Chicken Wings – Page 5

Chicken Wing Thang – Katzya Revisited (H Mart Food Court)

December 20, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

**** Katzya has closed

One of the things about being on a trip for over a month; the fridge and pantry gets pretty bare. I spent last week and weekend catching up, restocking, and believe it or not; the Missus has been missing my cooking! Go figure. One of the stops was H Mart. It was just a tad after 11 and I was getting a bit hungry. I had enjoyed the Chicken Wings from Katzya on previous visits and the wings did well on my takeout visit, plus I'd last had wings from the recently opened Pelicana Chicken, so I decided to go for it.

Katzya Rev 01

Katzya Rev 02

I recalled that the Soy Garlic Wings were pretty good, so I went with that. When I last visited, the price of $14.99 for 7 wings seemed really high, and while still pricey, it feels less so these days with all the inflation.

I got the wings home and opened up the container and oh my…..

Katzya Rev 03 Katzya Rev 06 These wings were just drenched in sauce. There was a huge pool of sauce at the bottom of the box. The two or three pieces on the top, while over sauced held up fine, but the pieces on the bottom were a soggy mess.

The texture of the meat was fine, moist, tender, lacking in any discolored spots, but it was just swimming in too much sauce, making this overly sweet.

Katzya Rev 05

For you reference, here's what I got back in 2019.

Katzya 04 Katzya Rev 04 Doesn't even look like it's from the same place, does it?

Another thing that was different was the the Mul Kimchi. But this change was an improvement, at least to me. The radish was not as sweet as on previous visits, making this somewhat refreshing. Though nothing could overcome the sticky sweet sauce overload.

Katzya Rev 07

Bummer, because I think the quality and size to batter ratio of the wings here are to my liking. I guess I'm back to just the fried wings here.

Katzya
(In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Pelicana Chicken (Balboa Avenue)

November 14, 2022 mmm-yoso Chains, Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

I noticed that Pelicana Chicken was opening in a post last month, the latest in the "KFC invasion" of the Kearny Mesa area. In fact, I think there are more places serving KFC than pho in the area these days! Then just a few weeks later, while running some errands, I noticed that Pelicana was in soft opening mode. So, the next time I had some late errands to run (Pelicana currently opens at noon), I decided to stop by and do a takeout order.

Pelicana 01

I parked and walked into the shop and was greeted in a very cheerful and smiling manner. I was told that the place had only been open for less than a week at this time. So even though the place opened at noon, it was empty.

Pelicana 02

I know prices like this are pretty much the norm these days, but the amounts on the menu still gave me pause.

Pelicana 03

I placed my order and was told 30 minutes. So I made a quick Nijiya run and returned. I waited another 5 minutes and my order was good to go. At least it wasn't sitting around, right.

I was wondering how the wings would hold up on the drive home, so I ordered the 9 piece Original Fried Wings ($15) and got the Original Sauce on the side which added another $1.50. It's free if you order it on the chicken.

Pelicana 04 Pelicana 04b The chicken held up quite well after the drive home. This batter is more of the "laquer" type and it was still quite crunchy. Not much seasoning though, so it really needs a sauce. The sauce came in a presealed container and was like a sweet (emphasis on "sweet") chili sauce that was kind of weak overall.

The Mul Kimchi was also provided in a presealed container.

Pelicana 05

This was not as crisp as I enjoy and much too sweet. Man, read that ingredient label. You know, sometimes I'd rather not know. It has sodium saccharin and aspartame, i.e. Equal®, and sugar (glucose) no wonder it's so sweet. Oh, and in case you didn't get your daily allowance of aspartame and want an extra one of these….well, that'll be $1.50.

Pelicana 06

I also considered getting the Sea Snail Salad, but really didn't want to pay another $24, so I just went with an order of fries ($6). As well as the wings held up on the drive home, the fries were a total fail.

Pelicana 07

You can tell by the color, these weren't fried enough. It was dry and they barely seasoned it at all.

Well, at least the chicken wings held up quite well.

A week later, I decided to give Pelicana another go. This time I decided to have the wings sauced and I figure I'd cover myself by ordering the "Crispy" Chicken Wings ($16) and went with the Soy Based Sauce. The young man working was awesome and efficient and I did the same Nijiya run. Timing was great as my order was approaching the counter as I walked into the restaurant.

These wings are more heavily battered.

