Tag: Closed

**** Beauty Hunan has closed

I mentioned in an earlier post that "Beauty Hunan" had quietly opened in the former Szechuan Taste spot.

Except for some additional decorative lamps and paintings of Biàn Liǎn, those "face changing" masks, the place looks the same as on my last visit. Though, those masks are usually found in Sichuan…..so maybe they were just leftover from the previous restaurant?

Speaking of Sichuan….the menu has a mixture of Sichuan, Hunan, some oddball dishes like Lion's Head Meatballs and Egg Foo Young (?!?), and a whole column of totally "ABCDE" (American-Born-Chinese-Dining-Establishment) dishes.

Go figure. There's one soft-spoken, sweet young lady who works here, but everyone….I counted a total of 9 staff on one of my visits is very nice.

On my first visit; a solo affair, I waned two dishes. I went down looking for typical Hunan dishes and they were out of just about everything. I did get something with La Rou. Though it wasn't my favorite La Rou with Suan Do (or even the three smoked meats – La Wei He Zheng ) which is on the menu, but a version with dried bamboo shoots.

In terms of flavor this was much better than what I've had from Village Kitchen. And while some of the pork was on the chewy side, the flavor was spot on; smoky-salty, the rehydrated bamboo crunchy. Peasant food, I took this home and it reminded the Missus of Her grandparents in Hunan…..a bit of salty, slightly spicy La Rou with a lot of rice. The spice level left something to be desired….though we tend to enjoy the heat level at places like Hunan Chilli King.

So I had worked my way through some of the dishes and struck out; so the nice young lady told me to order something called "Pork Belly w/ Preserved Napa in Brown Sauce" ($11.65). Not sure what this was going to be; I chuckled when it arrived at the table….it was Mei Cai Kou Rou; which, correct me if I'm wrong, is more of Hakka dish.

There was one thing fairly true to the Hunan taste. This lacked any sweetness at all. Not much saltiness either….just kind of bland and the mei cai was too hard a chewy. The pork belly had been done decently, it was "chopstick tender", but this was quite bland for my taste. I thought that even Facing East made a superior version of this dish.

Anyway, I took the Smoked Pork dish home and the Missus really enjoyed the left-overs, so not feeling like cooking one evening, we headed back. Looking over the menu for dishes we struck out again. The Missus wanted some Liang Cai – cold dishes, and it was no Bueno; no pork ear, chicken feet, duck tongue….so we ended up with a total routine Bean Curd Skin.

Basically bean curd skin, nice and crunchy, in a decent Chili Peppercorn Oil. Though this tasted like something I'd make at home.

We tried to order the La Rou with Dry Beans again, but still no Bueno and got the version with bamboo, which ironically, is not on the menu.

We wanted a vegetable dish, but after trying a couple of items from the menu that wasn't available; we got the Leek with Shredded Lotus Root ($8.65).

We both enjoyed this simple dish; the lotus root nice and crunchy, though the pungent chives gives the Missus heartburn. I'll probably end up making something similar at home in the near future.

One weekend afternoon, needing a late lunch; like 230pm, Village North was closed so we decided to head back to Beauty Hunan. Where we tried for the Smoke Pork with Dry Beans again….and again ended up with the version with Dried Bamboo, which the Missus enjoyed anyway.

Looking at the menu, I noticed something called "Preserved Egg and Eggplant with Jalapeno" ($11.65). I  asked the Missus and She said that yes indeed, this is the same dish that we enjoy at Village Kitchen. Hmmm….I'm wondering…..

This was a fairly large portion size, and while spicier than the version at Village Kitchen, it is not as well executed. Not nearly as creamy, some of the pieces of eggplant were huge and not as tender, and without that nice earthiness of the eggplant and light sulfuric touch of the preserved egg.

Pretty much at a lost, we decided to just get the Dry Cooked Pork Intestine ($12.65) which was much to salty and not very spicy.

The intestine was not cleaned very well and was too rubbery and we did without a doubt miss the "ma" (numbing) sensation of the Sichuan version of this dish. We did enjoy the Chinese celery in this, but that's about it.

