Taste of Hong Kong Revisited

Recently, “FOY” Kenneth contacted me regarding a recommendation for a sit down Cantonese style dinner. Of course, our “usual” immediately came to mind. But that got me wondering how some of other Cantonese style restaurants along Convoy were doing. And then, having returned from one of our road trips with JJ, was wanting some Chinese food. Yes, can’t you hear it? It’s Opportunity knocking.

We thought we’d check out Taste of Hong Kong since we hadn’t visited in quite a while. Since our last visit, the owners of ToHK had taken over China Max, though I don’t think for the better. And I understand the chef has left as well…so I thought it would be “interesting”.

Now this parking lot, like many along the Convoy corridor can be a total mess during busy hours…and lets not get into the lack of street parking. On this day, the lot was empty. Leave it to our dining during an “off hour”.

As always, the folks working here were “all business”. One thing I quickly noticed is that the prices seemed lower than that of our last visit to Noble Chef. Oh, and one more condition for the visit. The Missus told me I couldn’t order my favorite dish from here; the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings, sigh…..

They were hanging up some roast duck when we were seated, so of course we needed to get some.

We started with the Marinated Pork Intestines ($19.99). Which looked good when it arrived.

The sauce had a nice balance of soy-sweet-sour. As for the intestines; well, it was super chewy….like s-u-p-e-r chewy. In the end, it was better to give those dentures a break, swallow it, and hope for the best.

Of course we had to order a Salt Fish dish for the Missus. She went with the Salted Fish, Chicken, and Eggplant ($21.99). Now the last time had this dish, it was lacking in salted fish, not this time though.

Decent amount of salted fish, very savory, but not overly salty. The eggplant was cooked perfectly, molten and buttery in texture. Good amount of chicken as well. I think this is the Missus’s current local version of the dish.

Instead of going with some salt and pepper pork chops or chicken wings; we went with the HK Style Fried Prawns with Chili and Garlic ($26.99).

Nice and crunchy, the you could make out the sweetness of the shrimp, even with the salty-peppery garlic seasoning. The shrimp was a bit tougher then I prefer, but I enjoyed the flavors.

And of course we had a half Roast Duck ($23), last time we ate at Noble Chef it was $28 for a half roast duck, so we were interested to see how this would turn out. Well, it turned out to be pretty positive.

While not as strong in the five spice department, the skin was light and crisp; the fat had been wonderfully rendered, and the meat tender. As an added bonus; all that fat and juice from the duck……guess who was making duck fried rice with that? The size of the duck was on the larger side as well. Decent savory-salty-sweet balance as well.

So, it looks like we’ll need to return to get those Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings, right? And try out some other dishes. But before that; I think we’ll need to give Eastern Dynasty a revisit. Sometimes, it’s good to get out of your routine and try some different items. I need to thank “FOY” Kenneth for doing that for us!

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 230pm, 430pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 230pm, 430pm – 930pm

Fish With You Weather?

I know, I just did a post on Fish With You like three months ago! But the recent rainy and cooler weather had the Missus craving the Signature Suan Cai. The Missus simply told me She wanted “The Fish”. Which caught me off guard. You see, whenever the phrase “The Fish” was uttered by Her it meant HFS at Centerpark. So, I said “it’s kinda cold and wet….you want poke?” She looked at me in disbelief and said, “no, that’s DA FISH….I want THE FISH!” Sigh…..

So, we headed on over to “The Fish” and ordered our usual, the Signature Suancai & Fish. Which at $26.95. rice is still free; kind of a rarity these days. A good amount of numbing peppercorn this time around. Nice ma-la. The fish was tender with no off flavors.

There’s that that suan-tian-ku-la-xian thing going on.

And of course, there’s leftovers. Now, in previous posts I noted to take out all the chilies before packing for takeout. Unless you wanted it really spicy. The longer the formerly dried chilies sit, the more impact it will have. On our recent visits, there’s another change. We’ve noticed that the snakehead changes texture when eaten later on….so now, just to add another layer…..we consume all the snakehead.

And add soft tofu to the leftovers….

Which turns out to be a good way to eat the leftovers.

