Korean Restaurants – Page 14

Revisits: Pinoy Fiesta, Grandma’s Tofu & BBQ , and Tan Ky Mi Gia(yet again!)

Here's our monthly dose of revisits……

Pinoy Fiesta:

It had been a while since I last visited, so I thought I'd drop in and grab a bite. Nothing really called to me and I wasn't super hungry, but then a tray of lechon kawale came out of the kitchen, so I went for that.

It was hot, the exterior hot and crisp, but there was something strange about this…..the meat was on the spongy side and very bland….actually the texture of the meat wasn't very pleasant. I just can't quite put my finger on it.

Pinoy Fiesta
550 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ:

I know, I just did a post on the Heokyumso Jeongol – the black goat stew a couple of months back. But the recent rain and colder weather had us craving this again. Instead of going on and on about the dish, I'll let you in to a little secret….our "goat strategy" if you will. As good as the Heokyumso Jeongol is, it's even better when spiced up a bit….so when the panchan comes, we quickly, but sneakily dump all the baechu kimchi and the sauce from the cucumber instantly into the broth….it makes it that much better! The nice ladies then bring us refills…we eat the kimchi, but make sure to dump the sauce into the stew….and so forth. We usually take home about 2/3 of this…..and we hit Zion on the way home for sesame leaf or wild spinach, then I'll get some tofu from Nijiya on my way home from work the next day….we always have Korean bean paste and gochujang and this ends up being two more meals.

Which is why we'll usually get something like the Kimchi Dolsot Bi Bim Bap with our meal.

Sshhh, don't tell anybody……

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

Here's another one we've posted about in the last couple of months. Work has been brutal, but I've been enjoying the challenge. Still, I had been feeling a bit run down, meaning I needed something on the salty side to give me that "aaaahh" effect. During that time we hit up Tan Ky Mi Gia.

For me, this is comfort food……

For some reason, the Beef Sate Egg Noodle "dry" does the trick for me

Though the Bot Chien really wasn't worth the effort……

I guess I'm still chasing what I had at Kang Lac Bakery in Westminster. Instead of being crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, this had a hard exterior with a cardboard like texture and flavor. They probably bought it at Lucky Seafood next door.

The Missus strangely had a Banh Xeo which She enjoyed…….the pork in this version is braised which makes it more tender than others…..still, it's far from my favorite.

We came back a couple of nights later and I had the Egg Noodle Soup with Roast Duck…….

The duck can be hit and miss….on this visit it was super tough, definitely a miss, but the hot and salty soup really did the trick.

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

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

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

Jin's Pot opens in Plaza del Sol:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Family reopens in UMart:

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

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

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

CDD Tofu & Grill (Inside Zion Supermarket)

November 26, 2013 Cathy Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. This post is being written during one of the food-iest weeks of the year by Cathy. This is because the foodier guys, Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are busy planning their magnificent Thanksgiving Day feasts.

The Mister and I try to have a bite to eat before grocery shopping and the Food Court area inside Zion marketplace (as well as the small counter in the midst of the actual market) offers quite a variety of selections.

You can see the signage advertising $2 off any combo all day as well as the Fall Special of $6.95 Tofu Soup, which we decided to share on this chilly day. We decided on a spice level of 2 (out of 5), since we knew the spicy here is very spicy.

The organic, non-GMO tofu in soup is handed to you on the tray, bubbling furiously. It comes with the raw egg, and various banchan (sides) of fried tofu, seaweed and marinated bean sprout as well as some mild kimchi. The 'Rice Lady' followed us until we found a table and had started scraping the rice out of a hot stone pot, presenting the rice in the dish you see above…

as well as the hot stone pot, with the remaining rice stuck to the sides, which she filled with warm tea- another side dish. The rice is a bit more 'toasted' in this hot pot and scraping it off and eating it with the tea is yet another great flavor combination (if you like Japanese Genmaicha-brown rice tea- you'll get that flavor from this bowl with the bit of burnt scrapings).

Here's a photo of the 'Rice Lady' leaving our table, heading to another table to deliver their hot pot of rice.

The tofu soup here is particularly good, filled with bok choy, onion and thin sliced pieces of beef (as well as the cooked egg which is not in this photo). The tofu is a perfect texture and the spice level was just enough that you can still taste the ingredients.

