Chinese Restaurants – Page 66

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!

Road Trip: Mama’s Lu and Northern Dumpling House – Monterey Park(LA)

July 1, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Xiao Long Bao

With gas prices at new highs, just wanting to take a road trip would probably be grounds to have us committed. But we were getting a bit stale just stewing in our juices at home. So, we went ahead with our little road trip and made the best of it. After doing our morning shopping, instead of heading toward San Gabriel, we decided on what in the good old days(at least for us) was the center of our eating universe. The intersection of Garfield and Garvey in Monterey Park. We were amazed at how light traffic was and even snagged convenient parking on Garvey. I'm guessing gas prices are affecting everyone.

Our first lunch stop was a newer restaurant called Mama's Lu….no not Mama Lu's, or even ahem, Mama's Loo(God help us all). It really is called Mama's Lu:

See what I mean? I asked the Missus what the deal was with the name. Her response? "Hey, you're the food guy, right? You figure it out." Which translated, probably meant, "I'm tired of your questions, you figure it out…." This little shop occupies the area that used to be Heavy Noodling, which I was kind of sad to see go.

The interior of "Da' House of Lu", is very clean. Not a sign of "San Gabriel sticky" to be found here.

The menu is short and concise, mostly dumplings, Shanghainese, with some Sichuan thrown in on the Chinese menu board:

I dunno if we've gotten used to prices in San Diego or what, but we had reverse sticker shock when we checked out the menu.

10 Xiao Long Bao for $4.50? You can barely get a Carne Asada Burrito for that in San Diego! Maybe this drive was worth it.

As we looked over the menu, the Missus and I hatched our plan. 2 Xiao Long Bao, and one dish we'll sample, and load into the ice chest. We started with an old favorite of the Missus, Shanghai style "Smoked Fish"($4.50), a classic dish. The Missus grew up eating the stuff.

The photo is a bit deceptive, this was a pretty large portion. This version was drier(but not dry), than versions I've had. It also didn't have a very pronounced sweet and five spice flavor. I really enjoyed it, because unlike other versions, this was not "fishy" in the least. The Missus(and my MIL) still favor the version at Chin's. But I'll take this any day of the week.

The Pork and Crab Xiao Long Bao($8.50), probably the most expensive item on the menu.

These came with each XLB(8) packed into an individual foil container. What I thought; "wow, they pack them individually, in these little dishes so they don't leak." What the Missus thought; "no wonder they're so expensive, they waste money on those dishes. If they make them right, they won't leak. And they sure better know the difference between the crab and the pork Xiao Long Bao. What a waste."

For us, a good Crab and Pork Xiao Long Bao, will be rich and mildly sweet. This was bland and kind of greasy. The meat to soup ratio was not to our liking. Too much meat, not enough soup. The wrappers had a major defect; the fold was hard and chewy, and the bottom was gummy.

The Pork Xiao Long Bao(10 – $4.50):

These Xiao Long Bao suffered from the same problems as the Crab and Pork with regards to the wrapper and meat to soup ratio. Flavor wise, these were better with regards to a mild sweetness, and the meatball was melt in your mouth tender. I still think it was under flavored.

Still, I think it's better than any XLB we have here in San Diego, but when compared to all the other XLB in the area….. On the positive side, we had excellent service, our tea was refilled, and our water twice! The very nice Server, came back to check on us, something that almost never happens in the SGV! There is a booth behind the cash register that displays the XLB makers at work, a la Din Tai Fung. One more thing that I found somewhat humorous. The 'A' Health Rating is posted by the hallway door, away from the street…almost as if they're ashamed that they actually got an 'A'.

Mama's Lu Dumpling House
153 E Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

So why did the Missus and I exercise such restraint at Mama's Lu? Right across the street from Mama's Lu is this place.

**** Northern Dumpling House has closed

The English sign only says "Restaurant". I had read about this place on Chowhound, called Northern Dumpling House. We saved some "room" for a meal here. We planned on one order of Jiaozi and "something else". Like Mama's Lu the place is very clean, and almost too cold and sterile. The prices here are very reasonable as well.

I really wanted to try he Pork and Opo Squash Dumplings(I thought they'd be interesting), but they did not have any.

