Chinese Restaurants – Page 58

Revisits: Luong Hai Ky, Noble Chef, and The Counter

April 18, 2010 mmm-yoso Burgers, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Luong Hai Ky – Mira Mesa revisited:

While doing my Beef Sate Noodle Soup post, I decided to also include Luong Hai Ky. The bad thing was I couldn't for the life of me find Beef Sate Noodle soup on the menu. So while the Server hovered over me in the typical LHK manner, I asked about Beef Sate Noodle soup. Totally ignoring me, the guy pointed to a photo on the menu and said, "this, this is what you want, it is good…." It was a photo of Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho. I said, "yes, but I'm looking for Beef sate Noodle Soup". In return he replied, "no, this is good, I guarantee it is good….." It was late, I was tired, and I knew this guy was just trying to get rid of me, so I relented.

And here's the bowl of Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho:

This was okay, the noodles were cooked well, and there was a decent amount of char siu and pork in the bowl, along with shrimp. I still think the broth here is not nearly as flavorful as what was served at the now defunct Convoy location.

At seven bucks, I really didn't think it was a good value either.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
10606 Camino Ruiz #2
San Diego, CA 92126

More from Noble Chef:

I also visited Noble Chef Chef for the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, but when I saw another customer having it, I decided to get the Seafood Sate Noodle Soup($5.55) instead.

This was a bit different when it comes to Sate Noodle soup. There wasn't a very spicy, nor pungent flavor…….the soup was slightly thick, but had an almost curry-like flavor So, if you like Curry Noodle soup….you might enjoy this. The egg noodles were a bit overcooked, and the fishcake and various meatballs were just passable.

We also recently had the Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice, and it too tasted a bit odd, I'm wondering if the place has changed hands yet again. Here's another place that just hasn't been the same since Noble Chef changed hands.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

A revisit to The Counter:

**** This location of The Counter has closed

The Missus wanted their Veggieburger, so I was most happy to oblige. And we headed up to Leucadia, and The Counter. This time the cheese was swiss and I had onion strings on my burger.

As much as I enjoyed the idea of putting onion strings on my burger in my previous post, I think it really detracted from the overall flavor of the burger. I think I'll go back to simple grilled onions next time. The burger was again a perfect medium, and I enjoyed it.

We also tried the Fried Dill Pickles:

The Missus thought these too salty, but I didn't think so. The pickles were nicely breaded and fried well. Personally, I'd enjoy thinner sliced pickles……. better crunch….

The Counter
1923 Calle Barcelona
Carlsbad CA 92009

One last thing……. I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful Saturday evening cooking. A few weeks back John, Peter, and Angela of Sandwich Emporium asked me if I'd like to help out with a Bentos and Sake dinner they were having as a benefit for the American Cancer Society. I was indeed flattered….. so last night, the twins, along with MrS, TammyC, and I spent an evening cooking and plating….

I was honored to be able to help put together the menu, and though my feet and back hurt like heck right now, it was a bunch of fun. It is a great cause, and it's nice to have friends who are willing to help out.

777 Noodle House

April 5, 2010 mmm-yoso Cambodian Restaurants and Cuisine, Chinese Restaurants

About seven or eight months ago, I noticed that a new shop had opened across the street from the now (sadly) defunct 79 Supermarket. In the place of…. if I recall correctly a Billiard Hall, was a noodle shop called 777 Noodle House.

And while I initially thought it was just another "Mi" (egg noodle soup) joint, I noticed the script on the window, along with Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang written everywhere. Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang, also known as Phenom Penh Noodles or Chazhou Noodle, a tapioca noodle based dish that from what I have read originated in Cambodia, and evolved as it made it's into Southern Vietnam, becoming a dish I've had a couple of times Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho(named after the city of Mỹ Tho) . Much more info can be found on this post on Viet World Kitchen. I was fascinated so I decided to check the place out.

The interior is fairly spartan, and the plasma television is always on Fox News for some reason. You can see the bones of what the place was in a former life. The menu is fairly large, with over 100 dishes…. and yes, all the prices end with '7'. The prices are very inexpensive, with bowls of noodle soup starting at $4.77, and the upper range of prices of $6.77 for items like seafood dishes at $6.77.

And yes, the owners are Cambodian, and also Chazhou (Chiuchow), so in case you were expecting the fragrances of Kroeung or Prahok wafting through the air, and Khmer dishes like A-Mok or Samla Kako, you'll be sorely disappointed. Most everything takes a Chazhou turn, with a few Thai style and Vietnamese style dishes.

