Chinese Restaurants – Page 52

Chicken Wing Thing: BBQ Chicken, Golden City, Homestyle Hawaiian, and Empirehouse Urban Palate

Wow, it’s almost been a year since I did my last “Chicken Wing Thang” post, I guess I better do some catching up. Here’s a round-up of some (but not all) of the chicken wings I’ve had since then.

BBQ Chicken:

As a whole, I’m not a big fan of B(est of the) B(est) Q(uality) Chicken, I’ve found the the flavor, and Q(uality) just wasn’t the B(est) I guess. I’ve been back a couple of times since my post back in 2008, and am really just not wowed by the chicken.

However, a couple of years back…… yes, I can’t remember where I park my car in the morning, but when it comes to food my memory is sometimes quite sharp. I recall a conversion with my good FOY (friend of yoso) Howie, who passed on a terrible tale of having to eat the Sweet and Spicy wings from BBQ Chicken. He likened the experience to being helpless in the grasp of sticky napalm, unable to move with sauce burning a hole on his face and his fingers in fire. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair…. sorry Howie, I know it ain’t right to laugh at someone else’s misfortunes, but the expression on your face as you told us the story was priceless!

And after all those years, I decided to give those wings a try. First off, you gotta remember, this ain’t fast food, even though it looks like it. It’ll take a good 20-30 minutes or more for your chicken…..which is why I thought it was really funny when they actually had a drive-thru. They don’t have one any longer do they? It was pretty late when I got there, so I didn’t notice. Anyway, the wings aren’t cheap at almost ten bucks…..at ten wings, they’ve crossed into “Kyochon” pricing territory.

I will say the wings are pretty large and the bright red color looked quite impressive. Though I’m fine with smaller wings since the skin to meat ratio is sometimes better.

The chicken had retained a good deal of crunch on the drive home, and as I mentioned before these were some pretty hefty wings. In terms of flavor, these are more spicy and sticky wings……upfront spicy, kind of sweet, but lacking in any real savory component. The lack of of complexity in the flavor really makes this a one trick pony…. it is spicy (though not even close to Quaker Steak and Lube), but that’s about it in my opinion. It just seems to need something more and lacks that “I need to keep eating because I think they put crack in these wings” factor.

At a dollar a wing this really ain’t worth it in my book.

BBQ Chicken
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Golden City:

**** Golden City has closed

You know after all my posts on Golden City you knew that someday I’d have to relent and actually try the salt and pepper chicken wings here, even though I really didn’t have a good feeling about it. So here it is, in its bitter garlic, kinda soggy, dry meat glory.

Not enough salt, or I daresay MSG, hardly any spice……… it won’t keep me from ordering Kwai Fei Chicken that’s for sure…..

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

Homestyle Hawaiian:

Say what? Yes, according to the sign it said Salt n’ Pepper Chicken Wings. And Mo couldn’t wait to have me try them…..

At the time I tried them; this was late last year, about the time I had the Roast Pork Loco Moco, I thought they needed a bit more leavening since they got soggy fairly quickly. The flavor had an interesting sweet tone, but not enough salt…. Mo did tell me, that at that time he wasn’t using MSG….. Needed some kick to it as well. I believe that the price is now $7.50, but I did see these still on the menu.

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Empirehouse Urban Palate:

**** Empirehouse has closed

A FOY asked me to check out the Red Miso BBQ Wings ($7) at Empire House Urban Palate, a newer restaurant located at 127 University, a location that has been through several restaurants in recent years. Ed from Yuma did a post on The Better Half which was in this location a couple of years back. Taking a cue from the various back to comfort food style cuisine that is big in gastropubs and fusion style food typical of food trucks, this place serves a line-up of burgers, hot dogs, along with chicken karaage, tacos, and of course chicken wings. Kind of an interesting stretch….. and a lot of territory to cover.

But this is a chicken wing post, so let’s get down to those wings.

These weren’t bad by any stretch of the imagination…. I just wish that there had been a bit more imagination…. these tasted more like a usual BBQ sauce, with perhaps a touch of Hoisin for some very mild beany savory flavor and sweetness. Where was the deep salty-savory flavor of Aka miso? The wings were on the smallish side which wouldn’t have been bad if the skin had been a bit more crisp.

A bit more spice, maybe sweetness, or perhaps the kind of assertive flavor like those of Que Huong’s Fish Sauce Chicken Wings…… What these did do for me is make me wonder what kind of miso glazed wings would I make? Hmmm…. folks do enjoy the Spicy Garlic-Soy Chicken wings I make……

I will say that the young ladies working here are very friendly and enthusiastic and made eating here a pleasure.

Empirehouse Urban Palate
127 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103

There you go the latest installment of chicken wings! Thanks for dropping by!

An Asian Star in Yuma: the Chinese Food

June 11, 2011 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Somedays the mmm-yoso blog is cooked up by Kirk (our head chef), somedays Cathy serves the daily special, but today ed (from Yuma) is dishing up something different.

