**** Spicy Hut has closed
Back in May; Faye left a comment on my Shan Xi Magic Kitchen post, in which she overheard customers asking if the staff from Spicy King were now working at the restaurant they were eating at. That would be Spicy Hut, you can read Faye's post here. I filed that away for a while. Then a few weeks back; I happened to mention this to "YZ", who lives fairly close by. One morning, while her kids were attending some kind of event she checked the place out. Interesting story; "YZ" actually worked at Ba Ren over one summer while in college, so she probably waited on us during our visits to Ba Ren! small world. Anyway, "YZ" walked on in; it was before opening and asked if "Shifu Hu" was there….and he was! She brought me a menu….
So, I decided to check them out a few days later.
This is in the former location of Golden State Seafood….man, the last time I was here must be over a dozen years ago!
The interior is clean, there's the de-rigueur cold case with the liang cai; cold dishes.
Chef Hu's wife, whom I met while shopping at 99 Ranch Market and on that final visit to Spicy King was working the front of house and quickly called Chef Hu out. He looked to be in good health and we quickly shook hands…..my Mandarin is non-existent and his English is limited, so we mostly smiled and had a short conversation.
So, of course I was anxious to try some of the dishes. During both visits, I went with more or less the Sichuan dishes I long for and miss.
But first, some Liang Cai.
The Fu Qi Fei Pian ("husband and wife lung pieces", lung = offal or tendon in most cases)was nicely cut; though not spicy enough, and can you tell what's missing? Yep, the tendon. It's sort of like the "husband" decided to leave the "wife" and try to make it on his own. I missed the textural contrast of not having something other than brisket in this. The pig ears were nice and crunchy, with a good amount of sesame oil, but could have used a bit more spice. The pickled long beans were good, nice and briny.
Of course I had to have the Sichuan Liang Mian; I haven't had a good version since Ba Ren closed.
The actual noodles, were passable, not over-cooked, not hard and brittle, but still lacking that nice al dente pull I like. This had a ton of garlic and vinegar, it was a bit too sour for me. The amount of soy and saltiness was perfect, but this needed that savory punch from sesame paste and more spiciness. Still, not a bad version.
Another go-to dish; Ko Shui Ji ("saliva/mouthwatering" chicken). So was this "drool worth"?
This was the best version I've had in a while! The chicken was prepared well; it had a nice toothsomeness, without being tough. The sauce had some nice heat; with decent ginger tones, a touch of sweetness, and some spice! I would have enjoyed a little "ma" (numbing) tones as this was a bit short in the Sichuan Peppercorn department.
My least favorite dish was the Ma Po Doufu.
While the texture of the tofu was excellent; this dish was sorely lacking with regards to several key ingredients; chili bean paste, Sichuan Peppercorns, not enough fermented black beans. It was, to put things mildly very one-dimensional; truly missing that "suan-tian-ku-la-xian", the sour-sweet-bitter-spicy-salty metaphor for a flavorful, yet balanced dish the Chinese use. I brought most of it home and the Missus thought it wasn't very good either.
A few days later; Calvin and "Daniel from Georgia" wanted to grab something to eat. We actually had time for lunch! I mentioned Spicy Hut and Daniel had never had traditional Sichuan food before; so it was a go. They decided that I should do the ordering. So lunch commenced as such.
Liang Cai. The duck gizzards in chili and sesame oil were pretty good, nice and crunchy.
The Shui Zhu Yu (the classic "Water Boiled Fish") dish, which Faye really enjoyed, was quite good, if a bit short in the Sichuan Peppercorn and Doubian Jian department.
The texture of the fish was good, tender, moist, with no muddy flavors. Daniel just loved this and told he'd never had anything like this before!
The Shrimp with Dried Red Chilies was next.
The batter was light and crunchy; though I prefer it more lacquered and not as "thick". It also could have used more Sichuan Peppercorns as this wasn't particularly spicy in spite of all those red chilies. I don't think the fried shrimp was finished correctly with the chilies.
I wanted to temper the spice with one dish and we got the Rice Crust with Three Delicacies.
While a bit on the milder side; the texture of the sauce was good, not too thin and not too gloppy. The fish was prepared well; but the shrimp was a bit on the over-cooked side. Still as this got more and more gooey, it became quite comforting.
Overall, the food was pretty good, better, at least for now than other Sichuan options in San Diego. It's also better than what I'd previously had from Chef Hu at Fu An Garden and Spicy King. I'm hoping they can hold the course. And perhaps it's about time for me to "make the rounds" of the Sichuan shops in San Diego.
Spicy Hut
9460 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours
Mon – Fri 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 930pm
Sat – Sun 11am – 9pm
Originally, Tea Station was only the building you see on the left, but expanded out and is a nice space to be able to enjoy a quiet meal. This is important, now that there are several other businesses in this same strip mall.
On the white board, we noticed a "Fresh Lemon Green Tea"($3.99) and had to order it. The Mister has been obsessed with fresh lemon items this summer. This was a great beverage and unique in flavor (ordered with no sweet; you could taste the tannins of the green tea along with the sour but fresh squeeze of lemon).
Tea flavored meals are why we stop here. We shared this tea flavored marinated chicken plate ($11.75), which is a favorite. The marinade has tea (of course) and the lightly breaded dark and white meat pieces of chicken are quite large, juicy and flavorful. You don't need any condiments. The side plate of three is ever changing and on this day the cold noodles had some meat, the corn tasted fresh and was crispy and the cabbage was lightly dressed and still crunchy. The rice, of course, was a flavorful sticky accompaniment. 
The tea flavor dumplings ($9.25) (on the 'noodle' menu) are the reason we stop here; The Mister has cravings for them. The fillings are the same; porky with a slight tea undertone. The skins are on the edge of being too thick sometimes, but on this visit were just right. There is also a slight tea flavor to the dumpling dough.