So we had the Beef and Chinese Celery Dumplings($5.50):

These Jiaozi were interesting, the wrapper was very soft and pillowy. I enjoy a bit of chew, but the Missus enjoyed these as a change of pace. She went into a lecture about making the dough of Jiaozi, and water temperature, etc, etc, etc…. The filling was undoubtedly beefy, but lacked a decent Chinese celery crunch and the only way we knew there was celery in the filling was a slight aftertaste. I'm not quite sure about these, but the Missus enjoyed them. I want to bring my Mother In Law to see what She thinks.

Looking for something that we could have a few bites of, than take home; I went for the Cumin Lamb. We thought it strange that all the stir fry dishes had prices that had been covered by blank white stickers. So at the risk of being charged some exorbitant amount, we went ahead and ordered it anyway.

If you enjoy a milder cumin taste, you'd like these. What made this dish really good was how the lamb was prepared and cooked. There were slices that were melt in the mouth soft! If not for the mild gamey flavor(not wild enough for us), you'd think that you were eating very well prepared beef. Mildly spicy from the chilies, this was even better the next day. Did you guess how much this cost? It was $5.40……on our check the Server initially wrote $4.95, but crossed it out and wrote in $5.40….I'll take that any day.

Even more than the food, there was something really interesting about this meal. The restaurant was empty except for another couple. Apparently, the Guy is a "Chef" at another restaurant, the Missus said he had a strong Beijing accent, She could barely understand his girlfriend/wife("man, her accent is really hard to make out"). After making our food the cook came out, pulled up a seat, and they started talking about business in the area. And also started dissing other regional Chinese cuisines. They were especially hard on Tianjin Cuisine("no way a Tianjin restaurant will make it, they don't make any good food, only snacks"). Stuff like prices and competition were discussed, too much to write in this post. But if you've ever wanted to be a "fly on the wall."

Northern Dumpling House
138 East Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

Chow Noodlehouse

June 10, 2008 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Chow has closed

I'd been thinking about trying out Chow Noodle House for a while, but have been hesitating. You see, when we first moved to San Diego in '01, this was the location of the reincarnated Celadon Restaurant. And the young Owner, Alex Thao, at that time still a student at San Diego State, was a thoughtful and energetic young man. His father had Owned the original Celadon, now the location of Hash House, and after deciding to retire and close the restaurant, the ambitious Alex had talked his father into reopening Celadon, and turning over the keys to him. The space that Chow now occupies once held a Thai Restaurant called Thai-phoon, or something like that. I won't go into the food at that restaurant, but I think the name more than describes it. Alex is a smart Guy, he kept the original chef on staff at Celadon, and we thought the food to be pretty good. We'd often run into Alex's Mom running the front of house, and Alex would always come by and chat. Over time the food went on a downhill slide. It seems that the original Chef, Songsri Thammasuckdi, who, I was told, once cooked for Thai Royalty, decided to retire. About the same time, Alex Thao became quite the Restaurateur, first opening Rama in the Gaslamp, then moving Celadon to newer digs, and opening Chow Noodle House in the former Celadon location. Which brings us to the here and now.

The interior is simply modern, neat and orderly, if perhaps a bit on the "cold" side.

The menu though simple in concept; noodles, salads, and other similar items, is a challenge. Chow has chosen to straddle 4 different Countries. The menu consists of everything from Pho and Bun, to Yakisoba, to Chow Fun and Pad Thai. It is hard enough doing one cuisine justice, but four?

Back in January, I decided to check out Chow for lunch. The very nice young lady ushered me to a table, and after looking over the menu, I chose the Drunken Noodles(with chicken – $8). I thought this would be a nice dish to try since I enjoyed the version that Celadon used to make. Something in the back of my mind made me order it "spicy", something I'd never do at say, Yai Restaurant. Come to think of it, they serve it to you, their way, and don't even ask you how spicy you want your food. I kinda like that.

I was first served a bowl of a pseudo, egg drop soup. I say pseudo, because the one very strong flavor in this was that of Kaffir Lime Leaf. To me this wasn't a bad thing, because at least it had flavor.

Considering that I was paying the "Hillcrest premium", this didn't look too bad. On the good side, the noodles were cooked adequately, and the chicken wasn't dry as I expected. On the bad, this was cloyingly sweet. I expect my Pad Kee Mau to be on the sweet side, but this was really much too sweet. Also, it was not spicy in the least, not at all. It was hard to make out any flavor beyond the sweetness of the dish.

