Chinese Restaurants – Page 43

Roadtripping mmm-yoso style – revisits to some of our favorites: Song Long (Westminster), Tasty Noodle House and Hunan Chilli King (San Gabriel) and take out from Shufeng Garden (Rowland Heights)

April 27, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

I've taken folks on various roadtrips before and have even explained my strategy to folks….you need to have a basic plan of eating….what needs to be consumed right away and what you can take home, something that might even taste better later. You have to approach things with a rather balanced approach….you can't be like PeterL, who tasted a beef roll for the first time and just went after it,even when I told him we'd be getting another; possibly an even better version later…..which of course, he was too full to eat, along with the Xiao Long Bao, Shenjian Bao, etc, etc…. Just because he got greedy.

A recent, really fun roadtrip is a good example of the fun we have. We did a good deal of shopping in between meals and the Missus and I had a blast….and lots of left-overs to boot. I won't delve too much into the food since these are places I've posted on at least twice before.

Song Long – Cha Ca Thang Long for breakfast:

So this is enough for the two of us………

As I've mentioned in previous posts, this place has become a favorite of the Missus. They open early; we hit them up at just after 9am and the place was empty. For some reason the Missus really likes the Banh Trand Me here and will eat it up before the Cha Ca arrives.

We like this version of cha ca thang long…..but it really won't keep so we had this for breakfast.

The one thing being that the mam nem is the gift that keeps on giving….as in every time you burp, you'll be reminded of what you had for breakfast….until lunch of course.

Song Long Restaurant
9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108
Westminster, CA 92683

Tasty Noodle House – for my favorite Tianjin Baozi:

So, in my mind jiaozi, xiao long bao, and to a certain extent shenjian bao will not keep. Baozi is kinda iffy; it won't be quite as good, but can be passable. For me; the version at Tasty Noodle House is my current favorite. After going about taking care of shopping and stuff we made it to this part of San Gabriel….even with all the detours and road closures by 11am. It's a tiny restaurant, so it can get filled quite quickly.

For me, the item here is the Tianjin Baozi….but the Missus felt guilty about just ordering one item for the both of us, so we started with some Fried Intestine….hey, who doesn't love fried intestine?

Somewhere between 2006 and 2009, I really developed a taste for deep fried pork rectum…to the point that the Missus says when I die, I'll be headed to the "giant chitlin in the sky". These were crisp and easy to eat; though I'm not a big fan of dipping it into hoisin sauce.

There's something wonderfully yeasty about these that just takes me back to China. The bun is light and not too sweet; there's just a bit more than a smear of meat but it is also very light…..there's a nice ginger flavor that comes through which really refreshes the palate.

Tasty Noodle House
827 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

When we start thinking in terms of "what's next", it's items that can either: keep real well, or have really assertive flavors. On this trip it meant…..

Hunan Chilli King – almost five years later:

It's been a while since we'd been here…….this is where I first understood what the term "big spicy" really meant. I also remember getting "maced" by the leftovers that I heated in the microwave. I'd been craving spicy food recently; the Sichuan in San Diego is quite timid and doesn't cut it, so it was time to return.

We started with the basic "three steamed meats"…..

See the chili seeds? This was kind of spicy and was what we called a two out of three…the smoked pork (la rou) was excellent; the chicken (how lamented that they don't seem to serve duck anymore) was good, but the fish was really hard and chewy…..it was actually better then next day.

The one dish we were wondering about is a favorite of the Missus. It was a dish simply called "steamed eggplant" on the menu, but was so good that I've made this a couple of times. It has not quite reached the heights of the dish as made at Hunan Chill King though. However, it had been quite a while since we had it and wondered if it had withstood the test of time.

Well, it has….though it wasn't quite as salty as we recalled. It was also really spicy when we had the leftovers the next day…..still a great dish though.

As a bonus; we got our fun "San Gabriel sign" fix here as well.

