Chicken Wings – Page 12

Revisits: The High Dive, Kayaba, and Island Style Cafe

August 18, 2014 mmm-yoso Beer, Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

Some revisits to start off the week.

Tonkatsu from Kayaba:

**** Kayaba has closed

I guess it’s strange that I go to a “food court” when I want my Tonkatsu fix.

But for under nine bucks, this tonkatsu is a favorite of mine in San Diego…….

Crisp, usually moist, love that mashed potato salad.

‘Nuff said.

Kayaba
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119 – In the Mitsuwa Marketplace
San Diego, CA 92111

The High Dive:

So, the Missus has become a big fan of the Tap Hunter app. I guess She’s now an offical Beer Geek. Anyway, there are places that are real good at keeping Tap Hunter up to date and places that are kind of blase’…..Common Theory, I’m looking at you. For all its short-comings, mainly food-related, The High Dive seems to do a good job keeping things updated. Recently, when the Missus was busy with work, She noticed that one of our favorite beers, La Fin du Monde was on tap. I was ordered to head on down and report back post-haste.

And of course, when I arrived, it was there, poised and ready. There’s some flavors with “La Fin” that we enjoy, a mild fruit, with flavors that seem like clove and other spices, which make it fine match with spicy food for us. The flavors seem to go really well with anything I make with ghost peppers, strange as that may seem.

This draft version seemed a bit lighter without the spice notes. Maybe for the first time, I preferred the bottle to the tap….weird.

I Buffalo Wings were adequate and by the book. Nothing to make them stand out, but no complaints.

I thought it was a bit too heavy in the sour end and the wings were fried way past well done, but that would be nitpicking.

High Dive Bar and Grill
1801 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Getting my “loco fix” at Island Style Cafe:

It was time for my bi-annual locomoco fix……well, strangely, it would be the first “loco” I had this year. I’ve got some catching up to do! Anyway, I went with the Kaloko Loco at Island Style Cafe. A rather unconventional Loco Moco; usually I’m not a fan of fried rice for my loco and this one even has a crepe, but it all seems to work out for me.

Like my good FOY CAB says, there’s an interesting, yet complimentary interplay of sweet with savory going on that I enjoy. The eggs were overcooked for “over-easy” on this visit and I’ve kind of gotten used to jasmine rice so the calrose got my attention….I gotta head back home for an attitude adjustment soon! I think the burger here is still too tough and lean, but that’s nit-picking as this is still my favorite loco moco in San Diego.

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124

Revisits: The Spotted Cow and Gala Chicken

July 29, 2014 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are a couple of revisits for today.

The Spotted Cow:

**** The Spotted Cow has closed

When the Missus needs something from Zion Market on the weekend, I'll go right when they open. I really never paid much attention to the food court during these morning visits until I was a bit hungry one day and was surprised to see the Spotted Cow open for business.

I really hadn't been overly impressed on my previous visits, but being a bit hungry I thought it would a good time to try the food again. Instead of the items I had before, I decided to go with the "Mi"; egg noodle soup. The young man working was very nice and efficient. I was surprised to see all that cilantro and scallions floating at the top of my bowl.

The broth and the herbs was pretty much what I expected, lacking in savory flavors and salty (broth) and fairly sparse (herbs and veggies).

What really surprised me was the amount of char siu in this bowl….my goodness. Not the best pork, a bit light in flavor and some rather overly chewy bits. But for a $6.95 bowl of noodle soup, this was probably the most I've ever seen in a bowl of egg noodle soup.

A very generous amount of egg noodles as well…..prepared quite well.

This might be the way to go here if you need a quick bite. Not a place to go out of the way for….but if you're hungry at 9am in the morning and are shopping at Zion Market, this might be ok. If ok will fill the bill…..

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92111

Gala Chicken:

**** Zion Market has moved and Gala did not make the move with the market

One evening, the Missus needed me to pick something up from Zion on the way home from work.