With prices these days; getting the most for your money is quite important to us, but we still want to enjoy those meals as well. And at $26.95 for two meals (with the addition of the tofu)…well, that almost seems like a bargain these days, right?

Fish With You
3904 Convoy St. #101
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1130am – 10pm

What have you been eating with the recent influx of rain and cooler weather?

Circling Back to Noble Chef

We’ve been taking JJ on a road trip each month….as regular readers may note; I’m a bit behind on those posts. The last few have been trips to the “mountains”….so, what does the Missus want when we get back home? Well, Chinese of course!

I did take photos of two of those return to “home and get Her fix” visits. They are places I’ve posted on many, many times…… So here’s the first one.

I know I last did a post on Noble Chef in January, but we’ve mostly been doing takeout visits since we have JJ. But since the little squirt is getting a bit older now; we can head out and grab dinner on occasion. The last time we’d actually eaten in at Noble Chef was back in January of last year!

Noble Chef gets pretty busy for dinner these days and this visit was no different. We went with our “usual” items.

Like a half Roast Duck.

This was nicely flavored – five spice and all that. The skin was a bit softer than we prefer, but pretty good overall. And the leftovers did quite well.

The Missus ordered the Tofu with Salted Fish.

Nice funky-savory tones. That tofu was perfectly soft.

Of course, the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops were a must.

These were the best we’ve had in a while. Not overly thick, so ratio of crispy-crunchy to enjoyably toothsome was good. Salty-mildly spicy-peppery. Also did well in the air fryer the next day. I brushed off all the garlic and peppers so it would get that bitter burn and it was good.

And of course the Soy Sauce Chow Mien, a dish that takes me back to “small kid” time.

Shortage of green onions on this; but the noodles were a perfect al dente and evenly coated in soy sauce. Decent wok hay as well.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Noble Chef….I guess dining in is really the way to go if you have the time.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

London – Barshu

I had two specific meals in mind for our last day in London. Of course, with the Missus in tow, we had to have some Chinese food right? I also wanted to check out London’s Chinatown. I know that after our fairly mediocre visit to Dishoom, the Missus was a bit hesitant about my choices. But, there was one place I just needed to check out.

Folks who’ve read our little blog knows that one of my favorite cookbook writers is Fuchsia Dunlop. From the time I purchased Land of Plenty in 2005, I’ve enjoyed her cookbooks and writing style. And, I have made many items from or inspired from her cookbooks over the years. Several of which I’ve done posts on….though I do make adjustments for the Missus’s taste. As I’ve always noted, cookbooks are inspirations and guidelines for what I make. Anyway, I read way back in 2006, that Ms Dunlop had been a consultant with the Sichuan Restaurant Barshu in London and have been wanting to visit ever since. And finally, I had my chance.

Of course, the Missus wanted to walk the 2+ miles there from the hotel, but it was a mild winter day in London.

While walking thru Soho we passed the Chinese Church in London above. Formerly the Soho Baptist Chapel, according to it’s website, the Chinese Church in London was founded in 1950.

Barshu is located on Frith Street, one block from what is considered the Northern border of Chinatown.

There’s some modern interpretations of Sichuan here; but I really wanted to try some our favorite “foundational” Sichuan dishes.

Like the Dry Fried Green Beans with Minced Pork.

Whoa….a generous portion of minced pork on this. The beans were decently dry-fried. It could have used more garlic; but the texture was spot on. Decent porkiness and spice. This was quite nice.

The rice was fine as well.

Of course we had to try the Shui Zhu Niu Rou….the classic “water boiled beef”.

Really good ma-la…numbing “hot”. Almost perfect to my taste. The sauce was a bit on the “thinner” side, but packed with flavor…..great numbing-pungent tones, not overly salty, really delici-yoso! The beef could have been more velveted; but was quite tender.

The Fuqi Fei Pian was the only “clunker” for us.

While texturally, the tripe was nice and crunchy; this was almost bland. It really lacked the “la”, was not spicy enough.

The  Ko Shui Ji (Mouthwatering Chicken) was also spot on.

