Folks who've read this blog for a while know of my affection for Royal Mandarin's Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. I don't have them very often, but it's a true guilty pleasure for me. And just the thought of not having access to it of plays that "mental" game with you…..yes, it's all in your head….but I recall having the same feeling when fire shut down Royal Mandarin at the end of 2009 (has it really been that long?) and having to wait six months until they finally reopened…..honestly, I've had longer periods of time between visits, but just the fact that you can't get something drives you crazy. Now I know that I could have gotten out of "my bubble" at anytime and driven down there….but for 8 months, even though we did takeout we limited our area. But finally, after both FOYs ("Friends of Yoso") Sandy and Junichi mentioned in comments how good those wings were and after returning from our roadtrip, where the Missus and I dined outdoors, I finally decided to get my fix.
RM opens at 9am….so at 9am, after finishing things up at the office, I called in for an order of S&P wings to go (for some reason I have the phone number memorized) and headed right down to the restaurant. Getting there right at 920, thinking that no one in their right mind would be doing ABCDE takeout at that time right? Wrong….
There were four parties ahead of me, each standing at the red tape "marker". Six people were waiting outside, well distanced, all had masks on. RM is currently only doing takeout. They had 4 people manning the elongated "counter" area and it actually took less than ten minutes for me to get my order!
Soon enough my entire car smelled of fried goodness….something that I would usually not enjoy, but in this case, it had been so long……
After plating, I sat on the back steps, Frankie wandering around somewhat aimlessly and had them wings.
It was just as good as I remembered. There are differences I did note. The batter these days isn't as thick, there's a bit more lightness to them, but the crispy crunch might be even better now. There seems to be less of the "secret ingredient", so no more "MS – heebie – geebies", but it doesn't seem to hurt the flavor. A bit more spice these days, but still pretty mild, good salt, and yes, there's still MSG, but I think it's used more judiciously these days. Of course, it could just be a case of "time makes the heart grow fonder".
And so, even though I still haven't had a sit down meal at a restaurant in San Diego since the middle of March; I did expand my range (I'm retiring that map). And so, thanks Sandy and Junichi, for reminding me how food can really bring comfort during these trying times!
Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-4151
Open Daily 9am – 10pm