Looking at the Gala K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) stand, I thought it would be a good chance to try the chicken again. It had been about a year since I tried the chicken here, they had just opened and I had hopes the execution was better.

I went for a regular order of wings ($7.99). I was told it would be about a 20 minute wait, so I went ahead and finished my shopping. By the time I was done, so were my wings. I went home and opened up my the styrofoam container.

The wings were still hot, the coating wasn't quite as crumbly as I recalled, and not greasy, though I still think the seasoning is on the bland side. The wing pieces were fine, but the drumettes kind of dry and tough. I turned over one of the pieces…..

Sigh…… If you read my earlier post, you might recall how the guy running the fryer kept poking and cutting into the chicken pieces during the cooking process. So the chicken is losing moisture, drying out….. I would think if your business is frying chicken and have been doing it for over a year, you'd know when it was done without having to cut into pieces.

That's it…. what more can I say? I think it's sad that a product would never hit full potential because of something like this. I also realize that it might not matter to you, but it does to me.

Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (Inside of Zion Market)
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho 46

February 18, 2014 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

On my way back to the freeway from one of my meals at Motor City Deli, I noticed Pho 46. I recalled eating here when it was Cafe Kashmir, which was not a good experience and I was kind of glad those photos never turned out. Pho, on Miramar…….I wasn't quite sure since my experience with pho on this stretch of road hasn't really been good. Still, nothing wagered, nothing gained, right?

So a couple of days later I dropped by for lunch.

And the winner of the "most generic pho shop design is….." I mean really. However, I wasn't here to admire the feng shui, design, or anything like that, nor was I here to enjoy The Price is Right which was blaring away on the television.

The guy working here; who really looked familiar was quite friendly, the prices for most (not everything) was quite inexpensive. I'm sure you could get a mixture of proteins, but as a whole, it's either rare beef OR well done beef OR meatball. When I mentioned this to my good FOY (Friend of Yoso) "Yummy Yummy" she said, "just like Vietnam….". I'd gotten so used to American Pho, I'd forgotten…..

So I got the Pho Chin ($5.75):

I was somewhat surprised by this bowl, it caught me off guard. It was much better than I thought it would be. The broth, though light on beef flavor, was fairly low on salt/msg, which made all the other flavors, be them ever so faint come through. The beef seemed ot be brisket, had not fallen to pieces, and had good flavor. The noodles was a tangled, overcooked mess, and the sprouts and herbs sparse, but I expected that. Still, this was not bad at all.

While I was eating, three Vietnamese women came in, one of them was really loud. apparently they had ordered before arriving and once the food came out proceeded to attack this plate of chicken wings with loud, somewhat scary, finger-lickin' good aplomb. I had ot find out what they heck that woman was attacking so I asked the guy. He told me it was Butter Wings. Based on how the trio were enjoying their wings, I just had to have me some of that, so I did. The wings ain't cheap, $4.25 buys you four. They are very standard in crispness, perhaps a bit on greasy side and mild in flavor. By no means bad, in fact decent, but definitely not worthy of such a reaction by the three woman wrecking crew. If I were the owner, I'd have these three back everyday….they'd either get you the upsell, or nauseate the heck out of you.

As I left, the gentleman told me that the best wings they have are the Chicken Wings with Spicy Salt…..hey, talk about just up my alley.

So I decided to return a couple of days later……..the television yet again tuned to the Price is Right.

I ordered my wings, but it was too hot for soup so I went with te Shrimp Fried Rice ($6.50).

Much like the pho, this fried rice left me surprised. It wasn't fantastic by any means, but was a good by-the-book fried rice. There were 8 shrimp and though I thought it needed a bit more soy sauce, I felt it was a good value for the money; I'd have it again.

As for the Wings ($4.25):

These were much better than the other wings I'd had; a lot more flavor, less greasy, though I could have done without the wok-scald. It won't make me forget about other versions I've had, but was definitely not bad…..though at this price, over a dollar a wing, I'm not sure it's worth it. Still, not overly battered, a bit of spice, decent flavor, these weren't bad at all.

