Chicken Wings – Page 15

Royal Mandarin reopens and Honey Pig revisited.

July 20, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

Royal Mandarin reopens:

I thought it would be fun to do an ABCDE (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) post, in the midst of my posts on China. And the reopening of Royal Mandarin would do just fine. I first posted on Royal Mandarin waaay back in 2005. Most folks who have been in San Diego for a good number of years tell me that Royal Mandarin was the first place to sell the very popular version of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings in San Diego. These wings have become a staple at Filipino (and other) parties across the South Bay. Of course popularity breeds imitation, and now there are many imitators. By the time I held a Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing comparison in June of 2009, Royal Mandarin’s rings had seemed ot have lost some luster. Then, on December 30th, “Johari” left a comment, and a link which detailed that Royal Mandarin had burned down. I dropped by during the beginning of January, and the sign posted said that Royal Mandarin had not given up the ghost, and was to reopen in March. On April 3rd, I dropped by and found that while the place was being worked on, the sign now said the place would reopen sometime late in April. Of course I was gone from late April through the end of May, and since returning, the last thing I really wanted was ABCDE food…. Then on June 21st, FOY “Sandy” commented telling us that Royal Mandarin had reopened. So about a week later, the Missus and I decided to drive down and see how, or if things had changed at Royal Mandarin.

The front counter looks the same, and they’ve even rebuilt the divider/waiting area that blocks the view to the dining area. For some reason the interior, though it has been brightened up, with new tile, and some strange paintings of fruits and vegetables (c’mon, when you think of Royal Mandarin, do you really think about fruits and vegetables?), it still looks like Royal Mandarin. It is, without a doubt, a good example of “lipstick on a pig”.

The Missus had some concerns about the food. You see after Mandarin Canton reopened following the tragic murder of the owner. The Missus took some friends to eat there, and was disappointed. The one strong point of many of these restaurants are the fried items, and everything seemed very pale, and underflavored. After mulling theories, the Missus came up with the possible reason the food lacked color and flavor. She told me, “they must’ve changed their cooking oil!” In Her mind, there’s a vat of well seasoned cooking oil that has seen batches of shrimp and chicken wings, and like a good wok, it had become well seasoned. Actually, if you think about it…… that would be kind of scary. But since that day, we’ve called examples such as that “changed oil syndrome.” We both truly hoped that Royal Mandarin didn’t suffer from changed oil syndrome.

Frankly, there’s only one thing I really like at Royal Mandarin….. and you know what that is, right? The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings:

I was very pleased, these were even better then the last few orders of wings I’d gotten before the fire. It’s like crack I tell ya’……… it was also crisp and fairly light. And yes, the full pleasures of salt and MSG is brought to it’s ultimate glory…..

The Missus ordered the upside down pan fried noodles which I found disappointing.

It suffered from too little “gravy”, and the noodles had a strange, almost powderiness to them. They were also too tough and chewy, and the afore mentioned lack of sauce meant that the noodles never got softer. I also can’t recommend anything with chicken that’s not fried. The Missus in total contrast to me, liked this.

One of the Missus’s favorites here, the Salt and Pepper Shrimp with Shell, was much lighter than I recalled.

The flavor of the shrimp came through, and it was cooked well, still soft and tender, and not overcooked.

So there you have it…… Royal Mandarin…. you can still get your ABCDE Fry-o-rama on here.

Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

Honey Pig revisited:

*** Update: Honey Pig has closed and is now Old Village ***

Recently, the Missus wanted some Korean BBQ. And She really didn’t want to spend fifty bucks, which seems to be the usual lay-out at Buga. We both thought that it would be a great time to revisit Honey Pig.

Not too much to say that I didn’t cover in my previous visit. The portions are about 1/2lb, Honey Pig serves Certified Angus Beef, prices run from $8.99 to $15.99 – which is for the bulgogi which is a double portion.

There’s a bit more in terms of panchan served, and the service has gotten better. All the items for “bossam” are delivered on time, and seconds are brought out on request.

The bulgogi here is decent, fairly tender, not overmarinated.

By San Diego standards this was pretty good…. not too sweet.