Pelicana 08 Pelicana 09 The wings were somewhat unevenly battered, the pieces on the top were quite crunchy, but for some strange reason, even though I liked the fact this wasn't swimming in sauce, the bottom pieces had gone mushy. For some reason, the meat of the wings were drier as well. This soy based sauce was also too sweet for my taste.

Personally, I prefer the "original" prep to the "crispy", which is actually more "crunchy".

I'll chalk these visits up to the "soft opening" for now. Though the presentation, menu, and food has a definite corporate "feel", the folks working were very pleasant. We'll see what things are like in a couple of months.

Pelicana 10

Please read Soo's post here.

Pelicana Chicken
7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 12pm – Midnight
Fri – Sat 12pm – 1am

Golden Chopsticks – Mira Mesa

October 4, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

So, while I was between trip Golden Chopsticks finally opened in Mira Mesa….well, I'm thinking they took long enough. Upon returning from our last trip, I read Soo's post on GC's soft opening. I know by buddy Calvin was waiting for his shot at Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and not having to drive down to National City for his fix. We quickly arranged for an all important, ahem, "lunch meeting".

Gold Chop MM 01

We both arrived just before 11 and they actually waved us in early! The place filled up quickly. The service was the typical "all business" menu down, what's your order kinda thing.

The dining room is of pretty good size and still filled up quickly.

Gold Chop MM 02

Of course man does not live by salt and pepper chicken wings alone…..well maybe you could, but in this case we needed to order a couple of other items for lunch as well.

The menu is full of "ABCDE" (ab-cee-dee, American Born Chinese Dining Establishment something I coined back in 2005) classics. Which, when done well can be quite enjoyable.

So, it ended up that I selected what I recalled was a decent dish from my visits way back when, along with what our dining companion in absentia "LeahA" recommended to go with our wings.

I recalled that the Sizzling Shrimp/Beef/Chicken combo was pretty good on former visits.

Gold Chop MM 03

Now this had enough flavor; the beef was surprisingly tender, as was the chicken. Nice soy sauce tones, not overly sweet or gooey, crisp veggies…perhaps the broccoli was a tad undercooked; but not bad at all. This was the best dish of the meal and I'll gladly order it again.

And then came the dish we were waiting for.

Gold Chop MM 04 Gold Chop MM 05 Now, the batter on the wings from GC back in the day was on the lighter side and was also quite thin and the wings got soggy quickly. In this case it was the opposite; the batter was almost hard; not crunchy…hard. Also, I'm not sure if I'm rubbing off on Calvin (good lord, I hope not), but after our first bite we both said "where's the salt and pepper"? Barely any garlic, pepper was MIA, a few slices of scallions. I mean, this was bland, and while the wings were moist, there was just too much batter. The wings were large…but heck, I could have used some "salt" on my Salt-and-Pepper Wings……..

If you're wondering what the wings used to look like – here's a photo from "the vault".

Goldensticks01

Our starch came out last "LeahA" told Calvin to order the Shrimp "Chow Mein", which I remember being pretty decent.

Gold Chop MM 06 Gold Chop MM 07 The noodles were nicely cooked and coated. But we both noticed something right away when biting into the shrimp. You can tell by the color. It seems the shrimp were blanched and just dumped into the dish. It had absolutely no flavor.

Perhaps it's the soft opening blues……maybe we'll try again in the future; though Calvin did say that the wings at QT Pot were better than these. He is Cantonese, but his Missus is not, there was no way the Missus would eat the leftovers, so I told him to take it home.

One might say that at least the less salty wings means less MSG….well, I don't know about that….I ended up drinking like five glasses of H2O immediately after lunch. On the bright side, Calvin's Missus enjoyed the noodles and sizzling plate (the wings she said tasted like cardboard). I guess it measured up with her favorite "Chinese food"……she loves Panda Express.

Gold Chop MM 08

Golden Chopsticks
8155 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 11am – 9pm

Sandy, I know you were looking forward to Golden Chopsticks opening, I hope your visit was more like Soo's than mine.

Monday Meanderings – It’s Honeyjam Chicken Not JJ’s and Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot

October 3, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Just a quick post for a busy Monday.

