Chicken Wing Thing – City Dragon

November 17, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings

If you ever want my undivided attention, all you need to do is say "chicken wings". If you've read through enough posts, you know that I kinda have a thing about chicken wings….. from Fish Sauce Chicken Wings at Que Huong to trying my hand at making Chicken Alice's legendary Chicken Wings, and Kyochon, to the granddaddy of them all; doing a Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing tasting. I guess I've got a thing 'bout them wings…….

Recently, I got a taste of some wings from a Chinese fast-food joint called City Dragon. It really wasn't too bad. I thought the name sounded familiar, and sure enough when I drove up to the place, I realized I had been there before.

Located next to Ray's Mexican Restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard, I'd actually once gotten some pretty generic Chinese food from this place.

And the menu does nothing to persuade you that City Dragon is nothing but another of the possibly hundreds of Chinese Fast Food joints littering strip malls through out San Diego. In fact, just a quick glance at the generic menu, and interior makes me want to turn right around and walk out. I can't even bear to place it in the Chinese Food category……

But of course, I just had to check out those wings…which is what I did. They are called "Dragon Spicy Wings" and are $6.99 per order. It is fried to order and takes about fifteen minutes or so. So meet the wings……

From a value point of view, this ain't cheap, 7 wings for $6.99, that's Kyochon territory, and this is no Kyochon. No rice, nothing else, not even a fortune cookie for me. The flavor is decent, a bit of heat, good salt, could use a bit more garlic. The wings are moist. The batter could probably use a bit more leavening, as these did not hold up too well. I'd have appreciated a bit more of a crunch.

In the end, I guess if you'd stick one of these under my nose, I'd gladly consume it. But you wouldn't lose a finger in the process. In other words, I don't think these are worth $1 a wing. Still, this got me wondering how many of these little places have something on the menu, ala Fortune Cookie Express's Chowmamein? So maybe you can tell me?

City Dragon
2885 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Fish Sauce Glazed Grilled Chicken Wings

October 30, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Recipes

This recipe was born when FOY (Friend of Yoso) and regular commenter "Billy" mentioned that he makes his Nuoc Mam Cham on the stovetop, using heat to help dissolve the sugar. I thought about using that method to create a glaze for chicken wings, and this recipe was born.

What you see is the second try at the making these wings. The first time I tried making these, I was on call, and just as I placed the wings on the grill, I was paged and had to leave my wings. I turned everything over to the Missus, who is unfamiliar with two tiered grilling…. setting up the grill for direct and indirect heat. She left the wings on direct heat, basting with a sugar based sauce! By the time I resolved the problem, the Missus had the black as coal wings on a plate on the dining table. I gotta leave it to the Missus, She really accomplished something special here…… creating something on the grill that was charred black on the outside, and still totally raw on the inside! I was so grossed out that I decided to not try to make this again. Until………

A couple of weeks ago, the Missus told me that She wanted some grilled Tamarind Shrimp. While buying shrimp, I saw some chicken wings, and bought a couple of pounds. I returned home with nothing particular in mind. After a bit I decided to give Fish Sauce Wings another shot. A couple of things; I use the two tiered grilling method; half of the grill is set-up for direct heat, the other half for indirect heat. The sugar and fat will mean that the wings will burn really quickly (as in the previous try), so I crisp up the chicken over direct heat, and baste with the sauce when I move the wings to indirect heat.

I grilled using a combination of half Kiawe Charcoal, half hardwood charcoal. If you were to taste the glaze, you'd think I was crazy, it seems too salty(no water in this one), and sweet. But because it's a glaze, it works out quite well. And yes, it is yet another super simple recipe…….. and of course, please make adjustments to taste….

Fish Sauce Glazed Grilled Chicken Wings:

2 1/2 – 3 lbs of chicken wings
2 Tb Sea Salt
2 Tb Fish Sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
Fish Sauce Glaze (see below)

– Set up grill for two tiered grilling – half the grill set-up for direct heat, the other for indirect heat.
– Combine chicken wings, salt, fish sauce, and canola oil in a large bowl. Mix wings to coat well.
– Grill wings over direct heat for one turn to brown and crisp up the skin.
– Move wings to indirect heat portion of the grill and baste several times.
– Baste one last time before removing from the grill.

Fish Sauce Glaze:

1/2 Cup Fish Sauce
1/2 Cup white sugar
2-3 Thai Chilies sliced
4-5 cloves garlic finely minced
Lime juice to taste

– Combine fish sauce and sugar in a small pot.
– Heat over medium heat until sugar is dissolved
– Add garlic and chilies
– Bring to a light simmer and remove from heat

Maxim’s Seafood Restaurant

October 6, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Maxim is a restaurant on the periphery for us. We pretty much never head there as a destination. For some reason, I have a hard time remembering this place, until you drive past it on ECB.

