My visits to Marugame had me wondering how Qin West was doing. They are basically neighbors at UTC. On both of my Marugame visits, I noticed how empty Qin West looked. Or perhaps it was just that Marugame was so busy? Since it had been over 2 years since my visits to Qin West, I made a mental note to do a revisit. And then proceeded to forget about it! Until a couple of weeks ago, when "M" was in the office. We were talking about Marugame, "M" lives in the UTC area and is originally from the Shanghai area. She mentioned Qin West, telling me their family gets takeout from there on a weekly basis! When I asked her what her favorite dishes were; she didn't mention any of the Shaanxi style dishes, but instead named some of the spicier, Sichuan leaning dishes. Quite a surprise for me! The next day I decided to order takeout from Qin West and looked online since the place is pretty much a fast-casual restaurant. I took a look at the online ordering options; and even though "No Service Fee" is indicated, things seemed somewhat expensive. So, I decided to drive on over and place my takeout order in person.
Walking in, I went and tried to use the QR code ordering process, but it didn't work. The guy working the counter told me to come over and place my order. And yes, I was correct about the prices. Each item was over $2 more expensive when ordering online!
I was told to return in 15 minutes to pick my order up. So, I took a loop around the mall, then returned. Qin West has an interesting way of announcing when your order; whether doing takeout or dining in, they use a megaphone to announce your number. The one issue being, is that sometimes they only announce the number in Mandarin! Which is what happened in the case of my takeout order. After waiting around ten minutes after returning to the restaurant, I walked over and displayed my receipt. Guess what? One of the items that arrived at the counter while I as waiting was my order! You gotta love it!
Anyway, I got the Stir Fried Spicy Chicken and the Liang Cai Combo.
When "M" described the Stir Fried Spicy Chicken ($16.25 – $18.75 with online ordering) I thought it was going to be like La Zhi Ji, but this was indeed stir-fried.
As you can tell, the portion size was pretty large. It was indeed spicy with both dried and fresh chilies used to deliver the heat. The chicken was on the tougher side, but what we (the Missus tried leftovers) didn't enjoy was how salty this dish was. It was sodium overload.
I had recalled enjoying two-thirds of the Cold Dish – Liang Cai Combo before, so decided to order that as well. Man, two years ago, this was $14.75; it's now $19.75, what is that, like over a 30% increase in price. And just think, if you ordered this online for pick-up, it would be $21.95!
In case you don't believe me.
It was a very large portion! Though you can see how thick the kitchen is slicing the tendon and pork ear now. Eating some of the pieces of tendon was like trying to bite into your flip-flops! The pig ear was crunchy and manageable. The smacked cucumbers were better than what I'd had here previously, with a decent amount of salt. The chili oil based sauce wasn't quite as spicy as I recalled and it had a hint of sweetness and more soy sauce, which wasn't a bad thing.
The Missus enjoyed the cucumbers.
This was an interesting visit, especially when looking at prices. I know that folks have recommended the fried rice and the shredded potatoes ("tudou si"), and I did enjoy the Yang Rou Pao Mo, so I'll probably return in a couple of months.
Though I'm wondering what prices will be like then?
Qin West Noodle
4353 La Jolla Village Drive (In UTC)
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 845pm
Soon enough my plate arrived. I loved the colors on my plate. The rice was fluffy and fragrant, the adana kebab, while not as full of various spices as the version during Sultan's heydays was surprisingly moist, tender, and very beefy.
Other than that, this was a nice meal. A nice reacquaintance to an old favorite, a place like I mentioned so many times inspired us to 
Well, so that gentleman I ran into while 
Located in one of the larger strip mall areas with plenty of parking,
the interior is quite large. When we got here, there was plenty of seating which quickly filled by the time we left.
The menu is quite large. 
It comes with hard-form rice paper atop a bowl of hot water for dipping and a plate of green leaf lettuce, mint, cilantro, sliced cucumbers, pickled daikon and carrots, pineapple and, of course, fish sauce. Side note- the water does not have to be warm to get the rice paper to a soft-form. This was filled in fresh flavors and fun to construct while chatting.
