Tag: Closed

Mariscos Tone Camaron at Harland Brewing Bay Park

Beer, Food Trucks/Carts, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** The Mariscos Tone Camaron trailer has been placed by the El Sazon de Nayarit Truck

Sometimes it’s just the smallest thing. A couple of weeks ago, I went to get my morning caffeine fix from Bay Park Coffee. I guess everyone else, and their mother decided that it would be a great time for an energy boost and there was no parking to be found on Napier or Ashton, so I had to park on Morena. While walking toward Napier, I noticed this trailer in the back of the Harland Tasting Room.

Mariscos Tone 01

Interesting, a Mariscos Truck/Trailer was now in back of Harland. I guess they needed something to replace Rosemarie’s which was here for quite a long time until they got their own brick and mortar shop.

An interesting recent development is that the Missus enjoyed the Japanese Lager from June Lake Brewing, that I had Her try Harland’s version which She enjoyed even more! So, we decided to take a walk down Milton and check out Harland and the Mariscos trailer.

Harland BP 01

The place was fairly busy when we arrived. I ordered a Japanese Lager for the Missus and tried a sour.

Harland BP 02

The Missus said that She couldn’t tell the difference between the draft JL versus the canned.

Harland BP 03

The Raspberry Sour was very light and I think a good candidate as a “gateway sour”.

Harland BP 04

As for the food, it was done via QR code. And I’m guessing they do burgers as well as Mariscos?

Mariscos Tone 02a

As for the Mariscos, well, the name of the trailer includes “camaron” and that’s what they basically have; shrimp except for the $25 rib-eye tostada.

Mariscos Tone 03a

So, we ordered the “OG Shrimp Ceviche” and the Aguachile Verde Tostadas. In a nice touch, our order was delivered to our table.

Mariscos Tone 04

The portion sizes for $12 was quite good, though we’ll be the first to say that the shrimp were really tough and rubbery. Each portion was enough to make three tostadas. Though I will say, it seems to us to be more about quantity than quality. The OG was really mild, lacking in spice, quite watery.

The Aguachile was better, with nice citrus tones.

Mariscos Tone 05

The cucumbers were nice and palate cleansing and went well with the maize-y tostadas. Both dishes had a generous portion of creamy, mildly sweet avocado. It was still mild in terms of “heat”, but maybe that’s based on the demographic. This wasn’t bad, though it lacked a good amount of spice and seemed a bit dumbed down.

Overall, while not my first choice with regards to Mariscos, decently priced with fairly generous portion to price.

Mariscos Tone Camarón at Harland Brewing
4112 Napier St.
San Diego, CA 92110

Don Chicken (Encinitas) and Cal Pacific Orchid Farm

Chains, Chicken Wings, Exploring San Diego, Korean Restaurants

**** Don Chicken has closed

Recently, I was up in the Encinitas area and decided to make a couple of stops on my way back home. The First was to the Cal Pacific Orchid Farm which I had heard about from some folks I know who live in North County and also read this on Hidden San Diego. I decided to stop by. The huge greenhouse is located off of Orpheus Avenue which parallels the I-5. It was interesting finding the place as there’s a discreet single lane driveway from the street which heads up to the greenhouse and the small parking spaces.

Cal Pacific 01

Many of the beautiful plants are in lovely arrangements and the staff are so friendly. The gentleman working that day was very nice and spent almost a half hour chatting with me. My grandparents on Maui grew orchids and my Mom had a couple of plants when we lived in Kaimuki. For some reason, I thought that orchids needed a rather humid environment to grow, but the gentleman went through some of the various species, how they thrive in San Diego, that they do like moisture, but not too much water and not too much direct sun….which is why we saw so many in the Cloud Forest in Ecuador.

Cal Pacific 02

Cal Pacific 03

The gentleman obviously enjoys his job and has a real passion for orchids.

Cal Pacific 04b

One thing I found interesting is that Cal Pacific will “board” your plants if they are not doing well, not blooming, or in need of additional care!

Cal Pacific 05

The folks here are wonderful. I’m going to make sure to get my orchids from them!

