I’m not sure which “FOY” mentioned that Zen Modern Asian Bistro had moved from Sabre Springs to the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck…perhaps it was Dereck or RD?
Anyway, after my rather unsatisfying bowl of NRM from Dao Xiang, along with the cooler weather; I thought it would be a great time to make the drive up the 5 and check out the Sky Deck, which Cathy has been to…but I’ve only visited the Jimbo’s in this mall.
It’s a large if rather dark space; very hip in that “you know it’s Del Mar” kinda way…..
Zen is just to the left of the entrance.
It’s got a bit of a sports bar look to it along with a dining area. It’s interesting to see that the doors to the kitchen area are automatic ones.
The young man brought me the menu; though I already knew what I was going to order.
And oh my, the NRM is now $22 and adding the suan cai is another $1!
And soon enough my order arrived. That bowl of NRM was quite large!
In many ways; it’s basically the same as I had at the previous location.
Not overly salty, mild beefiness, light soysauce, light richness, in need for more aggressive anise-beefiness for my taste.
In what was an improvement over what I’d had before was that the beef was nice and tender and full of savory-beefiness. And there was quite a lot of meat!
The noodles still lacked springiness and also didn’t do a great job of “picking up” the broth.
There’s a good amount of bok choy….in case you’re worried about getting some “veggies”!
As Dereck and RD both indicated; the must have item is the suan cai, the pickled greens.
There’s a bracing sour-tanginess to it. And while it may be slightly on the sweeter end of the spectrum to me, it really boosted the overall flavor of the broth when I dumped it into the bowl.
Overall not bad….better than many other versions in San Diego. And while it may be better than other versions, I’m not sure the price tag and the drive is worth it for me. Still, I’m glad to have tried the NRM here at the new location of Zen
Zen Modern Asian Bistro (In the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center)
12841 El Camino Real Suite 206
San Diego, CA 92130
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm
This was actually not bad. The soup could have used more anise and beef flavor for my taste, but it had a mild peppery spice, a balanced sodium content, good soy sauce tones, and was not bad at all. In fact, I've definitely had 
The wrappers were good when the dumplings were first delivered, fairly tender, but got brittle and chewier as the dumplings cooled off. The filling was tender, moist, nicely seasoned, and full of pork flavor. This was a pleasant surprise. The filling was more finely chopped than many versions I've had recently. I think this compares favorably with 
The pieces of beef were decently tender and nicely flavored, good anise tones, with a hint of sweetness. The soup was of the clear variety and had some five spice and white pepper seasoning going for it, but it lacked beefiness and decent richness. At least it wasn't overly salty. The noodles were overcooked for my taste and lacked the springiness I enjoy.
There were 8 dumplings in all, enough for a light lunch. One of the XLB, the one on the bottom had, ahem, an 
This was a fairly straight-forward bowl. The broth had a decent beefiness, hints of five spice, and was not as spicy as it looked. The broth was not very rich either.
Man, this as a mistake. The pork, which seemed like strips of super lean, pounded pork chop were really tough, almost hard and dry. The batter was on the chewy side as well. The strips were lightly seasoned and not particularly spicy. I ended up using the dried chilies and a big splash of chili oil to help me consume this. I had a ton of it left over.
In retrospect, the egg was also a mistake, it was ice cold, the yolk severely overcooked and dry.
I don't know if they went easy on me, but this wasn't particularly spicy…I mean, it did have some heat, I actually enjoyed the funk induced broth, which was lightly permeated with the flavor of the "fat intestine". The broth edged on the salty side but was by far my favorite of the three visits. I enjoyed the offal-ly, funky, earthy pork bung. Yes, it was a bit chewy, but in a pleasant way.
Looking at the dumplings gave me pause. Look at the color; it's very "light", and as I thought, these hadn't been fried long enough and were hard and chewy, rather than crisp. The tops should be somewhat pliant with a slight pull to it. These were a bit on the brittle side. The filling was decently seasoned, but had too much napa cabbage for my taste.
This was pretty bad; the "skin" was hard and brittle. The filling seemed to be half cabbage, the pork mealy, dry, and was quite tasteless.
So, I hunkered down and took a sip of the broth and shook my head. It was really thin, lacking in beefiness, with just a hint of metallic-anise tones. It was in need of more richness. At least it wasn't salty….but on second thought it could have used more sodium and white pepper.
I would skip the "chili sauce" which wasn't particularly spicy, just kinda oily.
These dumplings were fairly hefty in size. The wrapper of these steamed jiaozi was on the thicker side, chewy, and too brittle.
My first thought when the bowl hit the table? What the heck is broccoli doing in this soup? The beef looked tough, but was adequately tender. The broth had a good amount of anise flavor and apparently even a more hefty amount of msg as I kept on chugging water after my meal. The soup was on the thinner side, needed more richness and beef flavor. The noodles were on the mushy side for my taste as well.
No, this wasn't cheap, but the meat, while being a tad more chewy than I prefer was quite beefy, the broth had a nice beefiness, was decently rich, with good five-spice tones, not overly salty, with a mild spice to it.
The dumplings were quite large; the wrappers too brittle and chewy. The filling for the jiaozi were very beefy, with nice celeri tones, seasoned quite well, but quite tough. We were surprised that the black vinegar-soy dipping sauce was not half bad. This was our least favorite dish of the meal.
One of five city gates in the city, it is the only one of the gates that still maintains its Qing-era appearance. 
Man, the beef was so tender and beefy! The knife cut noodles were a bit thick for my taste, but the texture was very nice, good pull, not doughy or overly chewy. The broth was light on the beefiness and edged on being too sweet. We would have liked a bit more tangy-tomato flavor as well. Still this was quite enjoyable.