So of course I had the Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang (Chazhou Noodle Soup – $4.77), which is pretty much a bargain.

I believe this is the first time I've had this without any offal in it. There are two slices of pretty lean, and somewhat chewy pork, that are decently flavored, and a couple of shrimp. Some ground pork floats around in the broth which is fairly light, somewhat porky, with some nice salty tones (MSG). The blanched bean sprouts adds texture and flavor to everything. But…….. this doesn't hold a candle to the "dry" (Kho) version, also $4.77:

The noodles had been blanched in broth and was mixed with a bit of what tasted like oyster sauce. One time the noodles were perfect, the second a bit too mushy and overcooked. But what I really enjoyed about this version was the soup on the side…. well not exactly only the soup on the side.

You see what I mean, right? Honestly, which would you choose? This really isn't going to win any culinary prizes, but it left me more than satisfied. And the price was right…..

There's one more item that I really enjoyed…. the Fried Leek Cakes ($2.97):

The folks always apologize because this takes a while…. but it is worth it. The dough for the cakes is made with glutinous rice flour, making it both sticky, a bit gooey, and crunchy at the same time. The leek filling is molten as well. The flavors are like life… a little sweet, a little salty, a little bitter.

I brought my leftovers home, and the Missus really enjoyed it even though it was cold and had loss it's crunch. She wasn't a big fan of the Nuoc Mam Cham, which She found took away from the flavor of the leek cake. Speaking of the Nuoc Mam Cham. the folks here are really nice. When they packed the remaining two leek cakes to go, they made sure to add a little container of Nuoc Mam Cham. Those little things matter.

Some of the other dishes aren't as successful in my opinion. Once I had the Crispy Egg Noodles with Beef ($5.77), which was pretty cheap.

The noodles were either packaged or made far in advance. They were more crumbly than crisp. The beef was fairly tough, but at least they used Gailan. There's a combo Chinese Fast Food – Louisiana Fried Chicken Shop next door (I kid you not), and I think they share the same kitchen. This was very fast-foodish. I've heard that some of the other dishes (there are a bunch of dinner specials – many seem Thai, aka curries and tom yum) like the Fried Rice (I was listening "Little K") are pretty good.

I like the folks here, the two women are very nice, the gentleman is reserved but very nice as well. He laughed when I actually bought a lottery ticket here….. I told him it had to be lucky since I got it from "777", right? Well, maybe next time……

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Open Daily 8am – 9pm

Beef Sate Egg Noodle Soup overload – Minh Ky, Cam Ky, Hao Vi, and Tan Ky Mi Gia times 2

March 30, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

I first tasted Vietnamese Beef Sate Noodle Soup a couple of years back. And for the last couple of years, anytime I've been feeling a bit congested, or under the weather, I'm looking to get some Beef Sate Noodle Soup. Funny thing about BSNS (yes, I'm too lazy to type the whole thing out); almost every "Mi" (Chinese-Vietnamese Egg Noodle) joint serves it. But, as you'll soon see, each one is unique. In most places, it's just the house soup dressed up with Sate. But next time you're at the Vietnamese Market, check out the variety of Sate sauces, and read the labels. There's only a few items that are the same across the board, chilies, shallots, and oil……. some of the sauces look like they use a good amount of oil. And though peanuts come to mind, not all of this type of sate sauce utilizes them. At it's best, the sate adds deep savory-salty-spicy tones to the noodle soup. At it's worse….. well, I've never had a bad bowl of sate soup, though the other items, especially the beef falls short. Well, enough of that, let's get our soup on……

Minh Ky – Best Bang for the Buck:

Actually, the Beef Satay Egg Noodle "dry" ("Kho") is really good, and you can check out Gastronomer's post, but the BSNS ain't bad either. For me it's a great tonic when I feel a bit under the weather.

To me, it's a great bang for the buck…. the price is not the cheapest at $5.50, but it has a ton of egg noodles, which seems almost unending at times. The beef is usually fairly tender, the portion generous, and usually arrives rare ready to cook and soak up the broth. The sate here is not particularly spicy, but it is rich, perhaps a bit oily, but it does grab you, causing the inevitable utterance; "aaahhhh….."

Let's just say it all together; "aaaahhh….."

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

Previous posts including Minh Ky can be found here, here, and here.