Cal Pacific 06

Cal Pacific Orchid Farm
1122 Orpheus Ave.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Hours:
Mon – Sat 9am – 4pm
Closed on Sundays

Of course the next item on the agenda was……well, what’s for lunch? A while back, someone, I don’t recall who, asked me if I had been to Don Chicken. I looked thru my emails and searched through my comments but was not able to find that recommendation. Well, you know me, could I fight off the temptation of some “KFC”? Probably not. Especially when it’s just a ten minute drive away.

Don Chicken is located off El Camino Real in one of the many strip malls lining the street. I arrived a few minutes before opening, so I headed over to Baker and Olive a few doors down to take a look at things.

Don Chicken 01

The open sign lit up just as I started heading back toward the restaurant. Don Chicken is yet another chain from Korea, though my friends told me that the chain is really popular in Ho Chi Minh City? Which, for some reason made me think of Crispy Chicken n’ Tomato which declares itself the most popular KFC in Japan.

Don Chicken 02

On this day, the place was a one man operation, at least while I was there. The menu features Oven Baked and Fried Chicken in various sauces. The specials include bulgogi, tteok-boki, a chicken sandwich, and even katsu. But, since this was a KFC joint, I was just going to get the Fried Wings. The wings only come in orders of 10, a bit much for me, but at least it was priced at $15.99, which was much cheaper per piece that the $8.99 I paid for 4 wings at BHC recently.

And after a short wait, my wings were ready.

Don Chicken 04 Don Chicken 05  The wings came with a rather large order of Mul Kimchi, crisp, not overly sweet, a good palate cleanser for fry-o-lated foods.

As for the wings, well these weren’t overly large, which I prefer as the skin/batter to meat ratio to more to my liking. The meat was moist and tender, no dark areas and no off flavors.

Don Chicken 06  Don Chicken 07 The batter was somewhat crunchy, but it really got soggy quickly. The seasoning seemed quite mild, but I had a raging thirst after eating 6 of these wings. I took the remaining wings home and even tried to revive in the air fryer, but that didn’t work too well. I’m thinking that if I tried this again it would have to be with some kind of sauce; but based on experience with other KFC chains of this ilk, I’m going to assume it’s going to be too sweet and heck, it already gets soggy-mushy too quickly anyway.

So perhaps I’ll just give it a rest? If you’ve visited Don Chicken what was your meal like?

Don Chicken 08

Don Chicken
215 S. El Camino Real Suite G
Encinitas, CA 92024
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 9pm
Sunday 3pm – 9pm

Sunday Sandwiches – Grab & Go Subs (Mission Gorge)

Sandwiches

**** This location of Grab & Go has closed

I recently had to take my vehicle in for scheduled service. I will usually get an early appointment time and wait at the dealership. I’ve been impressed at how quickly everything is completed these days. In at 8 out by 930! On the other hand, I had been planning to check out some places for lunch, but I won’t complain about a quick turnaround.

Thus, I needed to grab something for an early….very early lunch. As I drove North on Mission Gorge Road, I saw Grab & Go! Well, it had been ages since I’d been to this location of G&G. The Convoy Court location used to be a regular stop for me when we had offices close by; but heck I hadn’t been to that location in over 7 years as well!

I guess it was time for a revisit.

G and Go Rev 01

I walked on in; the place looks almost the same as those days “BC” (before Covid).

G and Go Rev 03b

Of course the prices are not.

G and Go Rev 02

My favorite at G&G the Hot Spicy Capocolla is now $13.49. I believe the last time I had that sandwich it was under seven bucks!

I decided to eat al fresco and found a nice quiet spot at Heritage Park.

G and Go Rev 04 G and Go Rev 05  Opening the sandwich up, the first thing I noticed was how much shredded lettuce there was. So much iceberg that it could have sunk the Titanic. Also, I remember Grab & Go as having some of the messiest, sloppiest sandwiches and this definitely lived up to that rep. One of the reasons I enjoy this sandwich is that it’s toasted, the bread was yeasty-crackley-crusty goodness. Also appreciated that the Provolone was melted. The jalapenos added some heat though not a huge amount. The oil and vinegar dressing is perfect for this sandwich; mayo would be overkill in my opinion.