The chicken was nicely prepped, so tender, and full of poultry goodness. Nice balanced ginger-savory-pungent tones, with a hint of sweet-sourness.. Loved the ma-la as well. This is one of my favorite classic Sichuan dishes and Barshu delivered on this one.

This meal lived up to expectations and made us miss an old favorite of ours which has now been closed over a decade now! My how time flies.

If Barshu was in San Diego; we’d visit quite often.

Barshu Restaurant
28 Frith St.
London, United Kingdom

After lunch we decided to check out Chinatown.

She enjoyed checking out this Chinese Herb Shop – Beijing Tong Ren Tang. Which has many locations around the globe and quite a long history.

We then took a nice stroll from the Newport Place Gate.

Down Lisle Street.

Back around the other Gate.

Then thru the “heart” of Chinatown; Gerrard Street, making a loop, before heading back to the hotel.

We were really enjoying ourselves. And I was starting to get a bit excited about dinner!

Midweek Meanderings -China Quick Wok Becoming Fujiyame (Sp?) Ramen, Mikiya Replacing Shancheng Lameizi, and is Poppy Boba Closed?

Here’s a bunch of “stuffs” I noticed while driving around the last couple of weeks

China Quick Wok Becoming Fujiyame:

Driving thru Liberty Park Plaza, on the corner of Mt Etna and Genesee, I noticed some new signage on the long standing China Quick Wok, so I drove on over.

And yep; it looks like the shop is becoming something called Fujiyame – hmmm….not Fujiyama Ramen? Whoa, China Quick Wok has been here forever, I recall the last set of owners taking over in 2011?

4310 Genesee Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117

Mikiya Replacing Shancheng Lameizi:

This one was quite easy to see while driving down Convoy.

Shancheng Lameizi replaced Thai House in early 2022 if I’m not mistaken. Man, they didn’t last very long. Well, one chain is being replaced by another as Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House is moving in. I know they have locations in LA and also recall seeing one of their restaurants in HNL on Kapiolani. I know folks that really like the place. So, looks like Shabu Shabu replacing Hot Pot here?

4225 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Is Poppy Boba Closed?:

Taking the quick way home from Nijiya I passed by Poppy Boba Kitchen and noticed that the sign was gone. It was just after 11am, when they would usually be open.

It seems like they were closed? I believe they just opened like 7 months ago?

So, I did a quick search and Google and the four-lettered spot said Temporarily Closed? But why is the sign gone. And there was also this note.

Hmmm……temporarily closed for like 9-10 months? Perhaps someone is going to give birth perhaps?

It’s just kinda strange to have the sign gone though….

3538 Ashford St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Dao Xiang Noodle

**** Dao Xiang has closed and is now Spicy Duck Wang La Ya

Remember, I noticed back at the end of May that Dao Xiang Noodle was replacing Mama Lin’s in the Balboa 99 Ranch Market food court? Well, I noticed that the stand opened at 10am and waited a couple of weeks before checking them out.

I arrived at around 1015 and it looked like they were just getting set for the day. The menu was kind of “interesting”….

As were some of the “customers” milling around in the area at that time of the day.

I know I joked about Mama Lin’s selling everything from Corn Dogs to Ramen to Spam Musubi, which they spelled “Misubi”….and this menu actually did have Spam Musubi (would you believe the menu says $5 for a Spam Musubi?!?!?!) on it; at least the focus seemed on noodle, fried rice, and dumplings.

Now, thinking in terms of Dao Xiao Mian…..basically knife cut noodles; well you know I was going to order that, right? In the end, I decided on the Niu Rou Mian (Small – $12.50) and because I’m always interested in Jiaozi; I also ordered the Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($12.50).

The Niu Rou Mian was ok. The soup was too watery, lacking in beefiness, lots of white pepper and saltiness, but quite thin. The beef was quite chewy and lacking in flavor as well. The tendon was really crunchy chunks….not done to the buttery texture I prefer.

The saving grace of this bowl were the noodles; super bouncy, great texture, the definition of “QQ”.

As for the Jiaozi.

The wrappers were really thick and chewy. The filling was decently flavored, could have used more of the fragrant tones…sesame oil, ginger. Really coarse chop of the pork and napa cabbage making it also lean on the “chewy” side.

