After our pleasant revisit to Szechuan Chef, the Missus was wondering how some of the other Sichuan style restaurants in San Diego were. So, I took a look at my “Big List” and oh my….we hadn’t been back to Spicy City since 2015! Like I said, we’d pretty much given up on Sichuan food in San Diego. Anyway, we thought we’d give Spicy City a try and headed on over.
When we first moved to San Diego in 2001, if I recall, the sign read “Beijing” Spicy City. Basically claiming to serve Beijing style Sichuan cuisine. Still, it was the only game in town for anything resembling traditional Sichuan food…until Ba Ren came along in 2003. Ba Ren really changed the game for us, we didn’t need to head over to the SGV for Sichuan. Of course Ba Ren closed in 2012. I have such great memories of the place. Well, enough of that. Spicy City has been around since 1997 or so, but has gone thru several ownership changes. My first blog post on Spicy City was when they went thru an ownership change in 2008. I know for certain that they went thru at least one new set of owners as of 2014. But have lost track since then. And viola! It’s April of 2026 and we’re eating at Spicy City!
Interesting to note that while Convoy Pointe Plaza was very busy…folks jostling for parking spots. I actually had to park on Engineer Road, Spicy City had only six tables filled by the time we left. And also of note…..we were the only Asian’s dining here!
I actually overheard two of the other tables ordering as they arrived after us. Stuff like Walnut Shrimp, Beef Broccoli, and Beef Chow Mein were being ordered. What the heck?
Also, the Missus for some reason wanted the Twice Cooked Pork with Garlic Sprouts, which they were out of. But they did have the “Homestyle” version ($16.99). In my own somewhat cynical mind, I think the “homestyle” means whatever they have on hand? Anyway, this was terrible.
The Hui Guo Rou, which should be somewhat chewy, was super tough and lacked flavor. Usually, in the Sichuan versions of this dish there would be some spicy and savoriness…this was just plain bland…where was the doubian, black bean, garlic, ginger?
The best dish of the meal was the Pork Intestine in Dry Pot ($16.99) and this still lacked the “ma-la”, the numbing spice typical of Sichuan cuisine.
At least it wasn’t bland. But the intestine was really tough and rubbery. Very little spice encountered. The best item in this dish were the soybean sprouts on the bottom of the dry pot. At least it had flavor and a nice crunchy texture.
I really wanted the Ko Shui Ji (“Mouthwatering Chicken” – $15.99) so I ordered that. For some reason it was the last dish to arrive. When it did…..well, it really gave me pause….. What the heck?
The portion size was humongous. It was covered with a thick layer of sesame paste which overwhelmed the dish, really blocking out the spice, acidity.
For your reference; this is what it looked like back in 2015:
The amount of chicken was huge, large dry slices.
This was a pretty disappointing meal…an “oh-fer-three”. The service was fine, at least the really rude guy who used to work here isn’t around anymore it seems. You know, I wasn’t expecting Mountain House or even Barshu. Just some solid Sichuan would have been fine.
But as it is; per the Missus, we’re done exploring anymore Sichuan in San Diego for now.
Spicy City
4690 Convoy St. #107
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 830pm
Fri – Sun 11am – 9pm
Looked like Chinese spaghetti!
Thanks for taking one for the team! I had been thinking of revisiting Spicy City too, since I hadn’t been there since Ba Ren opened. That “saliva chicken” (what my Singaporean Chinese coworker called it) looks awful.
Wow! Haven’t been to Spicy City in years! It used to be a fav and there was always a line out the door virtually any time of the day. Sad!
There was an offshoot that opened in RB that was ok but has been closed now for awhile. But your meal looks pretty bad. The enshittification of everything continues. Hopefully your next meal is better!