Last winter a new restaurant opened in the Big Curve shopping area called Asian Star:
Owned and operated by a group of experienced Mandarin speaking Chinese mostly from the Fujian region of China, this place is pretty stylish for an eatery in Yuma:
The major shortcoming of the restaurant can be seen in the background of this interior shot:

Once a customer is seated in the restaurant, service tends to be friendly and professional – if a bit hurried and harried. Getting seated, on the other hand, is often a serious problem. There appears to be no one in charge of customer management. Sometimes we have had to wait in the vestibule for five or 10 minutes even though plenty of empty tables and seats are clearly visible. The same thing has happened when I have had a reservation. Some friends of mine will not return because they were forced to wait standing up for 20 minutes because one member of their party was delayed. At busy times, the line of waiting customers extends out of the door. In fact, two of the first four times Tina and I tried to go there, we looked at the line and said, "no restaurant in Yuma is worth waiting half an hour."

It reminds me of the famous words of baseball philosopher Yogi Berra: "nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded."

So why is it so crowded? The rest of this post should begin to answer that question.

First, the restaurant serves many of the usual and standard Chinese/American restaurant dishes at prices a little better than those at Grand China down the street. Most of the lunch specials ($5.95-$6.55) come with a complimentary cup of soup, such as this wonton soup:

Though the broth is very light, the soup as a whole is okay. Similarly, the hot and sour soup is equally adequate:
As are the eggrolls (2 for $2.95):
The filling was good, but the skin seemed too thick.

Several of us enjoyed an order of barbecue pork in honey sauce ($5.95?) without being truly wowed:
Other items can be quite good. Charles, who loves spicy kung pao chicken, ordered his lunch special ($5.95) extra hot and pronounced this version the best he's had in town. Very fiery with tender chunks of chicken:
I am not as impressed with what they call shumai (6 for $3.55), which do not seem homemade:
And while meaty, the pork dumplings (6 for $4.95) were also boring, dense and flavorless:
Once I ordered two of my standard favorite dishes for takeout. Both were ready on time and securely packaged in plastic. The shrimp in lobster sauce ($10.95) was very standard and gloppy:
While certainly not cutting-edge (notice the once frozen peas and carrots), the shrimp were well-prepared, tender and moist:
The double cooked pork ($8.55) was a good version of the dish for my tastes. The pork was tender and was not barbecue pork as in some local restaurants. There was also a greater range of vegetables than this photo would indicate:

Next time, I will probably emphasize spicy when I order, because this dish was only marginally picante.

Chinese dinners I have had at the restaurant have featured an interesting range of dishes, some very tasty and interesting. Listed on the menu, as "Crispy Roast Duck" ($13.95), this duck was not especially crispy, although it had a nice flavor, not too gamey, and moist tender meaty flesh:

On another evening, David wanted to try the M00 shu pork ($8.55), one of his favorites, and we all agreed that the pancakes and the filling were as good as you can get in Yuma:

That same evening, we had a wonderful dish called Eggplant Szechuan style ($13.95):

For someone used to Ba Ren in San Diego, this dish does not seem very authentic. Nonetheless, the combination of perfectly cooked Asian eggplant, abundant tender pork slices, and mildly spicy sauce rang my bell.

We also enjoyed the seafood bean curd pot ($15.95) that evening — served bubbling hot as you can see:
In fact, the combination seafood dishes here are very good. Even though krab is used, the shrimp, scallops, and squid are of good quality. Here is the combination seafood served on panfried noodles ($15.95):
While I found the texture of the pan-fried noodles to be inconsistent, with some noodles crisp, some soft, and some in between, I was pleased to find a slice of lobster tail as part of the combination of seafoods:

In fact, all the seafood combos at Asian Star include some lobster. While this is not like having real lobster dishes on the menu, it is pretty good for Yuma. And the lobster meat (what there is of it) tastes fresh and sweet.

What is even more surprising to me is that three of the restaurant's "Asian Star Specials" are said to have a "Szechuan Ma-La" sauce. I was truly amazed to read that. Here is one example called "Double Happiness" ($13.95):

The shrimp and scallops were perfectly cooked, still moist and tender. Truth be told, however, there was not a lot of ma-la flavor. Even though the sauce was different than another spicy dish we ordered that evening, with more of a front-of-the-mouth heat, no discernible numby tingly feelings touched my lips or tongue. Still, the restaurant deserves some credit for listing ma-la on the menu, even if they use very little Szechuan peppercorn in the dish itself.

Since I have begun eating at Asian Star, I have dined there by myself, with Tina, and with other friends as well. One great thing about sharing dinners with other people is that I get exposed to dishes that I would not have ordered on my own. For example, Tina and I went to Asian star with Penny and Earl recently, and one of them really wanted to try Fruit Shrimp ($12.95). I must confess I had visions of some poor shrimps drowned in a sickly sweet sauce with a consistency somewhere between paste and glue.

Instead, we were served this wonderful dish:

Each of the shrimp was perfectly fried, and their crunchy crusts crackled when you bit into them. The sauce was not sickly sweet at all, but nicely balanced with some (citrusy?) tang. While the cherries, pineapple chunks, canned lychees (?), and coconut were not especially memorable, they certainly did not detract from the dish.

That evening the four of us had a very good time. Instead of beer or a cocktail, we ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio and another bottle of Riesling (Glen Ellen from California, each $18). Not distinguished swill, but certainly fine with the food.

And at the end of the evening, we were given this attractive dessert of four ice cream balls, each thoughtfully cut into four pieces and all of them decorated with abundant whipped cream (no charge):

If memory serves, the flavors were vanilla, green tea, mango, and strawberry. As well as being a pleasant conclusion to the meal, it was a reminder that the service at Asian Star – once one gets seated at a table – is actually very professional and friendly.

