Chinese Restaurants – Page 66

Road Trip: Food Cabin – Rosemead (Los Angeles), CA

December 9, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Xiao Long Bao

**** Food Cabin has closed

What's in a name? Alot really, but in this case? What kind of cuisine would a restaurant called "Food Cabin" serve? When I first mentioned this place to the Missus, She guffawed out loud, obviously picturing a combination "Northwoods Inn" (home of the dirty snow) meets Denny's kind of place. She gave me a look that said, "you're running out of new places to eat, aren't you?" Honestly, the name Food Cabin just doesn't really inspire you to run out to the car and visit, does it?

Yes, Food Cabin just doesn't seem to get much respect; even the Restaurant's signage plays second fiddle to "The Best Car Wash" (now that's a name!!!):

As with many restaurants in the SGV, the Chinese name, has nothing to do with the English name. In this case the literal translation of the Chinese characters is something along the lines of "Dragon, Dragon, Good Food" or something like that; not a cabin reference to be found.

Food Cabin, the Restaurant, is located on the quiet end of Valley Boulevard, in, well, something that looks a lot like the manager's office of one of those cookie-cutter apartment complexes, converted into a restaurant. Having said that, I don't think the name Food Cookie-Cutter-Apartment-Manager's-Office is particularly inspiring at all either.

The interior is kind of apartment like; the Missus and I were trying to determine which "room" we were being seated in. The place was empty except for one table when we arrived at noon on a Saturday!

The menu is large, and quite varied, with mostly Northern Chinese style favorites. There are a number of specials, posted on the ubiquitous colored paper on the walls. One of the specials is a "buy 1 beer, get one free" deal.

The woman who seated us, looked very smart in her glasses, was very nice, and friendly. Not your typical SGV server. She started us off with some pickles, good, but on the salty side, and asked us twice if we wanted more.

We started off with the "Thousand Layer Meat Flat Bread" – aka "Pork Pancake" on the menu ($5).

This was nice, not greasy, as many versions of this dish is. The texture was good, crisp crust, a bit chewy in the interior. Not much meat to be had, but that is pretty much how the home made versions of this is. With a bit of the salty-pickly spicy broadbean paste, this was quite good.

But what I'd really come for were the Shengjian Bao(10 for $6.45), a "Bao" that is fried-steamed.

The Missus told me of a stand right across the street from Her High-School in Qingdao, that made Shengjian Bao. Which would inevitably end up being Her "snack" on most days. Shengjian Bao, is a semi-leavened bun, stuffed with meat, that is of a Shanghainese origin. Being both fired and steamed means that when done right, you'll get the best of both worlds.

The Missus and I were both surprised when 10 rather large Bao arrived at the table. Glistening with oil, I expected these to be heavy and greasy. Boy was I wrong, these were very light, and I enjoyed the contrast in textures. A crisp bottom, the rest of the Bao was nice and bready. To be sure, the bottom could have been a bit more crisp, but I really enjoyed the texture.

The filling was pork, with coarsely chopped squash for added texture. Moist and light, it could have perhaps been a bit more savory, but the provided soy-vinegar-cilantro dipping sauce was the perfect match. The nice Server even provided a small container of sauce for the left over Bao we took home!

The Missus, suffering from XLB withdrawals, ordered the Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Juicy Pork Dumplings – $6):

I wasn't too impressed with this version, I thought the wrappers on the hard side, and the bottoms of the XLB were hard. There wasn't very much soup, and the filling was much too sweet, and left me with an odd, almost camphor like aftertaste. The Missus, on the other hand, ate 7 of the 10 XLB. Even though I wanted no part of it after eating the first one, She made me eat the last 2 since XLB doesn't keep and reheat real well.

We requested a few containers for our leftovers, and our check. ($18.88 – a bargain!) And the Server told the Missus in Mandarin to wait because She shouldn't miss the free dessert. Which turned out to be a sweet rice porridge….no big deal, but very nice service:

As you can tell, we enjoyed this meal. It wasn't perfect, but it sure hit the spot. We found the service to be very nice, and the pace much more laid-back than other restaurants in the area. This place started to fill up as we left, with several groups of older folks.

So next time someone asks you if you'd like to grab a bite at a "Food Cabin" don't hesitate. It might be worth your while!

Food Cabin
9510 Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

Why the leftovers you may ask? Well, you know why…… another meal was in store during this roadtrip!

Khan’s Cave Grill & Tavern

December 4, 2008 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

When I first noticed Khan's Cave I really didn't know what to make of it. Somehow, Genghis Khan, and the phrase "Bar & Grill" just didn't seem to go together. This corner of the strip mall location used to be Hsu's Szechwan, an American-Szechwan-Mongolian BBQ restaurant that must've been around since the gold rush. Perhaps a tie-in with the old Mongolian BBQ joint? Who knows…..