As soon as we sat down, I ordered a Banh Xeo-Vietnamese Crepe ($15.95). It takes extra time to prepare.
This rice flour crepe is filled with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, onion slices, and mung beans. It is also served with the plate of greens (minus the pineapple). Wrapping a bit of everything in a lettuce leaf and dipping it in the fish sauce (another 'build it yourself' meal) makes for crunchy, tasty bites.
On the "Stir Fried Noodle" part of the menu, we went for it and ordered Hu Tieu Ap Chao Hoac Mi Dao (don) Thap Can-crispy egg noodle stir fried with baby bok choy, broccoli, carrot, onion, meat and seafood (chicken, char siu pork, shrimp, imitation crab, calamari and fish cake) in a garlic sauce. We haven't had crispy noodles in a long time and this was so very satisfying. The combination of flavors and textures in each bite was something we had missed.
Under "Broken Rice Dishes" on the menu, we chose Com Tam Tau Hu Ky- Steamed broken rice with ground shrimp wrapped in tofu and a char-grilled pork patty ($15.50). This plate was also quite a good size and everything was fresh in flavors-the char on the pork patty was excellent. 
As always, we order hot tea. The charge is only $1 each for the pot.
There are so many television sets in here. Each seat at each table has a view of at least two, even outside on the patio.
Here are a couple of tabletop menus.
The Mister ordered a Happy Hour Group Modelo (16 oz) for $4. I had a taste and it was nice.
We were here on a Wednesday and ordered six 'wings' for $1 each (there were nine flavors (three mild, the rest indicated heat)) and we chose the Honey BBQ. Nicely sauced and topped with sesame seeds, accompanied by celery, carrots and a good housemade Ranch dip. All drums, no flats and quite a good sized serving.
The Happy Hour fried Lemon-Pepper Zucchini ($7.99) was another sizable serving. Light breading, crisp fried and not greasy, the crunch as well as the very pleasant fresh and not seedy zucchini was great tasting on its own and very pleasant with th Ranch dip and housemate marinara. 
The Oggis Stix ($7.99). Pizza dough brushed with garlic olive oil and toped with mozzarella, parmesan and parsley were also served with the housemade ranch and marinara dips. This was kind of a wonderful, decadent bite. since we are watching our carbs; we did take about half of this home and it reheated well.
Here is another tabletop menu- Monday-Friday lunch from 11-2
Here's a cup of potato-cheese soup (add on $2.99). This was very nice on the cool day we were here.
The half balsamic chicken salad ($9.99) was accompanied by a (giant) garlic knot; much fancier than a slice of bread. Spring mix topped with grilled chicken, candied walnuts and Gorgonzola and a house made balsamic vinaigrette.
We decided to try a half flatbread ($6.99) and chose the Charcuterie-Sopressata, Genoa Salami, pancetta, pepperoni, green onion, mozzarella and shredded parmesan. This had Oggis 'pizza sauce' instead of marinara and was a tad 'spicy' but nothing to complain about. I liked the crisp, thin crust and flavor meld.
Along with some Veggie Eggrolls. All part and parcel of the lunch specials we ordered.
Well, my favorite sandwich here is the Chinese Sausage Sandwich ($9.99), I get it with a fried egg ($1.50), easy on the mayo, extra toasted. While it's on the "bready" side, getting the roll extra toasted enhances the crustiness and diminishes the potential for sogginess as Tadian, even when I ask for easy on the mayo will have too much of it. I enjoy the meaty lup cheong, which has a nice salty-porky-sweetness. The egg adds more savory tones and the avocado tempers things down. To me, the onions add a good pungency and is necessary, as is the mild sweet acidity of the tomato. Everything has a part to play here.
I know this wasn't the "sesame" version, but the light color was a bit of a shock. The plate included some fairly dry and chewy rice and a green salad with a standard issue wafu style dressing. The greens were fresh and crisp. The tentsuyu, tempura dipping sauce was a must have for the chicken.
The coating was light and crisp, the chicken itself was very moist and tender, a pleasant surprise since this is chicken breast. The flavor was quite mild, thus the dipping sauce is a must for adding savory-umami tones to the dish.
