The Missus and I had heard about a location of Yuk Dae Jang opening on Clairemont Mesa, next to the currently (strangely) closed Zen Curry.
Yuk Dae Jang is quite popular in our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights/City of Industry so we were quite interested to try things out. I'd heard that the place gets kinda crowded, so the Missus and I planned on early dinner at did 4-430pm dinners on both visits and I got there at 5pm on my solo weekday visit.
And the restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived. The place is fairly spartan with a flexible 12-15 tables total. No wonder the place can get packed! The young folks employed here work really hard and are quite nice as well. There are menus already placed on the tables when you are seated and you are asked if you want barley tea or water on arrival.
The Missus, in cruising thru all those social media sights already knew what She wanted so ordering was easy, it was to be the Premium Bossam (small size $21.99) and the Galbi Jjim, which kinda turned my head; it was 76.99!
Soon enough the panchan arrived.
A baechu kimchi didn't have much fermented flavor, but was quite refreshing and crisp, we enjoyed it. The Missus is not a fan of Eomuk Bokkeum, the fishcake panchan, which was quite routine. The Buchu Muchim, chive panchan was quite pungent, but had a good backbone of soy and mild sweetness.
Soon enough our Bossam arrived.
Along with the typical panchan and sauces; bean paste and shrimp sauce. I was surprised at the few slices of napa cabbage and also the gul bossam. I had never seen bossam like this. The pork belly was quite velvety, with a very nice soy sauce-savory-mildly sweet flavor. We watched a couple of other tables and eventually figured out and made "bossam in a spoon", laying the pork belly then topping with what we enjoyed….the mul kimchi, garlic slices, etc….
Soon enough the Galbi Jjim arrived. We had a couple of bowls of rice, of which we devoured one.
The really sweet young lady saw me taking photos of the bossam and asked if I wanted to take a photo before they "prepared" the dish for us. Soon enough, she went to work slicing things with shears and in the end it looked like this.
It was placed on a burner. So, here's the hint if you ever get this; mix things well as the dish can be overly sweet and the ingredients bland. There's a good amount of thick cut galbi in this….again, on the sweet side; the kabocha just adds to that. We obviously had quite a bit of leftovers. It's a very photogenic dish, but at nearly eighty bucks….well, we don't think it's worth the price.
The service was quite nice and of course I needed to make multiple visits before doing a post. I decided to return to get the baseline YukGaeJang. On this evening the Missus was working and things weren't too busy when I dropped in at around 5pm.
I ordered the YukGaeJang ($17.99).
The panchan was the same as on the previous visit, though I detected that the baechu kimchi tasted a bit more fermented.
This time around I went with the purple rice, which was no big deal and on the mushy side.
As for the YukDaeJAng…..
The shredded beef was quite tasty. The broth had some nice spice, but was quite "flat" and one-dimensional in flavor. The glass noodles were too mushy. There was a rather greasy "mouth feel" to the dish and as a whole I felt it was quite mediocre.
Still, we had enjoyed the bossam so much that a return visit was in order. Plus, it was at that point in time when temperatures were rising in the county.
Things started off with the Premium Bossam in "Special Sauce" ($39.99).
This was basically the simmered pork belly in the sauce for Janggajji, the savory soy sauce based- mildly sweet-sour sauce used with pickled onions. I enjoyed the added onions and the favors with the pork belly. Granted, on this visit, some of the "rind" of the pork belly was on the tough side, but as a whole this was very tasty. It was bossam at a whole new level for San Diego.
We also got the Bi Bim Naegnmyun ($16.99).
While I appreciated the stretchy naegnmyun, the strands of beef were really chewy and the sauce was weak a watered down. This lacked the refreshing and bracing spice of the version we enjoy from Prime Grill. The flavor just tasted too diluted.
We also wanted to try the Mandu and the young lady who was our Server told us it would be no problem ordering a half pork and chive and kimchi and pork mandu ($11.99).
So, the wrappers were on the tough and brittle side. The filling for the pork and chive was bland and chewy, though the pork and kimchi had the advantage of some good savory-fermented flavor and was definitely the better of the two.
Our visits to Yuk Dae Jang left us at an impasse. We had enjoyed the bossam, which took the dish to a new level here in San Diego. We appreciated the service, which was efficient and attentive. But man can live on bossam alone….or can he? Time will tell. Let me know if you find a good "keeper" dish here at Yuk Dae Jang!