The menu is varied, as is the customer base. On any given visit you’ll see African American families enjoying the Orange Chicken and other ABC (American Born Chinese) favorites, a pair of Hispanic working stiffs ravenously attacking a plate of fried rice, a Filipino family chowing on a sizzling plate or two, and large parties of Vietnamese ordering up plates of seafood usual seated in the larger dining area on the right side of the restaurant.

And the menu is as varied as the clientele, with everything from Yu Hsiang (fish flavored) and various clay pot dishes, to the inevitable Chop Suey and Orange Chicken, to Bun and Pho! That’s a lot of territory to cover, and honestly, not everything at Maxim’s has been good. That said, the prices make it worth a try. Funny thing, they’ve pretty much got us pegged… they start talking to the Missus in Mandarin as soon as She enters the place.

So here’s a sampling of what we’ve had over the last couple of months at Maxim’s. Starting with the good:

The Sizzling Beef Sate ($10.99):

We’ve had pretty good luck with Beef dishes at Maxim’s, and this was very nice. The beef was tender, and the sate rich though only mildly spicy. It was a bit on the greasy side, but pretty good.

Actually, we’ve had pretty good luck with anything Sate at Maxim’s, the Sate Shrimp($8.99) was no exception:

The shrimp were perfectly cooked, moist and tender. The garlic-peanut flavor was good. Again the only problem I had with the dish was the distinct lack of spice. Being that we believe the folks who run the place are Chiu Chow(I’m sure someone can tell us for sure), it’s not surprising that they do a decent Sate.

The Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice ($8.99), was sufficiently pungent:

But lacked the deep savory flavor of a good salted fish fried rice. The rice was decently stir fried, but lacked a decent “wok hay” that would have taken this up a notch.

The Seafood Pan Fried Noodle ($8.50) was pretty ugly looking, and I didn’t care for the noodles used, and there was a distinct lack of “seafood”:

But the flavor of the gravy, a nice salty-garlic taste, with a hint of sweetness, made this palatable. When looking at this dish, I started noticing something about the dishes at Maxim’s….. most of them were kinda, well, “fugly’ looking. The dishes really didn’t look that appetizing. And thus, Maxim’s became the place where things “tastes much better then it looks.”

The Flavor Duck ($9.50) was a very large portion of soy sauce stewed duck.

The duck suffered from star anise overload, as the anise flavor, along with excess saltiness took over the whole dish.

A heavy handed star anise and ginger flavor, along with a much too thin “gravy” also ruined the Special Beef Stew Clay Pot ($8.99):

Too bad, because otherwise this would have been a pretty good clay pot, as the meat was tender.

One day I noticed…gasp, Salt and Pepper Chicken wings($4.79) on one of the signs posted on the wall. There was no way I could resist.

This was interesting, the chicken had a batter that reminded me of something that came from a box with the letter B-A-N-Q-U-E-T written on the side. It also topped with fried garlic that obviously came from a jar….. not good eats.

One day, we went for the “Vietnamese Menu” and the Missus ordered the combination Com Tam (broken rice) dish ($6.99):

This was an interesting dish. The broken rice wasn’t very fragrant, but who doesn’t love a fried egg?The “Bi” (shredded pork) was extremely dry, but that “char grilled beef” was quite good. In fact, it almost tasted like a less sweet Mongolian Beef, and was very tender. I ended up poaching most of it off the Missus’s plate.

I ordered the Phnom Penh Noodle:

The broth was deceptively clear, it had a lot of flavor, but gave me the MS – heebie-geebies, perhaps a bit too much of the three letter flavoring. The noodles were done well, with a nice al dente pull to it. The combination of meat was fine, I didn’t care much for the slices of liver, and the fish balls were “meh”. The rest of it, chunks of what looked to be roasted pork and some offal were fine. Not that I’d have this again, but it was fine.

So what is my suggestion? Give Maxim’s a shot…… heck, you might find something that “tastes much better then it looks”!

The pricing structure with most items under ten dollars, makes Maxim’s a decent value. and they are open until midnight. Think of it as a sort of Sam Woo of the neighborhood…….

Maxim’s Seafood Restaurant
4616 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Open Daily – 10am to midnight

Phat Restaurant – Chicken Delight a first look

August 31, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Phat Restaurant has closed

One evening I was in prowling Convoy looking for a place to eat, when I noticed a new business in the former Luong Hai Ky location, something called Phat Restaurant…… Phat Restaurant? Along with the written Chinese "Fat", it was kinda quaint.