It's Honeyjam Chicken not JJ's:

So, first off a big "THANK YOU" to "FOYs" Patty and Rena who gave me heads-up regarding what was going on with the spot that was initially indicated to be JJ Chicken. Patty was nice enough to comment on my it appears that JJ is not coming to Renaissance Center and on the very same day Rena sent me an email with a photo (Thanks so much Rena!) mentioning the same thing! So, of course I needed to do an update and a couple of days later I headed on down (up??) to Renaissance Towne Center and yes indeed it looks like Honeyjam Chicken and Beer is now taking the spot that was planned for "JJ".

HoneyJam MM 01

And since there's a sign up, it looks like this one will actually happen!

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Thanks so much Patty and Rena, I appreciate the time and effort you both expended. You know, I don't think our little blog would exist without wonderful folks like you!

Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot:

I noticed this when I was driving to Daiso. Looks like Old House Hot Pot is gone. Sorry to say I never had a chance to check them out.

Olleh Sushi 01

Looks like the Olleh Kingdom is expanding. They already have a AYCE Korean BBQ in the Old Seoul – then Roadem BBQ spot on Convoy. This one is a AYCE Sushi….I guess they specialize in what my good friend calls "All You Cannot Eat"…..

8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally……

My apologies for the blog being down almost a whole day over the weekend. Apparently there was an issue with Typepad's servers. It had been happening intermittently over the last month or so and this time; things went down for all their customers.

Now Typepad has notified me that there will be another downtime this month. But haven't been clear on specifics yet.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Sunday Stuffs – Pelicana Chicken Replacing Urban Eats and Flama Llama Replacing Chef Chin’s

September 11, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants, Latin American Cuisine, Sushi and Sashimi

Amazing the changes one can see during a quick trip to Nijiya! Here are two…..

Pelicana Chicken Replacing Urban Eats:

Well, if you're keeping score (and I may be missing a couple of places here), Urban Eats replaced Hi Street, which replaced Char House.

Established in Daejeon, South Korea in 1982, this chain serves up…….well, you guessed it, Korean Fried Chicken! I'm wondering if Kearny Mesa is in the competition for most Korean Fried Chicken places per square mile in the US? I mean, at HMart you have Katzya, right around the corner and ahem right across the street you have Cross Street, which is nearly across the street from BB.Q Chicken, right in the next parking lot in the Hive is Knockout Chicken, north of Balboa you have Bonchon, and in Zion you have Gala Chicken! And there I was complaining about all the Hot Chicken places opening in San Diego!

7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Chef Chin's Being Replaced by a Flama Llama?:

I saw construction going on at the former location of Chef Chin on Convoy, so I took a left into the parking lot.

Looks like a place named Flama Llama? So, I did a quick search and found this which states that the owner of Steamy Piggy and Formoosa is opening a restaurant that "will bring a new take on Latin American cuisine." I dunno, how about just having some good Latin American cuisine period?

4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Iron Pig – A Takeout Revisit

June 22, 2022 mmm-yoso BBQ, Chicken Wings, Salads

**** Iron Pig has closed

The recent warm weather had the Missus craving takeout from Iron Pig. So I dropped by, placed an order, and then went to do a quick visit to Trader Joe's. My takeout was ready when I returned to Iron Pig. I had found parking nearby and everything just seemed hunky dory.

On my last post, I noted that the wings were dry and tough. Unfortunately, these were basically the same.

Iron Pig TO 01_02

Large, meaty wings, but super dry and tough, and the large size meant that it was somewhat lacking in enough smokiness.

I also got the Rib Tips and specifically asked for sauce on the side. Sadly, this must have been lost in the translation.

Iron Pig TO 02_02

Over-sauced and very salty……

Our favorite menu item over the years is the Man Salad…make that the Gender Neutral Salad. Which looked mighty appetizing.

Iron Pig TO 03_02

Until we started eating….and started noticing something…hidden underneath all those fries and brisket.

All those brown and discolored greens. Sigh…….

I take no pleasure in typing this out and it's kind of sad to get a meal like this from a place that's been a favorite over the years. We understand that times are tough and are trying to support local businesses, but it seems like the appreciation is not being returned? Not quite sure what to make of this meal…..

Iron Pig Alehouse
1520 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Circling Back to Main Chick Hot Chicken (Clairemont) and Golden City

June 20, 2022 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chains, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants

I often say that I would not still be posting if not for all the folks who comment of our posts. The same can be said for all the great emails and recommendations I get. There’s a whole group of folks who don’t comment on our posts, but are thoughtful enough to send me emails with recommendations, observations, and really great comments. One of these folks is “ChrisR” who often has some pretty interesting and sometimes funny observations and recommendations. I look forward to his emails.