Hunan Chilli King
524 East Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Shufeng Garden – my take-out go to joint:

**** Shufeng Garden has closed

We had to stop by Rowland Heights on the way back to San Diego….so it made sense to stop by a take-out favorite of mine; Shufeng Garden. For some reason, it was really quite on this day.

There are basically two dishes I get from here….and perhaps some Liang Cai (cold dishes), we really need to stop by for a sit down meal again someday, but it's always the situation of "so many places to try….so little time".

Anyway, for us it's the Tea Smoked Duck:

And the Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce.

This makes for some really good take-out….though I think Sammy may disagree…….

I guess he doesn't have quite the same taste in spicy foods as we do!

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Thanks for reading!

On a beautiful day like today, why are you reading a food blog? Sichuan Liang Mian from Dede’s and Fu An Garden and one other you’re sure to know.

April 14, 2014 mmm-yoso Burgers, Chinese Restaurants, yoso-silly

Honestly……it's such a beautiful day, why would you read our humble little blog? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't….really! Plus, there's a Blood Moon Eclipse tonight.

Ever since Ba Ren closed, I've been looking for a good Sichuan Liang Mian, the wonderful, spicy cold noodle dish, which has become comfort food for me. It's a simple combination of ingredients working in harmony, creating a deceptively complex balance of the "suan (sour) – tian (sweet) – ma (numbing) – la (hot) – xian (salty). I had recently tried the version at Spicy City, which wasn't very good, so I thought I'd check out Dede's, it had been a while, and also Fu An Garden.

Dede's:

*** Dedes' has closed

Man, this was a total fail.

The noodles were mushy and the sauce watery and insipid. This had too much vinegar and in spite of the looks really lacked the spice…..probably because it was so watered down.

I've got another post on a better meal at Dede's lined up, but this was terrible.

Dede's
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Fu An Garden:

*** 07/06/2016 Fu An is now Fuan Seafood

*** Fuan has closed

While the flavor was pretty close during my last visit and the noodles terrible, this was an improvement.

Looking at this…well, I had my doubts…too pale, too much peanuts, where's the flavor? But I was wrong, all it needed was a good mix. The noodles were vastly improved, though in our opinion, the flavor still falls short….not enough "ma", not enough "suan", not spicy (la) enough……just not enough. Sad really, since the chef here used to be the #2 man at Ba Ren.

Fu An Garden
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

In retrospect, perhaps just the simple item to the right will do tonight. The also deceptively simple hàn bǎo bāo. Might be nice to grab a couple hàn bǎo bāo from jìnchū……sorry bad translation, perhaps someone can let me know what it should be called in pinyin. Anyway, grab a couple and go watch the "Blood Moon"……. You know, there's a punchline in there somewhere.

Have a great week!

Midweek Meanderings: Gourmet City opens and Tajima Ramen Bar coming to Hillcrest

April 2, 2014 mmm-yoso Buffets, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants

Gourmet City:

Funny, the other afternoon I was driving back from Zion Market with the Missus and I noticed that the old….and really bad VIP Oriental Buffet was gone and something called Gourmet City has taken its place.

Funny, I pass this area almost daily; sometimes 4-5 times in a day, and I never even noticed this place. The Missus said that it looks like an all you can eat hot pot/buffet place. If I recall the space is huge. "All you cannot eat" just isn't my style….so I'll wait and see what other folks think.

Gourmet City
5541 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

They even have a website

Tajima Ramen Bar coming to Hillcrest:

As mentioned in Eater San Diego; Tajima has picked up the lease. I was in the area and took a look.

And sure enough, there it was on the ABC application – "Tajima Ramen Bar". I'm sure our good FOY, "PedMa" will have something to say about this one.

So how many different businesses in the last couple of years….Yakyudori – Raku – Tecchan, and now Tajima. I hope they stick around for a while.

3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Have a great week everyone!