I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for something new this evening, but was sold when I saw the little "Chicken Delight" sign. Now, I was pretty sure that whatever came out of the kitchen here would not resemble Chicken Delight in any way. But I just couldn't get the "don't cook tonight, call Chicken Delight" ditty out of my head. Back when Chicken Delight had shops opened in Honolulu, it was considered very expensive for us, so I only had it maybe twice in my entire life. The taste memory has long faded, but that catchy slogan had been retained in my cabeza forever! BTW, did you know that KFC's Extra Crispy was created to combat Chicken Delight? But I digress……

I entered the restaurant, and the interior looks basically the same, and I'm sure folks like Cathy will be glad to know that the fish tank is still in place, and the denizens of the tanks haven't suffered a flush faith possibly worse than death.

The menu was interesting, as all dishes featured chicken, from the variations of chicken soup, appetizers, and rice dishes. There was the now ubiquitous "Mission Statement" spiel of the restaurants disappointment in processed food, and declaring a dedication to organic, free-range, chicken with no Hormones, he-mones, and she-mones, or whatever. One nice thing is the ability to select the type of noodle you'd like for your soup from the six offered. I also noticed that all the dishes were over six bucks, fairly pricey for this type of soup and noodle joints.

I ordered the Chicken soup with dumplings and egg noodles ($6.50). Well, actually I ordered Hu Tieu as my noodle, but I guess something got lost in the translation or perhaps the very nice Server decided to over-rule my decision.

First thing I noticed was the portion size wasn't very "phat", in fact it was quite small. The chicken made to look like Char Siu was very mild, but serviceable. The egg noodles were super hard, and I needed to let them steep in the soup a bit. The soup however, was "fairly phat"(?), full of flavor, with a nice, mild, almost cinnamon/onion, along with a good amount of white pepper taste. The broth had just the tiniest sheen of oil. It was also full of umami, so savory as to be almost sweet, a flavor that almost never occurs naturally. But because I didn't suffer from thirst, nor edema in my fingers or feet, I'll give the broth benefit of the doubt, and just say "man that was (kinda) phat!"

Replacing pork with ground chicken is very difficult, but this was a decent job. The minced water chestnuts added a nice crunch, but the shredded carrots didn't do it for me. The filling was moist and tender, instead of the normal rock hard meatball. Four dumplings total. At $6.50 a bit over-priced in my opinion.

A few nights later, I returned. I had seen something that interested me on the menu; Salt and Pepper Chicken wings ($6.25). Being a certified Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing fanatic, I was curious to see what these would be like.

When the plate hit the table, I cracked up. On one side of the plate were two regular sized wings, on the other side of the plate were 5 little drummettes and wings that looked like they belonged on a phat fat quail perhaps? The wings had been fried without batter, than stir fried with garlic and chilies, in fact these should be called garlic-chili wings. The wings were pretty greasy(so much about the whole healthy mission statement), and the garlic burnt to literally the "bitter end".

Not settling for just appetizers, I asked for a recommendation, and was told to order the Lemongrass Chicken, with a warning that it was "very spicy".

This was pretty much a ho-hum dish, the chicken was undoubtedly free-range as it had a chew to it, something that I don't find unpleasant. It wasn't very spicy, and the flavoring nothing special. The rice, which was "Com Tam" (broken rice) wasn't fragrant at all, and there were a couple of hard bits.

The saving grace of the mediocre meal was the fairly sizeable (for a freebie side dish) bowl of broth, which was again very tasty, of not a bit salty.

I guess the question to be answered would be "chicken phat?" I'm not quite convinced though I'd say to stick with the soups here. The menu is fairly small, and I'm kinda interested in the "curry broth". I'm pretty sure I'll return when things cool down a bit.

Phat Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

Turo Turo Thursday: Betchay’s Pancit Lumpia & Grill

July 30, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Filipino Restaurants, Sisig

**** Betchay's has closed

It's Thursday, which means it is time for another installment of "Turo-Turo" (point-point) Thursday. In these posts, I'm checking out these little mom-and-pop shops serving what I call "Filipino soul food". You can almost always count on generous portions, and most of the dishes served will without a doubt stick to your ribs. Taking a different approach, I'm just trying out places outside the National City-Chula Vista area. And Betchay's in Rancho Penasquitos is about as far away from there as you can imagine. Located in the huge shopping complex off Black Mountain Road, Betchay's can be kind of difficult to find.

Whenever I visit, I always chuckle. One of the signs for Betchay's overlaps the front of the pet store next door. I'm sure this must cause some customers(and employess) a bit of consternation????

Still, the folks here, are very, very, nice. One young man in particular, is so friendly, polite, and helpful, that I just think he's amazing. In fact, he always asks me if I want some Sinigang with my plates, something that is a request item at most turo-turo joints.

If you asked me if free Sinigang tastes better, I'd say yes without hesitation!

So here's a summary of a couple of items I've had over the last couple months (years?).