So, I'm not sure if or when Beauty Hunan will have it's full on menu. right now it's a "one-trick-pony" for us. The customer demographic is kind of interesting; a lot of guys ordering the "ABC" dishes during my lunch visits, interspersed with young folk ordering stuff like the Dry Pot items. We thought the service was nice, not perfect, but really nice young folk. I'm not sure when I'll be back for a full meal….though I think the Missus is going to want the La Rou from here…..in whatever form the have it.

Beauty Hunan Restaurant
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

**** Village North has closed

Almost two months since I first visited Village North, it remains a somewhat quirky enigma. I've visited and they've been closed….seems they are closed on Tuesdays. They don't have hours formally posted…..just scribbled on the portable grease board. And what's with the "Soft Opening" sign still up? I asked if they were still in their soft opening period and got an interesting answer; seems that their permanent sign hasn't arrived yet….so they are still air quotes, in "soft opening" mode.

Still, I really like the young folks who work here….they are friendly and very nice. And the décor is no shrinking violet; though the Chinese Rap music can be a bit much and there was the time one of the guys was on the small stage trying out VR gear.

After having me pick-up the Suan Cai Hot Pot to go a couple of times, the Missus finally decided we should drop by for dinner.

Which turned out to be a nice meal. This time we ordered the Stir Fried Version of Suan Cai and Pork; simply called "Sour Cabbage" ($12.99) on the menu.

Man, this was good. The textures and seasoning; with garlic and star anise was just the way the Missus likes this dish. It was pleasantly slightly gooey and comforting. These guys really know how to stir fry. The Missus had a new second favorite.

I say second favorite because She really enjoyed the Pork Intestines in Dry Pot ($12.99).

I really hesitated in ordering any Sichuan here; but man, this was really good. Every ingredient had been nicely prepped and seasoned separately. The intestine had been expertly cleaned and even had that inner "fatty" layer. I've never had them ask me "how spicy" here; something I like and respect. This was nicely "ma-la". The Missus immediately said that this was a level above Sizzling Pot King in prep and execution. I've now had this a couple of times with other folks and they all agree; this version is quite good.

Lily and I decided to take "YZ" out for a celebratory lunch and they (as usual) let me pick. My choice….Village North. We had some of the usual suspects; but also ordered a couple of more traditional Dongbei style dishes. Starting with one of the classic dishes; Dongbei La Pi; mung bean sheets in sort of a salad, Multicolor Clear Noodle ($11.99) on the menu.

Again very nice prep; everything from the thinly sliced vegetables to the pork and egg was seasoned separately. The dressing; a sesame paste black vinegar concoction; with a touch of wasabi tasted like a lighter version of what I make at home; though without as much sesame paste. It's a nice combination of nutty-sour-sweet. Pretty good overall; this will go well during hotter weather.

We also tried something simply called "Stewed Assorted Delicacies" ($18.99 – 农家一锅鲜) on the menu.

Basically a dish of stewed/braised pork ribs; which is then stir fried with corn, potatoes, and green bell peppers. This wasn't very good; it was basically too salty; the pork ribs were on the tough side. The best items were the corn and potatoes.

Still we'd had some of the other dishes and both Lily and "YZ" really enjoyed things….especially the suan cai.

Hearing that this place had the Missus's approval; my "Food Gang" decided we should have dinner here. We ordered a bunch of stuff I'd had from previous meals; the suan cai, intestine dry pot, guo bao rou, di san Xian, and a couple of new ones. Our young server recommended something simply called "Flank Steak" ($15.99) on the menu. It arrived looking all the world like Chinese Black Pepper Beef.

The was another winner. The beef wasn't tender per se; it was toothsome without being tough, with a nice display of the stir fry skills, which in this case seems to be velveting.

We also ordered some chuan'r (skewers), which were fairly sub-par.

The lamb really needed much more cumin….the mantou….was topped with sugar…if this were Beijing; I think it would be brushed with a sweet bean sauce. I know this is what Xiāngjiāo was hoping for. Alas, it was not to be.

During one of my take-out visits; the really nice young man who works here named "Victor" told me his favorite item on the menu was the Fried Shrimp with Dried Red Pepper ($14.99). So when I recently dropped by for lunch; I ordered it.