Overall, except for the knife cut noodles, fairly mediocre. Still, I wanted to do another visit. When I went for that visit, the place was strangely closed at past noon? This was when I ended up going to Potato Powder Love Noodle.

I had some shopping to be done the following weekend and when I peeked over at the food court Dao Xiang was open.

This time the Lu Rou Fan – Braised Pork Rice ($15.49) drew me in. Of course I’m still wishing for the Lu Rou Fan at Jin Feng in Taipei.

This was actually not bad. The rice was a bit on the hard side. Though the soy sauce eggs were nicely marinated, still warm, the yolks lovely.

The pork was on the chewy side, lacked the hint of anise-mild sweetness and of course the porkiness. Still, this was not terrible.

But not something I’d return for.

Still, I did return one more time. Because I saw this sign.

So, it looks like they make XLB….but it was only on weekends. Since I had shopping to do the follwoing weekend; I decided to try out the XLB ($13.99). I ordered it from the really nice guy working the counter. And since I was here; why not try the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($12.49)

The guy actually delivered my XLB to the table….and it looked really strange.

Good lord, this was more of a Baozi, with yeast raised dough! The filling was strange as it was braised pork….very tender, but obviously no porky soup.

Kinda mild in flavor but very tender. I looked at the menu on my way out and noticed they have a “Traditional” Braised Pork XLB, but it’s $14.99 and I was charged $13.99? So maybe the kitchen made a mistake? I really don’t consider any of this as traditional at all. It should be on the menu as a steamed baozi.

The Wings were “Salt & Pepper” in name only. As it was more soy sauce focused.

A bit too wet for my liking as the crispness faded quickly. The flesh very moist, the flavor fine, with a decent mildly sweet-savory tone.

Though like the XLB, not quite what I expected for Salt & Pepper Wings.

The visits were interesting. I’d return for those noodles for something else other than the NRM. With places like Me Sen at the Clairemont 99 Ranch location and Potato Powder Love Noodle opening here next to Dao Xiang, it seems we’re getting some interesting new places. Which I think is a good thing!

You can read about Soo’s visit to Dao Xiang here.

Dao Xiang Noodle
5950 Balboa Ave (Inside 99 Ranch Market)
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 8pm

Chicken Wing Wednesday – Wei Wei Asian Express

One of the things I’ve always loved about having this little ‘ole blog for all these years are…well you all! It’s the comments; the great emails, and of course, the recommendations! Admittedly, I’m sometimes a bit slow on the trigger, but I do try to keep track of things via and ever busy Google Map. Recently, I was craving Salt and Pepper Chicken wings. Of course, the usual suspects came to mind.

But then, I recalled some recommendations that I’d gotten years ago from two very dependable “FOYs”; Bruddah’s James and Jack for Wei Wei Express. So, instead of heading down to National City, I was off to Rolando and finding Wei Wei Express in a strip mall (of course), right off University.

I had arrived right at 11am and the place; which screamed “ABCDE” (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) was already looking pretty busy. There were four cooking stations going full blast.

The set-up is interesting as half of the restaurant seemed like a pick-up. storage area with just a couple of tables. Those boxes on the counter were for trays of food being prepared.

While the “nicer” (it’s all relative) tables were on the other side.

You can tell how much stuff comes out of here by taking a gander at the ceiling….

Anyway, the prices are quite reasonable. Figuring I needed some veggies to go with my wings; I ordered the Sautéed String Bean – the lunch special, which came with Fried Rice and a Veggie Egg Roll was just $8.45, a bargain these days.

It was simple fried rice…with just soy sauce, decently coated. The Veggie Egg Roll was terrible, chewy, no flavor.

The green beans were adequately fried, still had a nice crunch and snap, but a bit under seasoned, in need of more white pepper, salt, and garlic.

That lack of salt and garlic on the beans made me worry a bit about my Salt and Pepper Wings – 6 pieces, $9.49, but I shouldn’t have worried.

