Chinese BBQ – Page 7

Honolulu: Royal Kitchen and Nam Fong

December 13, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Oahu, Travel

My Father In-Law thought it would be a great idea to have the Missus' visiting cousins a taste of an "American Thanksgiving" so he ordered the basic heat and eat Thanksgiving meal from Zippy's. My job was to provide "back-up" if you know what I mean. No offense against Zippy's or any other of the heat and catered Thanksgiving meals, but they really aren't known for great flavor and quality if you know what I mean. We weren't arriving until the wednesday afternoon before T-Day so making anything was pretty much out of the question. So I dug into my "black book" looking for something that might suffice. Several folks had recommended Nam Fong in Chinatown to me, so I called from San Diego and reserved a duck and some pork for Thanksgiving Day. Nam Fong opens pretty early which worked out well as I made a nice 530 am drive from Ewa Beach to the Chinese Cultural Plaza at the edge of Chinatown in downtown. Arriving at about 6am on Thanksgiving morning I was surprised at how busy things were. There was a large group doing Tai Chi on the plaza alongside the River Street Canal. Now those that know where Nam Fong is located may ask what the heck am I doing at the CCP? Well, I drove up extra early to hit up this place:

Man, it has been at least a dozen years since I'd been to Royal Kitchen. I remember first having a baked manapua from Royal Kitchen waaay back in the early 1980's! What is manapua? It's Hawaii's riff on the Char Siu Bao which I mentioned in my post about Char Hung Sut. Why is it called manapua? Depending on what source you get your info from it could come from Hawaiian phrase "mauna pua'a", which means "mountain of pork"……now what non-vegetarian could resist a mountain of pork, eh? Or perhaps it's from the phrase "mea ono pua'a" which means something along the lines of "delicious pork thing", "mea ono" could also be translated to mean "cake" and "pork cake" would be a apt description, right? Whatever the origin, it's all good. Royal Kitchen changes things around when they started making baked manapua, they then put it sidewards by replacing the pork mixture with a whole lup cheong (Chinese sausage – my favorite) and Chicken Curry. Stuff like Portuguese sausage and kalua pork came later.

The shop is tiny and sells noodles and Chinese Barbecue as well.

But of course, I was all about the manapua, still priced pretty well at $1.15 each. Three trips ago (circa 1999), I bought a couple of these to eat on the trip home from Honolulu. Unfortunately, we forgot the package in the rental car….man was I bummed. So to set things right, I bought a box of eight. I even called from San Diego to make sure they'd be open on Thanksgiving.

This time eating was top priority so no views of the fillings. I seem to recall the exterior to be a bit more baked. I've never considered the char siu version to be stellar and it's still not my favorite. This time around the kalua pork overtook the lup cheong and Portuguese Sausage. Who knows what will win out next time? I'm looking forward to that……

Royal Kitchen
100 N Beretania St, Ste 175
Honolulu, HI 96817

Mon-Fri 5:30 am – 4:30 pm
Sat 6:30 am – 4:30 pm
Sun 6:30 am – 2:30 pm

I packed my box in the car, walked along the canal, crossed the street, then down Maunakea Street, the heart of Chinatown. The area has been cleaned up over the years, but there are still homeless folks sleeping in the doorways and it's easy to imagine how the area must have been when the area was the entertainment district or during the post World War II era (remember all those stories about Club Hubba Hubba?) or even as I grew up in Honolulu.

I was told that Nam Fong would be opening earlier than usual and I found the place doing a steady business when I arrived at about 615am.

Though there are a couple of places doing Chinese BBQ along this stretch of road, the ducks in the window sure looked good.

NamFong02

The roast pork hanging inside the shop didn't look too shabby either! There was a makshift set-up with what looked like a dozen Chinese style roasted turkeys that looked really delicious. The woman working the counter was really friendly and my order was ready when I arrived.

Anyway here's the rundown, first off the Roast Pork wasn't bad, it was moist with good flavor, but too chewy and the skin hard.

I ended up chopping up most of it and doing a saute with vinegar, chilies, soy sauce, onions, and scallions a la sisig which turned out rather good.