Welcome to Funkytown – Cam Ky and Hao Vi:

**** Both Cam Ky and Hao Vi have closed

If there was any doubt that BSNS ranges wildly from place to place, I'm sure the versions at Cam Ky and Hao Vi, both appearing very Chaozhou would be good examples. I found it interesting that one of the women at Hao Vi didn't speak Vietnamese, and seemed to talk to her coworkers in a Chinese dialect. One of the women who used to work at Cam Ky spoke Cantonese and Mandarin.

My bowl of BSNS looked very different here. It didn't "smell like turpentine" but looked kinda like India Ink (extra points if you can guess the reference).

Actually, the texture was like motor oil, perhaps of a lower viscosity, but this was almost like a gravy. It was very low on the oil end, and didn't have a whole lot of hard, gritty bits. The spice level was a low medium, and the flavor tending toward a porky, garlic-shallot.

The beef was the toughest of all the soups sampled, but the tomatoes were pretty ripe and did add a nice tangy flavor. There was a nice portion of egg noodles, which were severely over-cooked.

Cam Ky Chinese BBQ
4141 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

My previous post on Cam Ky can be found here.

Meanwhile, the broth of version at Hao Vi, while being very thick, is also the spiciest, but also very interesting in flavor, with hints of clove and cinnamon.

This was super thick, just as before the gravy like "soup" rested on top of the noodles. A quick shift of the noodles with a chopstick, and there's almost a "gloop" as the soup proceeded to overtake the noodles. No tomatoes in this bowl, but for some reason I didn't miss it. The egg noodles were cooked perfectly, though this was the smallest bowl overall.

Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Tan Ky Mi Gia times two…. Mira Mesa and El Cajon Boulevard:

**** Both locations of Tan Ky Mi Gia have closed

The BSNS at Tan Ky Mi Gia in Mira Mesa used to be my favorite.

But the last two times I've had the BSNS it seemed to be missing something. I just can't put my finger on it. So let's call it missing that "je nais sais quoi".

I think the beef here is the most tender, though I once got a bowl with beef that tasted off. When I mentioned that to the folks here, they were quick to replace the bowl.

On this visit, I found it strange that the tomatoes were missing….the acid from the tomatoes help to cut the oil. I'm pretty sure this version of sate uses nuts, as there's a hint of nuttiness… though it could just be a figment of my nuttiness.

The one thing the Missus and I find amusing about Tan Ky Mi Gia, are all the photos everywhere. It seems that everytime we visit there are more photos posted on the windows, and even on the walls…..

Just like that movie star with body dysmorphic disorder who thinks that just one more tattoo will make her/him look more attractive, it seems that the folks who run the place believe that maybe, just that one more photo will make folks order more.

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

Other posts featuring Tan Ky Mi Gia in Mira Mesa can be found here (check out the windows), here, and here.

By far the BSNS I enjoyed the least was from Tan Ky Mi Gia on El Cajon Boulevard. It also was the cheapest at $5. I noticed that the place is looking a bit worn nowadays, with tables sticky enough to be found in the SGV.

The flavor of the broth was rather weak for BSNS, and it felt a bit greasy.

The beef was rather tough, though the egg noodles were cooked perfectly. Roma tomatoes in this bowl.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
5237 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Previous posts that include Tan Ky Mi Gia can be found here, here, and when it was called Hing Ky, here.

I hope you enjoyed with noodle soup-pa-palooza. I'm sure I missed a few places, so fill me in on those.

A revisit (yet again) to Ba Ren

March 29, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Ba Ren has closed.

With this wonderful weather, I'm wondering, what the heck are you doing here???? I am glad to know you're reading though. The longer I do this blog, the harder it is to try new places. It is easy to settle into a routine of "wow, it's Thursday….. Ba Ren day." So here's yet another revisit to one of the places on our rotation.

Yes, it's Ba Ren again:

If you've got better things to do, I wouldn't blame you for moving on, and just doing other things…. contemplating your navel, perhaps? I'll try to have something new and fresh tomorrow! Meanwhile, here's some stuff on Ba Ren. We're slowly approaching 1400 posts, and I suppose some folks think that at least 700 hundred of them have been on what we've eaten at Ba Ren. Like I said; I wouldn't blame you…..

Shao Kao at Ba Ren:

If you've driven by, perhaps you've seen this sign:

Or perhaps the sign to the right provides more info. Basically, Ba Ren is now doing Shao Kao, basically grilled (aka BBQ'd) items for a buck-fifty. The set-up is a bit odd, as the BBQ is ordered separately, and you pay the young man who does the grilling, as it is not part of your bill.