CDD Tofu & Grill 7655 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego 92111 Inside Zion Marketplace.
Here is a link to Kirbie's visit to CDD(includes a copy of the menu), and this is a link including Jinxie's visit to CDD.

After our shared lunch, we went shopping inside Zion. You'll notice we were here on 11/11—that special day is

Pepero Day!!! Celebrated in Korea in a way similar to Valentine's Day here…exchanging Pepero cookie snacks to show affection for friends and loved ones is how to celebrate. (Pepero Day originally had the purpose of exchanging Peperos with the hopes of becoming taller and thinner…as if).

The flavors above were our purchases (although other flavors, box sizes and individual foot long Peperos as well as a collectible tin were being sold)..the green one is chocolate coated and rolled in almond, the red is chocolate dipped and rolled in peanut and the yellow (my favorite) is "nude"- a plain biscuit, filled with chocolate (or as the label states: "chocolate is contained tightly in the stick biscuit").

Happy Belated Pepero Day!

Getting our goat at Chon Ju Jip and Grandma’s Tofu & BBQ

November 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

When the weather started turning a bit a couple of weeks ago, the Missus was quite happy….it's getting to be that time of the year again, ramen, stews, and hot pots galore. Her favorite time of the years for eating. One evening She was in the mood for Heukyumso Jungol, Korean Black Goat Stew. The last couple of times we've had that dish, it had been at Grandma's Tofu and BBQ, this time I thought we should check out Chon Ju Jip since it had been a while since we last visited.

The place is looking a tad worse for wear and looking over the menu we noticed that many of the dishes don't have English translations, just Korean and Romanized Korean names. In this case the dish was Romanized as Huk Yum So Jun Gol – $29.99, the same price as Grandma's. The women working here are pretty much all business and the place seems even more "old school" then I remember, with our server picking and cleaning bean sprouts between serving customers.

The panchan where is served in the Korean style, along with your food. They ranged from ok to below average….I'm not sure if my tastes have changed a whole lot, but some of this was really salty.

We were given some "sauce" on the side…the typical sesame oil based sauce and kochujung was accompanied with a smear of wasabi. This was a new one for us.

This was a hearty, very rustic version of Heukyumso Jungol. It was stick-to-your-ribs thick and full of vegetables and quite a bit of goat. The goat was very gamey and some of it on the tough side…..but no one would ever call this bland. This was a bit saltier than the version at Grandma's, where we've gotten into the (appropriate) habit of adding sea salt to our dishes.

As with Grandma's, there was enough left over to form another meal the next day. This was so thick that it formed a pretty solid block. I added more water, kochujung, sesame oil, salt, and all the other stuff (tofu, greens, enoki mushrooms, kurobuta sausage, etc…) to build another meal for us.

Chon Ju Jip is kind of hidden away on Convoy….so we always forget about the place. I'm sure we'll check them out again soon.

Chon Ju Jip
4373 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

A couple of nights later, we decided to check out the Heokyumso Jeongol at Grandma's….for comparison sake……

First off; we thought the panchan here was much better….nothing amazing, but just better overall. As for the Heokyumso Jeongol. Well, this version has less meat, but it much more tender, there's more "skin" which I just love.

While not being more thick and hearty, this has a bit more heat, but lacks a bit of the complexity in terms of savory and acidity that the version at Chon Ju Jip has….we always end up dumping the baechu kimchi into the broth to add a more savory tone. Of course adding your own salt is a must as well. The version at Grandma's is lighter, and there's more "soup"…..which also ends up being a second meal for us.

Strangely, the base flavors are the same, but when you get down to it, the two versions are quite different. Ironically, what Chon Ju Jip serves seems more like something Grandma would make, while Grandma's is much more refined, but also more subtle and refined.

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

As for which we prefer….well….I think I'll need to research this a few more times!

Revisiting Buga since the ownership change

September 17, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

If you've passed by Buga recently, you can't help but notice the new sign. Well, that's not the only thing new at Buga. According to my sources, there's been an ownership change. One of the partners of Manna has taken over Buga. This also explains the slight remodel of the interior as well.

So it was only natural for the Missus and I to drop by and check the place out, right? We ended up visiting twice over the last couple of weeks and though we didn't order BBQ, we had a couple of interesting dishes.