Another day, I was having lunch with an acquaintance, and decided to order the "Vietnamese" Grilled Beef Salad($10):

The "lemongrass grilled beef" was adequately done, but it had no lemongrass flavor. The menu says hothouse cucumbers, but none were in sight, not a big deal, at least there were some cherry tomatoes mixed in with the shredded cabbage and carrots. The dressing was very bland, I'd have killed for some Nuoc Mam Cham. Funny thing, this was one of my first meals out after returning from vacation, and I couldn't help but think…..160,000 VND!

Recently, I decided to give Chow one more shot. This day, being a bit brighter than most, I noticed that Chow was showing some signs of wear and tear.

This time I ordered the Beef Chow Fun($11 – I just noticed that I spent more and more $'s on each visit). I didn't quite know what to expect, perhaps a nice version of Thai style thick noodles with gravy, maybe I'd get a decent Chow Fun.

Chow Fun with Gravy does not mean mushy noodles. The noodles were horribly over-cooked, and improper cooking temperature made them greasy as well. Though the fragrance of ginger wafted up from the dish, it was all I could really make out. This was very bland. At least the Gai lan tops were cooked properly. The meat was cut too thick, and didn't match the thickness of the noodles, a no-no in Chinese cooking.

At this point, unless anyone has a really stellar recommendation for Chow, I think I'll pass for a while. It seemed like everything started at mediocre, and went down hill from there. I will say this, though my Server was different on every visit, I had very accommodating service. Also, I was never charged for my Diet Cokes.

This leads me to a conversation I had with the young Alex Thao, way back in maybe 2002. Just back from a visit to Thai Town, I inquired about dishes using ingredients like Thai Eggplants, Jackfruit, or even Gapi(Thai Shrimp Paste). His response was that using the unfamiliar in San Diego is "economic suicide" and those dishes would just take up menu space and never sell. I guess he's right, after all, the Thao Empire is now so large it calls itself the "Celadon Group".

Chow Noodle House
540 University Ave
San Diego, CA

Read Alice Q Foodie's post on Chow here.

Read Gil's post from what We Dig here.

From the no good deed goes unpunished files:

So, I'm walking after lunch, and see an Older Woman using a walker, dragging a shopping basket, muttering to herself while crossing the street. I notice that a shopping bag full of "stuff" fell from the cart while she was crossing the street. So, I run into the cross walk, get honked at by some "gangsta's" in an Escalade who in addition to throwing a Big Gulp Cup at me, obviously cussed me out…luckily, they were screaming at me in "gangsta" so I really couldn't understand what they were saying. Thankfully, I managed to pick up the bag, caught up with the woman, and handed it to her. Unfortunately for me, she was grappling with whatever demons are haunting her, and proceeded to scream profanities at me. And if that wasn't enough, she started spitting at me! Needless to say, I dumped her bag into the cart, and beat a hasty retreat. Goes to show me…you never know what'll happen to you on the corner of 5th and University……..

China Chef: A Revisit

June 3, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** China Chef has closed

What would our humble little blog be without you all. Well, I don't think we'd be much at all without our FOYs(Friends Of Yoso), who always take time out to keep me informed of changes. Case in point would be the reason behind our recent visit to China Chef. Back in November of 2006, we visited China Chef, and found what we basically thought was a Dede's clone. It was okay, but nothing to go out of the way for. But thanks to FOY ReneeC, who always keeps me apprised of any activity on Her culinary radar, we decided to take a drive up to Mira Mesa, and grab a bite at China Chef.

The reason?

Need a closer look?

Some "specials" written on construction paper in front of the cash register. #1 Sweet and Sour Crispy Skin Fish. #2 Tea Smoked duck. #3 Chongqing Beer Duck.

What about #4? Well that's Rock Cod and Tofu Clay Pot:

This hot pot dish was just average. The cooking of the fish was mediocre, it was on the dry side, and crumbly, instead of flaky. The overall flavor of the "gravy" could have used more ginger, and some salt. Also, the addition of a vegetable component; maybe Napa Cabbage or lettuce on the bottom of the pot would have added some nice textural contrast. A very bland dish.

#5 Spicy Tea Smoked Duck.