There's no way I'd pass up Sisig at anywhere if I hadn't sampled it before. And Betchay's is no exception. In fact fellow pork lovers, I've just created a category for Sisig, for your heart-stopping, artery clogging, enjoyment.

The version here has a good texture, the lechon kawale is still crisp, and it's not drowned in "juice". It does a lack the nice sour punch, and for my tastes is a bit low on the heat scale. It is decent overall.

The Pork Adobo…..

The texture was good, the meat tender. It had enough salt, but was lacking in all the other categories. It was also super oily, and not in the "fei ur bu ni"(rich without greasy way). If you're a frequent reader of my posts, I don't think I'm a shrinking violet when it comes to oil, but man this was just too much……..

There are also Chicken Wings, 3 pieces for $2.25:

This should probably not sit under a heat lamp, as they were soggy and greasy. Also short on the flavor scale as well.

On one of my visits I got my combo-plate with pancit instead of rice, and enjoyed it. More "al dente" than most places, and mostly just noodles, but served as a starch, it does just fine.

As you notice above, I ordered Tocino. And on this day, the Tocino was excellent. Tocino originally is a cured pork dish, so it should be a bit chewy. This version had the perfect amount of chew for me. It was not overly dry, and had a perfect ratio of salty to sweet for my taste.

If you've been to Betchay's, you know that I've only scratched the surface. With the nice service I've had, it's really easy to like the place. On one visit, which was in the morning, I was filling up my soda, when one of the young ladies in the back, leaned out the service window. Not knowing I was there, she started singing in a very sweet voice. When she saw me, she immediately stopped, and gave me an embarassed look. I turned, and gave her a thumbs up, and she gave me the brightest smile.

It's easy to like places like that…..

Betchay's Pancit Lumpia & Grill
13223 Black Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA 92129

View Larger Map

ABCDE – Panda Country Restaurant

July 20, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

**** Panda Country has closed

About two years ago, I remember sitting and having some sushi. During the meal, I struck up a conversation with a quiet, somewhat serious, intense young man. And of course, eventually the subject of food came up. As we spoke about Chinese Restaurants in San Diego, the young man asked me, "do you know the best Chinese Restaurant in San Diego?" Now I had this guy pegged as an "ABC" (American Born Chinese), so I immediately offered up places like China Max, Jasmine, Emerald, and Golden City. The young man gave me this strange look, and I suddenly felt like a spaz who meant to scratch his eye but ended up with his finger halfway up his nostril….. "It's Panda Country." Is what he said with total conviction. Not placing the restaurant, and wondering if I've somehow overlooked some hidden treasure, I replied "Panda Country?" "Yes Panda Country, and I should know….." And then the inevitable happened, he uttered the phrase that always makes me shake my head, "because I'm Chinese." And to up the ante, he followed up with, "and I'm from New York, and WE know good food.…" Ah yes, the double whammy, "genetics and geography", I suddenly felt like I was reading a review from that "four lettered" website, full of "I know good xxxx food because I'm (fill in the blank race)." And yet, I still couldn't place Panda Country, until I was making the left turn on Genesee at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard……geeez, Panda Country, I've passed this place thousands of times. The place looked like a typical "ABCDE" ("American Born Chinese Dining Establishment" – pronounced Ab-cee-dee).

Nothing against ABCDEs, in fact I was raised eating at places called Kwok's Chop Suey, McCully Chop Suey, Hee-Hing, and Kapahulu Chop Suey. Eating stuff like Cold Ginger Chicken, Oyster Sauce Chicken, Sweet Sour Spareribs, Almond Duck, Kau Yuk, and Lemon Chicken. Not having much in the way of money growing up, meals from these places marked special occasions. And though I'm not a fan of most of what is served in San Diego at places with names like, "New Eastern Panda Dragon Pearl Garden House Cuisine", many ABCDEs serve good solid fare. And yet, for some reason I couldn't bring myself to enter through the doors of Panda Country for two years.

And of course, I waited until an evening when the Missus was tied up, and not available for dinner.

The fairly dark interior of Panda Country looked like your typical time-warp 70's Chinese Restaurant. The theme was….well Panda's of course.

While waiting for my order, watching folks come in to eat, and pick-up take-out orders, I could make out a typical customer profile. I don't want to sound to age discriminant so I'm only going to say, that there was a lot of blue hair, walkers, and canes. On the good side, I felt like a spring chicken!

And though the carvings looked more like some exotic rodent than a Panda, I really dug the chairs!!!

While waiting for my order, between serving and seating customers, I had a nice conversation with the Server who is from "Canton"……no not Ohio, but the city now known as Guangzhou. He was really nice and friendly. I was told that Panda Country has been around longer than he has, which probably put the place at around thirty years or so. When I asked where the Chef was from, I was told Hong Kong. I quickly brightened and said, "the chef trained in Hong Kong?" To which he replied; "no, the chef is from Hong Kong……" Still I really liked this Guy, and the place was fairly hopping when I left.