Things have been modernized, from the signage to the menus, to the addition of a "wine" and dessert list as well.

Buga's menu design has been modernized in terms of lettering and style…gone are the Korean Romanizations, all items are either spelled out in English or Korean.

There's a large list of new appetizers and though I believe that many of the other dishes existed in the old menu, this fresh rewrite actually had me looking it over…..and trying to figure out what they were, since the Romanization was gone.

I'm thinking the panchan is a great place to start. On our first visit, we noticed that the variety of panchan, along with the quality and flavor were sorely lacking.

This seemed like really cheap AYCE quality panchan. Nothing very interesting and the item that I consider my baseline, the standard baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi tasted like sour cabbage with very little spice and none of the wonderful fermented flavor I really enjoy.

On our revisit, the dishes had grown from 6 to 8. While the flavors were better, this was still mediocre when compared to what Buga used to offer…….

During our visits, I went with a couple of appetizers, items I believe are new. Like the Kobe Beef on Sizzling Stone ($13).

For the price I didn't expect much….surely not "AAA" Kobe…..this was decent wagyu, nice flavor, the stone adding a good crust on the bottom. Lightly seasoned, the beefy flavor came through, though this was a more chewy cut, we both thought it was not bad.

You know me and chicken wings….so I had to try the Buga Crispy Chicken Wings ($7). The wings were frenched, an attempt at creating a more refined look.

To me this backfires when you send out product like the drumette whose bone had snapped, making this look rather amateurish. The coating was too light, more flaky than crispy. The sauce was a rather fruity, much too sweet, chili sauce.

The Japchae ($10) was cooked to perfection; not too oily, the noodles having a nice pull to them.

I thought this needed a bit more flavor. We asked for sesame oil which added a savory nuttiness that definitely brought the flavor up.

The Missus was looking for Her favorite hot weather dish; the Yukkwe Bi Bim Bap. I found it on the menu as Beef Tartare Bibimbap ($15).

She had this on both visits. The hot rice for the dish is now served separately, probably due to health code. The portion size seemed a lot larger. Along with cho-jang and sesame oil….well, this is still a favorite.

I actually went with the Kalbitang, yes soup, on one of our visits. It's on the menu as "Kalbi" Beef Rib Soup ($12), something I don't recall having at Buga before. I'm not sure it was on the old menu….

This was just rich enough with enough beef flavor for us. I do wish that the place had sea salt instead of iodized salt in a shaker…maybe that's coming? The ribs were just soft enough, without falling apart nor being mushy in texture.

We've got a pretty long history going with Buga, going back to August of 2005, so a change was probably in the cards. It seems that quite a few of our regular haunts are going through changes in the last year. I guess we've been doing this for quite a while now…..

I'll do another post after we check out the Korean BBQ.

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

What we ate during the hottest 2 weeks of the year: Revisits to Izakaya Sakura, The Original Sab E Lee, Grandma Tofu and BBQ, Manila Fast Food and Desserts, and Champions Mariscos Truck

September 5, 2013 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Food Trucks, Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Sisig, Thai Restaurants

Man, the last two weeks have been brutal….call me a soft San Diegan, but I've been feeling the heat and humidity. I told Cathy that I wish it would just storm like crazy so this weather would break. No such luck so far!

Well, regardless of the weather, you've got to eat, right? So here's some of what we had during the last two weeks.

Izakaya Sakura:

It had been a while and I was craving some Ebi Kakiage cold noodles, so Izakaya Sakura it was.

This time it was the cold udon version, which hit the spot.

This really hit the spot!

Though I could have done without having to listen to Wilson Phillips Greatest Hits throughout my meal….

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** This location of TOSEL has closed

Spicy Thai food is a natural for us during hot muggy weather…..not sure why.

The usual suspects at the Linda Vista location.

Man, that Grilled Duck Larb just hit the spot…right between the eyes.

I swear, I recall TOSEL having A/C? Well, not on this day. The result of spicy food with no A/C had me wondering if it was the Salted Fish Fried Rice….or was it me?

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Grandma Tofu and BBQ:

I wanted some Bibim Naengmyun, but Buga was closed for renovation (they've since reopened). So I ended up going to Halmouny…Grandma Tofu and BBQ.

Love the flavors….bracing and refreshing. The noodles however, seemed were really rubbery, like rubberbands, I mean, naengmyun is always rather elastic, but these just would not give way!