Jin’s Pot

March 31, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

***Update: Jin's Pot has closed and is now Xian Kitchen ***

I was quite fascinated by the opening of Jin's Pot; serving Yunnan Cuisine here in San Diego. Admittedly, I really don't know a great deal about true Yunnan cuisine as most of the places I've been to even in the SGV, seem to be a combination of Sichuan….or perhaps it is Northern Yunnan which borders Sichuan, cuisine. With over 20 different indigenous ethnic groups in the "Kingdom of Animal and Plants", Dian Cai, the cuisine of Yunnan seems to be quite diverse.

I first visited a couple of days after I did that midweek post. The place was really empty; the older gentleman who greeted me, hardly spoke English, but seemed very nice. Eventually, a younger man entered, very friendly, and things got under way.

Things started with some boiled peanuts….not too salty and pretty good overall.

The one Yunnan Dish that I have had several itmes is the well known Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodle ($11.99).

I must admit, just like Kirbie it seems like there was quite a bit more to this compared to versions I had before. Thinly sliced chicken breast, mushroom-pork "meatball", bean curd skin, all went nicely with the dish….the luncheon meat wasn't Spam, I'm kinda wondering if this was a substitute for the famous xuānwēi tuǐ – the prize winning ham of the region?

The soup was fairly hearty, with a decent salt content, being a bit higher in fat and collagen it retained heat quite well. The rice noodles also held up well.

This was a pretty decent bowl of noodle soup, though not worth the $11.99 price, even with a 10% grand opening discount, I thought it over-priced. Consider that you can get a Kotteri Tonkotsu with a side of Kakuni Pork from Yamadaya for the same price….

A few weeks later, my coworkers, "YZ" and Lily were nice enough to join me for lunch. Since YZ is from Shanghai and Lily from Shanxi, we'd have no translation problems.

We started with a "Cold Dish Combo" ($11.99), various liang cai.

This really wasn't a good value……the bean curd was bland and terrible, the stewed beef (in the back) was the best of the bunch….but we found the flavor to be on the mild side.

We were told that the "Sour" version of the hot pot was the best so we went with that.

It was kind of scummy, but the flavor was decent, very similar to the broth for the Crossing the Bridge noodles, though not as thick ….not too salty, nor too sour, good white pepper, fairly hearty….YZ enjoyed it the most.

I had read that papaya is used quite extensively in Yunnan cuisine……because we had ordered the hot pot, I decided we should have the stir fried chicken with papaya.

This dish seemed very homestyle. The flavor was sharp and sour, but nothing really stood out. Some pieces of the chicken were on the tough and dry side and the dish had a certain greasiness to it.

The meal came out to $38, kind of pricey for what we got…..I wouldn't complain if the preparation and execution of the dishes was top notch, I'm all about quality trumping quantity, but this was pretty simple homestyle food and thus fell short in both the quality and value category.

The young man serving us was very nice; though I don't think we'll be back anytime soon.

Jin's Pot
4690 Convoy St. Suite B109
San Diego, CA 92111

You cna read Kirbie's post here.

Midweek Meanderings: Ready for Cowboy Beer Restaurant (????), Bun Bo Hue (aka Mien Trung) weather, and “Dirty Chip”

March 26, 2014 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Chinese Restaurants, yoso-silly

Some odds and ends for "hump day"……

Cowboy Beer Restaurant?:

Driving on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard the other day, I turned on Diane Avenue, much like I did in 2003, and just like then, a sign caught my eye. However, I don't think this will turn out to be much like the restaurant wqe saw that day, which turned out to be Ba Ren. Instead, this place is becoming something called "Cowboy Beer Restaurant", really? Say it isn't so……

Say those three words slowly, cowboy……beer….restaurant and try to make heads or tails of it.

After Ba Ren and before this, the place was a "Hunan" (please take into consideration the quotation marks) restaurant trying to disguise itself as a Sichuan shop.

I actually visited…once. I tried to order some of the dishes on the menu, Steamed Preserved Meat and Suan Do Jiao Chao La, among others….no bueno….you gotta be kidding.