The Char Siu was pretty good, most places here in San Diego make it really salty and overly sweet, pouring sauce over it to keep it moist. This was mildly sweet, but not salty and I could make out the flavor of the pork for once.

A whole roast duck here costs a very reasonable $16,and while the skin is not quite up there in terms of texture, this duck was very good, much better than anything we have in San Diego. You can just tell by the look of the meat in this photo……

The meat was very tender and moist, the flavor of the duck came through. Initially, even though I could make out a mild five spice-bean paste flavor, I thought the duck too mild. Until I poured some of the jus on the duck, which immediately brought all the flavors out. It was delici-yoso!!! Thanks to everyone who recommended this place to me!

I'd like to revisit on my next trip home to see if the duck is just as good….then I'll be able to make recommendations of my own.

**** Sadly Nam Fong has closed

Nam Fong Restaurant
1029 Maunakea St
Honolulu, HI 96817

Mon-Sat 7 am – 4:30 pm
Sun 7 am – 1 pm

One thing I realized as I drove back to Ewa Beach…..I really enjoyed these morning drives….on days when there was no morning traffic.

"Round and round up and down
Through the streets of your town
Everyday I make my way
Through the streets of your town"

Streets of Your Town – Go-Betweens

Some Revisits: Noble Chef, Yum Cha Cafe, and Hong Kong BBQ

January 16, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Here are a couple of revisits.

Noble Chef:

It's pretty much inevitable when I get to know someone, that one of the first items for discussion would be, "have anything good to eat lately". And such is the case with my Dry-Cleaner Lady, with whom I've shared recommendations and opinions over the years. One recent discussion was over Noble Chef. We both are of the opinion that many of the dishes were executed better before the previous owners retired. Although we both thought that as time passed the food there is getting better. The Dry Cleaner Lady told me that although the broth was pretty weak, the Hu Tieu with Shrimp Balls were pretty good. So during the recent rain and cold I decided to drop by and grab a bowl of Hu Tieu with Beef and Shrimp Balls:

And yes, the broth was decidedly bland, in need of help from the sweet-soy and other condiments. I'm used to a mild pork flavor broth for my Hu tieu soups…. this had almost no flavor. The Beef Meatballs were fairly "squeaky", and were also pretty weak. Those shrimp balls did have a nice shrimp flavor and were quite tender.

The rice noodles were prepared well, slippery with a mild chew to them.

Overall an ok bowl, but I don't think I'll be having this again due to the really watery broth.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111
(858)278-8688

More posts on Noble Chef can be found here, here, and here.

Yum Cha Cafe's cheapo 3 item BBQ Combo:

**** Yum Cha Cafe has closed

On a recent jaunt to Thuan Phat Market to pick up some vegetables the Missus wanted for dinner, I decided to check out what was going on at Yum Cha Cafe. I think things have slowed down a bit, so now there's all manner of specials going on. One caught my attention right away.

Granted, as I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of Yum Cha's Roast Duck. But 3 meats and rice for under five bucks? You know I just had to try it out. As the various meat was pulled and chopped I was surprised that it seemed like a good amount of protein. And the box seemed to weight at least two pounds. Not along the lines of Tita's in terms of insurmountable food, but the styrofoam box seemed quite hefty.

Opening the box up, it looked like there was a head on collision of Chinese BBQ that fell on a mattress of rice. After playing a bit of Chinese BBQ CSI, I could make out what was what.

The best item was the roast chicken which was very moist and tender., even the white meat sections:

It had a nice mild lemon grass flavor.

The Roast Duck was also moist, fairly meaty, but lacking in flavor.

The skin was on the rubbery side. Overall, this was better than what I had before, but still not even close to top-notch.

The worst item overall was the BBQ Pork, tough and bland are not good when it comes to Char Siu.

The best item overall were the pickled vegetables, which were good, if on the sweet side. So could I recommend this? Well, if you were really hungry and had only five bucks………this could be two meals.

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Roast Duck from Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum:

If you've read my previous post on this place you'll know that I've been less than pleased with what I've had here. But after a recent less than satisfying meal from Song Huong, I wandered through Vinh Hung Market and walked pass the Chinese BBQ, and the Roast Duck looked pretty good, so I decided to buy me half a duck.