The one surprise was what FOY “YY” recommended. On the menu it is called “Natural CAB Finger Meat”, and reminds me, in flavor of Tsuruhashi’s Prime Skirt, a usually tough cut. In this case, it dies have a good chew, but has a nice beefy flavor to it.

The food is perhaps a step (or two) behind LA standards, but is a good alternative to the higher priced Korean BBQs in town. And it seems to be getting better everytime we visit.

Honey Pig
4681 Convoy St Ste B
San Diego, CA 92111

Imperial Palace

January 31, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

With Royal Mandarin currently out of commission, I've kinda been keeping my eye out for various other places that make Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. Someone mentioned that Imperial Palace in National City made some pretty good wings, and even recommended a noodle dish. I faintly recalled seeing this place while driving up 8th street.

Much like the similarly named Hotel and Casino in Vegas, this place has obviously seen better days. I think just the name itself was enough to keep out of the place in the past. The Missus once had an educational seminar in Vegas at Imperial Palace. Ick….. I especially felt bad when the Missus called me while I was having lunch. The "catered lunch" at IP consisted of some 1960's style iceberg lettuce salad, and baloney sandwiches! Baloney Sandwiches! I really felt terrible since I was having Moules Frites while sitting in the outdoor eating area at Mon Ami Gabi watching the water show across the street at the Bellagio.

The interior of the restaurant, much like the exterior looks a bit worn. One really funny thing that happened when I entered. A woman was manning the counter, and pointed me to a table. I walked over and had a seat. Five seconds later, I see a woman who could be the identical twin of the woman up front coming out of the back of the restaurant! It was then that I realized that the kitchen paralleled the restaurant, with entrances at both ends of the dining area.

Another strange thing was that this place didn't have proper menus per se. I sat at my table for a couple of minutes waiting for a menu, but none was forthcoming. I watched another couple enter, and they walked up to the front counter and grabbed the paper "take-out menus", so I ended up doing the same.

Needless to say, this was obviously an "ABCDE" (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment). If you didn't know when you entered, it would become quite clear when you're given a fork and spoon. Chopsticks are only given upon request, after a bit of digging, and are the thin wooden Chinese Fast Food type chopsticks, which screamed off that SYSCO of Chinese Restaurant supplies, Kari-Out.

I will say that the prices here are very cheap. The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings were $5.35. And at 10 pieces an order, that's 53.5 cents a wing…. waaaay below the "Kyochon line". I'm pretty sure that almost everyone orders S&P Wings here. When another table didn't order wings, the woman asked them several times, "you sure no chicken wings…. ARE YOU SHU-ah!"

The wings were on the smallish side, and as the picture below indicates, some of them had been "split open" to either check or enhance cooking. Either way, it dries out the wings. The batter and slin had a nice crunch, obviously due to the use of a good amount of cornstarch. Flavorwise, not particularly spicy, and lacking in garlic and green onions. Still, quite a bit of flavor…… you know why, right? Check out the kinda deformed wing below, see all the nice shiny crystals? You know what that is, right?

Unlike many folks I've got nothing against the use of MSG, so long as it's not over-used, or as a way to severely cut corners. And unlike a recent bowl of noodle soup I had at Minh Ky where my feet started swelling after a few sips of soup (which I did finish BTW), there were no effects. So overall, not bad…..

Unlike the "Imperial Pan Fried Noodles($5.35)", which displayed some of he worst qualities of "Ab-Cee-Dee" style food:

Gloppy, tasteless "gravy" over over-cooked, mushy noodles. The chicken was pretty tough, but to be fair, the beef was fairly tender if tasteless. The shrimp was cooked well, with decent flavor and soft. This was so bland that even a good dose of soy sauce couldn't help it.

To sum up, the prices are very cheap. If someone has a recommendation for this place, maybe I'll give it another shot. The chicken wings are decent…. and as I mentioned above inexpensive. It's probably the prices that keeps this place in business.