I ended up getting a mediocre rendition of La Rou Chao – the one classic Hunan dish they actually seemed to have.

The preserved (smoked) pork – La Rou (waxy meat) was terrible. It had that slight camphor like flavor and the hard texture of something from a package. The stir fry technique was terrible, some of the vegetables were still raw…..it was also bland….very bland, which Hunan cooking is not!

Sad……

So now I'm sitting here wondering if a place called Cowboy Beer Restaurant will actually be an improvement……..

4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Am I the only one glad the weather is kind of cool and gloomy right now?:

Except for the weekend after Thankgsgiving and one wet weekend, we seemed to have totally skipped winter. So I'm kind of glad the weather is cooler, with a chance of rain (which we really need). Much like the seasonal rain totals, my ramen totals are down this season.

I'm going to try to take advangtage of this….we started last night with some Bun Bo Hue.

From you know where, right?

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Dirty Chip?:

So said the sign…….

Man, this made me crack up. Two words….so many possibly implied meanings?

Hope you're having a great week!

Roadtrip: Koi Palace (Daly City) 17 years later

March 19, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Road Trip, San Francisco and Silicon Valley

In 1996 I had a meal that changed my view of dim sum. I had grown up eating the typical, run of the mill stuff back home in Honolulu, siu mai, char siu bao, blah, blah, blah…..I was in San Francisco, had a car, and decided to visit this new (at that time) Chinese Restaurant that was supposed to be "possibly" the best in the country. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But I'll say this much, that visit to Koi Palace changed the way I looked at dim sum, in terms of quality, flavor, and how things were put together. I'd longed to return. In fact, I once mentioned Koi Palace to a supposed "foodie", who looked at me, laughed, and said, you're "the only person I know who wants to go to Daly City and eat"….such was the depth and breath of much of San Diego when I arrived here in 2001. Gladly, much has changed since then…..and so have I. So when we made plans for this little road trip, I really wanted to see Koi Palace circa 2013. I also wanted to share that experience with the Missus.

We arrived just before opening. Folks were already milling around just inside the door. When they started seating, all the "Popo's" pushed to the front of the crowd….it was chaos; though controlled chaos, as the host had kept track of who was in line and ignored the folks who cut in front of the line.

17, almost 18 years, is a lot of water under the bridge, and I have to say the place really shows its age; dark, somewhat dank, scuffed tables…well, I felt right at home. The Missus on the other hand, "the best dim sum in the states, huh?"

We started things off with the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with XO Sauce:

In many ways this was just perfect; the shrimp plump, full of flavor, steamed to perfection, the XO sauce added that wonderful, deep savory flavor….the much over-used "umami". My biggest problem with this were the wrappers, too thick, too sticky, and falling to pieces when you picked it up with chopsticks….the juices leaked onto the table….of course, this is Koi Palace, so they just placed the next dish right on the oil slick.

I have a rule, "never order Xiao Long Bao at a Cantonese Dim Sum chop", but I broke that rule after seeing Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao on the menu. And I'm glad I did.

This was very good. The dough was just chewy enough, the filling had a wonderful balance of sweetness, which wasn'y cloying, along with pork tones. There was enough "soup" to keep me happy. And yes, you definitely could taste the crab in this. I'm glad we ordered it.

We also ordered the Seafood Pan Fried Noodles, which was good, but not great.

The cooking technique of the seafood was excellent….down to the the oft mishandled squid which was very tender. The sauce/gravy was really bland and there was too little of it and some parts of the noodles were hard instead of crisp.

The Turnip Cakes were average.

The texture was too gummy, like too much flour was used. Not much flavor; I think we make better at home, though that XO sauce that came with it was killer……

The other dish that was "killer", though not in a good way was the Cheong Fun with Fried Fish Filet. It sounded like a good idea, but was a mistake in retrospect.