On one visit, I finally gave in and had the lamb….. ok, I love lamb, and couldn't wait to get my grubby mitts on that skewer….

Surprisingly, this skewer was more tender, and was better than what I had at Shao Kao 818 in San Gabriel. It was very moist and reasonably tender, with good salt. The skewer was short on the cumin, and frankly wasn't gamey enough for us.

The new seasonal menu:

Yep, there's a new seasonal menu at Ba Ren. Of course it used to be that you'd be forced to have someone translate this, but now of course you can just turn it around, and you'll have the menu translated into English. The Missus joked that "no one will read your blog anymore since they've started to translate the menu." Of course I laughed…. ummm… you're still there, aren't you? Ummm.. hello….

Two of the items, the Lamb Ribs and the Dry Cooked Mushrooms are holdovers. I've been unsuccessful in getting the Missus to agree to order the Frog Legs.

There is one real winner on this menu. It's the Deep Fried Shrimp with Egg Yolk($12.99):

I'm not sure if you all remember the Sweet Corn with Pine Nuts, but if you do…. think of that dish made with shrimp. A nice egg yolk, lacquered, almost tempura batter coated shrimp. The dish is topped with panko coated with egg yolk, salt, and possibly that impossibly good three lettered flavoring ingredient.

This was so filling I could only eat about three shrimp…. and a whole lot of the panko on rice, though I wanted more. Another thing; this is a good dish for those who can't handle the heat.

Speaking of not spicy:

I've been asked via email, about non-spicy dishes at Ba Ren. And I try to make recommendations, of course the rice crust and the "pot roast" (actually a pork shank and lion's head meatball in broth) immediately come to mind. But recently, the Missus decided to throw me a real Birthday party. I was really touched, I can remember only two other birthday parties I've had in my life, and this would be my third. Of course we knew that there would be folks who couldn't tolerate very spicy food. So we tried to balance the menu. And when working with Wendy on dishes, She recommended a dish we hadn't even thought of ordering. The Jing Jiang Rou Si…… why would we ever think of ordering Pork Strips in Peking Sauce at Ba Ren?

Man, this was good. Just the right ratio of salty and sweet, and a nice savory bean paste kick with perfectly wokked pork. So here's another dish for those who can't tolerate spicy.

I've also noticed that there's another group. Folks who can eat all the chilies in the world, but don't do too well with Sichuan Peppercorns. If you want perhaps the hottest dish at Ba Ren, order this:

The fish itself isn't really spicy, but when you get to the bean thread on the bottom……

I made sure to order this for the Beer Week Dinner, just so folks know that Ba Ren does indeed serve spicy food.

And yes:

Ba Ren still serves all of those oldies but goodies…….

I think the folks who attended the B-Day thingy really enjoyed themselves…. of course it could have just been the beer…..

This post is for one of my favorite FOYs (Friend of Yoso), who once thought that you could only get this dish on your Birthday:

The Missus and I thought that was so cute……

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Toan Ky Restaurant – A (quick) first look

March 25, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Toan Ky has closed ***

A couple of weeks ago, Toan Ky Restaurant officially opened. Replacing LV sandwiches, and before that Le's, from the name and the look, I thought this would be one of those "Mi" shops a la Minh Ky and Tan Ky. Linda Vista could use a good noodle soup shop, since Mi Ngoc So 1 folded its tent, and was replaced by Thai by Tara, and then (thankfully) Sab E Lee.

The main renovation has been done to the entrance area, where the "bar" has been removed, and a smaller counter with the ever present cash register resides.

The menu, fortunately or unfortunately still has some Thai dishes on it, but Banh Mi is still available; and yes, all the standard Hu Tieu and Mi soups are available. The prices at first glance are about in line with other shops of this type….. but hold on for more…..

The Missus went with Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($5.50). When the bowl arrived, I noticed something right away.

The portion sizes were pretty small compared to other shops. This was about the size between a small and medium Santouka Ramen. There were only three dumplings in the soup, but it was supplemented with a shrimp, a fish ball, meat ball, and slice of fish cake. The Missus thought the dumplings were passable, and gave me a taste, which I thought was bland, but much softer than the typical hard packed meatballs of these type of shops. The Missus declared the broth tasty, but light, and believed that only a minimum of MSG was used.

I ordered the Duck Leg Egg Noodle Soup ($6.75):

The broth of this soup was dark, I'm assuming fortified with the drippings of the duck. I usually pour in some of the drippings when I get duck egg noodle soup served with the duck on the side. This duck was braised, and frankly, quite bland, lacking in the richness of say, a roast, or barbecued duck. The soup was fairly good, with mostly a soy sauce flavor. I would have preferred something like what you see here, which is cheaper than this, and twice the size. There were about three to four bites of egg noodles. This was gone pretty quickly.