This was a nice dish. Much better than any duck dish I've had at Ba Ren. The tea smoked duck was done well, and had a decent amount of meat. Many versions of tea smoked duck are salty and tough, this one had a nice smoky flavor, and a good chew. No, it's not your Cantonese Roast Duck, but smoking adds a very nice smokey-cured flavor and texture. This was double bonus, the duck was briefly stir-fried with green peppers, dried chilies, celery, and Sichuan peppercorns. And the whole thing was topped with peanuts. There was some numbing heat, but it wasn't very spicy.

Of course I couldn't leave without having some Cumin Lamb($9.95), that classic Xinjiang/Uyghur dish that has been absorbed by many regional Chinese Cuisines. I was once told that the Uyghur(Muslim turks) have spread throughout much of China, and you can find street stalls selling skewers of lamb seasoned with cumin in many large cities through China.

This version was quite interesting. It was rather light on the Cumin Powder, and could have used more salt. What the dish had in spades was that flavor which a friend of mine once called, "the flavor of the wild pasture". In other words, it was nice and gamey. That in and of itself made this a satisfying dish. The meat had a decent chew, I hate mushy lamb. Also, this was the least oily version of cumin lamb I've ever had. I'm still wondering if that's a good thing or not.

The total bill, including rice, tea, and tax, came out to $41.35. I can't tell you how much the specials were, no price is posted, and only a total was circled on our check. I was rather satisfied with our meal. It was much better than our previous visit to China Chef. I've heard that people think there's a new Chef at this restaurant. I wouldn't know, but I can tell you that there are some new dishes like Sweet Corn with Pine Nuts, and such on the menu.

China Chef Restaurant
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd #110
San Diego, CA 92126

Thanks for always keeping me "in the loop" Renee!

Ba Ren’s Latest Seasonal Menu

May 29, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Ba Ren has closed

Over the last few weeks we've been checking out the latest seasonal menu at Ba Ren. So I thought I'd do a few posts on the items we've tried. There are 8 items on the menu; one of them, the first item listed is a carry over from the previous menu. It's the Corn with Pine Nuts dish.

So here we go:

#3 on the placard, Chopped Chicken with Ya Cai($10.99):

Ya Cai is a famous Sichuan pickle that uses just the leaves of a specific type of mustard green. It is unusual in that it uses a "dry preserve" technique. I love the salty-sour, and slightly sweet flavor of Ya Cai. Combined with uniformly chopped chicken, green bell peppers, and jalapenos, this was by far our favorite dish on the menu(looks a bit like La Chao La, doesn't it?). It is spicy and salty and goes well with a good amount of rice. In fact, as I was writing this I had to run to the fridge to grab a few spoonfuls of it, just to jog my memory…you know…right?

#5 on the placard, Hand Torn Chicken($10.99):

Sesame oil was front and center in this cold dish. The chicken had a flavor similar to that of Kwai Fei chicken. I guess you could think of it as Kwai Fei Chicken Salad. The chicken was chopped leg meat, thankfully boneless, and mixed with bean sprouts and strips of scallion. The Missus is not a big fan of cold chicken dishes, so I got much more enjoyment out of this than She. I did think this was a bit on the pricey side.

#6 on the placard, Steamed Fish Slices with Don Cai($12.99):

As with all the fish dishes we've encountered at Ba Ren, the filets were soft, moist, and tender. We were told that Don Cai is a Zhejiang preserved vegetable, it was less salty, more moist, and milder than the Ya Cai. What I really enjoyed about this dish was the bean thread on the bottom, which managed to soak up the wonderful soy, oil, and black pepper flavor…along with the Don Cai, of course. This was a good dish.

#7 on the placard, Tan Zi Huang Men Ya($15.99):

This Clay Pot(Tan Zi) Stewed(Men) Duck(Ya) dish looked positively volcanic. "Men" is one of the 56 classic Sichuan cooking techniques, in which ingredients are first fried or stir-fried, and medium amount of liquid is added before the pot is closed and everything is cooked. The duck in this case was duck leg and neck, which added a nice "ducky" fragrance to the whole shebang. This broth, or gravy if you will needed a good stir to mix the super-spicy oil with the rest of the broth below. Otherwise you'd be in for a sip of chili oil. The taro in the dish was not very good; mealy and mushy, it reminded me of Chuño. It was obviously prefrozen. Sliced leeks and large slices of ginger were also along for the ride. When I first viewed this dish, I had flashbacks of my previous encounter with "Beer Duck" at Ba Ren. But this was much better. Still, the Missus enjoyed this much more than I.