Somehow I had remembered what I was told to order here, and even ordered a few more for good measure.

Being a big chicken wing fan, I started with some Fried Chicken Wings ($5.50):

These weren't bad if a bit short on seasoning. Not something I'd order again, but not bad.

One of the items recommended was the "Crispy Beef" ($10.25):

The was more like "candied beef", man was it sweet. It truly hurt my teeth. I was warned about this dish being spicy, which it wasn't. I'm sure if you had eaten this at the restaurant, there would have been a bit more "crunch" to it. The beef was one the chewy side, which is perfectly fine with dishes like this.

The House Special Chicken ($10.25):

If I could rename this dish, I'd call it "General Tso Slept Here" as it resembled versions of the dish known as General Tso's Chicken. In case you're wondering about the story of that dish, you can read Fuchsia Dunlop's version either in her Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, or read Her article from NPR here. The batter on this was pretty good, it held it's crunch on the trip home. The flavor, for such a robust looking dish was bland.

I also ordered the Shrimp in Black Bean Sauce ($11.95):

This was the best dish overall. I could have done without the frozen peas, and prefer green bell peppers and onions to the zucchini, but this was not bad. Good amount of shrimp, a tad over-cooked, but acceptable. Decent amount of black bean and garlic as well. I think that Mandarin Canton and Mandarin make better versions of this dish. The texture of the sauce wasn't overly gluey and gooey which was also a plus.

OK, before I get a ton of poison pen letters telling me I'm a Chinese Food snob, blah, blah, blah…..do me a favor, and think of something they do really well at Panda Country. And maybe, just maybe, I'll pay them another visit. Maybe not….

Panda Country
4455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

And the next time the best reason someone can come up with regarding food is their race……think twice.

A Grillin’ Fourth – An updated Lebanese Garlic Paste Recipe, and a simple Greek Marinade

July 4, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Recipes

Happy Fourth Everyone!

This year, just like millions of households across the US we decided to do some grillin' for the Fourth of July. We just kept things simple. I do have one bad habit….I'm notorious for trying to squeeze every single last spark from my charcoal, so a morning of grilling usually encompasses at least several different preparations.

This year, along with roasting peppers for future use in sandwiches and salads, I found that the Missus loves simple grilled oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms are simply coated with Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and seasoned with sea salt and oregano. The char was removed from the peppers, and it was topped with Greek Feta from North Park Produce and roasted in a pan.

The Missus also wanted some grilled sardines, and I found some fresh local sardines(Iwashi) at Nijiya.

I also bought some Lamb Shoulder from NPP, cut it into cubes, and used my general purpose Greek Marinade for the meat. It is so easy that I'm kinda embarrassed to share:

Greek style Marinade for Lamb or Chicken:

1/2 Cup Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
6-8 cloves of garlic minced
1-2 Tb dried oregano
1 Tb Kosher Salt

– Mix ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning.
– Marinade 1-2 lbs of meat overnight.

I used the meat for kabobs:

The marinade did a great job tenderizing the meat. I ate these wrapped in a pita with a nice smear of Garlic Sauce.

Speaking of Garlic Sauce, here's an update of the recipe I posted back in 2006. Going for the "Zankou" effect, I added mashed potato to give the sauce body.

Lebanese Garlic Sauce:
2 Bulbs of Garlic peeled and separated
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
3/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Large Russet Potato, boiled and mashed
2 Tsp Kosher Salt

– Combine garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a blender.
– Blend until a smooth "paste" is achieved
– While blender is running, slowly add olive oil into the blender in a thin stream until the mixture thickens.
– After mixture thickens, stop the blender and add 2-3 Tb mashed potato, and blend. Keep adding mashed potato until desired thickness is reached.
– Refrigerate overnight.

Be aware that your breath will probably be politically incorrect for a while after consuming this.

The last item for the grill were some chicken wings. I had eight wings total, so I seasoned four of the wings with sea salt and canola oil. In need of some variety, I took a few tablespoons of the garlic sauce, and a few tablespoons of canola oil, added a touch of salt and rubbed the other four wings down with the mixture. I let the wings sit for about 20 minutes or so.

The garlic wings are on the left, the salt only wings are on the right:

I think I'll use my "old" garlic sauce recipe and marinate some wings overnight next time. I do enjoy hardwood charcoal grilled wings seasoned with just salt.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July!