This post only presents about half of the reasons why this new restaurant is so busy. In the future, another post will focus on the other cuisines served at the restaurant – Thai, Japanese, and even one dish prepared "Korean style." So be sure to stay tuned to this spot on the Internet. Don't move that mouse!

Asian Star, 276 W 32nd St, Ste 1, Yuma AZ 85364, (928) 317-9888, open daily 11 AM-9:30 PM.

Super Wok- a Pacific Beach revisit.

June 8, 2011 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Super Wok has closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by a few friends, one who lives on the West side of San Diego County, one who lives in East San Diego County and one who lives waaay East, in Yuma, Arizona. Today, Cathy is writing about a place on the West side of this large county. Because she can.

Hi. I wrote a post about Super Wok a few years ago and even though it is and has been part of "our rotation" for a long while and we drive out here regularly to pick up meals, never did I write another post. The location, ownership and food have not changed, the prices have increased slightly (the regular menu by $1 and the 11:00-3:00 Lunch Specials by 50¢ since the 2007 post) and it is still good food and family owned and run; husband, wife and daughter.

It's still located in the same tiny Fotomat Booth of a building. There are three tables inside, but really, get the food to go as the sign on the building instructs. 065 066

The same menu is on the wall, the same Happy Buddha on the same counter. The same four giant woks are in the back. Order, pay and wait. Everything is prepared after you order, so it could take ten minutes or more. I notice many people phone in orders to pick up.

.
We usually drive South on Ingraham toward Sea World and sit at the same table at the Ski Beach.
This visit, we had ordered two lunch specials. This is the Beef with broccoli ($4.95). Lunch Specials include fried rice, an egg roll and a Fortune Cookie. The beef is tender and, as you can see, there are carrots and bamboo shots as well as broccoli. There isn't any sticky corn starchy gloppy gravy; it is thin and flavorful. The egg roll is filled with only vegetables and fried properly. Everything is fresh.

The Kung-Pao chicken is $4.75. It's not really spicy. It is a fresh stir fry of onions, green peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots and chicken breast meat. Good food prepared fresh.
The other day, The Mister and I ordered and drove West, to the ocean, and then North to a small park on a residential street in La Jolla. Our little vacation.We had ordered some favorites.
Wonderful. This is Lemon chicken ($6.75). Lightly cornstarch breaded chicken breast, fried crispy and placed onto lettuce, so it will drain and still be a thin, crispy crust. The tangy sweet warm lemon sauce and rice are on the side. This is *so* good. Yes, it is ABCDE…It is ABCDE quality good. (ABCDE=American Born Chinese Dining Establishment).
This- This is why I eat here. Egg foo young ($5.55). Eggs (three), onions and bean sprouts cooked in the wok, to a size too large to fit into the styrofoam box, but slipped into the box so the edges curve over the center and topped with a stir fry of mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots and cabbage. All topped with a vegetable gravy. Yes, the meat (pork or chicken or beef) EFY costs just 20¢ more, the shrimp EFY costs $1 more… but I really like just the simple, perfect vegetable egg foo young. Brown on both sides, soft egg, stir fried fresh vegetables…just a good home style meal.

It isn't a fancy eat in place with fancy ingredient food. We like good tasting food. Super Wok serves good, fresh food, prepared very well.

Super Wok 4468 Ingram Street San Diego 92109 (858) 270-4859 Mon-Th 11:00-10:00, Fri-Sat 11:00-10:30, Closed Sunday.

Trying to cure a craving part 1: Tan Ky Mi Gia, Pho Convoy Noodle House, Minh Ky, and Toan Ky Restaurants

June 1, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

It was really strange during those couple of days after returning from vacation. Much like last year's trip, I got back to wonderful San Diego feeling kinda…. well, melancholy I guess might be the right word. I was really relaxed and all, but after all of that eating, walking, and almost constant moving from place to place, planning our next day's activities, doing the logistics of where we had to be…. my mind and body was in a different mode. And sadly, during our entire trip, I really didn't crave anything….. the Missus kept asking me what food I missed, I often said "nothing". Trying to convince myself that I should be missing something other then Da' Boyz, I finally said "noodles". "Well, what kind of noodles?" "Ummm, well….. yeah, egg noodles…yeah, egg noodle soup, that's what I'm craving." So right after returning we headed to:

Tan Ky Mi Gia in Mira Mesa:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

A place I've included in posts numerous times over over the years, often in themed posts (sorta like this one). Some Roast Duck Egg Noodle Soup would surely do the trick, until it arrived at the table:

That duck really didn't look what I had before. The skin was tough, the meat was also tough… and greasy. The noodles were prepared well, but the broth was super salty. Sigh…….

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126

By this time I'd really convinced myself that it was egg noodle soup that I was missing. Still, I really wasn't motivated to get into my car and drive down to City Heights…. so instead I decided to…

Gather anecdotal evidence to see if the inverse of a "rule" was true at Pho Convoy Noodle House:

**** Pho Convoy Noodle House has closed

You heard that rule, right? Never have Pho' at a place that doesn't have "Pho" in its name. Well, I was wondering if the inverse was true…. "never have Mi at a place with Pho in its name." And Pho Convoy Noodle House was the closest suspect. At first I was taken aback at that the price of the Mi Dac Biet (House special egg noodle soup) was $6.65…..but you have to remember, the last time I had Mi here was back in 2005!