This was pretty good; crunchy shells, the whole numbing-hot ("ma-la") thing going on. Nicely prepared….like I said…these guys do real well with a wok.

Though in terms of seasoning; the Zi Ran Yang Rou – Cumin Lamb ($14.99) left much to be desired in terms of cumin-spicy-salty tones.

So, in the end, we have a nice new option. I'm still not quite sure of everything on the menu…….but perhaps that's the fun of exploring. I think there are dishes on the menu to entice the beer-drinking, young crowd…..but then again, there's some serious cooking skills on display with some of the dishes.

Village North
4428 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

**** This place is no longer

Since my first post on this place a few weeks back, I've been back a couple of times. On a stormy night, a group of my friends got together….we managed to steam up the windows on half the restaurant.

And we got to sample the won ton soup here which Eater San Diego mentioned as well.

It seems like they are slowly adding things to the menu.

The Missus and I went once. But as She says, it can get pretty old after a while. What doesn't get old, at least on cold nights for us is the "tang", the bone based broth. What we found out was that they sell the broth, it's $4.99 for the large version. We really like the "extra spicy" version of this bone based broth.

Which ends up being 2-3 meals for us…..

After picking up the broth, head to the new 99 Ranch Market. The Missus favorite items? Wintermelon, daikon, a variety of bean curd products, bean thread, various vegetables…you name it. Because the broth is nicely rich; it seems like we go mostly vegetarian on this.

Talk about a warming meal that will leave you with a nice sheen of sweat on your forehead (the extra spicy is not super spicy), with a nice "ma" (numbing) to go along with a slight chili induced endorphin high. Can you say "aaaah".

It's worth the slight communication thing…..I had the Missus spell out the broth in Chinese, but just tried to order "tang". The sweet young lady, thinking I was speaking English hilariously pointed to the duck tongues.

The folks working have always been quite accommodating and friendly to us.

So as the next storm moves into San Diego….maybe grabbing some of the hot pot broth and your favorite items (I saw them packing 10 portions of broth and fixins to go during my last visit) might be a nice option for spending a "night in".

Private Kitchens
5440 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

**** FuAn Garden has closed

During this past summer FuAn Garden officially changed course and owners. Going from Sichuan to Cantonese fare. One of the main players was a former manager of Jasmine. I tried the place and had a terrible meal. Then according to what I understand, there was a major kitchen revolt and the manager was booted. And then I noticed a sign while driving by announcing lunch specials.

Man, $6.99….how good could the food here be now? Well, with the help of Calvin, several visits were made and we got to try out a good amount of the lunch specials.

In case you're thinking that the $6.99 specials were basically going to be egg noodle soup, porridge, and vegetable dishes, you'd be wrong. I was surprised to see some seafood item, though I remained somewhat skeptical about the quality of the dishes.

So here's a rundown of the items we had; best to worst.

In terms of texture, the Salt and Pepper Squid might have been the best overall.

Notice I didn't say technique. Though the squid was impressively tender and decently seasoned, batter was peeling off the squid, showing some lack of good technique. It was also not very crisp; like the oil used for frying wasn't at optimum temp.

Coming in a close second was the Stir Fried Pork Stomach (intestines) with Chili Pepper.

Edging on being too greasy and with little or no spiciness; this was still a decent dish. The intestines were nicely prepped; just the right amount of funk and chew, the vegetables were crisp, and this was mildly seasoned, so you could make out all flavors of the peppers, scallion, intestine.

The Missus's favorite dish; at least for two of the four times I bought it was the Gailan with Preserved Pork (la rou).

This was the first lunch special item I ordered on a solo visit. The portion size was large enough that I ended taking half of it home. The Missus loves La Rou and on this first visit the gailan was perfect; the stalks cooked but crunchy, and the leaves not over cooked. The seasoning was simple which suited this perfectly. So, during my other lunch visits; I'd order this to go for the Missus. The second time it was decent; but the last two times the gailan was blanched too long and was rubbery. After which, the Missus stopped requesting it.

It's hard to mess up simple Soy Sauce Noodles. Which might be the only thing over priced on this $6.99 menu.

The noodles were on the hard side, the presentation left something to be desired, and this was bit too salty.