Hailing from the Big Island, Chris will often have the most interesting “Subject Lines” to his emails. Here are two of them and my subsequent revisits to those places. Main Ch 01

“The last pretty good food bargain in San Diego?”

Actually, ChrisR was the reason that I visited Main Chick in the first place….I’m not one to follow fads and at that time it seemed that all these Hot Chicken shops were popping up everywhere. Having had some good Hot Chicken in Nashville during my consulting days; all of these shops fell short. Main Chick was no exception.

But, moving away from the Hot Chicken Sandwich; Chris had this to say about Main Chick:

“But there is still one bargain left: The leg-thigh quarter at Main Chick”

“Very juicy. Comes with the same spicy aioli as the dark meat sandwich. Gotten it several times in recent months.”

Well, this location of Hot Chicken is less than three miles from our house, so why not try it out, right?

The young lady working was a joy and I liked that they have outdoor seating. I ordered it “Spicy” this time, instead of “Supreme” like I did last time. My heat tolerance has gone down in my old age…..

I was asked if I needed a “fork and knife”? Huh? This is still chicken, right? And I raised up my left hand and said “fork”; then my right saying “knife”. The young lady cracked up. I did pay a small price for this as I will note later on.

I sat outside and opened my container and I have to say; in contrast to what I’d had before; chicken with burnt spots on it and such, this looked quite nice.

Main Ch 02_02 Main Ch 04 Turning things over was a different story as it was pretty greasy. The meat was very moist, tender, and it had that flavor of dark meat chicken that I prefer. The batter was quite crunchy but the seasoning dust is pretty gritty, though quite spicy; but there’s a lack of other flavors….at Hatties, I remember the chicken being very spicy, but it still had some smokiness, most likely from Paprika and even a hint of garlic tones.

Maybe I just need to order this with no spice next time? Though I recall the “naked version” being quite bland.

Main Ch 03

But, at least it was moist and tender. And at $5.75, Chris is right, these days it’s a bargain.

And the chicken had the last laugh as I had a nice thrill when I removed my contact lenses that evening.

Main Chick Hot Chicken (In Clairemont Town Square)
4705 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117

Subject: Did Golden City hire a chef from Royal Mandarin?

**** Golden City has closed

Whoa, let’s talk about how to get my attention!

“While I waited, a waitress (one who in the good old days automatically brought me a fork for years despite my never using it) brought out salt-and-pepper chicken wings twice that looked crisp and dry and had a good portion size for $13.

So the next weekend, I got the wings. I have had them two more times since.

As good as the Royal Mandarin, IMO“.

Okay! Sold!

GC TO 01

I went and did a takeout order from Golden City. To cover myself, I also ordered the Kwai Fei Chicken, which has been a favorite of mine for years.

It did smell quite good in the car, better than a “new car fragrance” for sure. And I made the fifteen minute drive back to the office wondering if the wings would be looking like this:

Fry-Day RM 06

Opening things up, the wings looked like this.

GC TO 02 GC TO 03 Unfortunately, the batter of the wings didn’t hold up well, much of it getting a bit mushy and flaking off. So, if you’re ordering this, it’s probably in your best interest to eat them ASAP….maybe even in the parking lot! Lot’s of burnt garlic which was on the bitter side, though I enjoyed the spice. The flesh of the wings were nice and moist.

And to be perfectly honest; these were light years better than what I’d had from Golden City years back. So it does look like the wings have improved over time.

GC TO 04

On a sad note; it seems like the Kwai Fei Chicken has gone downhill as well.

GC TO 05 GC TO 07 The chicken really just tasted boiled lacking in the mild hints of anise-wine and devoid of any salt or mild ginger tones….just plain bland. The sauce provided had brown specks in it and tasted a bit rancid and off. The chicken while cooked nicely, just didn’t taste right.

GC TO 08

Man, what a bummer……where do I get my Kwai Fei Chicken from now? Maybe I need to revisit Eastern Dynasty?

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Regardless of my opinions, I want to make it clear that I really enjoy and treasure these emails. It gets me “out there” checking things out and keeps it “fresh”. It’s always fun hearing from all of you and I’m flattered that you would think of me when you have an interesting or enjoyable meal.