I really don't remember getting the typical garnish for Pho' with my egg noodle soup. And was surprised at the size of the bowl that arrived at my table, and how much noodles were in it. Mushed up, tangled, overcooked noodles….. some of it cooked into clumps….

The broth was a bit too mild in flavor for me…. though the portion size was pretty huge.

Pho Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So perhaps it was true?

Now I had to confirm that you had to go a place like Minh Ky to get proper egg noodle soup:

I've been going to Minh Ky for quite a while; looking back, I noticed that I first posted on the place back in January 2006, man that's quite a while. I've become a fan of the Mi Sate Kho, the Sate Egg noodle Dry at Minh Ky, and that's what I've been eating on most of our visits, though the place has also been part of a few theme posts. I decided to order a Combination Egg Noodle Soup.

This was quite good; the noodles cooked to perfection, with a nice pull and crunch. The shrimp, fish balls, and other stuff, well…… just routine. The broth was solid, mildly pork, hints of what tasted a bit oceany to me…salty, but not too MSG laden. Not a huge bowl, but just right for my appetite.

I should have sat back in my chair, and let out a good "aaaah", but I didn't. For some reason, this didn't do it for me…… it was good, but not what I really wanted.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

So what the heck did I want…… perhaps it was one of my favorites when I'm feeling a bit under the weather; Beef Sate Egg Noodle "dry", that is soup on the side. And I thought that I'd give a place that I really didn't care for on my previous visits a try….

Toan Ky Restaurant in Linda Vista:

**** Toan Ky has closed

I of course ordered the Mi Sate Kho, and when the bowl(s) arrived I was a bit surprised. First, at over six bucks a bowl, this was a pretty small portion, even for me. And what's with the fried won ton wrappers? What was this, Mandarin Canton?

The beef sate egg noodle "dry" is served a bit differently here. First, instead of being served egg noodles blanched in the standard Mi broth, served with the sauteed sate (say that five times quickly) sauce, beef, tomato, onions, and what have you, with the broth on the side. The noodles were served blanched in broth and almost everything else was in a fairly small bowl on the side. The beef was a thin sliced Pho cut, dumped in the broth to "cook"….. and what to do about the Thai Basil? Of course the sign does say Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese…… This tasted pretty watered down…. and that's saying a lot when it comes to sate.

The noodles were well cooked and under the noodles were bean sprouts and green onions…. which told the story of how this bowl was put together…. just like regular egg noodle soup, then rolled out into a bowl. Actually, just the noodles themselves tasted ok….. so even though this place is priced like Minh Ky and Tan Ky, and serves kinda snack sized servings, I may return to give the egg noodle soup another try.

Toan Ky Restaurant
6925 B Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

I did get a kick out of the two guys who walked in and ordered "Foe", as in Fee Fie Foe Fum…. followed by another young lady who ordered the same thing… Foe… but when I stared over at their noodle soup, I had to agree…. it looked like "Foe".

Getting back to my craving….. still not satiated…. I was feeling so, well, blah, and unmotivated when it came to food. I'd already been home for a couple of weeks, what to do?

Stay tuned for part 2.

Nanjing: Jianbing, Linggu Temple, and Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum

May 22, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

I got a good night's sleep after a hectic day, anf the next morning my foot felt better. We had made plans for the day, and I just couldn't see letting my foot get in the way. After waking the first plan was to grab some breakfast we walked a couple of blocks and saw a couple of food stands on a side street. Of course it was the Jianbing (rolled pancake/crepe) that really caught our attention. Actually, this stand tried to pawn off some pre-made Jianbing on us, but the Missus "persuaded" the woman to make me a fresh one.

Meanwhile the Missus went for some porridge being sold at a neighboring stand.

Pretty much what the working person in Nanjing might grab for breakfast. Nothing exotic. I thought the Jianbing was okay, but the Missus said that it wasn't made very well; the texture was too chewy and "dead", and the youtiao was very greasy and soggy.

Still, it was nourishment. After this quick breakfast we set out looking for the bus to take us to the Zijin (Purple-Gold) Mountain area. We tracked down the bus route on a map we had, but couldn't find the bus stops. After walking all the way to the Fuzi Miao area we were stumped. After asking around, we found that due to road work the bus route had been temporarily changed. We were given instructions on the new bus route and finally found the bus stop…… which turned out to be two blocks from our hotel! Oh well…….. it's kind of funny now.

We finally made it to our destination. The bus was fairly empty, and I was able to elevate my foot, which brought some relief.

We first visted the Linggu Temple area.

The most fascinating place here was Wúliáng Diàn, the Beamless Hall, built in 1381.

The building is made entirely of stone and brick without any beams for support.

It is the only building in the Linggu Temple area that survives from the Ming Dynasty.

All that was interesting for me, but I really wanted to visit the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum. Growing up in Hawaii, one could not help but learn of Dr Sun Yat Sen's time in Hawaii. If you ever go to the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Honolulu's Chinatown, you'll see a statue of Sun Yat-Sen. There's so much about Sun Yet-Sen's time in Hawaii, and you can read about his time in Hawaii here. Man, he went to both Iolani and what is now known as Punahou School (then known as O'ahu College). What really makes Sun Yat-Sen unique in my mind is that he is revered by both China and Taiwan as both a founding father of the PRC and the Republic of China.