After Khan's Cave opened, it became one of those, "oh, yeah, I need to check it out one-of-these days" places. You know what I mean, you drive by, and go "oh, yeah……" And a few blocks later, the image has receded into the nether regions of your brain. which is what always seemed to happen to me. FOY, Rebecca sent me an email at the end of August, telling me of her very positive experience at Khan's; and yet it still took me almost three months to get there!

Before visiting, I had checked out the menu on the Restaurant's website, which was a mish-mash of Asian influenced dishes from all over the map, and more than a few Fusion items, which left me, well, a bit con-"fused". I also noticed that dinner prices ran from $12-24, with lunch being a better deal. But the best deal of them all, was happy hour, which ran 7 days a week, from 4pm to 630 pm.

Appetizers and selected menu items were $2-3 off, and $1 off all beer in the patio and lounge areas. I decided that this would be a nice thing to try out. The restaurant has been renovated, and the warm looking bar area now occupies the former Mongolian griddle area. The selection of draft beers is pretty good, 20 in all, with 25 or so wines available by the glass.

So I got a nice tall "Arrogant Bastard", and looked over the bar menu.

Rebecca had recommended the Pepper Salt Calamari ($7 – happy hour price), which sounded like a nice beer grub type of dish. It would also be a good test of the kitchen…. to see if they could do two deceivingly simple things right; cooking calamari and frying.

When the plate hit the table, I thought it looked kind of greasy, but these were good. Crisp, light batter, the calamari were cooked to perfection (not hard and rubbery), and the squid rings had that nice Chinese "salt and pepper" flavor. Yes, salty indeed, but my kind of bar grub.

I also had thoughts of ordering the Pepper Salt Chicken Wings, but showing much restraint, I went with the Sriracha Thai Chicken Wings ($7).

The wings had a nice texture, with a bit of the fried crunch remaining, and was well coated with a spicy sauce which slowly got hotter and hotter as you ate them. This was reminiscent of Buffalo Wings in flavor(without the margarine fattiness), and like Buffalo Wings, I'd have enjoyed a nice "foil" for the heat and acidity, a la Blue Cheese dressing. These got a bit mundane after a while, but I was glad it wasn't too sweet.

This was more than I could finish, and I ended up taking a bit of it home with me. Overall, it wasn't a too bad experience. I also found out that the Chef was from Hong Kong.

With that experience in hand, I decided to grab lunch at Khan's. And this time I went with one of the ultimate, "it really doesn't exist in the supposed Country of origin dishes"; Singapore Noodles ($9.95). Really, there is no such thing as what we call Singapore Noodles in Singapore(well, maybe now with globalization…) , which puts the dish in the class of Chop Suey, Crab Rangoon, and Sesame Chicken.

That doesn't mean that I don't like it if it is well prepared. The portion size was on the small side, which in this day and age of humongous portions is not necessarily a bad thing. Several nice sized shrimp were provided as well. The vegetables were hard and undercooked, and though there was a nice curry kick, the dish lacked any other flavor, and was badly in need of soy, and perhaps chicken stock to add flavor. The one thing good about the dish was that the noodles weren't overcooked and mushy, and the dish came off as being less oily. At 10 bucks, I thought it was a bit over-priced, and at almost $12 for dinner……

As I've mentioned before, it's a fine line between Fusion and Con-Fusion food. Pulling off Seafood Pad Thai, Yakisoba, Ramen, and Pasta well, is a daunting task. I think the decor in the dining room at Khan's represents the food well:

Everything from decent tables and chairs to barrels(?) used as a table stand, and nice tile work transitioning to cheap looking carpet. Khan's has also kept the original ceiling from Hsu's, which adds even more kitsch to the equation.

That doesn't mean I won't be returning for a $5 – 22oz draft beer or some nice salty fried things during happy hour. I've filed it away as, "Asian TGI Fridays, meets PF Chang"…..

Khan's Cave Bar & Grill
9350 Clairemont Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Thanks for the recommendation Rebecca!

One more thing. For some reason, I think FOY CAB may want to check out this dish:

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Mr Dumpling

December 1, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Mr Dumpling has closed

Ever since PedMa and MrC mentioned that a restaurant called Mr Dumpling was opening up, the Missus & I kept tabs on the place during our trips to 99 Ranch Market. We both found the location, on Convoy Court, away from Clairemont Mesa Boulevard to be a bit strange.

But the Owners have done a really nice job with the place, from the very clean and uncluttered interior, to the orchids adorning the patio. Mr Dumpling the restaurant, does not resemble what I'd imagine a "Mr Dumpling" to look like.

The tables are covered with crisp white tablecloths, and the earthy tones, are quite nice and relaxing. Of course, the Missus couldn't help but say, "of course it's nice, they just opened up….give it a couple of years."