Which ended up being pretty good, much better than what I've had before.

So perhaps I'll return to try some other items in the future.

Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum
10550 Camino Ruiz(Inside of Vinh Hung Market)
San Diego, CA 92126

Postscript: With the left-over duck, I decided to make something. You see, I was still fuming from spending fifty bucks for a mediocre Peking Duck meal at Duck House in Monterey Park. I was especially disappointed in the stir-fried duck meat with bean sprouts which had no flavor at all. When I mentioned this to the Missus, She called me out and asked, "could you do better"…….

Which is why I made this with the leftovers.

I used my 55,000 BTU Big Kahuna to revive and crisp up the duck meat. Added the bean sprouts, which if you've just bought a high BTU wok stove, is a great way to learn to use it. Flavored at the end with duck drippings and premium soy sauce……

Compared to this:

Guess the revisits…plus one

November 16, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Loco Mocos, Pizza, Ramen

*** Update 11/18, 0800 - The contest is closed……. there was only one person who guessed all six restaurant correctly. Congrats to Hao! The answers are all at the end of the post. And just for laughs I gave an eCup to the person who did the worst as well.

I haven't done one of these in a while……. I'll send a Peet's eCup to the first five folks who email(link upper right) me the correct guesses of the following revisits.

For the following three, list the dish and the restaurant:

1. This one is kinda hard, but not that hard……

Someone once mentioned lucious eyebrows…….

2.. This one is the easiest.

How about some drippy yolk porn……

3. This dish used to be much better when the restaurant was under previous ownership…..

But things have been getting better as the folks making the food have been gaining more experience.

For next three, you can just name the restaurant.

4. This "little little" place used to be in a different location.

5. I've never posted on exactly this dish, but guessing the restaurant should be pretty easy.

6. OK if you can't guess this one……. well, I'm not sure what to say…..

Easy, right? That's it, get those six and be one of the first five to email me the correct guesses and you'll get a Peet's eCup….. But let me ask you, are you a gambler? Would you go double or nothing? If you guess the name of this dish correctly, along with the previous six, I'll make it two eCups…… get it wrong, and you get nothin'(be accurate – as in what kind of meat etc, or the Chinese name would be even better)……. A couple of hints, it's not from a restaurant in San Diego, and it is delicious……

I'll let things go until the morning of 11/18

Just remember, send me the guesses via email, a valid email so if you're correct I can send youthe Peet's eCup. One guess per email address please.

Good Luck!

OK, here are the answers:

#1 – It's Beef Sate Noodle "Dry" from Tan Ky Mi Gia.

#2 – The Kaloko Moco from Island Style Cafe……

Everyone who played got that one right. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about a Loco Moco with a crepe as it's base….. but here it really works.

#3 – Is The Noble Chef.

Since the new owners have taken over, my favorite dishes have been slowly getting better, as the guy behind the wok station gains more experience.

Our favorite dish here in the past was the Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice. It still lacks the punch it once had, and Wok Hay (spirit of the wok) is still lacking.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good fried rice; just not as good……

#4 – Is Sieu Sieu BBQ, which literally means "small small"…..

I had gone to Barbecues Galore to try and purchase more Ono Kiawe Charcoal. I was told by the manager of BG, that a "well known" BBQ Manufacturer had bought the company and then took the charcoal off the market because it was competing with items in their product line. I'm not going further than that since I can't confirm this info. I may try purchasing the charcoal on the Ono Charcoal Website.

#5 – Is Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori.

I'm not sure if they still serve it, but Tonkotsu style ramen was being served in limited quantities during lunch.

#6 – Is of course Pizzeria Bruno. Everyone who played got this correct as well.

That last dish is Mi Zheng Rou, also called Fen Zheng Rou….. rice steamed pork. More on that in a later post.

My thanks to everyone who humored me and played along!

Tom’s Chinese BBQ

May 12, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

When we first moved to San Diego…….almost eight years ago today, we'd drop by Tom's BBQ for some roast duck every so often. Back then it was pretty darn good, excellent skin, nice balanced five-spice flavor, fairly tender meat. But over the next year or two, the place seemed to go South….the same folks, in the same looking shop, but the roast duck became rubbery, bland, and the roast pork was even worse. Over time, Tom's became a bit of an afterthought for us…..once when the Missus went to Panchita's Bakery next door, I remember telling Her, "it's been a real long time since we've been to Tom's, maybe we should see if the roast duck has regained form." Only to forget about that a few hours later. So……I guess a revisit to Tom's BBQ was way overdue.