The Missus and I had not seen any photos of the mausoleum, and I was a bit worried that it would be some gaudy, over-the-top monument. But I was pleased at the tasteful design.

Passing through the front gateway, you climb 392 steps to the vault……..

It is indeed quite a monument…….

Though having been taught that he was a very humble man, I could not help but wonder what he would have thought about this……

After spending a bit of time here, we caught the bus back to the main shopping area where a couple of T-shirts caught our eye. We don't usually buy much for us, but we saw these t-shirts and just had to get them.

Those who can read this will probably get a kick out of it. We even found one for my MIL which was very appropriate!

On the way back to the hotel, the Missus noticed…….

And after hitting up 85 C in Suzhou the Missus just had to stop here.

For some strong unsweetened tea and milk bread……. which seemed to be just the thing we needed.

More to come, thanks for reading!

Panda Country Restaurant- The one in Santee

April 19, 2011 Cathy Chinese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! That's us. A few friends writing about food they eat. Kirk is on vacation, ed (from Yuma) is busy at work, so Cathy is writing today.

Hi. San Diego County has an area of about 4200 square miles. There are a few restaurants which have multiple locations here. I hesitate to call them 'Chains', since they seem to be more or less family owned and run. However, the reason they expanded is because the first location did well and they thought to spread out in a nearby community. One of those restaurants is Panda Country. Albeit an "ABCDE" (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment), and Kirk not being overwhelmed by the food he consumed at 'his' location on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard in San Diego, the Santee location enjoys a steady business and has tasty food. It has been in this same mall since 1979, moving to a new building when the Movie Theater was demolished. (Yes. 'The' movie theater.)

There are lunch specials, which cost about $8 and then also a daily lunch special for $5. In any case, every meal starts with this:

Plum sauce, hot mustard, plate of fried wonton skins…and the ever present Chinese Zodiac placemats. The plum sauce is a pretty pink and has the texture of applesauce, but the flavor is tart and not sweet.

The Mister and I decided to go completely ABCDE and ordered an appetizer we used to share when we were dating: shrimp toast ($4.95). The ever craveable paste of shrimp, salt and sugar slathered onto a piece of white bread, pressed into sesame seeds and deep fried.

Here is a cross section view. It isn't greasy, has just the right crunch. You can taste the toasted/fried sesame seeds and the shrimp and even the bread with its crunch is yummy…it brings back memories.

This was a Friday Lunch Special ($4.99). Three ingredient taste: shrimp, beef, chicken, peanuts, scallions and a mildly spicy, rich sauce. This came with a cup of egg drop soup and a fried vegetable egg roll. Everything tasted fresh and 'bright'-The Mister's description.
I wanted to try the Moo Goo Gai Pan ($7.25) from the menu. The waitress called it 'mushroom chicken'. It is wonderful. The white sauce is not sticky and has a chicken base. As you can see, fresh mushrooms and broccoli are part of the dish at this location.

As with all Chinese restaurants, you get a Fortune Cookie with your bill. See what is different here? These are not pre-packaged Fortune Cookies. Not a big deal, I suppose, but different..and tasty. These cookies are thicker and seem to have a more pronounced vanilla with a touch of almond flavor.

I found these photos from a February dinner. As you can see, a tablecoth is used, along with cloth napkins. I missed the Chinese Zodiac placemats, even though I pretty much have them memorized. However, you get the same house made plum sauce, hot mustard and fried wonton strips as soon as you sit down and look at the menu.

We started with a seaweed eggdrop soup ($4.94). Amazingly fresh tasting and not at all salty.
Because I order this wherever I see it on the menu, I chose the vegetable egg foo yung ($8.45). Basic egg and bean sprout cakes, cooked to a nice , non-greasy crispiness- but made with cooked (rather than raw) bean sprouts…a very different taste and texture than egg foo yung made with raw bean sprouts. The three cakes were topped with fresh mushrooms and sugar peas. I like this version. The gravy that comes with is not gloppy/cornstarchy, but smooth and mushroom flavored.

As you can see, we also got a colossal sized gigantic bowl of rice. The rice bowl was larger than the soup bowl.
The Mister, on the other hand, always likes to order Ma Po Tofu when he sees it on a menu. This version has just the right amount of spicy heat, enough that you can still taste the pork and the silky bean curd. ($8.45)

On the menu, this was described as spicy ground pork with bean curd…

However, the pre-programmed description for the bill is different.

Oh yes, it has the same decor as the Clairmont location…

I don't know if the food at this location is better than Panda Country closer to Kirk's home. When The Mister and I first moved to San Diego, we lived just down the street from that San Diego Clairmont Drive location, but never tried it. In any case, the food at the Santee location is fresh and tasty.

Panda Country 9621 Mission Gorge road Santee, CA 92071 (in the Vons Shopping Center) (619)449-7061

Nanjing: Dinner

April 13, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

We strolled (well, I limped) back to our room. After a pretty, well, I guess you could say eventful day, we decided to stick close to the hotel. I really needed to rest my foot. Across the street from the hotel was a bunch of smaller hotels and restaurants, and we finally chose this one (photo taken the next morning):

I gotta say we kinda lucked out on this one. In spite of the busy dining area, full of cigarette smoke and demanding customers, the service here was just righ for us. Friendly, without being overbearing. The woman running the dining room seemed to have great control over the employees…… we felt very comfortable here. Our server was quick with a smile, and seemed to enjoy explaining the specials to the Missus.