The wings were crunchy, though starting to get a bit soft after the 20 minute drive home. The seasoning was quite good…..Wei Wei does not use MSG….which I kind of liked as the wings had a decent amount of sodium. Very nicely flavored.

The flesh was moist with just the right amount of toothsomeness. No dark patches, no off flavors.

I enjoyed scooping up the chilies-green onions as it it added another layer of flavor. Of course, I preferred the wings to the drumettes.

So, I guess I really don’t need to head on down to National City or Chula Vista for my S&P Wings anymore? I was pleasantly surprised!

This also made me wonder about the local ABCDE restaurant fairly close by; which I haven’t been to since we first moved here over 20 years ago! Hmmm…….I need to be less of a snob with regards to ABC type places, huh?

And, of course I need to thank “FOYs” James and Jack for recommending this place!

Wei Wei Asian Express
6465 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Tues – Sun 11am – 9pm
Closed on Mondays

Diamond Palace Revisited

Recently, the Missus was craving some chicken feet. So after going thru some of the options for dim sum…..San Diego just doesn’t seem to cut with regards to dim sum….at least to the Missus and I. In the end, because we thought the shrimp based items were decent we decided to return to Diamond Palace.

We arrived at around 1030 and found the place empty.

Which might be great for other restaurants….but since DP still utilizes carts….well, it could mean many items aren’t available or you’d have to wait until they are.

Luckily, there was only one item we wanted that we had to wait for. And the Missus got Her Chicken Feet.

Which She said was better than what we had here before. Much more savory-soy sauce flavor. She enjoyed gnawing on these.

We saw an item not featured on the regular menu, the Shrimp-Fish Ball with Dried Scallop Sauce.

I’m usually not a fan of fishballs, but the addition of tender-sweet-succulent shrimp, along with the intense sweet-oceany and rich dried scallop potage, this was delici-yoso! The sort of sui mai-ish wrapper was fine and didn’t interfere with the dish. This was our favorite item of the meal.

Speaking of Siu Mai. We got the shrimp version. As with many DS places these days, all the items tend to be on the large side.

Like before; tender, sweet, and savory shrimp. Quite good.

I still think the wrappers on the Shrimp Har Gow are a bit too thick.

The filling was a bit too rubbery and on the dry side; though the “shrimpy” flavors came thru nicely.

The one item we were interested in trying was the Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Cake. This one we had to order off the menu. These were quite large as well.

The wrapper was a bit too chewy for us. But I really enjoyed the full on “chivey – shrimpness” of the filling. If you like the grassy-pungency of chives along with plump, sweet-savory shrimp, this one is for you.

Overall, an enjoyable dim sum meal. Like I mentioned earlier; we stick with the shrimp based items at Diamond Palace. Though if you find other items we should try; please let me know.

As for the prices……well, even after having the “Har Gow price shock” at China Max, I was still a bit taken aback at current dim sum prices here.

Diamond Palace
3993 54th St.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 10am – 9pm
Sat – Sun 930am – 9pm

Super Dumpling (Carmel Valley)

A few months back, I heard about a new XLB/Jiaozi restaurant opening in Carmel Valley named Super Dumpling. After doing a bit of research; I found that these were the folks who owned Sunny Noodle on Clairemont Mesa, which has since been replaced by Spicy Noodle. This kinda dampened the excitement a bit since I wasn’t overly impressed with my meal there. Though the jiaozi was ok, it was definitely not in the same league as Ju Feng Yuan or Lucious Dumpling (both of which I need to return to) in my opinion. Still, a couple of weeks passed and curiosity got the better of me (doesn’t it always?) and I had some time….even with the “crazy boy” at home to head on over to check the place out.

It was an interesting drive as I really don’t get to this area off the 56 very often. It was actually a pretty quick drive. The restaurant itself is located in a large mall with a good amount of parking available.

It was just past opening time as I entered and the simple, but spacious dining room was empty.

The two folks working were really friendly and I was led to a table. There’s also the very typical dumpling making area near the counter as well.

Of course I ordered the Pork and Cabbage Jiaozi ($12.95) and was wondering about the Popcorn Chicken ($10.95) as well since I find it hard to get a good version of that here in San Diego.