Thanks again ChrisR!

Tenkatori (Miramar)

May 24, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants

The much anticipated Tenkatori's San Diego location opened while we were on our trip. I had the Gardena and Sawtelle location on my "LA list", so I was quite happy to know they were opening here. You know how much I enjoy my Karaage, right? Heck, I even went to see if the signage of the shop (replacing TJ Dumplings) was up back in the middle of April!

So, upon returning from our trip….well, I had to check out Tenkatori!

After checking the hours and knowing how much I hate the small parking stalls and turning ratios in that strip mall parking lot I got to Tenkatori at five minutes past eleven (opening time) and was kinda confused as the business sign blocking the door said closed; while the lighted sign said open?

I finally waved down the young man working; who then moved the sign over and told me they were open.

So, I went and placed my order; for the Mix Bento Box…..

Which I thought was nicely priced at $9.90…really, what can you get these days for less than ten bucks?

And then the young man broke the news to me. He asked me to come back in 20 minutes! Which is what I did and I still had to wait another 10 minutes.

I got back to the office and opened up my bento.

This was a decent amount of food; there were two whole wings, both drumette and wing attached including the wing tips which I like. There were also two large pieces of karaage.

For some reason, I thought the "mashed potatoes" was really going to be Japanese potato salad….but, it was really mashed potatoes…..albeit creamy and topped with a teriyaki-ish sauce. Just in case that wasn't enough carbs, there was a generous portion of rather undercooked rice.

Both the wings and the karaage were moist and tender. The karaage handled the short trip back to the office better than the wings as the light batter, probably using potato starch, doesn't hold up for very long. The wings seemed to have more seasoning than the karaage, as the marinade seemed very mild. What I really liked was that the chicken thighs used for the karaage still had the skin attached which added more crunch and additional flavor as well.

This was okay, perhaps a bit underwhelming, but the place hadn't been open for very long so I was definitely going to give it another try.

And since Calvin was actually coming into the office the following day, I decided to do takeout from Tenkatori again. This time, I called in my order. The woman working told me my order would be ready in 15 minutes and it was!

Calvin got the Mixed Bento and this time I went with the Karaage Don ($9) and since I had some "extra stomach space" available (aka Calvin), I also went for a small order of Gizzards ($7.70) to share.

This time my order was ready and waiting when I arrived.

And this time the karaage was even better! It was nicely fried, evenly seasoned, the marinade seemed to have permeated the thighs, and I liked that teriyaki-ish glaze that was lightly applied to the sliced dark meat chicken. The rice was much better this time as well. The boiled egg looked lovely, until I cut it open and discovered that it was overcooked and thus dry. The accompanying greens were starting to brown a bit; though I basically just considered it "garnish".

I shared the fried gizzards with Calvin and we both enjoyed the chewy-crunchy, poultry-ist flavor.

The gizzards were also nicely seasoned and even seemed to have a touch of shichimi togarashi, adding a light "kick" to it. I'll definitely have this again……plus, I'll need to try the nankotsu karaage as well.

And so, I'd usually stop and do a post with these two visits….but….I decided to do one more visit "for the road". I enjoy tori nanban and decided to order some for lunch. Once again, I called in my order and it was ready for pick-up fifteen minutes later when I arrived.

I liked the portion size of this bento and like the mix bento is priced nicely for these times at $9.90.

The chicken was still crisp when I got back to the office. Again, I really enjoy the fact that the dark meat chicken pieces still have the skin on them; it just makes the texture and flavor better. I appreciated the fact that there was that sweet-soy based sauce as well as the tartar sauce on this since the tartar sauce was really one dimensional and lacking in the light vinegar tones that help to balance out all that mayo. The rice was decent; the potato salad and shredded cabbage the same. Not sure I'd have this very often though.

I could definitely see the improvement of the product Tenkatori was putting out; from the shaky and rather mediocre first visit, to the following two visits where things seemed to be falling in place. I think the prices are quite reasonable for 2022 and since I love my karaage (and enjoyed those gizzards), I'll be back. It's great to have another option in the area. And like "FOY" Junichi said, this place "goes perfectly with Beeramar."