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings: The Challenge – A comparison of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

June 24, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, yoso-silly

You can't attend a Filipino party in San Diego without them, those miniature deep fried limbs, full of MSG goodness. Pulling yourself away from the aluminum tray of Salt and Pepper chicken wings sometimes takes a Herculean display of will power. I had long contemplated doing a comparison of Salt and Pepper wings, and after all these years, with the help of Howie, who having done comparisons of everything from Carne Asada Burritos from 'Berto's to New York style Pizza to Fro-yo i n San Diego, is master of organizing such events, I finally managed to do a tasting.

For the tasting, I had an enthusiastic crew, who displayed no fear of the MSG bloat; Howie, Candice, Sarah, Jenne, Mr & Mrs Zompus, and Dennis. I had a list of five places, one of which was closed and had to be replaced by a last minute substitute due to sad and unfortunate circumstances.

The rules were simple, each person would try at least one drummette, and one wing. They would than rank each sample from first to fifth. The lowest total amount of points would be number one.

The results are startling, and I'm sure will be quite controversial. At the end, I'll list my picks which seemed to go totally against the trend. So without further ado.

#5 – Royal Mandarin:

Yes, the mecca of Salt and Pepper Chicken wings ended up dead last by a large margin. Some of the comments: "more like American fried chicken…." "rating of meh…." "underwhelming in flavor…." "overcooked…."

This one was a surprise, and I'm sure will raise eyebrows…..

Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-4151

#4 – Golden Chopsticks:

Yep, the other popular Salt and Pepper Chicken wing joint finished second to last! "bland….." "soggy……" "not even spicy in the least…." "don't like the light color…."

Another big surprise!

Golden Chopsticks
1430 Plaza Blvd #E/22A-23A
National City, CA 91950
(619) 336-1888

3 – A & D Hawaiian BBQ – National City:

**** A&D Has closed

Another surprise. The darkhorse last minute replacement came in a respectable third, and missed second place by one point! Yikes! "most flavorful by far…." "thinner crust but better taste…."nice spice, lots of garlic, but too salty…." "right amount of spice…."

A&D Hawaiian BBQ
Grove Plaza Center
2220 Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

2 – Panda Palace:

**** Panda Palace has closed

Well what do you know…another surprise. This one was all over the board with three fourth-place votes, and two first place votes. It managed second by one point.

The comments were the most entertaining of all the entries: "tastes like Panda Express smells…." "someone didn't change the oil after frying all that shrimp" "too sweet…" on one hand, "very flavorful…." "like the garlic and spice…" "not greasy…." on the other.

Panda Palace Chinese Restaurant
1105 E Plaza Blvd Ste D
National City, CA 91950
(619) 336-1725

#1 – Mandarin Chinese Restaurant:

The favorite overall by a whopping six points, and voted the best by four! Some of the comments; "lightest and crispy-est…" "good crunch, but meat a little dry…." "definitely the best, the only one I wanted seconds of…." "nice and light batter".

Mandarin Chinese Restaurant
945-A Otay Lakes Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91913
(619) 656-8080

So there you have it folks! Surprised? I sure was……

The gang did a great job going from this:

To this:

It's amazing what you can learn while chomping on wings with one another. For instance, Candice makes a mean Cucumber granita and Mango Sorbet which helped to keep our palates fresh, I never knew Librarians can sing so well, and there were moves attributed to the movie Flashdance that I don't recall….or umm…maybe I don't want to recall????

My thanks to everyone who participated!

Oh yes, how did I see things?

#1 – Royal Mandarin

#2 – Mandarin Restaurant

#3 – A & D

#4 - Golden Chopsticks

#5 – Panda Palace

Let the debates begin!!!!

A & D Hawaiian BBQ – National City

June 7, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** A&D has closed

Well, there I was in Grove Plaza Center with the intent of grabbing a bite at Karihan. Unfortunately, there was no Kare-Kare on this morning, and for some reason, all of the food looked like it had been "sitting around" for quite a while….at 11am in the morning. So I decided to head next door to A&D Hawaiian BBQ.

I've been kinda down on the whole Hawaiian BBQ thing………most of it seems to be a bunch of folks who could care less about what they plop on a plate, who are just looking to make some $$$ (replacing Spam with Treet – heresy I say!). And frankly, after looking over the menu at A&D, full of the usual suspects, I wasn't particularly moved. But it had been so long since I've had even a borderline terrible Lau Lau, that I was willing to sell my soul, and drop my standards. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, there was no Lau Lau, only Kalua Pork available.

So I made an adjustment, and placed my order, and waited. Meanwhile, I gazed upon the borderline neon green walls. During my wait, the very nice Woman manning the counter was constantly cleaning. Now A&D isn't the most visually pleasing little place, the tables have various names, initials, and other verbiage carved into them, and it does look a bit aged for a place that's only been in this location for a year, but man this woman was really cleaning……

Unable to make a decision, I had ordered the ubiquitous "BBQ Mix" ($7.29). The nice lady brought the styrofoam container over to my table, and when I grabbed it, it felt like it must've weighed two pounds…..