Our first impressions are mixed. The food is decent, but the soups seem to be snack-sized, and in fact most other tables ordered an additional item with their soups. The Missus has a saying about most of these type of soups…. "the more I eat, the more there is", which wasn't true in this case, as She had almost finished by the time my soup arrived, a mere five minutes. I believe that much of the reason places like Minh Ky and Tan Ky are successful is because of value, this is a bit different. The service was efficient, but indifferent, pretty much what we expected. I dunno……. I'm sure we'll check in again, so stay tuned…..

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

Open 8 – 8 daily

Road Trip: Tianjin Bistro revisited – San Gabriel (Los Angeles)

March 18, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Tianjin Bistro has closed

We hadn't had much luck on our recent road trips, so the Missus decided we should revisit someplace tried and true. Her choice? Tianjin Bistro. The Missus really connects with the food at Tianjin Bistro, probably because the municipality of Tianjin (one of four in the PRC, the others being ChongQing, Beijing, and Shanghai) is about 70 miles or so(I've heard it's more) from Beijing, where the Missus went to High School and College. So the flavors of the dishes served at Tianjin Bistro are somewhat comforting to the Missus.

Formerly Mei Jia Deli, and located in the same strip mall as another of the Missus's favorites, Hunan Chilli King, I think that Tianjin Bistro's food is a bit better than what Mei Jia Deli produced.

The interior of the restaurant is small, and pink tinged, and the customary strips of colored paper line the walls announcing various offerings.

The woman who usually works here is very friendly, and enthusiastic. Ask about a dish (in Mandarin of course) and she'll recite to you how it is prepared, and what makes the version of the dish at Tianjin Bistro so "special". The woman's warmth and tact is especially apparent in her dealings with various customers. Even though it seems that Mei Jia Deli's bone-spitting, bossy customers that would just help themselves to the free porridge, and walk into the kitchen and yell out their orders have gone by the wayside. There are still customers like the older man who came in, and when placing his order, took out a sesame cake from a plastic bag, telling the woman "this is how hard it should be", knocking it against the table "tok-tok-tok"……. The woman accepted that in good spirits, and I guess what came out of the kitchen was ok, since the old man made sure to check every one, knocking it with his knuckles, or tapping it against the table. The guy must have mighty massive muscular masseter muscles… and teeth of steel.

The Missus had seen a dish on one of our previous visits that She wanted to order, the Jing Jiang Rou Si (京酱肉丝 – Beijing/Peking Sauce Pork Shreds – $7.99).

The Missus saw that this was served in the appropriate manner, with scallions and bean curd wrappers, so She wanted to try it out. The pork strips were cooked well, not as soft as I prefer, but still tender. The flavoring was adequate as well. I believe it could have used a bit more bean paste for a deeper savory flavor, and perhaps be a tad sweeter.

I loved the process of wrapping my food….it made me feel like I was eating duck! I did think the cucumbers, while adding that wonderful palate cleansing flavor to everything was chopped much too thick, and proved to be a bit cumbersome. But overall, this was an enjoyable dish.

The Missus saw the Shrimp with Fried Gluten ($9.99), and decided to order that as well.

When the Missus had inquired about this dish, the woman really went off on how they make their own wheat gluten, how many times they rinsed it, etc, etc, etc…..

I'm usually not a big fan of Kaufu (wheat gluten), but this was the best dish of the meal. And changed my opinion of what is usually used as a "meat replacement". The Kaufu was so soft it practically melted in my mouth. It was also a flavor sponge absorbing all the salty-sweet-soy flavors of the dish. I almost forgot about the shrimp which were perfectly tender. Man this was good!

We also ordered the Tianjin Sauteed Eggplant ($6.99):

Seared to perfection in a hot wok, the texture was silken, the temperature was molten, and the scent was heavenly smoky. In spite of looks, the flavor of the dish was very mild, lacking "zing". The garlic sprinkled on the top was the only thing that stood out with regards to taste. We took most of this home, and when I added a bit of "acid" (vinegar) the dish woke up a bit. It could have used a bit more sweetness as well.

And yes, there was Xiao Mi Zhou (小米粥), millet porridge.

We left the meal satiated, and with a good amount of leftovers which would disappear fairly quickly.