So, if you have hankering for some pretty inexpensive shrimp fried rice and some kind of expensive wings, or have the need to watch the Price is Right, this might be the place. Nothing fancy, nothing amazing, but many items are simple and a decent value. The guy working here is on the friendly side, though he wasn't too amused when he revealed where I'd seen him before; Com Tam 75….I had a real foot-in-mouth moment when I replied, "oh, is that place still open???"

Pho 46
9508 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

isa.bella

February 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Pizza, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** isa.bella, which moved to Clairemont Square has closed

Back in June of last year, I noticed that the old and kind of worn Bollweevil was being put out to pasture. Taking its place was something called isa.bella – artisan pizza & craft beer garden, yes…all lower case. I kind of hesitated in visiting mainly because even though I've enjoyed watching new places pop-up arpund the neighborhood, I really haven't had much luck when I've checked these places out. Honestly, I'm not expecting North Park caliber places, but would like a nice standby that serves better than average food…..

A couple of weeks ago, JohnL agreed to join me for a couple of beers, we wanted to stay around the neighborhood and thought that it was time to check out isa.bella.

I liked what they've done to the patio area and decided to sit outside. Candice sent me a text saying she'd be able to join us….nice!

I was seated at one of hte tables outside, I've got to say, as much as I liked the colors and such; the tables were pretty high for me and when John and Candice arrived, we realized just how large the tables was. Still, this will be a nice place to have a beer and relax when spring and summer arrive.

I looked over the beer selection, which was decent, nothing like the High Dive of course, but with 15 on tap, it was fine with me. I think having a couple of bottles might be great as well.

I went simple with an Hoegaarden to start while I just kind of got into relaxation mode.

Soon enough Candice, then JohnL arrived and we started looking over the menu in earnest.

In the end we decided on two apps and two pizzas.

Things started off with the meatball trio ($7):

The meatballs were served with a "trio" of sauces; a white, almost bechamel type of sauce that was kind of gritty, a decent think red sauce, and pesto. The flavor of the meatballs were decent, though these were on the hard and tough side.

Seeing the Garlic Wings on the menu ($7), I just had to check them out.

Though the menu calls these spicy, I found them more sweet than anything else. Decently crunchy, sticky and messy, with a mild garlic flavor, this was the best thing we had all evening.

The pizzas started with the Eggplant Parmesan ($13.50).

Now, considering that I was told that isa.bella served Neopolitan style pizza, something along the lines of Pizzeria Bruno came to mind. This didn't quite make it up there, especially in the crust department for me as it was hard and cracker like. This was also on the bland side as the eggplant needed a lot more help. The cheese was not strong enough to carry the dish and there didn't seem to be enough marinara sauce on this as well.

The Margherita ($12.50) fared better.

I'm still not fond of the crust, but the acid of the roma tomatoes combined with basil is a wonderful thing. The pizza was still a bit short on sauce for my taste.

Overall, the prices weren't bad, I wasn't very fond of the pizzas, but the staff was nice, and I felt comfortable here, so I figured I'd drop by for just a beer and something simple one evening.

I got the Leffe Brown, I like browns which balance out the sweet and bitter, and this did the trick.

The Parmesan Fries were nice, hot and crisp, perhaps a bit too salty, but nothing to complain about at a Happy Hour price of $3.

I'm guessing this place will be just that for me; a place to drop in for a beer and something small to eat every once in a while. I like the staff, they're friendly, but not overly so, and I can have a beer and decompress….. though I may stop by for lunch someday.

isa.bella artisan pizzeria & craft beer garden
4011 Avati Dr
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Tues – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm

Jus Wings

October 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings

***** Jus Wings has closed

Several months ago I was up in the Rolando area for an appointment. Feeling a bit peckish, I searched around a bit for something to eat. I noticed this place, which seemed to have just opened in the huge University Square Marketplace.

The interior looked clean and new……

The young lady at the counter was also very nice, there was no order board or formal menu. What was offered were a printed and handwritten sheet taped to the counter, which really took away from the decor. You can select from different combo's or jus(t) wings with a variety of sauces.