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121
Phone – (858) 200-2016
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 230pm, 4pm – 8pm

Chicken Wing Wednesday, the Food Court Edition – Revisits to Krispy Krunchy Chicken, Katzya, and Gala Chicken

April 6, 2022 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings

My recent visits to bb.q Chicken got me back into a "chicken wing thang". So the quickest way out of those cravings was to; well, just some wings, right? I decided to revisit three food court chicken locations and see what was up. So here goes.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken:

**** Krispy Krunchy Chicken is now a location of Cluck n Sip

I have to admit, KKC is the easiest target for me; since the location, in 99 Ranch Market on Balboa is never crowded and there's always parking. Though without folks in the office these days; I can't order the 10 wing minimum that's necessary for it to be cooked to order…..and these days; there's just no way I can finish 10 wings without qualifying for bypass surgery. So, just like the last takeout order from KKC, man, that was like July of 2020; I'd be just going for the five piece with potato wedges.

Sorry for the dated photo above; but I basically ordered and went shopping in 99 Ranch, so I forgot to take a photo of the place.

As for the chicken; well they do have a consistently C(K)rispy, C(K)runchy product in my opinion.

My timing must have been pretty good as the wings were still hot and pretty juicy when I arrived home. Yes, crunchy, moist, and these were the saltiest of the three places I tried, but not too bad. I still automatically think of Popeyes whenever I have these, though I do think they are better than that chain now. I always either get the Louisiana style hot sauce at KKC or if I'm eating at home, the bottle of Crystal comes in handy….to help cut thru the fryolated saltiness.

Unlike the chicken; the potato wedges were dry and starting to get soggy.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Katzya:

**** Katzya has closed

It had been a couple of years since I'd been to Katzya. So, after my visit to KKC; I thought it would be good to do a revisit.

The specter of Covid dies hard…..things had always seemed to be at rather close quarters in the H Mart food court. Even though I arrived right when the place opened; it got crowded quickly. I placed my order and decided to wait by the front door of H Mart as my wings were fried.

In order to compare to the chicken from KKC, I went with the regular fried chicken wings.

This would turn out to be my favorite of the three set of wings I had. The wings were still crisp and pleasantly (not overly) crunchy (or crumbly) when I got home. Moist and decently seasoned…balanced in a way….as I didn't need to add anything to cut salt, richness……and not greasy in the least. The chicken was much better than I recalled.

I did think the Mul Kimchi here was a bit too sweet for my taste.

The only hesitation I have is the price – $14.99 for 7 wings…….

Katzya
(In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Now this was going to be it….except, I wondered if Gala Chicken had wings back in stock. If you recall on my previous visit Gala was out of wings and I was told they weren't sure of when, or even if they'd have wings again. Still, I decided to head on over to check.

Gala Chicken:

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

And guess what; wings were back on the menu. So, I went ahead and ordered the wings to go. The wait here was the longest, almost 30 minutes, but at least they'd be cooked to order, right?

I really like the gentleman who works here; he seems to be very nice.

Eventually, my wings were ready….I actually should have gone and done some shopping while I waited; but I really didn't need anything from Zion.

I got home and opened the container ASAP.

It would turn out that this would be my least favorite of the three places I visited. First off; the batter was getting soggy by the time I got home; it was unevenly battered, and for some reason the chicken was on the greasy side. I mean things were bad enough when Gala first opened and they used to cut into the chicken with a knife to check doneness; but this just wasn't very good in my opinion.

I will say that I prefer the Mul Kimchi here to the version at Katzya.

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

Hope you're having a good Wednesday; whether you're having chicken wings or not!

Roadtrip (During Covid) – Angels Landing (Zion), Grafton Ghost Town (Rockville), Pa’rus Trail (Zion), and Dinner (Again) at the Zion Canyon Brewpub (Springdale)

April 1, 2022 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Beer, Chicken Wings, Pubs and Pub Grub, Road Trip, Travel, Utah

*** This is a pretty long post with not much food; so I wouldn't mind at all if you'd just like to return on another day!

I knew that our first full day in Zion was going to to be a full one. The Missus really wanted to do Angels Landing. I wasn't too thrilled about doing the trail, but I knew the Missus had it on Her "list". So, to avoid the crowds and such; I planned for our visit to be during the first week after the shuttle stopped running and more importantly, the week after Thanksgiving. We drove into Zion early and easily found parking. The place was pretty quiet and we crossed over the Virgin River to get started.

The initial walk up wasn't too bad and the view was very nice.