And were hopeful that this would start us on another streak of good eats on our future road trips.

Tianjin Bistro
534 East Valley Blvd. #8
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Open Thurs – Tues 11am – 10pm

Mr Dumpling revisited

March 16, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

**** Mr Dumpling has closed

Recently, while on my way to 99 Ranch Market, I passed Mr Dumpling and noticed a huge banner.

What really caught my eye was the phrase "Grand Opening Feb 28". I was very interested…. what could this grand opening sign mean. It doesn't say "under new management" and the name is still Mr Dumpling. We'd only visited Mr Dumpling once before and was very disappointed in the dishes which were not prepared well, and over-priced. But now…..

I quickly got ahold of a good "FOY", and inquired. The response was, she wasn't sure, but she had heard that the Xiao Long Bao were the best in San Diego. 'Nuff said, I was there ASAP. I met my good eating buddy, and hit up Mr Dumpling.

I've always liked the interior of Mr Dumpling, warm colors and tastefully decorated gives the place much more style than other Chinese Restaurants in San Diego.

We inquired as to a possible ownership change, and was told, it was the same owner, but a different menu. The lunch menu is more Shanghai influenced, so perhaps it was a change in chef? You can order many small bites as the dumplings are served in orders of four or five, and many snack items are available.

Of course we started with the Xiao Long Bao (four – $2.99):

This could've been pretty good. The wrappers were decent, perhaps the best in San Diego. Not too thick or thin, with a decent pull. There were several problems with the XLB. First, there wasn't enough soup in the XLB. Second, there flavor was off, and I never thought I'd say this, but the soup and the meat weren't sweet or savory enough. Much like the XLB at Dumpling Inn, these tasted like regular dumpling filling. Also, there's black vinegar on the table, but you have to request sliced ginger for your XLB.

We also ordered the Special Five Variety Dumpling (5 – $3.99) and Lamb Meat Dumplings (4 – $2.99). I'm putting these two together.

As you notice these dumplings are steamed, and the wrappers are different as well. Tough, gummy, and somewhat brittle, I believe that these are "hot water wrappers" made with boiling water. It's a totally different kind of wrapper, as boiling water really develops the gluten much differently. I guess I'm not a big fan of this type of wrappers…. they remind me of cheaply made Gyoza wrappers.

The fillings were too finely minced causing a fairly dense and dry "meatball". So naturally, the celery, and the egg dumplings fared better, but were bland. The flavor of the lamb dumplings was pretty bland.

The best item of the day was probably the Leek Pie ($2.25):

My dining partner indicated that this could have been a bit more crisp on the exterior. The flavor was very homestyle, and could have used a bit more salt.

Nothing to rave about, but passable.

The "Pancake of Beef" (Niu Rou Chuan $5.99) looked really good.

The "pancake" looked almost like Jiang Bing, since it obviously had egg involved. The beef was just the right texture, a nice semi-cured tender without being mushy and falling to pieces, but it seriously lacked flavor…. any flavor. There's usually an additional flavor component, a smear of bean paste, or a hoisin like concoction. This lacked that, which meant that the pungency of the scallions took over.

I think this place tries hard, and perhaps over-reaches, as each dish fell short, or flat in one way or another. The service was friendly and adequate. Like I mentioned earlier, I like the set-up, but in my opinion, the food leaves something to be desired. I'm likely to make at least one more visit though. The hot pot menu looks promising, and the folks having hot pot looked like they were enjoying their meal. The prices are also right….. and are also 30% off right now.

I will have a challenge on my hands though…. trying to convince the Missus to give this place another shot.

Mr Dumpling
7250 Convoy Ct
San Diego, CA 92111

Road Trip: Mas’ Islamic Chinese Restaurant – Anaheim (Orange County)

March 15, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

I'd heard good things about Mas' Islamic restaurant. Located in of all places Anaheim, not exactly your hot bed of Chinese restaurants. But I'd been missing Muslim Chinese, not that the late Jamillah Garden in San Diego made out of this world food, but I'd had some good dishes there. The Missus and I have a soft spot for Islamic Chinese. When the Missus was going to school, She worked briefly at Tung Lai Shun, long gone, but not forgotten, as I think they served the best Chinese Islamic I've ever had. When the Missus and I were first dating, I still remember our wonderful meal at VIP Restaurant in Rowland Heights, which is still there, though I think they've gone through maybe half a dozen owners since then. That meal, featuring a humongous "Da Bing", as huge as a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, along with our first meal at ChungKing Restaurant (the original in Monterey Park) really stoked my interest in Regional and various ethnic Chinese Cuisines. So on a recent Holiday Monday, the Missus and I made a drive up to Anaheim, and the fairly odd location of Mas' Islamic, located on a rather industrial looking area of Orangethorpe Avenue.

