**** Katzya has closed
One of the things about being on a trip for over a month; the fridge and pantry gets pretty bare. I spent last week and weekend catching up, restocking, and believe it or not; the Missus has been missing my cooking! Go figure. One of the stops was H Mart. It was just a tad after 11 and I was getting a bit hungry. I had enjoyed the Chicken Wings from Katzya on previous visits and the wings did well on my takeout visit, plus I'd last had wings from the recently opened Pelicana Chicken, so I decided to go for it.
I recalled that the Soy Garlic Wings were pretty good, so I went with that. When I last visited, the price of $14.99 for 7 wings seemed really high, and while still pricey, it feels less so these days with all the inflation.
I got the wings home and opened up the container and oh my…..
These wings were just drenched in sauce. There was a huge pool of sauce at the bottom of the box. The two or three pieces on the top, while over sauced held up fine, but the pieces on the bottom were a soggy mess.
The texture of the meat was fine, moist, tender, lacking in any discolored spots, but it was just swimming in too much sauce, making this overly sweet.
For you reference, here's what I got back in 2019.
Doesn't even look like it's from the same place, does it?
Another thing that was different was the the Mul Kimchi. But this change was an improvement, at least to me. The radish was not as sweet as on previous visits, making this somewhat refreshing. Though nothing could overcome the sticky sweet sauce overload.
Bummer, because I think the quality and size to batter ratio of the wings here are to my liking. I guess I'm back to just the fried wings here.
Katzya
(In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111
The menu is on the wall, or you can scan a QR code and read the menu on your phone. 
The Mister wanted Boiled Tofu, and it was furiously boiling when brought to the table! He had ordered the 'Chef's Special' ($13) which included shrimp, pollack roe, clam, oyster, mushroom and kimchi. (white rice is included, but the multigrain rice option is an extra $2; get it). Great, fresh seafood and smooth, satisfying tofu.
I've been craving something from a hot stone pot (because crispy rice). Ordering the "Chef's Special Hot Stone" ($20) was just the flavor filled melange I wanted. Marinated beef rib eye as well as beef short ribs over the sizzling rice, topped with plump shrimp and small but flavorful scallops really hit the spot. 
Your condiments are brought to the table after ordering. 
The chicken held up quite well after the drive home. This batter is more of the "laquer" type and it was still quite crunchy. Not much seasoning though, so it really needs a sauce. The sauce came in a presealed container and was like a sweet (emphasis on "sweet") chili sauce that was kind of weak overall.
The wings were somewhat unevenly battered, the pieces on the top were quite crunchy, but for some strange reason, even though I liked the fact this wasn't swimming in sauce, the bottom pieces had gone mushy. For some reason, the meat of the wings were drier as well. This soy based sauce was also too sweet for my taste.
Right in the same strip mall as Eastern Dynasty I saw that Manna Bakery was closed. Man, this is an oldie. I've never posted on this place. I think my last visit was in pre-blogging days, but I know they had a very loyal clientele. 
If you walk in the entrance on the right, you'll be at the proper area. 
If you had walked in the entrance to the left and counter-clockwise through the store, you'll see this overhead signage.
Grab a container and choose from the hot/steam trays
as well as from the chilled trays. At the end of the line are canned and bottled beverages and the cash register and seating area. Everything is $10.99/lb. {there is also a water fountain with cups in the seating area}
The fried items seem to be fresh when we are here; lightly crisp and not greasy. The squid and whole shrimp are a favorite (as you can see from these separate visits). The chilled trays always hold something wonderful. Each of these packed full trays weighed a little less than one pound.
You can also order something from the kitchen- the menu board is right above the trays.
The Bibimbap (mixed rice with meat and vegetables) has been a special taped to the bottom of the menu board for a while now ($9.99). Steamed rice topped with a variety of vegetables and marinated tender, thin sliced beef (you can also get the beef in the per-pound steam tray) topped with an egg. It's served with pickled radish, Kimchi and the mildly spicy, slightly sweet gochujang sauce. A spoon is necessary for mixing the ingredients together. You can have all of this served in a stone pot (dolsot bibimbap) so the rice is sizzling and brown/burned (in a good way) for $2 more (#10 on the photo menu).
#20 on the menu is 'pork cutlet' ($11.99). Topped with teriyaki sauce and served with rice and salad, this is quite a large meal. We were sad that on this visit, the pork was fried just about 30 seconds too long, leaving it a bit dryer and more chewy than usual. 