The Missus translated the menu to me, and I selected a classic Nanjing dish I wanted to try; the Nanjing Salted Duck:

A dish with a long history, this was delicious; fragrant, not too salty, much more tender than I expected, with a mild "wild game" flavor. I really enjoyed this.

The other dish that caught our fancy was the Dry Cooked Wild Mushroom. Man these Cordycep mushrooms were outstanding.

These mushroom were obviously twice cooked, first "passed through the oil", then stir fried with Chinese celery which added a nice palate cleansing flavor to the salty-sweetness of the soy and dark soy sauce and sugar. We ended up ordering this dish when we saw it again later. I've made this dish several times at home, perhaps I'll post a recipe one of these days. This was a very nice dish.

The Missus also enjoyed the simple stir-fried vegetable.

I didn't care much for the soup, which I thought was really bland, but the Missus loved it.

She thought it was light and rejuvenating.

Overall, this was a very nice meal, it was just what we wanted and needed. We simply crossed the street and headed back to our room for a good night's sleep.

Nanjing: Zhonghua Gate, Snacks, and brush with Healthcare in China

April 10, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

After the snack banquet, we walked (well, I limped) around the Fuzi Miao (Confucian Temple), a major shopping area in Nanjing.

That's when the Missus saw the Tanghulu (冰糖葫芦), candied Haw. This was a childhood favorite of the Missus, so She just had to get it; even though it wasn't the right season for this (it's a winter snack). Unfortunately, this didn't live up to Her memories.

From this stand.

The Missus got this:

Looked delicious, but the Missus said it was terrible.

We slowly walked back to the hotel. My foot looked terrible when I removed my shoe. The Missus and I knew what it was. The joint before my big toe was three times it's normal size, an angry red and purple and hot to the touch. I felt a stabbing pain with every step. Gout runs in my family, and though I've never had an attack, I'd seen it before. The Missus also knew exactly what it was, and knew exactly what would resolve this; the drug Colchicine. I'm thinking all that seafood and meat I ate in QingDao and Jinan pretty much put me on the gout fast track. I did later learn that diet is only the cause of about 10% of gout cases, with genetics causing about 65%…. of course statistics, diagnosis, etc, really don't matter when you're in pain. You just want to get past it…. We did find out that there was a community hospital two blocks over with a small ER/Urgent Care. So headed off…..

So here's my experience with Chinese Healthcare in a nutshell. It's pay as you go. I was registered, I paid, then saw a physician. I paid, then got labs drawn. I paid then saw another physician. I paid, then got my meds. "In Mao we trust, all others pay cash……." Next, you're given your medical record. You are responsible for keeping track of your healthcare.

So after the blood tests, we saw a "foot specialist". He took a look at the foot, and told the Missus that it is possibly gout. The Missus asked for Cochicine, but the physician said that it's very "toxic" and he wouldn't prescribe it without a uric acid test. Now I had just had blood drawn, so the Missus asked why they didn't do a uric acid, we were told that "the technician who does the test is off on weekends." Okay, how about an NSAID like Indomethacin? The answer? "No, no it's very toxic to the liver, we can't do that unless we do a complete liver panel." And guess what, "the tech who does those tests is not working today. Look like I picked the wrong day to have a gout attack! Among the nuggets of wisdom imparted to the patient was, "stay away from bean curd" (yeah, right….. I'm in China), "don't eat spicy food" (we'd be in Chengdu in a couple of days, so mark that one as a no-go"), and "don't walk too much" (the Missus would sooner cut my leg off and replace it with a broomstick than cut down on our activities). As a consolation prize, I was prescribed three meds, a circulatory drug (??), Cefaclor, an antibiotic, I guess there was still a small chance this was cellulitis, and a mild NSAID, which, combined with my ibuprofen helped me to survive the trip. It was pretty painful going at times, but I survived. We walked back to the room, I took my meds, elevated my foot, got a couple of hours of rest and felt better.

Later on that afternoon I felt a bit better, and the swelling had descreased, so we headed off (on foot of course) down Zhonghua Road…..

During the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing was the capital of China. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had the Ming City Walls built. The grandest gate is the South Gate, the Zhonghua Gate, which was formerly known as the Jùbăomén – "Gathering Treasure Gate".

It really didn't look all that impressive at first. But then I noticed that there wasn't just a single gate, but a total of four arched entrances…. making it quite formidable.

Between each gate is an open courtyard that the enemies would have to pass through.

When looking up at the arch in the gateway, you'll notice slots cut into the arch.

Apparently, these slots were used to lower and raise a "thousand kilogram" gate up and down.

From the top of the walls you see the other side of the slots, now covered with glass.

There are also 27 tunnels built into the walls of the gates. These tunnels were used to store supplies and shelter troops.

While walking up the stairs to the upper levels of the wall……..

I noticed that there were inscriptions on many of the bricks.

I mentioned this to the Missus, and wondered what it was. The Missus said it looked like some names and locations. A few minutes later we had our answer. In one of the tunnels was a display of the various bricks and inscriptions.