As you can tell, on a pretty humble avenue, full of generic looking industrial malls and complexes, Mas' sure stands out. The interior is huge, comprised of several large "rooms". The restaurant, empty when we arrived, filled pretty quickly with the Monday lunch crowd, a mixed bag of Asians, and non-Asians. Most folks were ordering lunch specials….there was a whole lotta "orange chicken" going on. Between that, and the standard place setting…. which covers all bases, gave me a bit of a weird feeling.

Luckily, all the Servers spoke Mandarin, and among the Shrimp with Cashew Nuts, Kung Pao Chicken, and Mongolian Beef, we found items that represented Islamic Chinese food. Being a Halal establishment, Mas' is a "no oink" zone, so don't even be thinking about ordering something like Dong Po Rou.

First to arrive was the "Lamb Dough Sliced Chow Mein"($10.95) aka Dao Xiao Mian (刀削麵 – Knife cut, or knife shaved noodles), where noodles are shaved from a block of rolled dough. My photo doesn't do justice on the portion size… those spoons are actually large serving spoons. This could've fed an army!

From a noodle perspective, this was a pretty good job. The noodles weren't too thick and doughy like versions in San Diego (can you hear me Dumpling Inn?). No "wok hay" here, but the noodles had a decent al dente pull to them. The flavor was truly lacking, with only a hint of soy sauce flavor. Not much lamb in this either, egg was used to stretch the protein. The greyish pallor of the dish didn't do much to stimulate my appetite either. There was three meals of leftovers out of this dish, which had to be fixed up with a ton of soy sauce.

The Thin Sesame Bread ($9.95). I saw this thing, a large pizza sized bread being cut and placed on our platter.

This was pretty good, not too oily, tons of sesame seeds, decent light crustiness, but really short on scallions, leaving it on the bland side.

I'll say this much….. Sammy loved the leftovers!

By this time, we were used to the huge portions, so when our Lamb and Pickled Cabbage Soup (Suan Cai Yang Rou – $9.95) arrived in a huge cauldron we weren't too surprised.

I'm a big fan of Suan Cai Yang Rou, and eat it every chance I get. This however, was not very good. Instead of a nice pickled flavor, the broth had an intense, almost pure vinegar sour. It was so unpleasantly sour that my salivary glands are quivering in fear and shutting down as I look at the photos. The soup was big on regular Napa Cabbage, and short on Suan Cai (a simpled pickled made from Napa Cabbage that is reminiscent of Sauerkraut), so I'm wondering if they added vinegar to make it sour enough? We could only tolerate a few spoonfuls of the broth. We did take it home, but the next day, the soup was even more sour…… and we just couldn't bring ourselves to eat it, though I tried. This was not even close to my favorite version from Tianjin Bistro, and would even prefer Northern Chinese Restaurant's version to this.

One of the women who served us, was very nice. The others were pretty military-like and efficient. The portions here are humongous, and we could have fed 7-8 people with what we ordered. The food, however only made me miss Tung Lai Shun even more. I wonder how VIP is under their new(er) ownership…..maybe we'll just have to get back to China Islamic soon.

Mas' Islamic Restaurant
601 E Orangethorpe Ave
Anaheim, CA 92801

Minh Ky revisited

March 11, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

It could be that all roads lead back to Minh Ky…… every couple of months we find ourselves back in that lousy parking lot on the corner of El Cajon and Menlo.

Minh Ky, like the Tan Ky Mi Gia's and Luong Hai Ky specialize in Chinese style noodle dishes. And though the interior hasn't changed since I first posted on the place back in January of '06, it seems that the food here has gotten better over time. As I noted in my Mi comparison, the broth for the soups has seemed to gain flavor over the years. So I thought I'd just do a short post on some of the other dishes from Minh Ky, save one, which I'm saving for one of those comparison posts.

On one of our visits, we saw a young girl and her mom working through a plate of chow fun….they sure made it look good. So on our next visit we ordered the Seafood Chow Fun, at $7.25, one of the more expensive (ahem, it's all relative) dishes at Minh Ky.