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Manila Fast Food and Desserts:

I was up in the area and decided to grab lunch. I hadn't been back in here in almost 9 months or so.

A quick look at the steam table made selecting what I wanted easy.

The Beef Mechado was much more tender than the last time I had it. The flavor was also better, much more tangy flavor and decent salt. It was on the greasy side though.

The sisig was not bad; nice pungent, sour, spice, salt….. would have been nice to have a bit of crispness in it since it was typical "SD Sisig", left-over lechon kawale. But overall; no complaints, better than I've had recently.

Manila Fast Food and Desserts
8979 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Champions Mariscos Truck:

So, just as in the previous four weeks, I broke out the smoker during Labor Day weekend. I needed something fairly close by before I started the ribs, so I headed over to Champions Mariscos Truck in the parking lot of Toys R' Us on Morena.

Consomme might seem to be a bit much on a scortching day, but I can never turn it down. This was a bit too water for my taste, with a bit too much celery flavor. Not as good as my previous visits.

I went with the Arrachera y Camaron…the surf and turf taco. Not enough caramelization on the beef, but it was decently tender. The shrimp were moist and flavorful.

I decided to go with the Taco de Marlyn again.

Man, they really loaded this thing! Unlike my previous visit, it didn't seem to have too much queso…perhaps due to the amount of filling! All this "stuff" seemed to water down the flavor of the smoked fish though….but this wasn't too bad.

Champions Mariscos Truck – In the parking lot of Toys 'R Us on Morena Boulevard

So there you go….we may be overheatin', but we're still eatin'. Hope everyone is staying and keeping cool!

Saturday Stuffs: Fu An Restaurant opening on Convoy, I-Sushi replaces Walmido

July 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Just a couple of quick things for a quiet Saturday.

Fu An Restaurant opening on Convoy:

Eater San Diego has been on top of this since BBQ Chicken closed. So now there's a sign, I heard the cuisine is……yes…..yet another Sichuan restaurant. I was told the owners are from LA, so hopefully they won't be cooking from the same playbook as other places in San Diego. I'm hopeful this will be much better than the last new Sichuan restaurant.

The address is:

4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

I-Sushi replaces Walmido:

It was "Yummy Yummy" who first mentioned this to me. This place quietly replaced Walmido a few weeks back. I asked if they still do the whole halibut sashimi and was told yes, except it no longer comes with all the side dishes.

Well, at least I get the answer to question, "U Sushi?"

I-Sushi
4367 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Saturday Stuffs: What going on with the old Zion Marketplace (U Mart?), where Voltero’s is moving to. Blue Korea House? I hadn’t even noticed. how I pack for 3 weeks of travel and a Xiang Chun Ya update.

July 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Pizza, Travel

Here's a far ranging edition of Saturday Stuffs for you.

U Mart? What's U Mart?:

I had been wondering what was happening with the old Zion Marketplace site. I don't recall seeing some of the old food court shops in the new Zion and thought perhaps they were hold-outs? So imagine my surprise when I drove past that location and saw this:

No, there weren't any businesses in the empty shell of a location, but what was U Mart? After calling around a bit, the best info I could find was that the folks behind First Korean Market will be running this place. Not sure why "U Mart" for a Korean Market….but I guess "K Mart" is already taken, right?

4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111
Between Engineer Rd and Dagget St

Where Voltero's is popping up:

Not sure if you folks have noticed, but that strip mall on Balboa where Einstein Bagels used to be is going to become a Chipotle and a Five Guys. I was wondering what happened to Voltero's? I did a post on the cheeseseals there, during my cheesesteak round-up that started in 2010. Voltero's is pretty much your generic neighborhood pizza joint, nothing amazing, but they had a pretty loyal following, and if I recall were owned by local folks.

So I was fairly pleased to see this sign when I ate at Szechuan Chef.

4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

It's now Blue Korea House:

Did you even notice?

Haven't been here in over a decade, as I didn't care for the food. An acquaintance of mine used to call this "Baegin-gyp", 'nuff said.

Anyone eat here since the change?