I decided to go with an 8 piece combo, $7.99, which includes a side and a drink, very reasonable in my mind. Of course I had to get some straight up Buffalo wings for half my order, but was curious about what to get for the other 4 wings. The nice young lady gave me some of the sweet chili sauce, which totally tasted like the bottled stuff and wasn't very spicy. She told me that the spiciest wings were the "Jerk" wings, so I went with that.

The wings were fried nicely, quite crisp, but that sauce was really more of a topping, and nothing like any "jerk" seasoning/sauce I'd ever seen. It was like some pseudo green chili salsa that wasn't particularly hot and very one dimensional.

The Buffalo wings were by the book and the sauce was that usual Louisiana Hot sauce – vinegar based sauce that everyone knows. The wings were on the smaller side, something which I kind of like; it increases the skin-to-meat ration. They were nicely fried; not overdone and dry, but decent. Wish they had some blue cheese dressing…..

Man, I could not believe how much fries they gave me…..

The place had a chain-like feel to it, the wings were cooked to order and took about 15 minutes. There looked to be only 4 fryers, so I could imagine if the place got busy.

I thought this would be a one-and-done, but I happened to be back in the area about a month later and decided to give the place another try.

Things looked the same, but the menu, though it was still "81/2" x "11", stained and curling around the edges, and taped to th counter had changed a bit. Specifically the sauces, the "jerk" was (thankfully) gone. This time around I was told that the garlic buffalo was nice and spicy, so I ordered that, along with the Chili-lime-pepper. It was a bit of a longer wait this time around, almost 25 minutes and they weren't even busy……

I went with the coleslaw this time around and it was very blah….bland.

The Chili-lime-pepper was also not to my liking. Too sour and artificial tasting, I a hard time getting past that. The wings were fried too long and were on the dry side as well.

In terms of flavor, the garlic Buffalo was much better.

The heat level on this was nice, it brought a nice sheen of sweat to my brow. The vinegar heightened the whole experience. Didn't taste much garlic as these also edged on the salty side. Still it was the better of the two.

After two visits, I think I'll make the effort to drive to Crispy Fried Chicken if I'm in the area. Nice folks and all that, but it's nothing I'd want to go out of my way for.

Jus Wings
5801 University Ave (in the University Square Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92115

COMC – Places you know: Que Huong and The Original Sab E Lee Rancho Penasquitos

August 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

So a bunch of photos ("Clearing Out the Memory Card") from two places you know well if you're a regular reader of our blog.

Que Huong:

**** Que Huong has closed

Boy the place looks a lot different from when we first started coming here in 2005.

To me, a meal at Que Huong is not complete without the Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.

Like the decor, these have gotten better and better since I first tried them, as a recommendation from my good friend "YummyYummy" all the way back in 2008. I've been pushing those wings in every forum available to me since then. I was told they go through a thousand pounds of these a month, so it's no surprise that they end up on lists like Thrillist's Best Wings in San Diego.

Que Huong Restaurant
4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

The Original Sab E Lee – Rancho Penasquitos:

Yes, it's a bit out of the way for us, but the drive is worth it. Plus, the crew here have more of the originals, from the originals, they remember us, and it's nice to catch up on things.

Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing for us…..

The Original Sab-E-Lee
13223-2 Black Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA 92129

So that's all folks….it's kind of too hot to sit for an hour doing a post! See you tomorrow…..

Giving Chaba Thai a couple of lunchtime tries

July 21, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

Back in June (sheesh, we're almost to August already!), I mentioned that a new Thai Restaurant called Chaba Thai was taking the spot of Gyro N' Kabob Cafe, which in turn took the place of Aria Kabob. The place opened up pretty quickly a couple of weeks ago and since my office is close by, I decided to check them out for lunch.

The place has been given a mild face lift; brightened up a bit, paint job, stool, basic tables and banquet chairs, nothing fancy, but much brighter than the former places that occupied this spot. Overall, very fast casual in appearance.