The menu looked like a scattershot of various Mainland Chinese dishes, everything from Mapo Dofu and Hunan Dofu, to of course, Jiaozi. The array of offerings did cause some head-scratching, but we're pretty familiar with the Chinese clean-cafe-eatery, phenomenon in LA. Actually, this is not isolated to Chinese cuisine, FOYs, Beach, Chubbypanda, and I had discussed this with regards to Vietnamese Restaurants in Little Saigon as well. Even a brief discussion would take up several posts, so I'll pass on that subject this time around.

Back to Mr Dumpling. We were informed that the "Chef" is from Shandong, which helped to give the Missus and I bearings with regards to ordering. While perusing the menu, we encountered our first mildly disturbing "sign", our pot of tea was delivered….. with the tea bag label sticking out of the pot. That single teabag tag sticking out of the top of the teapot just seemed out of place, and in stark contrast with the surroundings.

We started with a dish that the Missus has been eating since a young child – The Shanghai style Smoked Fish (Su Shih Hsun Yuu ), the price ($9.95) was a bit startling, but it's a dish that we can't help but order everywhere we go. It is a Shanghainese dish, but one that is very popular in Shandong.

This was just wrong on so many levels; first, this was a very, very, small portion(for $10)….check out the tines of the fork for comparison. Second, there was none of that sweet-5 spice flavor that is the hallmark of his dish. Third, the type of fish was wrong….the texture was too meaty, and tasteless, like really bad albacore tuna. Click on any of the links above the photo, and you'll see what we were expecting. The Missus's maternal Grandmother was master of this dish, and Her Fifth Aunt, who is the best cook in the family, carries on the tradition. My Mother-In-Law believes the version at Chin's, is spot on. I dunno what this was, but it sure wasn't Shanghai Smoked Fish. We'd have been satisfied if this wasn't a classic rendition of the dish, and had some redeeming qualities, but this was plain bad.

The next dish to arrive was something whose very mention can cause the Missus's mouth to water; Dezhou Pa Ji – (Dezhou Style Braised Chicken, $6.99). Dezhou a city located in Northwest Shandong, is well known for their braised chicken. This dish evokes so many deep-seated memories, that the Missus wrote Her one and only post on it.

The dish arrived, steaming hot…..but the skin was dry…..microwaved perhaps? All the Missus's hopes were dashed after one bite. Again, this was bland, with just a hint of flavor, which was more like soy-sauce chicken than Dezhou Pa Ji.

Alas, this meal was not going very well from the food standpoint. The service however, was very attentive, our plates changed, and our water refilled. Soon a tray of vinegar and soy sauce was placed at our table.

This last dish we ordered, if good, would make the entire meal worthwhile. If there is just one item that immediately comes to mind when the very word Shandong is uttered, it would be Jiaozi. Over the years, I've come to understand what an important role Jiaozi plays in the Northern Chinese household.

We ordered "Mr Dumpling's Special Dumplings" ($6.99).

First off, these dumplings took 40 minutes to get to us. I really didn't mind, I had mental pictures of fresh dough being made, rolled out, and formed by hand to order, floating through my head. Well, this didn't quite deliver, the filling, a combination of pork-shrimp-chives, had decent flavor. But the dough was hard, noodle-like, tearing instead of having any pull. As the Missus says, "it's all about the wrapper". From that end, this was pretty mediocre. Again with the Missus: "this place makes Dumpling Inn seem more like Dumpling King." We had thoughts when initally looking over the menu, of seeing what the food was like, and than ordering more; a strategy that I'm glad we took.

For us, the food at Mr Dumpling didn't live up to the decor, service, and price. Driving home we were trying to figure out what was going on. Perhaps the Chef was new to the various ingredients sourced in the US? I'm going to give this place a long rest, I hope the food improves…..

Silver Lining Note: The Missus felt so bad for me after this meal. So She decided to come out of Her self-imposed Jiaozi "retirement". I had Shrimp and Chive dumplings the next day!!

Mr Dumpling
7250 Convoy Ct
San Diego, CA 92111

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Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum – This Time it’s the Chinese BBQ

November 23, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

In the comments on my post on Sieu Sieu BBQ, "Nicole" was kind enough to remind me that I had not been back to Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum to try out the Chinese BBQ as promised. So recently, craving a bit of duck, I made it a point to check things out.

I got a half pound of Roast Pork ($9.25/lb), and a Half Roast Duck ($7.95).

The Roast Pork was a beautiful golden brown.

In what I found to be interesting, the Gentleman chopping the pork, first removed the crisp skin from the piece of pork; chopped the meat, than chopped the skin. After this procedure he placed the separated skin on top of the chopped meat. When biting into one of the pieces of skin, I figured out why this was done; it was very hard. The rest of the pork was rather good. I thought the fat to meat ratio was excellent, not too fatty, or waxy, and the meat moist. Enough of the fat had rendered during cooking. The flavor was good, with a nice pork flavor, perhaps a bit on the salty side. The meat bad almost a mild "cured" flavor, and perhaps missing a bit of the nice pork sweetness. The Missus thought it to be "too porky", as if there's such a thing????