This was a load of food for just over seven bucks. The noodles were cooked adequately, no wok-hay, but not mushy. The shrimp was perfect, still soft and tender, but the squid was a tad over-cooked. The gravy was excellent, nice hints of the savory flavor of oyster sauce, with a touch of sweetness. We enjoyed the dish, and proceeded to order it again…. this time it had less gravy, which tasted a bit off, and my feet started swelling after a couple of bites. I usually have a pretty tolerance when it comes to MSG, and I really don't mind it being used to "finish" a dish. To take it to the next level, but this was a bit too much.

The Roast Duck Egg Noodle soup is a bargain by San Diego standards at $6.25. And the broth for the egg noodle soup is still pretty solid with regards to flavor. I also don't remember there being so much 'Mi' in the egg noodle soups; that alone was enough to fill me up.

The duck was nice and meaty, but very low with regards to anise-savory tones. It was also too fatty, and fairly greasy. And the skin was quite rubbery.

Maybe next time…….

On one of our visits, I decided to order the Bo Kho Hu Tieu (Beef Stew-Hu Tieu):

There was a ton of meat and tendon in the bowl. The beef was cooked well, and though not melt in your mouth, it was fairly tender. The tendon could have been softer, though. As you notice, like most of the 'Mi' joints in San Diego, it rice noodles, aka Bánh phở that's used, not "bánh hủ tiếu". The overall flavor was on the weak side, lacking in the rich-savoriness of a good beef stew.

It was nice trying some other dishes beyond the usual Egg noodle soups…… I'm thinking we'll be going back to the Sate/Won Ton/Dumpling Egg noodle soup. I will give that Chow Fun another try though.

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

And yes, there's still that aisle of parking with no outlet….. you either hope that no one is parked in one of the stalls on the west side so you can cut out, or you have to back all the way out. Or you could jump the curb…..

Recently, we've been parking in the stall behind, pot holes and all…. but be careful, we've seen two cars hit nails……

Road Trip: Hunan Restaurant – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

March 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Right after the calendar New Year, the Missus and I finally made it to Hunan Restaurant in Monterey Park. Since we'd already eaten at Hunan Chilli King (several times), Hunan Seafood, Xiang Wei Lou, and Hunan Style Restaurant, it only made sense that we should check out the simply named Hunan Restaurant. Hunan Restaurant is located on Atlantic Boulevard; we haven't been around this part of Monterey Park in a while, so it was interesting to see the changes since we last visited.

The restaurant is fairly small, and looks a bit worn. And yes, that is a 'C' letter grade taped proudly to the front glass.

Everything about the place is "all business", and I think the napkins, tossed haphazardly on the tables for use is a good representation of the restaurant.

This place really took me back to SGV service circa late '90s. Perfunctory to a fault….. if I dropped dead and fell on the floor at the foot of a table, the Servers would have no problem stepping over my dead body to complete their tasks. Perhaps a bit later, once the bill had been paid, and rigor mortis had set in(for practical reasons, I'd be easier to move), I'd be rolled out, using the "kick method" until I was no longer on restaurant property. Ah yes, remember the good 'ol days?????

The Missus started with the Stinky Tofu Hunan Style($4.99):

The Missus always says that if I'm able to start eating Chou Dofu without hesitation it isn't going to be any good. And She was right in this case. The tofu wasn't particularly smelly, and the sauce wasn't particular spicy, nor salty, or sweet for that matter. It just plain tasted watered down.

The Missus noticed a dish written on one of those ubiquitous strips of paper taped to the wall. It was bamboo shoots stir fried with La Rou (Hunan preserved pork 腊肉), and was the best dish of the day.

The dish was nice and smokey, courtesy of the La Rou. The Chinese celery did a great job of refreshing the palate. The Hunan ham was very waxy, and there were some bits that were almost inedible, but the flavor was good. There was a severe lack of spice in this dish, even though the Missus ordered it "big spicy".

The Missus listening to what other tables were ordering, decided to order the Steamed Whole Fish Hunan Style ($9.99).

I've had some terrible fish in my life, but this one is right up there at the top. First, there was nothing fresh about this semi-rancid fish. The flesh was mushy, and one bite was about it. Also, not enough hot oil and soy was used, and the fish was parched. Third, this fish was topped with only dried chilies, which combined with a lack of sauce, was still totally dry…..like eating seeds and paper. It was like eating a handful of dried Chilies de Arbol. I think that's enough…. I think you get the point.

The SGV has tons of restaurants, and whether you visited on a bad day, or perhaps the dishes aren't to your taste, you are bound to have a lousy meal now and then.

Hunan Restaurant
423 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754