The young ladies working here seemed quite friendly and after business. I was taking a look at the photos of the various dishes posted on the glass and was quickly shown a menu.

Unfortunately, the lunch menu consisted of typical, you choose the protein and preparation which is the standard for Thai restaurants in San Diego.

I'm sure folks that frequent Thai joints have their "baseline" dishes. One of mine is the deceivingly simple Pad See Ew, a simple stir fried rice noodle dish that is a lot harder to execute than one thinks. For me Pad See Ew determines the cook's skill with the wok and temperature. Achieving the balance of not overcooking the rice noodles and generating "wok hey" with the right proportion of sweet and salty shows experience and aptitude.

So I went with the Pad See Ew with Shrimp. Things started out kind of plus/minus. The salad with lunch is decent, a over-sweet "Thai-inspired" dressing, but the vegetables were fresh. That soup with coconut milk and cabbage was just plain insipid. I've been finding that this soup with lunch thing has lead to having some pretty nasty bowls recently, stuff I just have spoonful and can't finish.

Now for $7.95, I didn't expect anything like, say, Sab E Lee or Siam Nara. This is what I got…..

I really don't know what to say….but let me try. With regards to the shrimp, I didn't mind 41-50, which I kind of like in stir-fries, but these were overcooked and rubbery. Too long over not enough heat. There was also a bit of grittiness to them and a flavor that was edging on "off". Standard issue "Calabrese broccoli" was used instead of Chinese broccoli. The noodles were mushy and cooked without enough heat for too long (see the pattern). There wasn't enough savory, nor enough sweet, basically nothing but greasy, mushy, noodles.

This came with chicken wings that had very little flavor and a doughy batter, giving it a real greasy texture. The cream cheese won tons……..I won't even delve into that.

This was just kind of sad. I go into meals hoping and wishing for the best and it's always depressing to deal with nice folks who serve food that just seem to miss the mark.

Because of that, I decided to have another lunch at Chaba. Funny thing, I never bothered to turn over the lunch menu here. On that side of the menu is a different world of dishes; grilled pork neck, Thai jerky, and what I ended up ordering, the "Thai E-Sarn Sausage"….Issan Sausage ($5.95).

So this was the roundish "Sai Krok" I've encountered before. What really threw me off was the Japanese Benishoga – pickled ginger that was served with the dish. C'mon…really? I also prefer some cabbage rather than a single leaf of lettuce, but I've had it this way before. The sausage was too mushy for my taste, without enough sour-fermented flavor. It also seemed to be mostly rice. Sadly, this was the best item I've had here……

In a moment of indecision, I also ordered the "Combo Set" ($8.95), which featured BBQ Chicken and not apparent to me until after I ordered, BBQ Shrimp.

In all honesty, that insipid soup was better on this visit. This made me feel that perhaps things were going to be better this time around.

"Not so fast El Guapo!"

What I got was kind of strange and disturbing….the "BBQ Chicken" looked pan seared and like something I'd make at home. It had very little flavor. I love good Kai Yaang, so this was depressing.

The shrimp I was terrified of was cooked decently, but had little flavor.

The fried rice was actually not bad, but also needed a flavor injection.

It was kind of weird in a way. I felt like I was taken back to Thai restaurant food in the 80's, where restaurants were afraid of serving true, traditional flavors. Even in terms of "Ameri-Thai" this was a step backwards.

Contrary to what you might think, I take no joy in doing this post. Everytime I do a post that is less than positive, I get a couple of emails that suggest I do only "positive reviews". The problem with that being; I don't do "reviews", this is my little space where I post my opinions on what I/we ate. Secondly, I do wish the world was "butterflies and puppy dog tails", but it's not. Then there's those that usually start by marginalizing me, or calling me a name, then tell me something along the lines of, "if you have nothing good to say, you should say nothing at all." These folks I ask to start by setting the example first. Even more interesting, I'll get an email on a post like this one, telling me I know nothing about "REAL THAI FOOD LIKE IN THAILAND"……funny thing was; we'd just returned from Thailand…..go figure.