After returning home, and re-reading Nicole's comment, I realized I had bought the "wrong duck". Nicole had recommended what is usually known as BBQ Duck, whereas I had purchsed a half Roast Duck.

My first thought when I opened this up was; "this is only half a duck?" This was a lot of duck…. The duck was nice and meaty, but very bland, it barely had the faintest hint of the rich duck flavor. I'm sure that preferences differ, but I'd take leaner and tastier duck, over meaty but bland duck. The skin was moist but tough. Not my favorite version of Roast Duck.

As with Sieu Sieu BBQ, the prices are reasonable, and I will probably try out the BBQ Duck, and some the dishes that Nicole recommended.

As I paid for my BBQ, the Lady behind the counter, perhaps playing "guess the customer's Nationality" told me "Cảm ơn" (Thank you in Vietnamese) while giving me my change….she cracked up when I told her Doh Jeh'. (Maybe I should have said "kamsa hamnida")

And in case you're like us, and still wondering what the heck you'll do for Thanksgiving:

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

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It’s all about Mi – Minh Ky, Tan Ky Mi Gia (El Cajon Blvd & Mira Mesa), and Luong Hai Ky on Convoy

November 19, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Or so the Missus says…….

Recently, I've been craving Egg Noodle Soup, specifically, the Vietnamese version of this Chinese style noodle soup. After a few bowls, I decided why not do a comparison, much like I've done previously for Pho (quite a while ago) , Banh Mi (a while back as well), and Bun Bo Hue. In addition to being quite satisfying, "Mi" is usually pretty inexpensive. An though many, Pho shops make a pretty good bowl, I decided to stick to the specialists.

For the sake of consistency, I went with the combination Won Ton/Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup across the board. Since I was quite curious about the broth, noodle, and won ton/dumpling, I opted for the "soup separate" option. And even though I realize that on any given day, the soup can vary, I was still surprised at my findings. you'll soon see why. So off we go……

Minh Ky:

I thought Minh Ky was a good place to start, since it was probably the first bo Mi-MinhKy01 wl of egg noodle soup I posted on way back in January of 2006. A bowl of the Won Ton/Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup will now cost you $4.95. Up about 20 cents from 2006.

The noodles arrive seasoned with a smear of Oyster Sauce, and topped with a good amount of sliced cilantro and scallions.

The noodles were as expected, on the chewy side, but pretty bland on its' own.

The soup here surprised me.

I had always been of the opinion that the broth at Minh Ky was on the watery and bland side. Today the broth had a nice flavor. It was the best broth overall. The Won Tons, were the usual hard meatball, but was the best flavored(porky-shrimpy). The dumplings were mediocre; bland and very tough.

Surprisingly, the best overall.

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

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Tan Ky Mi Gia – El Cajon Boulevard:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

This was the cheapest of the four at $4.75. The noodles here come drizzled with oyster sauce:

Other than that, this was quite hard, and raw in flavor, and nothing special. Without a doubt it needed soup, but how was the soup?

This soup had the best Char Siu (BBQ Pork), but other than that, this was the worst soup, sorely lacking the previous visits nice broth with a hint of seafood flavor. As before the won tons and dumpling here are hard and fall short on the flavor front. Also, on this visit, many of the wrappers had come off the won tons. Still, it is the most inexpensive.

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

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Tan Ky Mi Gia – Mira Mesa:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

Tan Ky Mi Gia had the most expensive Won Ton/Dumpling Noodle Soup – $5.55.

My previous experiences here have been mixed, but this was to be a very surprising dish as well. First off, the noodles:

The noodles here were the best overall. They were perfectly crunchy/chewy in texture. I believe the noodles were dunked into broth before serving. There was also a pool of sauce, which tasted like a combination of soy and oyster sauce on the bottom of the bowl. After a quick mix I thought the noodles would have been just fine as a stand alone dish.

As for the broth:

I had always had very salty broth here, but again I was surprised. The broth was very mild and lacked "depth". The won tons were rock hard and tough, but the dumplings had a nice amount of shrimp and was pretty good.

The second best overall.

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

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Luong Hai Ky – Convoy:

**** This location of LHK has closed

Which leads us to Luong Hai Ky.

Looking over the menu, I noticed that the Won Ton/Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup was $5… I swear, didn't it used to be $5.50?

The noodles arrived, this seemed to have also been dunked in broth before an oyster sauce based mixture was applied.

I really didn't go for the lettuce tossed in with the noodles, and the hard dried/fried shallots and garlic in the bottom of the bowl would have better served in the broth.

Based on previous experiences, I expected the soup at Luong Hai Ky to be the best overall. And peering into the dark and rich looking broth, things seemed to be going in that direction.