G and Go Rev 06

While the huge amount of lettuce kinda threw the flavors off; it was just too much, this was quite a hefty sandwich. I guess I’ll need to return again soon.

Grab & Go Subs
6435 Mission Gorge Rd.
San Diego, CA 92120
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 8am – 3pm
Closed on Sundays

Shanghai Alley (Clairemont) – Hidden in Plain Sight

Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Xiao Long Bao

**** I understand that Shanghai Alley is no longer at King Bistro

I was driving along last week, minding my own business, when I noticed something. I wasn't quite sure what it was, but it looked like a folding restaurant sign, but not with the name of the place generally associated with the location.

Shanghai Alley 96_b

Shanghai Alley? Well, that was a new one to me. I believed that I had a pretty good idea of all the restaurants in the area, but I guess I was mistaken? Upon returning home, I went and did that "Google thing". And yes indeed, there was a new restaurant named Shanghai Alley. The interesting thing is, this version of the restaurant does lunches, while the "original" place takes over in the evening. Can you guess where?

Well……

Shanghai Alley 99

Yes, it's the location of King Bistro, which is in the location of what used to be our favorite restaurant in San Diego, Ba Ren. I'm not going to drone on about how we miss Ba Ren. And even though I had never visited King Bistro, Shanghai Alley had me interested. I noticed online that the place opens at 10am….and you know how I'm an "early lunch" kinda guy these days. So, I drove down and arrived the very next day right after 10am.

In the back of the sign is more info.

Shanghai Alley 97

I walked in and immediately noticed a chalkboard menu leaning up against the counter.

Shanghai Alley 01

The prices seemed very reasonable and the young lady working was very sweet and friendly. She told me that Shanghai Alley started business a month ago. She was going to hand me a paper menu, but I just went ahead and placed my order and had a seat.

Shanghai Alley 02

Looking around I quickly noticed how worn the place looks.

Shanghai Alley 03

The young woman quickly brought out black vinegar and chili oil for me.

Shanghai Alley 04

And soon in enough, my Pork and Cabbage Jiaozi ($13.99) and Niu Rou Mian ($14.99) arrived.

The jiaozi was super hot!

Shanghai Alley 05  Shanghai Alley 06 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 Ju Feng Yuan. And does have a definite "homestyle" edge to it.

I was not as fond of the Beef Noodle Soup.

Shanghai Alley 07 Shanghai Alley 08   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.

Overall, a pretty good meal. There was one item I wanted to try before doing a post. So, I returned a couple of days later; again at a bit past ten. This time a gentleman was working. I went ahead and ordered the Xiao Long Bao ($9.99). 

It did a take a while for the XLB to arrive, which was fine since I wasn't very hungry. I did notice on this visit that there were quite a few delivery orders being picked up during my meal.

Soon enough, the XLB arrived.

Shanghai Alley 09 Shanghai Alley 10  There were 8 dumplings in all, enough for a light lunch. One of the XLB, the one on the bottom had, ahem, an incontinence leakage problem and all the soup had leaked out. The rest were fine. The wrappers, while on the thicker side were again decent, perhaps even better than the ones on the jiaozi. There was an abundance of tasty "soup", the filling was tender, moist, full of swiney goodness. And like the jiaozi, it does have a homemade feel to it.

Shanghai Alley 11

I was pleasantly surprised with the XLB and the jiaozi here. The prices aren't bad. I'm hoping they'll expand their menu a bit. I'll definitely have the dumplings again and definitely try the intestine and pig feet noodle soups.

Just goes to show; you never know what's "hiding in plain sight".