Time hasn't been real good to ol' Tom, the interior, never the picture of spic n' span cleaniless, seemed coated with the residue of a thousand ducks, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The place is starting to look a bit worse for wear.

The prices at Tom's have always been good, and are still on the inexpensive side….except for the roast duck which now costs $18.50. A half duck goes for $9.50, the most expensive of all the take-out Chinese BBQ places in San Diego!

So of course I got a half roast duck:

The duck looked nice and juicy, and this version did not have "jus" poured all over it. Actually, this duck could have perhaps used some of the drippings, as it was fairly bland. The skin was flaccid and tough, as was the meat. In my opinion Cam Ky down the street is a better choice.

I also ordered a half pound of Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork – $3.50):

Having never tried the Char Siu, I quickly noticed that Tom's uses a minimal amount of red food coloring. The meat is very lean, and looks dry, but was better than I thought. It could be more moist, somewhat lacking in the umami and sweetness, but this was not bad.

The roast pork on the other hand (1/2 ln $4):

Was very dry, and bereft of flavor. The skin was hard, and not very good. Guess, what Da' Boyz had for dinner with their rice???

I can't help but wonder what happened to Tom's? I guess my next move is a revisit to Cam Ky, and perhaps another roast duck from Golden City(though technically not a Chinese BBQ joint). In the end, I can't help but wonder if perhaps I'm tilting at "roast duck windmills" in a Quixote-like quest for good roast duck in San Diego? Or maybe I should set my standards lower? Not very likely though……..

Tom's Chinese BBQ
4414 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Sieu Sieu BBQ(-Q) and Coco’s (for pie: 2) too!

May 3, 2009 Cathy Chinese BBQ, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to the blog named mmm-yoso!!! Today, Kirk is almost back from His vacation. ed (from Yuma) is working . Cathy is blogging about another meal.

A good friend, Mr. C, asked me if I wanted to go for lunch. I was ready, since I am always hungry. He suggested Sieu Sieu and I was there at 11:30, on the dot. He wasn't.

Kirk has blogged about this place and Mr. C has been here a lot, and I took both of their suggestions in mind when I ordered.

By ordering the Sieu Sieu chow mein, not crispy. (Something neither of them had recommended)

Noodles, bean sprouts, onion, shrimp, chicken, beef, BBQ pork. Plenty of food on this plate. I am unsure what is the difference between 'Sieu Sieu' and the 'combination' chow mein.

Good food. Lots of noodles. Not too spicy, but a good flavor to everything. There were leftovers for Mr. C to enjoy at work this evening.

The very large bowl of beef stew/soup with tendon, egg noodles, dumplings, broccoli and onion.

Very very very good, flavorful. The soft gelatinous tendon was a wonderful treat. The beef was very flavorful and tender. The egg noodles were perfect. Lots of noodles.

My token photo of tabletop condiments.

Along with a blurry cross section photo of one of the dumplings. Filled with ground pork. Very very good.

Oh yes. Our appetizer. One pound of roast pork.

Oh the (just right)crispy skin and tender, flavorful meat. It was wonderful. There was a good amount of pickled cabbage on the side.

Even though we did not finish all of our food, Mr. C said he wanted pie for dessert.

Coc0's is across the street. We walked over.

Mr. C chose the banana cream pie, a bit flat in appearance, but excellent in flavor of the filling and the crust was light and flaky.

I chose the "pie of the month" for May: lemon meringue. Excellent meringue, excellent crust, tart, lemony filling.

We each had coffee. Then Mr. C went to work, with the leftover chow mein.

Excellent lunch. Thanks, Mr. C (and Kirk) for letting me know about Sieu Sieu.