But I was stymied, the broth had a nice rich texture and tongue feel, but lacked the usual flavor, sort of pork-chicken with a hint of seafood. Best dumplings of the bunch, and possibly the second best won tons. Hard and a bit tougher than I enjoy, but with good shrimp-pork flavor. Strange….I expected a bit more.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

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So there you have it Mi times 4, with lots of surprises for me! Nice midweek snack, eh??? Hmmm, I'm starting to crave Beef Sate Noodle Soup…….

Midweek Meanderings

November 5, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Plate Lunch, yoso-silly

Just a few items to get you past "hump day".

Mr Dumpling:

A few weeks back, I received an email(Thanks MrC), than PedMa commented regarding Mr Dumpling. Located on Convoy Court, right behind 99 Ranch Market, I managed to take a drive past this weekend.

The sign says "Chinese Grill", and the name is "Mr Dumpling"…..so it gives you an inkling.

Le Chef Bakery:

During early morning Banh Mi runs, I've noticed packages of Baguettes being delivered with tags that read Le Chef Bakery. I was never really able to find out much. But look at what I drove past while taking a detour on Ruffner Street.

Looks like a wholesale bakery operation. Anyone know anything?

Mo's is Closed:

Back in September, 'CD' commented on Mo's, basically saying that the place has been closed by the Health Department. I wasn't able to drop by before our trip. So this past weekend, I dropped by, and yes Mo's is closed.

The only item of significance was a Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control suspension notice.

Which, if I recall, doesn't usually shut a restaurant down, it just suspends the establishment from serving alcohol. I'll do some further digging and see what I can find out. I've been told that Mo is only currently doing catering. I'll let you know what I find.

Beer Inquiry:

I recently received an email asking me if I knew where Asahi Kuronama could be found in San Diego. Unfortunately, I can't find the email. So I'm posting what I found here. I've seen Asahi Kuronama on the shelves at both Nijiya Market and 99 Ranch Market.

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

99 Ranch Market
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Now if I can only find me some Beer Lao……….

And Finally:

Here's a nice piece of photoshop work from FOY (Friend of Yoso), and fellow Food Blogger Dennis who does A Radiused Corner. Dennis has a great sense of humor, and has called me the "Banh Mi Rover"…..and he backed it up with this:

You know……I can see the resemblance! Thanks Dennis!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Revisits to, Pho King, Sab-E-Lee, Tita’s Kitchenette, Okan, Ba Ren, & one more. Plus some Vien Dong Linda Vista rumors.

October 8, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Filipino Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

I can't believe how many photos I've stashed away for no good reason. It hardly ever rains here in San Diego, so if I'm saving 'em for a rainy day, these'll never see the light of day. And usually, if I return to a restaurant several times, I pretty much stop taking photos. But these are exceptions, and instead of a rainy day, we'll just have to say I saved these for one, super hot-dry, SoCal day. So hot, to prevent my fingers from melting on my keyboard, I'm going to keep the verbiage to a minimum. So let's see how many different cuisines I can hit in one post.

Pho King:

Yes, it's the Hu Tieu Mi Kho(large – $7.25), from the unfortunately named Pho King.

And even though the ingredients aren't quite the same on each visit, and the pork-soy sauce mixture is a sodium bomb, I like this. Being served "dry", also makes it a pretty good dish for a scalding day.

Just don't eat the Pho'.

Pho King Restaurant
4658 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Speaking of don't eat the Pho, check out what FOY, and one of my favorite bloggers, Jelly, ate….this is what they call Pho in Ulsan. Jenn asked me not to weep, but it's hard not too….

Even more Sab-E-Lee:

**** This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed

The Shrimp Larb($6.95):

Man, this was the hottest thing I've had at Sab-E-Lee so far(And I've had more than a few items from the menu)…nearly burned my lips off.

A bit more toward my taste was the Nam Sohd ($6.95):

If you've ever had Nem Chua (Vietnamese fermented sausage), you'd know what the flavor of Nam Sohd was like. It is a fermented sausage, less dense than it's Vietnamese counterpart, lighter, and with whole peppers embedded in the meat. Combined with a slice of raw garlic, some galangal, and maybe a chili or two…it will surely get your attention.

What I found interesting was that this is listed under "Salads" on the menu. What was really good, but I don't have a photo of is the Larb Pet, the grilled duck larb. The Missus scarfed it all up before I had a chance to even catch a whiff of it. She did mention that it was very good, so I'll have to take Her word for it.

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Tita's Kitchenette:

3 years after my first post on Tita's, and I still ask myself the same question. How can 1 person finish all this?

MG was kind enough to pick up lunch for us, and in addition to the lechon kawale, was nice enough to pick up something "more healthy" (in relative terms) a Tortang Talong, what they call an "eggplant omelette". I wasn't even able to make a dent in this!