The Eggplant in the Eggplant with Fermented Bean Curd; basically Yu Hsiang ("Fish Flavored"), was much too sweet and this was on the greasy side.

Though the texture of the eggplant was fair.

The Bittermelon with Black Bean Sauce was terrible.

An overcooked, greasy-gloppy mess, displaying some haphazard wok skills. Way too salty; bitter garlic….'nuff said.

Perhaps my least favorite item here…mainly because of flavor and portion size, the Roast Duck Rice.

Well geez, look at all that broccoli. This was basically the bottom two thirds of a duck leg with the meat and skin splayed out to make it look like more than it was. This was mostly bone. The skin was pleasantly crisp, but had very little of the beany-salty-sweet tones of a good roast duck. The meat was super bland. The rice was on the hard side and I wish they'd put a bit more jus on the rice. Well, I made fun of the broccoli, but that might have been the best item on this plate.

It's hard to complain too much about a $6.99 lunch item. Some things were decent and a good value; others rather uneven. One of the women who works here is very nice. I'd say while your mileage may vary, it might be worth checking out the lunch specials here. It might even be a good alternative to Golden City once in a while. It's even cheaper too.

Fuan Garden Seafood Restaurant
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

***** This location is no longer 

It's funny how things work out. I was headed to a dreaded lunch hour meeting, when I was notified that it was cancelled. I decided to head on down Clairemont Mesa to grab something to eat. I noticed that the place I'd recently seen that replaced the Zisu Indian Market named Private Kitchens had opened….at least the sign said open. So I parked and walked in.

I quickly noticed a couple of things; first off, there's a temporary wall put up and there's still Indian groceries for sale. Second, there was only one person in the place that spoke English, a sweet young lady whose English name is "Julie" I believe.

It's an odd set-up, two folks came in, did some shopping and paid for their groceries at the register. There were some interesting communication issues, but everything got taken care of. I think the shop is liquidating the grocery inventory? I mentioned this to the Missus who told me; "you know my peeps……"

Second thing I noticed. In spite of the huge kitchen, the place was set-up with skewers of various vegetables, meats, bean curd, etc. This was a "chuan chuan xiang" ("fragrant skewers") style place; also know as mala tang ("numb and spicy") style place. A real Chengdu specialty where you pick your skewers and they are cooked in a numbing hot broth. I really haven't seen this here since Ba Ren tried their "Yie-Shi" menu years ago.

This style of eating has a special place in my heart. I couldn't wait to grab a basket and have at it. You get charged by the skewers….frankly, I just picked out stuff I enjoy….it came out to about $11. A "small pot" cost $3.99; though I didn't care for the standard noodles…..instant ramen type.

My favorite items were the frozen and fried tofu, the bean curd skin, along with the enoki mushrooms. The rest was pretty routine and basic, but that broth was definitely, legitimately "numbing hot". I did get the "ma-la" and it was that in spades. I left with a nice layer of sweat on my forehead.

Funny thing, a couple of days later, it was pouring rain, everybody had been stuck in meetings and calls and we decided to grab some lunch. So Calvin, JohnF, Renee, and I headed over for some Mala Tang. This style of eating is quite social; except Renee can't eat tolerate anything too spicy; so we got her a milder version…..I got the Boys medium spicy. Calvin just piled stuff on…..

I ordered kuan fen (cellophane noodles) this time around, which goes quite well with the hot pot. Calvin loves his chicken parts; the heart was good; so was the pork stomach. I gotta say though; if you're going to do this, go for the spicy….the medium just didn't do it for me. We left quite satisfied; Renee had never experienced the "ma" before and told me her lips were numb; "but in a good way". We headed back to the office on a spicy endorphin high…..just the thing to take us through the rest of the day.

Now I'm not going to say this is great, nor even really good. The skewers are fine; it's the broth that makes this. It's also comfort food for me. And so far the version here does enough. I'm hoping it gets better. I'm also wondering what happens when the inventory of Indian Groceries is depleted and that temporary wall comes down? Will the menu expand and offer us more Chengdu style dishes?

One can always hope…..

Private Kitchens
5440 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

**** Village North has closed

It's amazing how you can sometimes be surprised by the most humble and odd places. Take Village North Restaurant. I mentioned coming across the place when checking to see what was going on in the recently closed Char House space. The sign simply said "Soft Opening Village North".