I realize that I have a ton of posts on Ba Ren, but I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the dishes from the Chinese placard. Of course, the old favorites are still available.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Noble Chef Redux

May 28, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Updates on Noble Chef can be found here and here.

When we last visited Noble Chef, the place had just under-gone a change of Ownership. And though we thought the food to be not quite up to par, well that could be excused due to the natural chaos that ensues whenever places change hands. The "original" Noble Chef was an interesting place; at first glance the menu was full of Chinese Fast food dishes, many of them pretty bad. But after examining the menu, and frankly, just lucking out, we found a few items that were very good, and well worth the price. After that less than stellar visit, I made a mental note to revisit Noble Chef, and fully intended to do so. That was back in November of 2006! My bad. I don't know how many times I drove up Balboa, and muttered to myself(yes, I'm getting old, I'm entering the muttering phase – look out if I start scratching myself all the time), "oh, yes, Noble Chef, that's right, I gotta check them out again." So now after 18 months, I made my way back.

From the outside, not much has changed. There were newer versions of the food photos, but everything looked the same.

And inside there was still the major wok action going on. The jet-like sound of a high-BTU burner is music to my ears. And there are few things better than the fragrance of aromatics sizzling over high heat.

At first glance I thought the interior looked the same; but I was wrong. The interior had been freshened up with a coat of paint, and new tile work. The place looks a lot less cluttered and tired.

One of the nice things about Noble Chef is that they open at 9am on weekend mornings. I noticed that the menu hadn't changed much. I know many people like the turnip cake and eggs, but I can do just as well at home. I decided to get one of my old favorites, the Shrimp and Egg on Rice ($6.55):

This arrived steaming hot. The eggs were "wok'd" just right, with a nice crust. Once past the crisp crust the eggs were nice and moist if not "fluffy" enough. And lest you think there's not much shrimp in this, I counted 10 well cooked shrimp, most of which were hidden from view.

The dish could have used a bit more salt, I ended up adding a good amount of soy sauce to the dish. Overall, a pretty darn good dish. I remember thinking, "those folks eating at IHOP a few doors down sure have it all wrong." Well worth the price.

I dropped by for lunch a few days later, and got the Shrimp Tomato Rice($6.55).

Again, this was a generous amount of shrimp. I thought the tomatoes weren't cooked enough, the skin was too tough, and a few were still cool. The tomato sauce was much too sour, and lacked the tanginess that I love when this dish is done right. Still, more than enough food to fill me up.

Which led up to us getting our old take favorites one evening. The Chiu Chow Fried Rice($7.55)

The fried rice looked pretty good, you could see that the chef now has better control over the wok. I did notice that there was a bit less pork than before, and most of all, no wok hay(Guo Chi). It lacked that serious smoky-savory flavor of the wok. The gai lan was rubbery, like it was just blanched and mixed in with the rice.

Our old favorite, the Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice($7.55):

The rice had a nice color to it, and the spicy-savory fragrance was nice. But again, no wok-hay, and not enough spice, garlic, or XO sauce. The amount of shrimp was (again) generous, but we were a bit disappointed.

After the meal, I figured out what the problem was…it was us. You see, we had eaten at Noble Chef under the old Ownership, and had taken the Chef's skill for granted. Even though he seemed to move at a pretty slow pace, he was deceptively efficient. He also knew his wok. If we were brand new customers, this would be pretty good. As things stand, it is still a decent value. I'm hoping things keep improving.

The service is passable, if a bit on the "reserved/suspicious" side. The prices are good, and the portions generous. Stay away from the Chinese Fast-food dishes. The noodle soups are not nearly as good as other Chiu Chow/Mi Gia places in San Diego.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111
(858)278-8688

A Revisit to Dede’s

March 15, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Dedes' has closed

Whew, it's been a long day of running around, so just a real quick post tonight.

Ever since I had what I considered to be a very mediocre version of Cumin Lamb at The "New" Spicy City, I've been pining for my favorite local version of the dish. Finally giving in to the craving we headed over to Dede's. And of course I ordered the Cumin Flavored Lamb($9.50):

Other than the price, which has gone up $1 in the last few months, it is the same dish that I posted about in 2006. Perhaps a lighter hand was used in regards to the salt this time around. One of the benchmarks of a good version of cumin lamb requires left-overs. If the Missus walks into the kitchen while I'm in the process of reheating the cumin lamb with fingers pinching Her nostrils telling me; "ewwww, that smells like really bad B.O., open the windows!" I know it's good.