Tita's Kitchenette
2720 East Plaza Boulevard
National City, CA 91950

In case you wondering how they make this, you can find a nice YouTube-y thing here.

Wa Dining Okan:

We've dropped by Wa Dining Okan a few times since my last post. And though the Gobo Salad wasn't up to par on our last visit. I really enjoyed the Beef Tataki ($8.25):

Light, tasty, good acid, quite nice.

Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Ba Ren:

**** Ba Ren has closed

What would one of these posts be without Ba Ren. After all these years, still our favorite. If you want to read previous posts, you can find a listing on my rotation page. Not much more to add, just a few photos:

Steamed Pumpkin stuffed with Pork (#129 – $14.99, you need to call one day ahead).

I've had this a few times before, but it was especially good on this visit! This was during dinner with Ed from Yuma & Tina. I'll let Ed comment if he desires.

And of course during other visits; the usual suspects.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

And one more just for the heck of it:

This one is for FOY JeffreyC:

I know how much he enjoys Katsudon. It's a bit too hot for that right now……but this version from Kayaba was passable.

Kayaba
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119 – In the Mitsuwa Marketplace
San Diego, CA 92111

I hope you enjoyed, this little collection…..

Recently heard about Vien Dong Market in Linda Vista:

I can't confirm this, but I recently heard from a very good FOY, that the former Owners of this location of Vien Dong has reacquired the lease. This would mean that Vien Dong would reopen after a renovation. Again, this has not been confirmed…so if anyone knows anything…let us know!

Hope you're all having a great week!

Sieu Sieu BBQ

September 2, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I try my best to go into any new eating establishment with a "good" attitude, a blank slate, always hoping for the best meal possible given the price, food, and service. That doesn’t mean that I’m always successful. Sieu Sieu BBQ is such a case. When we first relocated to San Diego, Sieu Sieu BBQ occupied a small space on Linda Vista Road. Being curious about the Chinese BBQ offered at the tiny shop, I sampled the Roast Duck, Salted Chicken, and Roast Pork, and found all three to be severely lacking…in flavor. I had never had bland Chinese BBQ before, until that day. Needless to say, I never returned. While driving down Linda Vista Road last year, I noticed that Sieu Sieu BBQ was gone……and I felt bad, perhaps a bit of guilt. I really never gave them that "third chance", that I could have.

And then, one recent morning, I drove by one of the multitude of strip malls on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. And there it was; Sieu Sieu BBQ, back from the dead!

The first thing that went through my mind, was "nice sign, but couldn’t you afford some paint?" As you can tell, this is the location of the now defunct Maui Maui Hawaiian BBQ. At that point, the "two little men on my shoulder went into action". The "good Kirk" whispered, "hope springs eternal" in one ear, while the "bad Kirk" murmured "see…bad pennies always show up." Good Kirk, "the third time is a charm". Bad Kirk: "Three strikes and you’re out." What to do? My solution? I opened the window and let the breeze blow the two "Kirks" out the window…my way of taking my mental "Etch a Sketch", shaking it, and clearing off all of the haphazard mental drawings. In essence, starting with a clear slate.

One of the things I noticed about this version of Sieu Sieu BBQ, was the new dining area. Tables, many of them large and communal, all lined up. And on the morning I passed by, there were several older couples eating in the restaurant. All "good signs". In spite of this, I started slowly. On the first day, I ordered something from the menu. A simple Wonton Egg Noodles Soup ($4.95):

The noodle and soup menu is quite reasonable; all the dishes are under $7. And for under 5 bucks this was a pretty good "deal". In the exact opposite of what is usually done in restaurants, the bowl looked quite small, but there was a good amount of egg noodles in the "just about average" (at least not too salty) broth. The wontons were also just okay, there were 6 of them in the soup. Not much soup, but a ton of noodles. To me, worth the 5 bucks.

And this was good enough for me. Good enough for what you may ask…..good enough for a "meat-fest"! First, let’s go to the Roast Duck (1/2 Duck $7.99):

Dry and bland…this was the Sieu Sieu BBQ I remembered. It did not bode well, but I also ordered other stuff.

The BBQ Duck (1/2 Duck $7.99). You can tell the BBQ duck from the Roast Duck, because it is cooked split and hung in a "spatchcock" position. You can easily tell the difference.

We had never tried this at the "old" Sieu Sieu. It is much more meaty, moist, and tender, than the Roast Duck. On the other side of the coin, this duck was suffering from "bean paste overload", as the beany flavor overwhelmed all else except for one thing; it was very salty.

The Roast Pork ($8.25/lb):

You’ll find something interesting at Sieu Sieu; it’s the 2 ladies who chop and handle the meat. They are both really nice, and after checking out the pork, have some decent "chops"(pun fully intended) as well. Each piece had just a little sliver of bone. Again, the meat was moist, though the fat was a bit "hard"…it had not been cooked enough. The "skin" was on the hard side, though Da’ Boyz didn’t complain very much.