And everything was hot…so hot that it steamed up my camera lens, and I had to wait for a minute or two to take photos. As with all these BBQ Mix plates, all the regulars were in attendance. The BBQ Short Ribs…please don't call them Kalbi….they are about as close to Kalbi as I am to Brad Pitt. That said, these were not bad, not as tough as the usual cross cut short ribs are, the marinade is not as sweet as many, which is fine with me.

The BBQ Beef was well marinated, pulling toward more of a ginger-shoyu flavor. It was also fairly tender, and without the usual "sugi", which is what we call nylon fishing line back home, the usual tough, and inedible tendon that is usually found.

The BBQ chicken looked on the light side, but was pretty tender. The norm would be chicken that had been marinated, pre-cooked, dumped back into a steam tray with marinade, and reheated before serving, making it really tough. I really got the feeling, based on the wait time, and how hot everything was, that these folks cook their stuff to order.

I really liked the Mac Salad, it was nice and cold, with a perfect amount of mayo, and some salt for a change. The rice was a bit hard and dry, though.

There was one more item that I had to order. On the door is a sign. That sign says "6 Piece Chicken Wing Special – $1.99". Yes, it seems that A&D is in the Salt and Pepper Chicken wing business.

The batter on these is light, and crisp, and the chicken is juicy, but it does not hold up well, and lacks the "crack-like" addictive flavor.

This way too much food for me, so I took half of it home. What I thought was interesting, was that the Missus had pretty much the same opinion. And I didn't even tell Her what I thought of the food. They say after you've been married for a while……….

A few weeks later, I was in the area, and decided to drop by A&D again. This time I paid a bit more heed to the menu, and had to chuckle at the "Healthy Meals" portion. since when is Chicken Katsu or Crispy Shrimp, considered healthy? Perhaps they mean a "healthy appetite"?

Being the predictable person I am, I of course ordered:

Yes, a Loco Moco ($6.99). I readily admit that I have a thing about the two easy over eggs, hamburger patties, gravy, over rice. It is something that I long for on a visceral level. So how does this rate on the modified "Rubio Scale", created by James Rubio of Big Island Grinds. For those not familiar with the scale, you can check out my post from waaaaay back in 2005. And in case you're wondering, why the Big Island? It is believed that the Loco Moco was created on the Big Island circa 1949. Sorry to say that I wasn't able to sample the Loco from the Lincoln Grill, but the Missus and I have had more than our share from Cafe100.

So moving right along…….

#1 – The Burger – Pure and simple pre-formed. Tough. – 2.0 points

#2 Eggs – A bite overcooked for me. But worse of all, they didn't clean the griddle before frying the eggs. Too many black, "mystery bits". – 1.0 points

#3 Rice – Perfectly cooked this time. – 3.0 points

#4 Gravy – Wow, really salty….really, really, salty. I've hardly ever left gravy to sit and congeal, but had to this time. – 1.0 points.

#5 Stuffs – In this case the Macaroni Salad, which wasn't as good as my previous visit, but still pretty good. – 3.0 points.

For a total of 13.0 points, which ranks it as being fairly mediocre, even by Hawaiian BBQ standards.

Overall, A&D serves up standard Hawaiian BBQ fare. I felt that with regards to the BBQ, you get a pretty hefty size portion of food, which was pretty good. There are also $4.99 specials such as Chicken Katsu. The service was, at least for me, a notch above the standard indifferent service at most of these places.

A&D Hawaiian BBQ
Grove Plaza Center
2220 Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

Open Daily – 11am – 9pm

Las Vegas: Aburiya Raku Restaurant Part 1

March 16, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants, Las Vegas, Road Trip

Last week, the Missus had some classes in Las Vegas. I hadn't been planning on going, but as the week progressed, things started getting more and more promising. I managed to get Friday off, Da' Boyz favorite "Uncle" agreed to watch them for a few days, and I had a tank full of gas(about as close to "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses" as I'll ever come, I guess)….. Being a last minute trip, I had to plan our meals out. The Missus isn't a real fan of the crowded "strip", so I decided on a couple of places off the strip. It had been five years since I'd last been to Vegas, and six since I last drove up, so I was more than a bit interested to see what had changed.

The Missus had flown out the night before, so I had a solo drive. As soon as I finished work, I hit the road. And made it in pretty good time….. five-and-a-half hours. After meeting the Missus, and taking a quick shower, we drove to Aburiya Raku, where I had made dinner reservations. I was more than a bit excited about eating here. I'd read a few interesting articles, and had tucked away a Chowhound post from last year for "a rainy day". Being a aburiya, Raku closes at 3am, and apparently had made a name for itself, since names I recognized like Kerry Simon, Michael Mina, and Paul Bartolotta, and since I'm really not a "Chef Junky", names I didn't recognize like Rick Moonen and David Varley were sprinkled among the articles like magic dust.