The dumplings arrived in a few minutes. This was actually better than what I’d had at Sunny Noodle; though the wrappers were on the thick and brittle side thus tearing easily.

The filling was on the dry – chewy side of the scale, fairly porky, with hints of sesame oil.

Overall, not bad; though I still prefer what Ju Feng Yuan and Lucious Dumpling serves. It does seem like jiaozi is stepping up here in San Diego. My good friend “YZ” had warned me that when she visited, you could tell the jiaozi were frozen. I’m thinking that the filling might indicate that.

As for the Popcorn Chicken. Well, it was quite a large portion.

More like chicken strips than “popcorn chicken”, the batter was mealy – crunchy and somewhat hard, on the salty side with a strong pepperiness.

Though the meat had nice soy sauce – seasoning tones; the chicken itself was really tough.

Still looking for some good Popcorn Chicken here in SD.

Really nice service and the prices were not bad; so I decided to return.

This time I got the Garlic Fried Chicken Wings (6pc – $12.95). They should have called with “Sodium Bomb” chicken wings….good lord and if the chicken wasn’t salty enough, the wings were topped with even more salt! There was a chili based powder provided as well.

The batter was fairly crunchy and fell apart easily. The flesh was moist, but had so much blackish meat. It was hard getting past how salty this was.

Every so often, I get distracted by those “shiny things”…..I had meant to try the Xiao Long Bao here. And I did get XLBs…but while I should have acted rationally; like I did trying the basic jiaozi, I ended up ordering the “Signature” Xiao Long Bao ($19.95). I haven’t had much luck with these “variety” XLBs; if it be locally at Facing East or even in Taipei at Dian Shui Lou. But still, here I went and ordered it.

Yes, quite colorful. And I took some comfort knowing that all the coloring was “natural”, even the blue on the Chicken and Corn XLB, is supposedly made by red cabbage…..why it’s blue…well, you got me?

And which was the best? Well, obviously what I should have gotten in the first place; the Pork XLB.

It didn’t have a whole lot of soup and the wrappers were on the firm and brittle side; like the jiaozi…I prefer my XLB to have a more “pillowy” wrapper. But the filling was quite porky, with hints of what seemed like ginger.

The Chicken and Corn XLB was also not bad – even though that neon-ish color seemed a bit disturbing.

My least favorite were the Korean BBQ Beef XLB which had no soup and was really tough and the Black Truffle; I really couldn’t make out truffle flavor.

The two crab versions were not bad; but nothing to write home about.

I’m glad I got to check out Super Dumpling. Though now I really need to head back to Ju Feng Yuan and Lucious Dumplings.

Speaking of Ju Feng Yuan; I’m wondering if my two “FOYs” who recommended JFY; SD Julie and RD have checked this place out; and if so, what are your thoughts?

And for another view on Super Dumpling, you can check out Soo’s post as well.

Super Dumpling
3870 Valley Centre Drive #301
San Diego, CA 92130
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
Fri – Sun 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm

Fish With You Revisited

Yep, the Missus wanted to get one more visit in before the weather got too hot for Suan Cai Soup….so here's a quick post, cause it's kinda too hot for me to be sitting in front of the PC right now!

Fish With You has become a favorite of the Missus since they opened back in April. Over time, we've settled on the Signature Suancai & Fish…..

Fish With Circle 01

And just split a large order ($26.95).

Fish With Circle 02

Sour-puckery suan cai, tender snakehead, the peppers aren't overwhelming….but as I noted before, if you've got leftovers to take home; remove those chilies before packing it unless you want a nice "spice bomb" when you heat it up, you'll come across a peppercorn once in a while. It's a fairly hearty dish with that suan-tian-ku-la-xian thing pairs well with rice.

And on this day, they nice young folks that work here gave us some Bingfen ("Ice Jelly") for dessert.

Fish With Circle 03

So refreshing!

With the upcoming hot weather, we'll put Fish With You on the sidelines for a bit….but will make sure to return once things cool off!

Fish With You
3904 Convoy St. #101
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1130am – 10pm

I'm wondering if you've been able to check this place out and if so; what your thoughts were?