We also tried the Chung King Hot Pot($13.99):

While the broth had the required "ma-la"(numbing hot) thing down, this fiery caudron lacked the flavors of herbs and other spices that we enjoy in in this style of Hot Pot. In other words it was only spicy….. The bean curds sheets added a nice texture, as did the tender chicken, but the tripe was very bad, I don't think it had been prepared properly, it had a dank odor, and the flavor was on the bitter-unpleasantly milky side.

Still, I was more than satisfied with my Cumin Lamb…and was more than satisfied with the Missus's reaction to my reheating the dish. I think I'll need another Cumin Lamb fix again soon……. I've been told that cumin is addictive, I'm starting to believe that there's some truth to that statement.

Dede's Teajuice City
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

My previous post on Dede's can be found here.

“New” Spicy City aka Si Chuan Garden (Guo Qiao Yuan) Part 2

February 28, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

Our initial visit to the "New Spicy City", was fairly good, so we decided to have dinner there a few nights later. This time, the menu said very clearly; "Si Chuan Garden Spicy City", and the Server told us, that the Owners are indeed the Owners of Yun Gui Garden(or whatever it may be called now…they seem to reinvent themselves more often than Madonna!).

Again we started with a plate of cold dishes(3 items $5.50):

Again with the Chicken Feet, which the Missus said was "even better than the last time". The thinly sliced Pig Ear, was gummy and tasteless, and the Seaweed, was not bad, if on the salty end.

We decided to start out with one of the few Yunnan dishes I’d ever heard of Yunan style Steamed Chicken in Clay Pot($8.99):

This should actually be called chicken bones in medicinal, overly sweet soup. The broth looked rich, but was because the flavor of rock sugar was so strong, it ruined the soup. There was a bunch of wing tips, and some rib pieces, but only about a scant 2-3Tb of actual chicken meat in the dish. Washed out lychee and wolf berries finished up the soup, which the Missus said reminded Her of "Chinese punishment medicine!" Whatever that means.

Fried Lamb with Cumin($9.99):

Cumin Lamb is a favorite of mine…unfortunately, this version of that dish is not. The lamb was cooked over too low a temperature, making the meat mushy. There was not enough cumin, and even though it looks spicy it was strangely not. On the good side, this was not very oily…..

Sheesh, what a difference from our previous visit…….. However, we just needed to give it another go, and recently went for lunch. When we arrived the place was only half full, but there were 2 large parties having lunch, by the time we left, the place was totally slammed, and people waiting for tables. It was an interesting crowd…all of the non-Chinese seemed a bit puzzled by the menu, and there were some interesting things we observed, which we’ll go into later. Right now, let’s get on with the food.

We started with ~~Fried Cured Pork w/Dried String Beans~~ actually, not….we ordered that dish($8.99), but was brought this:

La Rou Chao La – Preserved/Cured pork (think Chinese bacon), stir fried (Chao) with leeks and red bell peppers. When we asked about this, we were told that they were out of Dried String Beans so they made us this instead….how about a sarcastic "how thoughtful" for this one? We’d have appreciated being told they were out of something, instead of just going ahead and serving us whatever they felt like making. As with most La Rou dishes, this was salty…in fact that’s about all it was….salty.

Yunnan Style Dried Beef($8.99):

Thinly sliced, seasoned dried beef (think beef jerky) is fried to crisp up the edges, tossed with some chilies, and served. Like the La Rou you can see that this was another style of serving meat that had been preserved, before the days of refrigeration. The flavor is like that of a mild spiced, salty, soy flavored beef jerky, there was a mildly "fishy" quality to the beef that the Missus didn’t like, but I enjoyed it. This would be great beer food.

Chungking style fish w/Pickled Chili Pepper($9.99):

Supposedly, one of the "specialties" of the house, there was a nice amount of preserved vegetable, but not a single Pao Jiao(pickled chili) in sight! Much to our surprise, this wasn’t spicy in the least bit…..not even a sheen of sweat developed on my forehead! The fish was cooked adequately, soft, but not melt in the mouth soft, the preserved vegetable had a decent vinegary-salty punch, but was obviously dumped into the dish and not given a chance to impart any flavor to the broth.