4620 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

What I wear for three weeks of travel:

"David" emailed me about my comment on only taking about 6-7 kilos in a carry-on for over three weeks of travel. He asked how much did I really pack….well, other than what I wore, that was it. If we didn't have a couple of more formal dinners, I'd have lost the two dress shirts. I was actually going to take a jacket, but didn't in the end. I use Eagle Creek packing cubes and a packing folder. I went for it and actually used a $30 Campmor Essential Carry-On, which weighs about half a pound. The packing folder gave the rather floppy bag structure and I had no problems with the bag, nor laundry either. What about wrinkles? A spritz from a spray bottle, a good shake, and a steamy bathroom does wonders…irons are perfectly fine as well of course. I did end up buying a "hoodie" from H&M, which are everywhere in Europe for about 10 Euros.

I'm now sold on One Bag Travel….until I have to go home or visit relatives…you know, the "gifts" thing, right?

The Missus favorite new "pet" – Xiang Chun Ya:

One of the dishes the missed most by the Missus is eggs with shoots from the Xiang Chun Ya, the Chinese Toon tree. This was one of Her favorites growing up and was one of the first things She wanted to eat when we visited QingDao.

We finally got a plant this year….thank "SL"! Sadly, SH left the tree in her hot car that day and it looked dead. But, after transplanting and some TLC, shoots are coming out which has the Missus going nuts…..you see, it's the tender shoots of this plant which are used for scrambled eggs:

The Missus has told me that She's going to pick these shoots already and buy some eggs…I said, "based on the size of these, it better be quail eggs….."

I also told Da Boyz that they aren't Her favorites anymore….they've been replaced by a tree!

Seriously, it's about time we actually used the space in the backyard to grow some stuff.

Anyway, I hope everyone's having a great weekend!

A buncha’ lunches at Do Re Mi House 8 years later……

July 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

** Do Re Mi House has closed

Man, it's been almost 8 years and maybe three owners since I first did a post back in 2005. By the time I did an update in 2009, I believe the place had changed hands, though the food was about the same. Some time after that I returned and really had an awful lunch, after which Do Re Mi went "no ami", just kinda slipping my mind. Over the last year, folks have been recommending Do Re Mi House which had left me wondering; was it that much better, or had it just returned to being decent food for a good value…..nothing wrong with that at all. Curiosity piqued, and my office having moved to a location fairly close by, there really was no excuse for not returning.

The sign had been refreshed and I believe the divider removed from the back of the restaurant along with the large, almost communal table in the rear. It looks a bit cleaner for some reason.

Of ocurse prices have gone up….hey, it's been 8 years. The base prices here are no longer $5.99, it's $7.99, with a higher range of $12.99 for "combos". Still, this isn't too bad. That said, there's a bit more panchan then I recalled….the usual suspects.

The flavor and basic quality varied during each visit. My first visit was the best…..

The worst was on my last visit where the baechu kimchi, your basic, standard issue napa cabbage kimchi tasted like it hadn't been marinated long enough, the fishcake was dry as cardboard, and sadly, one of my favorites, and something the "old" Do Re Mi House did so well, the gamja jorim, the simmered potatoes were hard and undercooked. Honestly, I thought these were apples when they hit the table.

As for the free soup……

Well….it's free, though they might as well serve you hot water. Man, I've had so many bad bowls of this stuff recently, I wish they'd just stop already.

On my first visit, I went with the Bulgogi lunch ($7.99), which looked perfectly fine.

This wasn't nearly as sweet as I recalled, though the meat was on the dry side. Overall, it wasn't a bad deal for $7.99 (which includes a drink). Standard issue mandu, a green salad, and seaweed salad accompanied everything. Oh, and I kept forgetting to take a photo of the teacup of Su Jung Gwa, the cinnamon tea/drink that comes at the end, a bit too sweet for me.

A week or so later I decided to check in at Do Re Mi again.

It was a pretty hot day, but I was quite hungry. I went with one of their combos where you can get either Kimchi Chigae (you gotta be kidding, not on this day), or Bi Bim Naengmyun and a protein ($12.99).

The Naengmyun was pretty stretchy, almost too hard and elastic. The flavor was pretty mild, I didn't find it very spicy as it needed a good dose of vinegar and hot sauce, but it wasn't bad overall.

I got the Daeji Bulgogi, the spicy pork as my protein. The old Do Re Mi really made a nice version of this…..this latest incarnation not so much as it was pretty bland. The portion size was quite generous though.