I've noticed this fad recently, especially at Sichuan Restaurants where fish filets are being coated with a sweet flour, that reminds me of artificially sweet cake mix. It's not a pleasant flavor to us and this was no exception. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed that. The sauce(balanced salty and sweet) and the rice flour roll(thin and of perfect texture) were excellent, but that fish and the batter was just not our thing.

Things ended on a high note though, as you can see.

This wonderful example of porky beauty is the Koi Palace Suckling Pig. It ain't cheap at $18, but I'd pay that much just for the skin, which was just spot on, perfect in texture….light, crisp, swiney deliciousness. The meat itself was on the chewy side, but the pork flavor was just so good. I hadn't eaten swine so good since we got back from Pork-u-all, ummm Portugal. This is the real deal…..

I think the place needs to be freshened up a bit, that carpet looks like it hasn't been cleaned since 1996. Perhaps more effort goes into their other location(s).The service was pretty good, efficient, non-intrusive……

As to what the Missus thought about Koi Palace, "I expected more, I think Sea Harbour in Rosemead is better…." I read some time ago that Jonathan Gold was of the opinion that Koi Palace was the best "Hong Kong style restaurant in the US"…..or something like that. Personally, I'm not so sure…..but that suckling pig was really good….

But in response to the person who made that remark about Daly City all those years ago, "yes, Daly City is a great spot to find good eats; just ask the hundreds of thousands who've been to Koi Palace."

Koi Palace
365 Gellert Blvd
Daly City, CA 94015

Revisits – Keeping Cool While Turning Up the Heat: Spicy City and Buga

March 18, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

I've been fighting this head cold for the last couple of days…….my head aches, I keep coughing, I sound like Barry White; though a phlegmy, very unromantic version….. Soup seems like the most obvious remedy, but man, it's been pretty warm. For some reason, I wanted something with a bit of spice, so……..

Spicy City:

I've been back a couple of time since my last post and it seems like gone to a change of ownership a couple of times too???? Or is it that they just can't hang on to a chef?

Still, it had been a while, maybe two years or so since I last stepped through those doors and laid my arms on those sticky table covers.

Having a cold hasn't dampened my appetite, though the coughing fits have.

I started with a nice variety of Liang Cai – cold dishes:

the pig ears were the best item; you don't have to worry too much about the flavoring; it's about prepping and cutting it at the right thickness. This was nice a crunchy. The flavoring for the cucumbers was kind of weak and listless and the Fu Qui Fei Pian was cut too thickly, lacking Sichuan peppercorn, and was really weak in the flavor department.

I just wanted something to wake up my tastebuds and went with one of my "comfort dishes" – Sichuan Liang Mian – Sichuan Cold Noodles.

First the good, nice heat, the texture of the noodles was decent. Now, the not so good; the sauce was really thin and runny, lacking in the "good stuff", (i.e. sesame paste, black vinegar). There was a ton of peanuts though…… Just mediocre overall.

Spicy City Chinese Restaurant
4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Buga:

I was just trying to get my sinuses cleared up and though some Bibim Naengmyun might do the job, so it was off to Buga.

I gotta say, even though the panchan isn't even close to what it was during Buga's heyday, it was still much better than it was during our last visit.

The Missus, as is Her habit, ordered the Yukwe Bi Bim Bap, which now comes with rice on the side. Do you notice another change?

Compare it with the photo here and tell me if you notice a difference? Yep, no more raw egg…I'm wondering if the DOH came down on them or what?

My Naengmyun was flavored well…….

Decent spice, savory, sweet, sour….but those darned noodles were way under prepared…..I'm used to the nice stretchy starch noodles, but man, this was like trying to eat rubber-bands….nicely flavored rubber-bands….but still.

Anyway, the Missus enjoyed Her dish, me, well, I've had better here. But I left with my sinuses a bit less congested, for a short while.

Buga Korean Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Speaking of Barry White….well, we were speaking of Barry White weren't we?