Finally, the dish simply known as Spicy & Spicy(La Chao La – $7.99) on the menu. Since the Restaurant was so busy, a very nice older Gentleman who looked like one of the Owners, or a Manager, took our order….but when the Missus asked him in Mandarin what was in the dish, he didn’t know…he had to ask one of the Servers!

At last, we have a winner! Chopped preserved Pork, preserved vegetable, and smoked bean curd, stir fried, with chilies, this hit on all cylinders….spicy(at last a bit of sweat), sour(kick of the preserved vegetable), and maybe a bit too salty….a little seemed to go with a large amount of rice. This I’d have again, though I don’t know if I’ll be back to Si Chuan Garden anytime soon.

Now for the people watching part….it started with 2 Gentleman with German accents, first marching on in, looking over the menu, and demanding "lunch specials". When told there were no lunch specials, one of the men orders the Fish Fillet with Chopped Hot Chili Pepper….when the dish arrives, he gives the young lady who is just totally crushed with customers a dismissive wave, and tells her, "no-no-no you cannot make food like that it is too spicy, take it back!" Ok, first off, this is a Sichuan/Yunnan Restaurant, not PF Chang’s or Panda Express, secondly, he did order a dish with Chopped Hot Chili Pepper, didn’t he……what did he think this was? And we wonder how food gets dumbed down, or why people get told "you no like that"…. Meanwhile, the last open table was taken by 4 middle aged Chinese Women, who as soon as seated started making demands…."hurry and take our order, hurry up…" as soon as their order was taken, it was "where’s our food, you’re taking too long." Demanding and whining are a deadly duo! The Missus whispered to me; "these are the times when I’m embarrassed to be Chinese…" I simply replied, "remember the Chili’s and Applebees rule; if these ladies were seated in Chili’s or Applebees there’s no way they’d be acting so obnoxious and demanding. Some kind of Darwinistic switch gets turned on when they enter a Chinese restaurant." I remember learning that one of the major differences between Humans and Animals is the ability to feel empathy….guess where on that scale I thought these ladies belonged? This was just 2 of the 3 ringed circus going on as the place was totally slammed……. I think I’ll be eating at my desk for a while!

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

Open Daily 11am – 930pm

“Noodling Around” – Revisits to Tan Ky Mi Gia and Tan Ky Mi Gia(which used to be or still is Hinh Ky Mi Gia)

February 21, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Both these locations have closed

Here are a few updates.

Tan Ky Mi Gia – Mira Mesa

For some reason, the Missus and I were in he mood for some Roast Duck last week, and since we were in the area decided to stop by Tan Ky Mi Gia. It had been a while, and I've always thought they prepared their egg noodles well, it has always been nice and crunchy.

So, of course I had the Roast Duck Egg Noodles($6.05):

On this visit the broth was not as salty as it sometimes is, though it was more "yellow" than usual, I'm thinking from the egg noodles. The noodles were again perfect. I was a bit disappointed at the "roast duck", which is different from the duck I had here before. This one was more like BBQ duck, the skin was tough, as was the meat. The flavor was also very mild.

The Missus had the Roast Duck over rice($6.50):

Same duck, but with rice. The bowl of broth provided was very nice, though.

For some reason the Missus, feeling very hungry, also ordered the combination Banh Cuon($7.45):

As you can tell the Cha Lua(lean defatted pork sausage) was very dry. The butterflied fried shrimp however, was excellent. The Nuoc Mam Cham was on the sweet side, and overall, this was mediocre.

I think I'll stick with the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, unless on future visits I notice that the duck has changed back to how it was previously.

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

My previous post on Tan Ky Mi Gia.

~~Hinh Ky Mi Gia,~~ wait, this place is back to being Tan Ky Mi Gia(El Cajon Boulevard):

As you can tell if you compare to my previous post. The Hinh Ky sign is down, leaving "Tan Ky Mi Gia" as the last sign standing:

Disappointed in the Duck Noodle soup at Tan Ky Mi Gia on Mira Mesa Boulevard, I just needed my fix.

As good as always, though the price has gone up, and is now over 6 bucks. What makes this duck so good are that the dripping poured over the duck.

I don't know what the story is regarding the name, the same folks still work here. In fact, they recognized us, saying; "we haven't seen you in a while." I think I'll be back soon.

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