I decided to check the place out. The space is quite modern, with a nice looking bar area, private rooms, a wide open dining area…..and one of the oddest menus I've seen in a while. It was strangely diverse with everything from Jiaozi to Chuan'r (skewers) to dry pots and other Sichuan style dishes…and yes, gasp, Orange Chicken!

I must have seemed a bit of an oddity to the very, very, nice young man who waited on me. Seeing the name "North" I went straight for the Jiaozi. But confused by the menu I asked where the chefs were from. I was told that the head chef and most of the other chefs were from Dongbei! My goodness, Dongbei. Which you might know as Manchuria and a style of cuisine the Missus and I enjoy; though we'd usually have to go to the SGV to get our fix. The menu's English translations really didn't help me, but with the help of the young man, I found the dish I was looking for.

The Jiaozi arrived first. I'd ordered the basic pork and napa cabbage version. This had a real home made kind of texture to the wrappers; a bit too brittle. The filling was mostly pork; something most folks would like, but I enjoy a nice balance. The flavor was fine, perhaps a bit too salty, but not bad. I did appreciate the entire bowl of Black Vinegar I was given, no scrimping there.

Of course; it was the Suan Cai Hot Pot I was looking for. It's Meat with Pickled Cabbage in Hot Pot on the menu.

This was pretty good; the fatty pork is perfect for this type of dish as the fermented flavors of the cabbage gives everything a clean finish. This was really large; of course I took most of it home. The dish had enough salt, but was missing two things….frozen tofu and enough deep fermented tones, though I'm thinking we like things a bit stronger these days since we make our own Suan Cai. Both were added when we had the leftovers for dinner….making this perfect.

I'd enjoyed my meal enough that I tried to return a couple of times; but for some reason the place was closed…..not sure why; I guess it's still the soft-opening, breaking in period.

I drove by recently and peeked down the parking lot and found that the open sign was lit up. So I decided on grabbing some lunch. As before, the dining room was empty….the two large rooms however, were full.

This time, I decided to ask about two classic Dongbei style dishes. I found one easily on the menu; the second one I asked about…..to the same really nice young man. Guo Bao Rou, which I call the "Original Sweet-Sour Pork". I was told that the version here is "modern style" and uses ketchup. Even though I had thought of the sauce looking like the Song Shu Gui Yu we had at De Yue Lou in Suzhou, I thought why not?

This had much more "sauce" than I'm used too. The pork was sliced properly for this dish; that would be thin. The batter; I believe it's usually potato starch based, was very crisp and crunchy. But man, the strong sour and sweetness was quite a shock! It was much stronger than I recalled, having had this dish before, and I didn't care for it at first. Then, bite by bite, I started enjoying it more. I especially appreciated the nice ginger tones which helped keep the sour notes at bay. I really can't eat too much of this, so I took most of it back to the office. I kind of knew who would enjoy this….. I figured this would over power Calvin's taste buds which it did. But had a feeling that "YZ" would like this…..even though she steers toward the Shanghai – Su Cai flavors, I believed that the very forward sweet – sour tastes would be what she liked. She really enjoyed it….. Heck, if you're going to have sweet-sour pork, you might as well have the original version, right?

I needed to balance the very sweet and sour dish and ordered the dish named the "Three Treasures"; Di San Xian.

The classic stir fry of potato, eggplant, and bell peppers. This was actually properly prepared; you basically need to deep fry the potato and eggplant before adding the sauce for thickening. This version kept too much of the cooking oil and the seasoning fell a bit short, I'm used to having it a bit sweeter. This version also seemed to have black vinegar in it, which I kind of enjoyed.

Overall, while the food wasn't outstanding, it was great to reacquaint myself with these classic Chinese dishes. It may not be haute cuisine, hip, trendy, or cool….but this is timeless and traditional comfort food. I took a menu home and started grilling the Missus, looking for more Dongbei-Cai dishes and it looks like they serve jiang gutou – simmered pork bones (probably like we had here) and even La Pi – mung bean sheets on the menu. And perhaps I'll even try some of the Sichuan….because you never know……

Village North
4428 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111