We learned that the Emperor had the names of the builders and brick makers inscribed on the bricks as a way of ensuring quality and responsibility. I'm guessing that this system worked rather well since the wall is still standing, and you can still read the inscriptions on many of the bricks.

Along with the stairs, large ramps line each end of the gates. I'm guessing so that soldiers on horse back could make their way up the gate quickly.

Making your way to the top you get a better idea of how imposing this wall was.

Taking a look from the top of the wall you see that the river flowing in front of the gate acts like a natural moat, making it even more formidable.

I'm guessing because it was later in the day, all the tour groups were gone and there was hardly any one around. You could really let your imagination go to work. I was really enjoying our time here, but it was starting to get a bit late in the day. It was time to leave.

Walking back toward Fuzi Temple was passed by one of those "food streets". On the taxi ride from the bus station the driver told the Missus that this was pretty much a tourist trap, and the food didn't reflect Nanjing food. Still, it was fun walking around and checking things out.

The Qinhua River looks quite nice during dusk…….

We decided to head back to our hotel and find something to eat near by……..

Stay tuned!

Postscript:

The day after returning home I went to see my physician. Of course he took one look at my foot and prescribed Colchicine and Indomethacin without waiting for my lab results. Two doses of colchicine and I was good as new. Well, almost. Unfortunately, the Xrays revealed some permanent damage to my foot, probably due all the pounding it took. My PCP, who has a dry sense of humor told me, "well, look at it this way, there aren't any triathlons in your future. And you don't plan on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro." (Of course I didn't tell him that Kilimanjaro was on the Missus's "bucket list") As a parting shot, he chuckled when I displayed the boxes for the meds I was prescribed in Nanjing. Especially this one:

He told me, "you know we prescribe this for hemorrhoids". I wonder where they thought I'd stuck my foot?

Best Taste of China…. or China Chef 2 revisted……

April 6, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** China Chef 2 has closed

I'd heard a while back, that China Chef 2 had changed management, and also retooled the menu. So after waiting a good long while, we finally decided to drop by one evening…..

Anyway, the place looks basically the same. One half does some kinda terrible looking Chinese fast-food, the other side is a restaurant that serves more traditional regional Chinese dishes.

Then of course, all the changes kicked in…… I noticed that on some of the menus it says China Chef, on others Best Taste of China. Then there are all the specials……

Late night specials, weekend special menu, weeknight evening specials…. and just for "Faye" all you can eat hot pot for $16.99!

According to this, they've hired another chef who specializes on more "Northern/Jiangsu" style dishes.

Geeez, everything from Sichuan Hot Pot and Wuxi Spareribs, to Niu Rou Chuan (only on the weekends), and even "Hunan" Style Chicken….sheesh. There ain't no way a restaurant could do all these items well.

Then of course, are the interesting English translations on the menu……

Ever had Yam with napkin? Lots of roughage there…..

Anyway, we ended up returning a couple of times, just for this dish which the Missus loves. It's called Fish Prepared with White Egg (I think they mean egg white – $9.95). A dish that is described as being "better then crab" on the menu. A Jiangsu styled preparation that the Missus loved.

Flavors associated with eating fresh crab; a good amount of thin sliced ginger along with a good amount of black vinegar, tends to bring out the sweetness of crab, gave this dish a nice one-two punch. The look of the dish was meant to mimick crab. The egg whites on two occasions were soft, almost like bean curd as was the fish. On one occasion it was fairly dry and under flavored. Overall a nice dish full of comfort flavors for the Missus.

The other dish that stood out in our visits was the Pork Intestines with Dry Red Pepper ($9.95).

I'd recommend this dish as good for a "intestine beginner" so long that you could take a little heat. In spite of the chilies this wasn't especially spicy. I was surprised at the nice "ma" (numbing) in this. One of the problems with the previous China Chef was the lack of Sichuan Peppercorns. The intestines were very well fried, crisp on the outside, a bit spongy in the interior. My only complaint would be that the dish was a bit too salty. I saved the remainder and had it later that evening with a cold one!

The Spicy Sichuan Hot Pot ($12.95) was ok.

This was a "good cop", "bad cop" dish. "Good cop" served up a good amount of intestine and tripe. "Bad cop" tried to bring the heat, which was very one dimensional, and lacked any real complex flavors from herbs or seasonings.

One evening the Missus ordered the Beijing Style Lamb Hot Pot ($12.95):

Frankly, in spite of a decent amount of fairly tender lamb, this would be nothing without the fermented bean curd dipping sauce. The Missus was wishing for some leek sauce. The plain water "broth" also got pretty scummy…..

The tripe was good, crunchy, yet not hard. The fish balls and surimi really didn't add much.

The worst dish we had, used to be our favorite at the old China Chef…. the Spicy Tea Smoked Duck ($12.95). Just compare this photo…..

With the one here…. Waxy, with a strange almost artificial taste, much like bad so-called "smoked meat" you'd buy at 99 Ranch Market, this wasn't very good at all.

The last two dishes are dinner "specials" that are quite cheap. You'll need to buy at least one dish at regular price to qualify. Every night there's a special; one Monday it's some very ghastly looking Lion's Head. On another day it's Salt and Pepper Prawns for $3.99. Which, in spite of being burned by discounted dishes before, we just had to try. We were surprised…..