And then we entered a pretty area known as Refrigerator Canyon.

And soon enough it starts getting a bit more strenuous.

And then there are the 21 fairly steep switchbacks; known as "Walter's Wiggles"…..sheesh….

Which culminated in an area called Scouts Lookout.

I thought it would be a good place for me to stop and let the Missus do Her thing.

This isn't "Angels Landing" you might say. Why do you want to stop here?

Well…….

But I just couldn't let the Missus go on alone.

And the last portion of the hike is called the Spine…..for a simple reason……

That last portion is is done on what feels like the edge of a cliff…..which it basically is; made of sandstone no less. There are chains bolted into the side of the cliff to use as hand holds as you make your way up. And, btw, that "little person" you see in the background in the photo to the right is me. Oh, and did I mention that I don't like heights?

The Missus tried to motivate your truly by shaming me a bit. Telling me that an ex-coworker, the one who met us for dinner in Kyoto did Angels Landing.

And if she could do it, well I should be able to; so forth and so on. In the end, I just went ahead and did it. The sandstone is a bit slippery, but I made it.

Of course the Missus was in "Her element" and this was just a breeze for Her.

It was actually more difficult (and scary) descending.

And here's the kicker; after finishing up the hike, the Missus sent a text to the young lady telling her that even I managed to climb up to Angels Landing. Her response? "Really, I stopped before the chains!"

What?!?!?! Needless to say, I felt just a tad betrayed here.

And even "Mr Hiking" himself; Calvin stopped at Scout's Lookout.

Hmmm……like they say; "there's one born every minute….."

Though I did feel a bit proud when I saw a guy waiting at Scout's lookout for his significant other, a young lady who I passed on my way down from the top.

I'd say the hike down was a bit harder on the knees and joints; but we did pretty good time, less than 2 1/2 hours.

It was a stroke of luck that we'd arrived the week after Thanksgiving as things weren't very crowded; though we passed quite a few folks heading up on our way down.

Angels Landing is quite popular, I just read that you will now have to get a permit to hike Angels Landing from April 1st.

Because it was still early when we completed our hike; we decided to head into Springdale to fuel up and then head off to a place I'd read about called Grafton Ghost Town.

I read that Grafton was the most photographed Ghost Town in the US and was also in quite a few movies, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was featured in the famous Bicycle Scene; along with a small-kid favorite song of mine; Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head. I just can't help believing (sorry BJ Thomas "dad joke" insertion) humming that tune as I type this.

Five of the original thirty structures have been restored by the Grafton Heritage Partnership.

The Grafton Heritage Partnership site has a history of the town; established in 1859, the last resident left Grafton in 1945.

The place was so very quiet; we were the only visitors, so we strolled around the buildings. The large Alonzo H Russell home was open so we took a look inside and also walked down into the cellar.

Which provided a peek into a different time.

On the way back, we made sure to stop at the Grafton Cemetery, which gave us a deeper look into the struggles of the folks who settled here.

The surroundings are stunningly beautiful; but the stories are of hardship and tragedy.

This is a wonderful post on Grafton.

After visiting Grafton we headed back to our room, had a super light lunch and relaxed for a while.

Of course, after a while the Missus was itching to do something. So, we decided to take a nice stroll along the easy, paved, Pa'rus Trail, which follows the Virgin River.

There were many instructional-informational signs along the way.

It's one of the few trails that allow leashed pooches and we ran into a couple of happy ones; along with folks biking and families.

All while listening to the comforting sound of the Virgin River….

The mighty Virgin River…..

And like on all our hikes in Zion; there was wildlife to be seen.

We walked until the Canyon Junction Bridge before turning around and heading back to our room.

By now it was getting close to dinner time. Now, in spite of getting the right location and timing the crowds and access for our road trip; there was one thing I'd missed. It seems that many of the restaurants; especially the ones we wanted to eat at in Springdale close for a break following the Thanksgiving weekend. So, we decided to head back across the parking lot to the Zion Canyon Brewpub.

We sat on the back patio again. This time there were several feral cats roaming around. One of them decided to entertain him/herself with one of the customers bags.

There would be no burgers for us this time. We decided to go full on "fry mode" and ordered the Chicken Wings ($12), Chimichurri Fries ($6), and Beer Battered Onion Rings ($6). Actually, this was pretty cheap dinner.