Oh yes, it would be a good idea to wear a darker colored shirt when eating the stretchy naegmyun. Otherwise you'll take the chance of returning to the office with a bunch of red specks on it.

I recently decided to return and have yet another lunch here. The kalbi during previous regimes had not been that great. I wondered how it was now….so I ordered the Galbi lunch ($9.99).

This was better than what I'd had here before. My previous experiences with kalbi here had been enduring thin, tough, cross-cut ribs. This was still LA Kalbi and I didn't expect anything different, but the cut was thicker and the grade a bit better. The flavor was decent, your basic kalbi, it was still a bit chewy, but not bad at all.

What disappointed was the panchan on this visit.

To me, Do Re Mi delivers a decent value. It's nothing fancy, but will do the job for lunch. The woman running the place can be a bit surly at first, but after I'd been here a couple of times, she's started….well maybe not smiling, but being a lot more friendly with me.

So for all those folks who told me I had to return….did I miss anything? Maybe dinner?

Do Re Mi House
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste M
San Diego, CA 92111

Gala Chicken – The new K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) stand in Zion Market opens

June 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Korean Restaurants

**** Zion Market has moved and Gala did not make the move with the market

The item that seems to have gotten the most attention on my recent Saturday Stuffs post was the closing of BBQ Chicken. I received a couple of emails about it. I guess even though I wasn't a fan, other were. I did mention in Saturday's post that I had seen what looked like a "KFC" stand in Zion Market that evening……so I returned to check it out.

The place only does chicken, nothing else….no starches….

The menu also seems to only feature wings, drumsticks, and boneless crispy pieces, though I could be wrong. The older woman and gentleman were nice, but really felt more comfortable speaking Korean.

The prices didn't seem to bad, even thought it's take-out and chicken only. And heck, anyone that knows me understands that I love my chicken wings.

Anyway, I ordered a regular "Wings" ($7.99) and Sweet Soy ($8.99). I was told that my chicken would take fifteen minutes, which meant it was cooked fresh, a good sign. What was not that great was when I returned after about 10 minutes to find the guy constantly fiddling with the wings in the fryer. He kept taking pieces and cutting them with a knife to make sure it was cooked. C'mon, wings make up about 40% of your menu, that looked real amateur. Plus, all the cutting means that juices escape and my wings would be drier than they should. I know this place is new, but I'd think if you opened a place that only makes fried chicken, you'd know how to make without having to cut into every piece to make sure it's cooked then dumping them back in the fryer…… One of the great aspects about KFC chicken is the double fry. It's a technique I use myself. I didn't notice that happening here…..

Actually Gala does give you some Mul Kimchi, "water kimchi", a traditional accompaniment of KFC, which is on the extra sour side, but at least crisp and palate cleansing.

I work just a few blocks away and the chicken did smell pretty good. Opening my package I noticed that the take-out containers are kept open to prevent the chicken from getting soggy. I also noticed that I got what looked like "Spicy" wings instead of the Sweet Soy like I wanted.

So for those who keep score on the Kyochon-o-meter, there are six good sized wings per order. Though I prefer smaller wings which mean a better skin to meat ratio. Anyway, that's $1.33 per wing for original and $1.50 for Spicy……kind of on the pricey side, more than Kyochon if memory serves me.

And this ain't no Kyochon.

I found that while the batter was light, it was not as crisp as it looked. It was also very lightly seasoned, at least for my taste, and it had a greasiness to it. The drumettes were on the tough and dry side.

The Spicy really was more sweet and sticky than spicy.

The wing weren't really coated very well and I noticed that this batter goes soggy pretty quickly. The flavor was almost the same as the Sweet and Spicy chicken of BBQ Chicken, perhaps not as cloyingly sweet, but close. In fact, the chicken here just seemed like "BBQ Chicken lite", a step backwards from BBQ Chicken. Ditto for the tough and dry drumettes here.

So, you know I wasn't a fan of BBQ Chicken. You also know that I don't think the chicken here is not as good as BBQ Chicken was. You get the picture, right? Perhaps my friend Jenne is right; I'm just too darned picky. Anyway, I'm hoping that all of this are just grand opening issues and will be resolved. I'll try and visit in a couple of months and see…….

Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (Inside of Zion Market)
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am-7pm
Sunday 11am-6pm