This is a place where I hoped that the food measured up to the warm service and sadly did not. I'm hoping things improve.

Chaba Thai Kitchen
8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

The Missus Yakyudori obsession

July 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

One of the side benefits about doing this blog for so long is that I get to document things, how our eating has changed over time, ditto with my cooking, our travels, and so forth. One of the really fun and interesting items I've been to post about over the years are the Missus's food feet-ishes umm, obsessions, some of which are narrowly focus on a single item, sometimes from a single place, or perhaps a dish with a common "mechanical" function, many of have been documented here in detail.

And just as many times, the Missus has "sworn off" things after finding out what the ingredients are, or perhaps how something is made. The longest running "item that shall not pass my lips" was chicken and turkey. Folks have asked for the cause of this. All I have for you is a video of this commercial:

Which somehow traumatized the Missus so much that She refused to eat chicken or turkey (except on vacation). The Missus was very good at keeping Her word as I've noted several times. This, other than the Asian Pear overload (a story for a different day) has been the longest running "I shall not eat"……starting in November of 2009, as I mention here. It only ended a bit over a week ago, though with strict conditions….I do believe turkey is still not welcomed, though.

So, what ended the historic and epic chicken prohibition? It was victory by Binchotan as duly noted in this recent post. It seems that those bincho-tainted wings won Her over….so in essence we've grilled in that manner 5 times over the last two weeks. Always with something interesting; in this case "Kamo", duck breast.

And with chicken wings of course. During one of our sessions, the Missus mentioned how good the wings were, probably among the best She could recall. Instead of showing restraint, I made the mistake of saying that our grilled wings were not as good as Yakyudori's. Thus began the interrogation. All that was missing was the bright light blasting into my face, the water dripping into my eye, and maybe a dentist drill. "Just what makes Yakyudori's wings better!", "Well, it's decent quality wings, second joint only, heavily seasoned with good quality salt, but the main thing is how the wings were skewered." "Well……." Showing no will-power I instantly spilled the beans: "The wings are skewered in such a way to stretch the skin, maximizing surface area. The bones are separated making it easy to pull out without burning your fingers." Yes, such is life in the mmm-yoso household, an entire conversation about stretching chicken wing skin…….what happened to us?

Suddenly, Yakyudori went from a shop the Missus wasn't interested in, to one we just had to go to…..as in the next evening. And of course we had those wings…….

And of course I was right………..it was better than what we made at home.

My gloating was short lived however, as the Missus directed me to Marukai on the way home. You guessed it. To pick up chicken wings.

The next evening, as the Missus prepped Herself for wing surgery, I got the other stuff ready. Lit the binchotan and prepared the shishito peppers, shiitake mushrooms, okra, and some pork "toro"…..

25 minutes had passed and the charcoal was white and hot when the Missus finally finished Her 6 wings. I gotta say, She did a great job.

She basked in the glory of Her wings…..

With a side order of gloating thrown in, "Ha, after 15 years, I finally got a cooking point over you! Fifteen years!"

I gotta admit, these were pretty darn good, and I told Her so. Immediately, the Chinese daughter came out, "hmmm, the bones don't break away as easy as Yakyudori…maybe the skin can be stretched a bit more…."

Remember our drooling "friend" from our previous post? He was back again.

The Missus said he reminds Her of this character from the old series Home Improvement.

As dinner was finishing up, I told the Missus what a good, albeit rather long job She had done. She absently told me, "I don't really remember how I did that……."

She had already moved on, mentioning how much She enjoyed the Tsukune at Yakyudori.

Oh-oh, another obsession coming up?

Stay tuned…….

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Grill Break!

June 19, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, yoso-silly

The weather's been so nice here the last couple of days. I hope you don't mind if I break up the week and take a grill break. We busted out the konro grill and the binchotan and like we do every so often decided to grill up some stuff. It takes some time and we take our time and savor the process and the flavor.

