to persuade you that City Dragon is nothing but another of the possibly hundreds of Chinese Fast Food joints littering strip malls through out San Diego. In fact, just a quick glance at the generic menu, and interior makes me want to turn right around and walk out. I can't even bear to place it in the Chinese Food category……
But of course, I just had to check out those wings…which is what I did. They are called "Dragon Spicy Wings" and are $6.99 per order. It is fried to order and takes about fifteen minutes or so. So meet the wings……
From a value point of view, this ain't cheap, 7 wings for $6.99, that's Kyochon territory, and this is no Kyochon. No rice, nothing else, not even a fortune cookie for me. The flavor is decent, a bit of heat, good salt, could use a bit more garlic. The wings are moist. The batter could probably use a bit more leavening, as these did not hold up too well. I'd have appreciated a bit more of a crunch.
In the end, I guess if you'd stick one of these under my nose, I'd gladly consume it. But you wouldn't lose a finger in the process. In other words, I don't think these are worth $1 a wing. Still, this got me wondering how many of these little places have something on the menu, ala Fortune Cookie Express's Chowmamein? So maybe you can tell me?
City Dragon
2885 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104