Yuk Dae Jang
7307 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 11am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesdays
to kick back and enjoy things. So, a visit to our favorite little spot on Rue Montorgueil, 
The wrapper was too thick and chewy, the filling tender but on the bland side. The black vinegar provided was really weak. These weren't very good.
The dough was too rubbery, though the pan fried portion was better. It was fairly yeasty in flavor and not overly sweet. The filling here was more tender and juicy, but still on the bland side, in need of a ton of the watery black vinegar.
The sausage had a firm, "snappy" casing. The filling had some good herbaceousness but was quite dry and overly chewy. Not a bad version by any means, but definitely not great. We tasted the Jeow Mak Len, the tomato dipping sauce provided which was mild, tasting like a weak tomato salsa and decided not to use it.
Yes, this is "half-rice" at Nanay's. The rice, which is predictably not of the best quality was decently cooked.
'
When this arrived, the Missus and I gave each other a "look". This didn't seem quite right. And yes, it was overcooked, lacking in flavor, the filo like pastry was hard instead of crisp. And that egg; that poor overcooked, unseasoned egg. 'Nuff said.
The Missus ordered the combo with banh cuon trung, with eggs folded into the wrapper and the ground dried shrimp. First things first, the nuoc mam cham was way too sweet and really watered down. It was in dire need of more fish sauce and spice. In fact, the Missus was hatching a plan to possibly sneak in our own stuff next time.
This was interesting in a way. The banh mi was nicely heated, a light crusty-flaky-yeasty, all that better to soak up the rather mild tomatoey "sauce-gravy".
The hot dog cracked me up. It was….well, a hot dog, like something you bought at the grocery, a salty-sodium laden, tubular mystery meat. My favorite item by far were the meatballs which, while laden with filler were moist, tender orbs of beefy goodness. The eggs had a bit of "fishiness" to them and lacked seasoning, obviously not of the best quality, but decently sunny side up.
Shriners Hospitals for Children will sponsor this float, "Believe In Tomorrow", keeping with the Theme of the 2024 Parade, "Celebrating A World Of Music, The Universal Language". Floats are colored in to help with decorating.
"A Lovely Day for Hope", presented by the City of Hope hospital system was tested for mechanics and maneuverability with 'weight' on board. 
The 2024 entry from Trader Joe's is titled "a-one, a-two, a one-two-three-broccoli" and includes Trader Joe (collapsed at the back of the float, now but will be raised for the Parade) conducting a trio of broccoli and various vegetables playing musical instruments. The beaters in the yogurt cup at the front will produce bubbles along the parade route. Another beautiful float.
A new entrant in the Parade for 2024 is from Coding for Veterans. Unsure about the title. The center looks like it will have a screen. The outlines of aircraft are a H-60 and F-35. 
This entry is from Western Asset. It is backing into the barn. You can see the Driver of the float (who proceeds down Colorado Boulevard by looking down and following the Rose Colored Line on the street) to the right in the photo and the Spotter (who looks out the front, communicates with the Driver via a headset) to the left. You can see rectangular vented 'windows' at the fronts of the 'completed' floats, where the Spotters are seated.
Walking inside, we were directed to the last open table. Tam's opens at 8 a.m.
The breakfast menu was handed to us. 
At the top of the menu, beverages are included! (Iced beverages are an additional $1.50). The tea was good and strong and kept refilled constantly.
From the menu, "C"- vermicelli with Satay Beef plus scrambled egg & bun with butter (the price was $12.99, not the $13.99 as on the menu). Great broth with tender, flavorful beef and non-mushy noodles. The scrambled eggs were soft and fresh made (I did add some chili crisp to them after a few bites) and the steamed, soft bread was just enough.
"F"- beef stew with steamed noodle too plus scallop congee ($13.99). I saw the noodles being rolled in the kitchen when I went to the back toward the restroom. Fresh, soft, a thin layer…really nice. That beef stew was excellent, tender and such flavor. The scallop congee was really a great version. The scallops were dry/shredded and interspersed throughout each bite. 
Well, along with lines, I found that ASA likes their signs. Like the one above that states only 3 pastries per person. Good thing I didn't promise anyone else some goodies from here right?
This is baguette in name only and absolutely does not have any attributes of bread. It was hard as rock….hope you have good teeth if you get this. You basically didn't tear this; you cracked it into pieces. The chocolate was fine, not too sweet, but since whole macadamia nuts were used, the distribution was haphazard and you'd only occasionally find one.