Mom Kitchen recently opened a second location on Clairemont Mesa. I decided to head on over to see if my favorite dish from the Mira Mesa location translated well to the new location.
I went during the first week of December, right at opening time. Mom Kitchen has taken over the space that used to contain an Afghan Market and Restaurant if I recall. This parking lot can be a real horror during peak times, so by going early and before word got out about Mom opening here, I could beat the crowds.
The young man working was so nice and friendly. As I mentioned earlier, there was only one dish I was interested in ordering for this visit.
I thought the Hainan Chicken and Rice was quite good during my visits to the MM location….the one weak link was actually the rice. Now priced at $19 (it was $17 at the MM location on my last visit), I was looking forward to trying this. Especially since “FOY” Jeff, who loves Hainan Chicken said it was quite good during his visit to the MM location.
Soon enough my lunch arrived. I quickly noticed something.
The rice! Instead of having hard grains of plain rice with barely a drizzle of the chicken broth and aromatics; this was well coated!
Decent savory-chicken flavor! I mentioned that the rice here was much better than what I’d had at the MM location and he smiled and said “we have more experience now and the kitchen here is large and better staffed.” Great!
I’ve always thought that the ginger-scallion sauce at Mom was perfect for my taste and this was no different. Not overly oily, great, with good, but not over powering ginger tones.
The one item, that hasn’t changed for the better is the terribly over-cooked boiled egg.
Which while decently marinated….it wasn’t enough to cover the bitter-metallic flavor of that over cooked yolk.
Well, back to the positive. Which was the chicken. Which was so moist, juicy, and tender. It was also deboned.
The skin was also very tender. Nicely cooked and seasoned, so savory, and great with that ginger sauce!
This was possibly the best Hainan Chicken Rice that I’ve had in a while! So Jeff, maybe you’d like to give this location a try and let me know? I’m sure RD will be checking things out soon as well!
You can read about Soo’s visit to this location of Mom Kitchen here.
Mom Kitchen
5440 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Suite B
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Mon, Wed, Thurs 11am – 83pm
Fri – Sun 11am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday
Wow! Good chicken rice in SD? This is even hard to find up north. We went to MM mom’s location and thought it was ok (my wife commented that it reminded her of meals growing up which was good though). But we didn’t get this dish so we will definitely visit this location soon. Thanks for the review!
I think “decent” would be a better description RD. Good is a whole ‘nother level up!
Ha ha!
Mmm… I’ll have to try the Hainan Chicken and Rice next time I visit. Thanks for the link!
Hope you enjoy it Soo!
Looks good!
It was better than the last time I tried it Junichi!
Wow….I’m going to put this on my immediate visit list for sure. Thanks for the update, and it looks amazing. There’s plenty of good looking food there beyond just that chicken and rice.
I really didn’t care for other dishes I tried at the MM location Loren….though after this decent Hainan Chicken, I may start exploring the menu again!
Interesting, I need to check it out
Hope you enjoy it ST!
nice! except for the overboiled egg
Yes, it was a pleasant meal overall Kat!
Looks like I have a new place for lunch this week
I hope you enjoy your lunch Franklin!
I’ve ordered from this location a couple times and honestly everything has been solid! A nice surprise since the Mira mesa location has mixed reviews.
A bit pricey but really nice to have in clairemont
Great to know Jessica. The MM location was popular, but kind of mixed, like the reviews!
So fun fact I did end up trying this place yesterday, first experience with that Chicken and Rice thanks to your review. It was darn good, really enjoyed it and the sauce. Also ordered a 1/4 duck which was also very good, and I now have alot more duck than I expected because I guess ducks are bigger than I remember?
Thanks for the suggestion – it’s why I’m a proud regular reader and occasional commenter lol
It always makes me happy when my recommendations work out! Thanks for letting me know what you thought and for taking the time out to comment Loren!
Kirk!! I’m going to check this place out on Sunday and I will report back. Thanks for stopping me this morning, that made my day!
I hope it meets your standards Jeff! And it was a pleasure meeting you!