The BBQ Pork (aka Char Siu $6.55/lb !!!):

Hmmm, that’s a bad photo…..it looks sort of radioactive. How about this one?

The Char Siu wasn’t bad. The pork was moist, had a decent amount of fat, and was fairly tender. Unfortunately, just as the BBQ Duck, it suffered from bean paste over-load, and the flavor was too salty, lacking in a balancing sweetness.

Lest you think it was just a (BBQ) meat-fest, here are a few more dishes:

The Beef Stew on Rice ($5.25):

Man, there was a ton of rice (not a bad thing) provided. The beef was just mediocre, though the piece of tendon had that wonderful buttery texture.

I’m thinking that my assessment rally wasn’t 100% accurate during this meal. I saw something that I hadn’t seen since we moved from LA. In the San Gabriel Valley, it is, or at least was, quite common to see someone eating, say chicken feet, and upon completion of eating, spit out the bones and inedible parts right onto the table. The thing I’ve always found humorous about the whole thing was, that after spitting and dumping all the bones on the table, that the person in question would grab a toothpick in one hand, and cover his mouth(it was usually men) with the other, in what was almost a gesture of modesty. Not good, not bad, just ironic in a twisted way. And yes, I was sitting across from a "spitter", who ended up "depositing" a bunch of duck bones on the table. The nice woman, who a minute ago was chopping this very bird, now came up to clean up. She looked at me, and simply smiled and shrugged. And though I’ve seen this many times, I’m still not used to it.

The Home Style Rice Vermicelli Noodle ($6.95):

This was very much "Home Style", quite simple in flavor (soy sauce), and though not bland, a bit like this:

The Rice Vermicelli was a bit over-cooked, though there were 5 shrimp in the dish. I did feel like I could have made this at home. Still, for $6.95 it wasn’t too bad. More than enough food for 1 meal. But wouldn’t you know, I sat across from another "spitter"…..just my luck. This time it was Salted Chicken…I guess I can’t complain about variety!

As a whole, the Chinese BBQ at Sieu Sieu is better than what I remembered, though not top notch. The folks working here are very, very nice. The menu dishes are inexpensive, and perhaps a good diversion from Sam Woo, at least you won’t have the "attitude and parking" problems.

I did find that on every visit, I dealt with an "older" crowd.

As a last note; FOY "Fred" emailed me and told me the Sieu Sieu Chow Mein was well worth the $6.95 you pay for it. And knowing Fred, it’s a good recommendation. And for the "real" cultural experience, maybe you’ll sit across from one of the same gentlemen I did!

Sieu Sieu BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

9am – 9pm Daily

Niu Rou Mania, A Niu Rou Mian comparison: Shanghai City, 168 Restaurant, and Dumpling Inn

August 4, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian

*** Shanghai City is no more. It is now Spicy House.

We had been pretty happy with the Niu Rou Mein at Shanghai City. The Beef Noodle Soup always had a nice rich and deep flavor, good oil content, some spice, and the noodles had a pleasant mouth feel for us. In fact, on a good day, I'd say that it would have measured up pretty well with anything we've had elsewhere. But recently, before the weather turned warm and humid, we decided to drop by Shanghai City. And of course, I had the Niu Rou Mein. I think you can often measure how long you've been doing something by comparing prices. The price of the NRM in my first post, in October of 2005, the weekend breakfast special price for NRM was a major bargain at $4.25. During my next post in December of 2006, the NRM was $4.95, and still a bargain. In March of 2007, it had gone up another dollar and was $5.95. And now it's $6.45, it really makes me feel like I've been doing this for a very long time.

I'm not sure what the regular (non-weekend breakfast special) price is for the NRM. We got our NRM in pretty quick fashion.

And were a bit disappointed. The broth was much lighter, and the flavor was on the watery side. The meat was very tender, but bland, lacking any beefy punch. The noodles were the biggest let-down, they were over-cooked and mushy, not the doughy chewiness we usually enjoyed.

Which led me to…….think about retrying other restaurants. So here's 2 more to make a NRM tri-fecta.

*** 168 Restaurant has closed.

168 Restaurant:

The place looked much cleaner than I remembered, and the tables lacked the signature "San Gabriel stickiness", but Beef Noodle Soup was still on the menu. I went with the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup($6.50):

The bowl was smaller than what I recall, but it looked and tasted the same. Second rate noodles, the broth was quite weak, lacking richness. I've always enjoyed the pickled greens, and on this occasion the beef was very tender, and had a decent 5 spice flavor, but the broth had a unpleasant bitter-burnt aftertaste.

Dumpling Inn:

This time I went for the gusto Beef Noodle Soup with home made noodles ($7.95 + $1 = $8.95!), the most expensive NRM I've ever had.