Shanghai Alley (In King Bistro)
4957 Diane Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 10am – 3pm

La Pastaia

Italian Restaurants

**** La Pastaia is now Romanella

Back in May of last year, I noted that Farmers Table was going to be an Italian Restaurant named La Pastaia. I had never been a fan of Farmers Table, as the food seemed very “corporate” and generic and lacking in soul. I was excited to learn that the owners were two women from Italy and the pasta was hand made. And yet, when our good friend “Alle” whose dad is from Italy and both parents live there, who travels to the country quite often, visited La Pastaia and was quite disappointed. Well, it gave me pause. I told her not to give me any specifics; I want to try the place, and see how I thought of things. And, while they opened in June of 2023, we waited until October of last year to finally visit.

La Pastaia 01

We like the al fresco seating, so nice on a typical San Diego evening. Our Servers were friendly and warm.

La Pastaia 02a

We started with an apertivo. I found that what I ordered the “La Pastaia Spritz” while rather low in alcohol, was quite refreshing and clean tasting.

La Pastaia 04b

We started with the Trio de Bruschette.

La Pastaia 04

This was pretty good. The bread was on the chewy side; but the toppings; especially the mushroom was so good, creamy and earthy. The tomato and Parmesan a good milky-acidic, adding in the pesto. It was probably the best item we’ve had here.

Now, looking at the menu I was intrigued.

La Pastaia 03

Now, having had pasta alla ruota in Italy, this sounded exciting. And of course there the truffle and porcini!

This however, was not good.

La Pastaia 06

The pasta, made inhouse was very good, al dente, so springy. But when putting things together in the Parmesan wheel it was amateur hour, huge clumps of cheese which over-powered everything. The truffle seemed strangely flavorless, one could only be wrestled to the ground by all the mass of cheese; where was the earth-sweet flavors of the porcini and truffle?

The Missus, in full Emilia-Romagna mode ordered the Bolognese, even though I had doubts, since if this was really Italian, they’d call it the “ragu”. What arrived looked like some kind of beef-tomato noodle soup.

La Pastaia 05

Again, the pasta was perfectly al dente, so wonderfully springy, but that gross, watery, bland sauce just brought the dish down. The watery, soupy sauce just wasn’t good to our taste.

After this visit, I had coffee with Alle and we chatted about La Pastaia. It was quite interesting as we both had the same opinion; nicely made pasta, with sauces that diminished the dishes. In fact, we had both asked our Servers if La Pastaia sold their house made pasta (they don’t). Heck, I’d buy it in an instant.

I had fully thought I wouldn’t go back. But recently, the Missus and I wanted a nice date night close by. La Pastaia has an Happy Hour and is just a walk away. We decided to just walk on over.

And of course we started with a spritz.

La Pastaia 08

Nice and refreshing.

And we took a look at the Happy Hour menu.

La Pastaia 07

The prices were so reasonable, our Server so funny and kind. We placed our order.

Things started with the Carpaccio de Manzo.

La Pastaia 09

This was fine. though the slices of beef were super thin, which was mismatched with hard chunks of Parmesan. I would have enjoyed a more assertive olive oil, but this was not bad.

The Missus loves Her meatballs, so we got the Polpette di Carne.

La Pastaia 10

The meatballs were decent, if barely lukewarm. It had a nice meaty texture, though a bit under seasoned for our taste. That marinara sauce though, was really watery and lacking in flavor and even with the sprinkling of Parmesan, this was really bland. And being served at barely room temperature didn’t help things.

For the last item we chose the Pizza Patate e Salsicca, basically a sausage and potato pizza. I was interested to see what this would be.

La Pastaia 11

I cracked up when this arrived. Think of potato chips on a sausage pizza. The sausage was really flavorful, herbaceous, with nice spice, but it was unevenly distributed on the pizza. There was one slice that basically had no sausage on it. And beyond that; the crust was so doughy and chewy, this was not pleasing to eat at all.

It’s kind of sad; the Missus and I really would like to support businesses in our neighborhood; I mean we are regular customers of many places nearby. La Pastaia, in spite of the great service, just didn’t deliver. That said, because of the friendly service, I’m sure we’ll give them another try in the future….though I don’t think we’ll be doing it soon.