This was pretty well prepared; the shrimp wasn't overcooked, but was soft and moist. The flavor was quite good. And did I mention nine good sized prawns for $3.99? I'd perhaps not order this at regular price; but for under four bucks, it's a deal.

The Missus enjoyed the Friday night special; the Fish Gluten, Shrimp, Squid, and Chicken for $4.99. This seemed like a regular sized portion.

Everything was cooked adequately, the vegetables crisp….. but this was much too salty for me.

Overall, whether the name of the place is still China Chef 2…. or Best Taste of China, or perhaps both, it seems to us, that there are at least a couple of good dishes on the menu which seems much too ambitious. Looking at what other folks were eating and the cold dishes, the Sichuan dishes seems to not be as good as before. Oh, and if you do order that Fish and Egg White Dish, don't order anything with Sichuan Peppercorn, talk about clashing flavors…. And then there are all the specials…. The service was decent, about average for this type of restaurant. There's one young lady who really gets a kick out of explaining the dishes, the other woman could care less if you choked to death on a fish bone; but isn't that how it always is?

China Chef 2 – Best Taste of China
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

And Faye! They've got all you can eat Hot Pot for $16.99! he-he-he……

A Gooey Sunday Post: Tan Ky Mi Gia (Mira Mesa) and the “New” Mandarin Canton

April 3, 2011 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

This past week, for some reason, the Missus was craving something "gooey over fried noodles"…. something that happens every couple of years. I'm not quite sure brings it on…. but it does happen. We were in the Mira Mesa area so we stopped by:

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia is no longer

Which I've posted on quite a few times. The Missus went with the Pan Fried Egg Noodles with Seafood.

Something that I'd never had here before. The noodles not covered in the gooey "sauce" were very crumbly, and dare I say…. dusty. The light complexioned sauce was very tasty, perhaps edging on the salty side. That's about all I know since the Missus scarfed just about everything except the squid (not bad) and the fish balls (meh).

I noticed something interesting about the flavor of that sauce. It tasted a lot like the pork based "soup" that comes with many of the noodle dishes. I'm thinking they use this broth along with corn starch to create that stir-fry sauce. On this night, the broth was pretty salty as well….. but I wasn't complaining since I felt a cold coming on, and something with a good dose of salt (and MSG?) was welcome.

Needing a good dose of flavor, I went with the Beef Sate Noodle – Dry.

Not as spicy as other versions, the beef was pretty tender, the sauce a good flavor, so this hit the spot as well.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126

For some reason, that dose of gooey-ness didn't cure the Missus. While driving South on the 805, I asked the Missus if we should drop by Mandarin Canton. I hadn't been back since before the unfortunate, and I still think unsolved murder of the restaurant owner in 2009. That's why Mandarin Canton never made it into our Salt and Pepper Wing challenge. The Missus had returned after the restaurant reopened, and thought the food had serious short-comings, which She blamed on "replaced oil syndrome" – where the well seasoned frying oil had actually been replaced, and all the flavoring is gone; and just never bothered to go back. We have nothing against ABCDE ('Ab-cee-dee' = American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) food, but it has to be done well. I found this to be a pretty hard thing to find here in San Diego. Anyway, as we walked to the restaurant off Telegraph Canyon Road, I noticed the sign now said:

The New Mandarin Canton Restaurant:

Perhaps trying to shake off the ghosts of the heinous crime. The menu looks new; but the same old dishes still occupy their place on the menu. In serious need of "gooey over fried noodles" the Missus ordered the Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles ($8.25), a well represented South Bay – Chinoy type dish that is well represented by places like Royal Mandarin and Golden Chopsticks.

This didn't deliver. The noodles were okay for this type of dish, but the sauce just had no flavor whatsoever. I did notice that the chicken in this dish was better than before. I'd always recommend that other than the wings, folks should stay away from anything with stir-fried chicken in it.

To digress, there's that ultimate sign of an ABCDE joint, stuff which I've gone over before. You get the fried won ton wrappers with the neon sweet-sour sauce. Also, no chopsticks; you have to ask for them.

Of course I had to have the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.75):

I thought these were much better than before. The batter had been lightened up, and the wings were nicely crisp. The ever present crystals of MSG were of course present….. this had that nice "crack-like" addictiveness to it. You'll need to eat these when hot; due to the light batter, they don't keep real well.

The Missus favorite here, and probably the most expensive item on the menu is the Salt and Pepper Shrimp without shell at $12.75:

Like the chicken wings, these have been lightened up a bit as well. Compare this with how the dish used to look. The batter is more light and crisp, fairly close to lacquer-like. The shrimp had a nice flavor as well. The Missus thinks this dish is much better than before.

In the end, this was a nice guilty-pleasure meal. I find most of the items on the menu borderline terrible, but you can't go wrong with the fried stuff, and they do a decent job with shrimp. Also, if you are one of those people who believe they are allergic to MSG, be careful, this place will put you on life support. After paying the bill, after the Missus had already headed out to the car; the really nice lady serving us told me "Xièxiè", to which I replied one of the only words I know in Mandarin "bukeqi"… she laughed and started talking to me in Mandarin! Whoa….. I told her that my wife is Chinese, I'm Japanese….. she laughed and said, "oh, I thought you were Chinese, and you're wife is Filipino!" Happens all the time!

New Mandarin Canton Chinese Restaurant
543 Telegraph Canyon Road
Chula Vista, CA 91910