Sieu Sieu BBQ 7420 Clairmont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92111

Not Duckin’ the Subject: A Roast Duck Comparison – Sam Woo times 2, Jasmine Express, and Yum Cha Cafe

February 24, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

I don't know how many times I've been asked for a recommendation for the "best take-out roast duck in San Diego." And boy do I hemm and haw, and when I finally do make a recommendation, I preface everything with so much "fine print" that it ends up reading, or sounding like one of those automobile adds. The reason that I've become rather gun shy with regards to roast duck, Chinese BBQ, and even Dim Sum recommendations in San Diego, is that, well, if anything, these offerings have proven to be consistently…..inconsistent. Which is why a place like Yum Cha Cafe may do rather well here. If it's going to be inconsistent, it might as well be cheap…..….

If I'm going to do roast duck comparison, I might as well have a baseline. So I think this place is as good as any:

Yes, it is Sam Woo, but no it is not in San Diego. This location of Sam Woo Barbecue is in Alhambra, and in my opinion has one of the better, most consistent take-out Roast Duck in SoCal. Yes, there are several Sam Woo's, Irvine, San Gabriel, and the City of Industry/Rowland Heights location was fairly close to where we lived. But not all Sam Woo's are created equal. This older location has always been good.

But oh my have the prices gone up over the years. Half a duck here is $9.25!!! More expensive than anywhere in San Diego.

What makes the duck here so good? First, the skin is not overly tough. Second, the duck is neither too meaty and dry, nor just skin and bones and tough. Saltiness does not overwhelm the duck, even though "jus" is ladled over the duck. And it is not greasy in the least.

The Missus's typical response after the first bite is always, "what's the big deal….." But She'll always go back for more. The flavoring is subtle, with a very mild-sweet finish.

Sam Woo Barbeque
514 W Valley Boulevard
Alhambra, CA 91803

Sam Woo San Diego:

Compare this with Sam Woo(aka "Sam Woo the Killer Whale") in San Diego. Surprisngly, a half roast duck here in San Diego is cheaper than in Alhambra ($7.50). I had made up my mind to never get roast duck from here a while ago; but this place gets Ed from Yuma's stamp of approval, so I decided to give it another go.

The duck has a tendency to be bony and tough. The skin is hard, and the "jus" is really salty. I don't mind the rather brusque service, but there a real disregard for the customers here. It wasn't always that way, but I've noticed it getting worse every year. Take for example the simple take-out container housing the duck:

It was covered in a variety of Chinese BBQ sticky-oily drippings and hand prints…I made out a thumbprint on one side of the container, that belongs in one of those CSI shows, but the photo didn't come out. If this happened to some little ol' Chinese lady in Alhambra or San Gabriel, that duck neck would have ended up shoved up…..well you get the picture.

Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 103
San Diego, CA 92111

Jasmine Express:

Is the place I usually recommend in San Diego, thoughitiswithafewreservationssinceI'vegottensomeprettylousyduckfromhereattimes. Jasmine's little take-out stall roast duck (which does not resemble the duck served in the restaurant) was surprisingly even cheaper than Sam Woo's ($7.25 – half duck).

You can just see the inconsistency of the roast duck, if you compare this rather good roast duck I purchased in November of last year.

Even though the chopping technique was on the sloppy side, the flavors were pretty good.

Compared to the duck I purchased for this post a few weeks back.

This one was a bit on the greasy side, and tasted rather bland. The duck served at Jasmine is usually more meaty than the version at Sam Woo SD.

Jasmine Express
4609 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Yum Cha Cafe:

**** Yum Cah Cafe has closed

Just for giggles, I thought I'd grab a half duck from the new Yum Cha Cafe, which turned out to be the most expensive of the three San Diego Roast Ducks ($8.25)!

The skin was tough, the meat on the dry side, and the rich duck flavor was lacking.

You may be better off having something else.

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111 JasExpress01

So there you go. Holding my feet to the fire, I'd usually recommend the roast duck from Jasmine Express, or even take-out from Golden City, but those recommendations are not without reservations. Since I've been doing this food blogging thing, I've posted on a bunch of places that do Chinese BBQ, but there's one place missing from my list. That place is Tom's Chinese BBQ on University. When we first moved to San Diego back in 2001, the roast duck was pretty good. But the quality and flavor got worse and worse, until it just wasn't worth the effort….so maybe, just maybe, one day soon after I recover……..