I’ve had Chef Zhu, which reopened in Torrey Highlands back in 2023 on my “list” for a while. I used to be a fairly regular customer way back when he owned Shanghai City, with that original post dating back to 2005! And then when he opened his namesake restaurant (well, sort of as it had a “dual identity” as Double Happiness and Chef Zhu) in Del Mar, well, I did several visits there as well. In 2021 the location became an outpost of Chin’s…though I believe Chef Zhu stayed around cooking there for a while. The Missus, who is not a fan of Shanghainese style cuisine or even Su Cai…well, I worked hard to convince Her to take a drive up to Torrey Highlands Village to try the reincarnated Chef Zhu. Well, we did the 20 mile or so drive up and they were closed! Sigh…..I had actually checked their online hours before heading up…..and even the sign on the door said that they were supposed to be open (it was a weekend!). But no….. Well, the Missus wasn’t amused and She would then refuse to even have me suggest heading on back up to eat at Chef Zhu! And it was probably for the best as I contacted former coworker “YZ” who lives in North County, she is originally from Shanghai, and we’d even dined at the “old” Chef Zhu before to see what she thought of this location. Well, even though she lives fairly close by….she’s not a fan. Hmmm……. Well, perhaps it was for the better that they weren’t open on the day I brought the Missus?
Still, I did want to try Chef Zhu…if only for old times sake. And I finally found some time to drop by for lunch, even though it took almost a year to finally make it.
There’s abundant parking in the strip mall where the restaurant resides, along with Von’s, Peets, a Thai Restaurant, and a Shabu Shabu place. The exterior looks very clean and modern.
Though the interior looks very “old school” Chinese!
Speaking of “old school”, there were several large parties who came in after me….all of them older folks. Made me feel young for a change! On a funny note, all of them got paper menus, I could hear only Mandarin being spoken. Me, the one obvious non-Chinese customer was told to order using the QR code!
And then, when the won ton chips with sweet and sour sauce arrived; I suddenly thought I was in the wrong restaurant?
I ordered three dishes…the prices were actually not bad and as it turned out, the portion sizes were humongous!
The first dish out was the Mei Cai Kou Rou ($21.95). My goodness, this looked like a solid block of…well…something.
The sauce was, as expected a bit on the sweeter side, but also quite greasy.
The slices of pork belly were thick and on the chewier side. Some of the flavor of the pork came thru, but this was still a bit sweeter than I prefer for this dish.
I dug around for the preserved vegetable. Turns out it was a mushy mess below all that pork belly. I took most of this home….the Missus had one bite and it was no bueno after that!
Next up; one of my favorite dishes that I hadn’t had in a while Chao Nian Gao ($18.95). Another huge portion!
The texture of the rice cakes were good, slightly chewy, not mushy, flaming hot! But this dish seemed wrong. Where was the Ji Cai, that wonderful peppery-sour-sweet vegetable. Or even pickled mustard greens, another option I’ve seen with this dish. It was just napa cabbage…..cutting costs I guess? Though I prefer the sauceless version, I didn’t know how to order it that way via the online system. The sauce was on the saltier side, but ok. I was just missing the appropriate veggies!
Last out was the Tea Smoked Duck (half duck – $22.95). The duck they were using was very meaty, which wasn’t a totally good thing as you can see, it’s super dry….and tough.
Very earthy-smokey flavor, not overly seasoned which was fine with me. But man….how long had this been sitting? The skin was flaccid and rubbery, that meat was so tough and dry….. I brought most of this home and even trying to make it a clay pot rice dish was kind of a failure.
So…in the end; I’m glad the Missus didn’t accompany to Chef Zhu….She would have not been happy having to sit around and deal with disappointing food. This was quite sad as we used to enjoy Shanghai City and Chef Zhu. It seems like the quality and execution has been sacrificed for large portions here. Though based on the large groups of Chinese dining, I guess this formula is working out for them. As for me….well, I’m moving on. Anyone been to Hometown Taste yet?
Chef Zhu
7845 Highlands Village Place
San Diego, CA 92129
Current Hours:
Mon, Wed – Fri 11am – 830pm
Sat – Sun 10am – 830pm
Closed on Tuesday