La Pastaia
3055 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 4pm – 830pm
Friday           4pm – 930pm
Saturday      1030am – 930pm
Sunday        1030am – 830pm

Taste of Hong Kong Revisited

Chicken Wings, Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

**** Taste of Hong Kong has closed

As I noted during my post on revisiting Eastern Dynasty, the Missus wanted to compare Mei Cai Kou Rou. So, a couple of weeks ago we headed back to Taste of Hong Kong. After all, I really wanted those Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings again.

We got in right before 5pm and the place was fairly quiet. We ordered three dishes and soon enough our food started arriving.

Starting with the Roast Duck (of course).

Rev Taste of Hong Kong 01

This was very moist, though not quite as good as what we had on our last visit. The flavor was a bit “lighter” in terms of five spice-winey-sweetness and the skin was limp and flabby. Seems like consistency is a factor here.

Thankfully, the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings were just as good, if not better than last time.

Rev Taste of Hong Kong 02

Crisp, edging toward crunchy, with moist flesh, it’s the savory-eggy-salty treat for me!

As for the Mei Cai Kou Rou; well, that was not very good.

Rev Taste of Hong Kong 03

The pork was barely lukewarm, making it quite waxy. As you can tell by the photo, the sauce was too gloppy and lacked flavor. It was gluey blandness. There was lack of preserved vegetable as the bottom was mostly napa cabbage.

Rev Taste of Hong Kong 04

Sigh. I wish I could find something to accompany those chicken wings.

What’s even more interesting is that the folks that own ToHK has purchased China Max and according to this post in Eater should be reopening in August of 2024. We’ll see. What I thought was interesting is in the last paragraph of that post – to quote:

“the team tells Eater that they’re planning on changing the focus of Taste of Hong Kong.”

Hmmm…..maybe I better load up on those wings while I still can?

Rev Taste of Hong Kong 05

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Bann at Gourmet Artisan

Korean Restaurants, Online Food Suppliers

**** Gourmet Artisan has closed

Back in January I noted that Bann, located in the HMart Food Court had closed. I used to visit them once in a while when they were located on Miramar Road. Less so when they pulled up roots and moved to H Mart. Still, I was sad to see them close as I had enjoyed their kimchi fried rice.

Well, I’m not quite sure if you know this, but I do have an Instagram Account. I’m not tied to it much as I much prefer long form posts. I usually put up odds and ends, photos after I actually do a post and such. Anyway, I basically set-up my Instagram account so I could keep in touch with folks like Dennis of a Radiused Corner, or “CC”. But, once in a while I will learn something from Instagram; not necessarily from a post. For example, I know folks who are great “FOYs” who also do posts on that platform. One of them is Derric, who was nice enough to send me a screen shot of a text he recently got.

Bann at GA 1

Hmmmm, Bann at Gourmet Artisan? A place that I’ve posted on many times before? Hmmm……..

So, this past week, I wanted to see what was up with SuperNatural Sandwiches, I dropped by in January and the place was closed with a sign saying reopening mid-January, but it was already late January and…..well, more on that in a future post.

I decided to go ahead and see what was up with the Gourmet Artisan. Now, GA is one of the few places that I don’t mind doing online ordering from since there doesn’t seem to be an upcharge for that (so long it’s done from the website). So, I went to the web page and then to the “Order Pickup” and quickly noticed this:

Bann at GA 02 (2)

So, I scrolled down and found the “Pick-up Meal Deals”. You order these ahead for one of the designated pick-up times. Of course, I was disappointed to see that kimchi fried rice wasn’t available. But, the Bulgogi Bowl was $9.99! Man, in this day and age, that’s a reasonable price.

Bann at Gourmet Artisan

I placed my order and just like when ordering a sandwich from GA, was informed when my food was being worked on. I’m close enough to the shop to get there in ten minutes.

Bann at GA 02

And my order was being placed on the counter when I arrived. There were four other takeout orders on the counter as well.

Bann at GA 03

I guess Bann has some kind of pseudo “ghost kitchen” thing going at GA?

Anyway, I was interested in trying the bulgogi, since Bann always called their version of the dish “marinated beef”, not bulgogi.