After all, it's always a good time for a little Barry White, right?

Circling back to Dumpling Inn

March 11, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

There are a handful of restaurants that I've been kind of down on for the last couple of years and Dumpling Inn is one of them. My last couple of visits a couple of years ago just weren't satisfying and the the restaurant's namesake….namely Jiaozi went severely downhill after the owner opened, then sold the Dragon's Den. Even before then, the only dumpling worth my while at Dumpling Inn was the shrimp and chive version…..of course, the Missus, with Her QingDao heritage won't touch any of the jiaozi here with a ten foot pole(though She tells me I'm more picky than She is)….my coworker "YZ" once even told me, "you know, that's really NOT Chinese food….." And yet, the place is beloved by many….though I will say, I did not see a single Chinese customer during any of my three visits. I'm sure they come here, but I never saw a single one. Still, I thought I really needed to circle back here and give the place an honest try……

And I thought the Shrimp and Chive Jiaozi was the way to go, which is over eight bucks now ($8.25).

So where to start…..I usually begin with the wrapper, but why not go to the miniscule amount of filling in these….very bland, even with chives, it's literally the size of a dime. I'm going to start calling this place "Dime-pling Inn". The wrappers were too gummy for my tastes are really not very good.

Then there's the Xiao Long Bao ($7.75), which folks rave about…..which is actually better than any of the jiaozi.

Dough has that uneven, sometime's hard texture of something that's been frozen for a bit. The top of the folds are hard, not enough soup, quite bland, if this is the best that San Diego has to offer……..

I'd rather hold out for one of my trips to the SGV……

Black vinegar is not the standard here, you need to ask for it. They treat it like elixir of the gods. As soon as you pour some into the dish, they immediately whisk it away….kind of funny actually.

Still, I know someone who loves this place and during a discussion he convinced me to really give it a try here, putting aside all manner of dumplings and actually try some of cooked dishes. Fair enough, so I went with the dish he considers the best here on my next visit, the Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce, now this is "lunch size", but not really what I consider "lunch priced" at $9.75.

First the fish, the batter was kind of greasy, like it was fried in oil at too low a temp. The fish was moist and tender though. My big question is "where's the black bean sauce"? There was so little of it, you can easily see that whomever made this didn't coat the fish very well. Vegetables almost raw. However, as a consolation prize, the rice was perfect. In total, on the bland side……

Still, I decided to give it one more go….this time ordering one dish I'd really enjoyed on previous visits and another I'd never had here.

First something on the menu I'd never had Satay Lamb with Chinese Greens ($12.75).

The Sa Cha sauce was really mild, lacking in a deep savory flavor that I like. Nice good portion of Gailan, done well. The lamb was "wok'd" quite well, very tender, but this was really too mild for my taste. Still, this was the best dish I had overall……

Mostly because the Jellyfish Salad ($8.25), an old favorite of mine surprisingly came out near the end of my meal; I thought they'd forgotten, but here it was…..

I kind of wish they had forgotten about this as the sauce tasted watered down and there was still an astringent flavor, mildly reminiscent of acetone, telling me that this was hastily prepared. A ig disappointment.

It would be easy enough for me to close the book on Dumpling Inn, but I saw something that would at least bring me back eventually. As I was eating, a gentleman in a wheelchair came in, apparently he was a regular as all the ladies here knew him. They sat him at a table, went to the back and returned with a ziploc with what looked like custom eating utensils that he could use…..I guess he really is a regular! This brought a smile to my face…maybe I'm not the biggest fan of the food here, but I'll surely support a place that takes care of their regulars. So I guess I'll be back……someday.

Dumpling Inn
4619 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Meanderings: Jin’s Pot opens and Happy Family returns

February 5, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants

Jin's Pot opens in Plaza del Sol:

Aka in back of China Max and a few doors down from Spicy City.

I read this in Eater San Diego and was passing by during lunch so I took a quick swing past the shop.