The tiny restaurant(about 30 seats) itself is dark, classy, and dressed in the typical spartan, understated, Japanese manner. There's a small dining area, along with a "bar" area.

One more thing…..the restaurant is located on the Western edge of Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas's Asian shopping and eating neighborhood. And of course, it is tucked in the far corner of a strip mall, to the left of, hidden from view by a smoke shop. The photo in my previous post is of one of the buildings in that strip mall.

Our main Server this evening was "Miki", who was a complete and utter joy. Friendly, helpful, funny, Miki had one thing in aces….perfect timing. She was always there with a refill of our tea, or to answer a question, but was unobtrusive.

Raku bills itself as an aburiya and robotayaki, a place for grilled items, but as you'll notice a bit later it is much more. So what is the difference between a Yakitori-ya, and a Robatayaki-ya? When someone asks, I tell them, "from my limited understanding, there is a sematical difference. Yakitori refers to grilled chicken (yaki-tori), whereas robatayaki refers to the entire gamut of grilled food."

The menu is pleasingly large, with a variety of dishes. In addition to the grilled items, there's a section of items in broth (Oden), and one of starches….but oh, what starches they were. In addition to the typical yaki-onigiri (grilled rice balls), there were some really interesting items.

There's also a chalkboard with specials of the day, and a pretty good Sake list as well.

As we went over the menu, the Missus noticed something. She pointed to the podium and asked, "is that their cookbook?" I turned….it was a copy of "The Complete Robuchon", a signed copy. I inquired, and found out that Joel Robuchon has been by a few times as well……

So on to the food. The Missus and I wanted to sample a good variety, so we ordered several items from the robatayaki menu…..and though most would order 2 orders or more, we did single orders so we could sample a good range of items.

We started from the "Oden menu", with Uni Oden ($4):

Several pieces of freshly cracked uni on a bed of wakame in a dashi based broth. The subtle, balanced flavors were excellent. The uni was sweet, rich, and custard-like. The wakame added texture, and the wonderful umami. The broth was savory, yet refreshing. If you could think of the taste of the ocean……

The Missus wanted to order the Sashimi Salad($9). I had reservations about ordering fish at a robatayaki, but we ordered it anyway.

The parts of the salad were wonderful; crisp baby spinach, crisp fried potato, and wonderful salmon(though the maguro was, meh). But when put together with an overly salty ponzu like dressing and drizzled with a spicy mayo, like you'd find on a spicy tuna roll, this wasn't very pleasant. This was my least favorite dish of the night.

Grilled Lamb Chop($5):

Miki thoughfully delivered a knife, since it was a single chop for two. This was a bit past where I'd have wanted the chop to be with regards to doneness. It was moist, but slightly tougher than I'd have desired. Also, the Missus noticed that the sweetness of the "tare" (sauce) detracted from the flavor of the lamb.

Chicken Wing (Tebasaki – $1.50):

There's a simple equation which makes amazing things happen. The presence of a chicken wing seasoned with good quality salt, grilled over Binchōtan, is simply wonderful. And this did not disappoint. It was moist, the wonderful flavor of the salt and chicken, with the smokey flavor of bincho-charcoal came through. The wing was cooked to perfection, bursting with flavor and juices. The skin was a work of art. I wanted to order 15 more.

The next item was recommended by Miki; corn stuffed with potato ($2.50):

We're still talking about this seemingly simple dish. The excellent quality corn's cob has been replaced by mashed potato. The corn, which I believe was already sweet, was made exceedingly so by grilling which developed all the sugars. Think of it as the "heart of a potato and corn croquette."

Grilled Duck with Soy and Balsamic Vinegar($4):

This was excellent. We were worried that this would turn out to be too sweet, but it was not. The grilled duck breast had hints of the smokey bincho flavor and was moist. There was a decent amount of fat, and the scallions helped to cut the richness of the dish. The Missus even forgot Her, "all duck should have five spice flavor" rule for a moment.

Eringe Mushroom ($3):

Earthy and woodsy, with the addition of salt, and a smokey flavor. This had a nice meaty texture.

Kobe Skirt with Garlic($6):

This was tougher than expected, and I'd have wanted more of the beefy flavor that beef skirt has to come through a bit more. Loved the fried garlic.

Chicken Breast wrapped in Skin($2.50):

Great quality chicken breast meat, cooked to perfection, wrapped in it's grilled to bacon-est skin. Having the three qualities that most chicken breast lacks, moistness, tenderness, and great flavor. Man this was good……..

And yet, if you think this was good, wait till part 2! Foie Gras Chawanmushi anyone?

Part 2 of this post can be found here.