Last night it was Pork Toro, basically pork collar…..

Chicken wings, shishamo…….with a nice salad.

The Missus enjoyed it so much, that She wanted to do it again this evening….so we did.

More chicken wings, Berkshire pork belly, shrimp, shishito peppers……

There's something almost cathartic about the process…it makes us slow down, appreciate. It's simple, bincho imparts such great flavor that all you need is some good quality salt, pepper, and maybe some Shichimi Togarashi.

The smell is intoxicating…..as you can tell by our "neighbor" spying on us.

Looking for a possible "sample"…..

Of course Frankie was waiting for his share……

So pardon me while I take a mid-week charred animal flesh break.

We'll be back tomorrow!

Thanks for dropping by!

Gala Chicken – The new K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) stand in Zion Market opens

June 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

**** Zion Market has moved and Gala did not make the move with the market

The item that seems to have gotten the most attention on my recent Saturday Stuffs post was the closing of BBQ Chicken. I received a couple of emails about it. I guess even though I wasn't a fan, other were. I did mention in Saturday's post that I had seen what looked like a "KFC" stand in Zion Market that evening……so I returned to check it out.

The place only does chicken, nothing else….no starches….

The menu also seems to only feature wings, drumsticks, and boneless crispy pieces, though I could be wrong. The older woman and gentleman were nice, but really felt more comfortable speaking Korean.

The prices didn't seem to bad, even thought it's take-out and chicken only. And heck, anyone that knows me understands that I love my chicken wings.

Anyway, I ordered a regular "Wings" ($7.99) and Sweet Soy ($8.99). I was told that my chicken would take fifteen minutes, which meant it was cooked fresh, a good sign. What was not that great was when I returned after about 10 minutes to find the guy constantly fiddling with the wings in the fryer. He kept taking pieces and cutting them with a knife to make sure it was cooked. C'mon, wings make up about 40% of your menu, that looked real amateur. Plus, all the cutting means that juices escape and my wings would be drier than they should. I know this place is new, but I'd think if you opened a place that only makes fried chicken, you'd know how to make without having to cut into every piece to make sure it's cooked then dumping them back in the fryer…… One of the great aspects about KFC chicken is the double fry. It's a technique I use myself. I didn't notice that happening here…..

Actually Gala does give you some Mul Kimchi, "water kimchi", a traditional accompaniment of KFC, which is on the extra sour side, but at least crisp and palate cleansing.

I work just a few blocks away and the chicken did smell pretty good. Opening my package I noticed that the take-out containers are kept open to prevent the chicken from getting soggy. I also noticed that I got what looked like "Spicy" wings instead of the Sweet Soy like I wanted.

So for those who keep score on the Kyochon-o-meter, there are six good sized wings per order. Though I prefer smaller wings which mean a better skin to meat ratio. Anyway, that's $1.33 per wing for original and $1.50 for Spicy……kind of on the pricey side, more than Kyochon if memory serves me.

And this ain't no Kyochon.

I found that while the batter was light, it was not as crisp as it looked. It was also very lightly seasoned, at least for my taste, and it had a greasiness to it. The drumettes were on the tough and dry side.

The Spicy really was more sweet and sticky than spicy.

The wing weren't really coated very well and I noticed that this batter goes soggy pretty quickly. The flavor was almost the same as the Sweet and Spicy chicken of BBQ Chicken, perhaps not as cloyingly sweet, but close. In fact, the chicken here just seemed like "BBQ Chicken lite", a step backwards from BBQ Chicken. Ditto for the tough and dry drumettes here.

So, you know I wasn't a fan of BBQ Chicken. You also know that I don't think the chicken here is not as good as BBQ Chicken was. You get the picture, right? Perhaps my friend Jenne is right; I'm just too darned picky. Anyway, I'm hoping that all of this are just grand opening issues and will be resolved. I'll try and visit in a couple of months and see…….

Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (Inside of Zion Market)
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am-7pm
Sunday 11am-6pm