My sources and the menu does indicate Yunnan….even though Jin's Karaoke is right next door…I'm thinking that must be a coincidence?

The prices seem kind of steep, though they have lunch specials.

They also have a 10% off grand opening special…..might not be for long, the "sign" is in marker…..

They weren't open yet on this day, so I'll just drop by later. A funny thought crossed my mind, if this was anywhere else but Convoy, a shop with the name Jin's Pot would have a total different connotation.

Jin's Pot
4690 Convoy St. Suite B109
San Diego, CA 92111

Happy Family reopens in UMart:

Well, I've been kind of keeping tabs one what's going on in the gigantic space inside UMart. There are a couple of non-food shops in the old Zion Market food court area. Happy Family, whom Cathy posted on has made a return, joining Big Joy Bakery.

Things have been moving kind of slowly here, I hope business and businesses pick-up.

Happy Family (Inside UMart)
4611 Mercury Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Revisits: Fu An, 777 Noodle House, and Song Long (Westminster)

January 21, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are a bunch of revisits for you…….

Fu An:

**** Fu An has closed

Since I first posted on this place right after their opening in September, I've been back a couple of times. I really hadn't bothered to take any photos until a recent visit with some friends. This visit clearly shows what I think the "state of Fu An's" is.

First, I've always gotten very friendly service, the folks here seem really nice. The food on the other hand has been uneven.

The batter on Shrimp with Exploding Pepper was on the soft and gummy side. It also strangely lacked spice.

The Fried Intestines with Dried Red Pepper, one of my favorite dishes here was nicely fried, but again, really lacked the "ma", the numbing hot that makes this dish so addictive.

As with previous visits; it's the Steamed Fish Filet with Green Onions and Chopped Chilies was the best item we had.

Though it too seemed a bit mild with regards to heat.

Strange, the diners who accompanied me were both Chinese, one of whom worked for a short while at Ba Ren and we had asked for spicy. But this came up a bit short. Kind of sad really. We have a good amount of Sichuan restaurants in San Diego, but none seems to take the lead with regards to the whole "suan–tian–ku-mala–xian" and top notch technique. I was hoping that Fu An would step up.

Fu An Garden
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

777 Noodle House:

It's really hard to argue with the prices here. The food itself can be quite good.

The Missus' favorite here is still the Tod Mun Pla. It has a very distinct Kaffir Lime Leaf flavor.

She actually prefers the version here to what the Original Sab E Lee serves.

When not getting the Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho or the Intestine Noodle Soup, I'll usually go with the Intestine with Preserved Vegetable.

I've noticed that they've started adding more sour vegetable over the years and making this a bit more spicy. I'm not complaining.

The place also makes a decent, old school, "count every grain" of fried rice.

I've found the beef to be tough and the chicken to be somewhat suspect, so we stick with the shrimp version.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Song Long (Westminster):

Last year, FOY (Friend of Yoso) Kha, recommended Song Long to us for Cha Ca. And he wasn't kidding. We were recently in the area again and on a whim decided to drop by.

We arrived pretty early, about a quarter past 9, which made the place look like some strange, kind of kitschy VN-american diner. We only ordered one thing, the Cha Ca Thang Long ($16.95).

Man, the mam nem here is pretty heady….it's delicious, the Missus can practically drink the stuff, but man, it really is the gift that keeps on giving, as that aftertaste will stay with you for a while.

In what was a funny little vignette, a couple minutes after the greens and bun arrived, I think the guy working realized we weren't Vietnamese and brought over a bowl of nouc mam cham….we had been "gringo'ed!"

When the Cha Ca arrived I sat in awe……this looked way better than what we had last time. It was also delicious.

From the wonderful sweet and savory sauteed shallots, to the wonderful dill, moving to the moist and flavorful fish….not to mention the wilted scallions, this was quite good.

Needless to say, we're thinking about returning again soon….I hope it's always this good!

Song Long Restaurant
9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108
Westminster, CA 92683