I enjoyed that the large bowl arrived steaming hot. The broth was much darker than what I've had on previous visits, and this time it had a nice beefy punch, but lacked any richness (oil), and was very salty. It did look so good that 2 people who walked in while I was eating this asked the Server what I was having, and ended up ordering this. The beef was tender, but lacked flavor, as if all the beefiness was sucked out of it. There was a ton of the medium-wide "home made" noodles provided, but it really did nothing for me. No chewiness, or the nice slightly doughy texture, in the end I would have just been fine with the regular noodles. In addition, there was a giant messy clump of noodles all stuck together in the bottom of the bowl. Which led me to wonder how these were being stored.

Just as a reminder, home-made doesn't mean fresh……

So I'm left in a quandary……I'm hoping that Shanghai City's NRM will be back in form next time. But now, I'll be back to trying other versions in San Diego again. Looks like it's back to square one.

Saturday Stuffs

July 26, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Filipino Restaurants, yoso-silly

Just some odds and ends….

Bud's Reopens:

Just in case you missed "GoBears" comment, Bud's Louisiana has reopened. The newest incarnation is located in Tierrasanta, right behind the Round Table Pizza:

They are currently only open for lunch, from Monday through Saturday 11am to 3pm.

Bud's Louisiana Cafe

10425 Tierrasanta Blvd, #105
San Diego, CA 92124

Have I mentioned it before? I love Filipino Parties:

The Missus is the Godmother of a friends son, and a few months ago the Christening took place. You know that the party was going to be good.

This was a big one….a 2 lechon party!

That first roasted pig was gone really quick.

But man does not live on Lechon alone:

It was some spread, along with the usual Pancit and Lumpia, there was Kaldereta, Pinacbet, and tons more:

And being one of the Godmothers had its benefits…a whole plate of lechon from Pig#2, the Missus got to eat with the Aunts and Cousins in the "back room", and Frankie got a "cabeza"! Guess what the Missus was the most happy with?

More save our taco trucks!

Bandini has posted about saving LA's Taco Trucks from extinction. You can find updates at saveourtacotrucks.org. I received word from yumtacos.com, that Sacramento is attempting to do the same thing:

"Here in Sacramento, we have lots of terrific, and some very authentic, Mexican food – places that specialize in all sorts of regional dishes, from various types of ceviche and shellfish to birria and plenty more.
But some of the best, cheapest and most straightforward is served at our many taco trucks, which are – incidentally – the only place that many second and third shift workers can go to eat. Late at night in the industrial zones and elsewhere, you will often see lines of cops, firefighters, hospital workers, warehouse staff and janitorial workers lined up at the trucks.
The trucks don't park outside of open restaurants, nor do they usually park on public streets; almost all are at regular, scheduled locations, sometimes a single location all night; these are always parking lots, private property that they've received permission (or pay rent) to use.
Our city council, at the behest of restaurant owners, has enacted new regulations that effectively criminalize these trucks without consulting truck owners or customers. For example, the new 30 minute per location time limit – when truck owners take 20 minutes to set up, lock down their propane systems and heat up the grill, and 15 minutes to clean up – will mean they'll have to drastically cut down on safety and/or cleanliness just to serve a single customer. And not being able to do business after dark means that the vast majority of their business – night shift workers – will have nowhere to eat except for drive-through hamburgers. The city council claimed there was a public health nuisance attached to the trucks, although ours are all inspected regularly by the county and not a single truck has ever had a complaint filed against it or failed an inspection, unlike many of the restaurants who fear the competition of the trucks. One city council person claimed police reports linked violence to the trucks, a charge the Sacramento Police department disputes, showing clearly that there is no such causality.

We'd very much like your help and the help of your readers. We've set up a petition, where we'd like get several thousand signatures of locals and visitors; even non-Sacramentans are invited to sign, to dispute the Council's claim that tourists find the trucks a blight on our city.

Here is our petition"

I really enjoy the Taco Trucks here in San Diego, and other places I've been. You know that once legistlation like this is successful; it is just a matter of time before it makes its way down to San Diego.

What does Professor Salt and the State Department have in common?

Before he starts saying his name is "Salt…Professor Salt." I'll spill the beans. The State Department sent a video team to film a short documentary on the 4-Q BBQ Team, of which Professor Salt is a member of. You won't find anything more American than BBQ; and you won't find any BBQ team that represents the amazing diversity of our Country than 4-Q. Congrats guys!

You can find the video here.

If you really want to feel good:

I'm not quite the Youtube-ist(is there such a thing). I really don't follow all of the strange, amazing, and somewhat entertaining videos on YouTube. But sometimes, I find wonderful things on other Blogs. Such is the case with this wonderful video. It was from a post in the wonderful blog, Heather in Paradise. And according to Heather's post, which references Snopes.com, the story is true! Even better.

Hope you're having a great weekend!