Imperial Palace Chinese Restaurant
1630 East 8th Street
National City, CA 91950

Chicken Wing Thing: Phuong Trang, Tajima, and Huynh Hoa Tuu

January 27, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Anyone out there kinda obsessive about things? I'll be the first to admit that I love chicken wings….. I mean I've created a category for them. To add to the obsession, I've even created my own little "value scale" for chicken wings….. I automatically divide the price of the wings by the number of wings in an order. Of course taste is king…. but I gotta admit at Kyochon level price levels,$1 a wing, it better be pretty darn good. I guess that's why I've thought Royal Mandarin's Salt and Pepper wings at $7.95 for an order, which usually contained 14 wings (about 57 cents per), was a bargain. I hope they reopen soon. For some reason, I've kinda drawn a mental "line" of 79 cents a wing, as being reasonable. Of course, Tebasaki Wings are in a category all their own. Weird, I know…….

Anyway, I've had a couple orders of wings from different places (surprise!) in the last couple of months, and here's a short round-up.

Phuong Trang – Butter Chicken Wings:

In the comments area of my post on City Dragon's chicken wings (at 7 for 6.99 was in Kyochon territory, and believe, it wasn't even close to Kyochon), "Arlene" mentioned that the chicken wings at Phuong trang might be worth chicking ummm, checking out.

The item mentioned was the "Butter Chicken Wings", and take a while to cook, at least fifteen minutes. So if you order these, and your Com Tam or Bun comes out first, the "appetizer sin" occurring, at least you can be sure you get some hot and sizzling wings.

At $8.95 for a dozen wings, this runs to about 75 cents each, which is reasonable. The wings are juicy and sizzling hot, these are more crusty than crunchy, as the batter turns out to be kinda crumbly. It deteriorates quickly, and gets to be kinda greasy…. but, hey they are called "Butter Wings", right? I thought these were kinda high on the salty scale, and I like salty wings….

Decent price, but overall, just ok.

Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima Sushi and Japanese Tapas Restaurant:

On one of my visits to Tajima "2", I ordered the fried chicken wings. I thought at $5.95 this was pretty inexpensive…. but with only five wings, these broke the Kyochon price ceiling:

These are what I call "dipped wings" and are made much like my Garlic Chicken, where chicken is first battered and fried, and then dipped into a mixture right after frying. These were nice and sticky, but very low on the flavor scale, edging toward sweet. The batter wasn't very crunchy, and the meat was on the dry and chewy side.

In my opinion, not worth the price.

Tajima Sushi & Japanese Tapas Restaurant
4411 Mercury St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Huynh Hoa Tuu – Hot Wings:

Update – Huynh Hoa Tuu has closed.

After all the dishes I've had at Huynh Hoa Tuu, you know I had to check out the "Hot Wings". At $5.95 for 7, this was on the high side with regards to price, but still below the "Kyochon line".

These wings were battered and fried, then cooked, a la Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, but with the addition of a sweet and spicy Nuoc Mam Cham(fish sauce) style sauce. These were still crunchy, and the flavors came through very well…. salty, but in a good way, with some depth. Some of the garlic had been burnt, which caused some bitterness, but on a later visit with some FOYs it was done better. There was some decent spice, and the hints of sweetness helped.

Overall, like much of what Huynh Hoa Tuu serves; good beer food.

Huynh Hoa Tuu
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

So there you, three more orders of Chicken Wings served up! Much thanks to FOYs (Friends of Yoso) like Arlene without whom I'd be chicken-wing deprived (or is it depraved???).

Saturday Stuffs: What’s up with Royal Mandarin, and some Taco Truck Stuffs

January 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants

Royal Mandarin update:

To follow-up on a comment made on my December 30th post by Johari, regarding the fire at Royal Mandarin. You can see a more detailed story here. I decided to take adrive down to National City myself and check out what's going on.

As you can see, the entrnaces and a couple of the plate glass windows have been boarded up.

What was really interesting was the large group of folks in the place…. lot's of chatter going on…..

To get to the point, it looks like Royal Mandarin will be reopening soon, though I think a March date is pretty ambitious.

Taco Truck Stuff:

Over the holidays, I noticed that the Mariscos German Taco Truck was gone from the lot on the corner of Balboa and Clairemont Drive. I hoped that it was only for a break over the holidays, and I was rewarded with a sighting of the truck this past week. So it looks like the truck is back.

On a sadder note, it looks like the La Princesita Taco truck is gone from the Linda Vista location for good. A sad day indeed…..

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’s has closed

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.