Bann at GA 04

Well, the beef looked as I remembered it. Though this “bowl” had much less vegetable filler than what the former version of Bann sold. The veggies are really undercooked.

The portion size was quite good; the rice moist. But like the “old Bann” the marinade was really weak, you can tell by the color. It was in need of more…of well, everything, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic. On the good side; the beef was much more tender than I recalled. I’d say for $9.99 this might be worth the price.

Bann at GA 05

Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’m glad to have tried this and will keep an eye out to see if anything else, that doesn’t have bulgogi (or salmon) in it will be offered. Or heck, I’ll get a sandwich from there on my “next round”.

The ghost kitchen stuff is getting interesting……

Bann at Gourmet Artisan – Bann items currently only available for online ordering and pick-up
7094 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Thanks for thinking of us Derric, I really appreciate it!

The Croissant Files – Patisserie Melanie

Bakery, Croissants

**** Patisserie Melanie has closed

Man, has it been over 2 1/2 years since I’ve done a “Croissant Files” post for a place in San Diego? Yeesh. I will say however, that I thought the Croissant from Izola was pretty good. Sadly, Izola is currently closed, though it’s good news that they are updating their bakery!

Anyway, waaaay back in late July/early August of last year “FOY” Kenneth was nice enough to send me an email (thanks as always Kenneth!) mentioning that folks had recommended Patisserie Melanie to him. Now, why did that name sound familiar? Well, I checked and apparently, this is the same Melanie that was operating out of what seemed like a home kitchen on Park Boulevard way back in 2020. In fact, you’ll find mention of the place in the comments of this post if you’re interested. My good “FOY” and fellow blogger “CC” (I know you’re almost exclusively on Instagram these days CC – but we miss your posts!) mentioned that she wasn’t impressed and I then went and tried the croissant and wasn’t very impressed. But that was before the upgrade in location and what I assume is equipment as well. And since I’ve been missing croissants (yes, I have a category for them). Especially from my favorite boulangerie in Paris, I thought it would be a good time to check out Melanie.

Patisserie Melanie 01

The pink highlighted shop is located right on the corner 30th and Gunn, on the same block as Swami’s and Mabel’s Gone Fishing. I was really lucky on this morning, finding parking right on 30th across from the shop.

Patisserie Melanie 02

The shop is bright, with a view of the baking area. There are various coffee concoctions and Viennoiseries available in the morning (this was 8am) and I believe hot sandwiches/tartines/quiches during the day and even a dinner menu as well.

I was just looking for a croissant aux buerre and didn’t notice one in the pastry case…..

Patisserie Melanie 03

Until I looked carefully and noticed it was keeping a “low profile” behind the paparika and cheddar croissants. The young lady working behind the counter was smiling, friendly, and very fast when I ordered my croissant. I was out of the shop in less than 5 minutes!

I recall the croissants from the “original location” of Melanie were pretty small and these did fill the bill.

Patisserie Melanie 04

For perspective, the Croissant Aux Buerre was $5.50. Can you imagine paying over 5 Euros for a croissant in Paris? For a scale comparison, it seems my reading glasses are about the same length as the croissant.

Patisserie Melanie 05 Patisserie Melanie 06   So, how was this? It was more flaky then what I’d had before, though the texture is on the chewy side. Decent salt and mild sweetness, though it seemed to lack a nice yeasty nose and could have used more butter….at least for me. This was decent in terms of San Diego croissants; though I wish Izola was open for a comparison….maybe I need to head back to Wayfarer? And I’ve been promising to return to Asa Bakery and (hopefully)trying their croissant. Thanks again for the email Kenneth. I’m wondering if you had a chance to check out Patisserie Melanie?

Plus, if any of you have a recommendation for a good croissant aux buerre in San Diego, I’d love to hear it!

And you can check out Soo’s post on Patisserie Melanie here.

Patisserie Melanie
3750 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Tuesday         8am – 2pm
Wed – Thurs 8am – 2pm, 5pm -9pm
Fri – Sat         8am – 2pm, 5pm – 10pm
Sundays        8am – 2pm, 5pm – 9pm
Closed Mondays

A Revisit to Taste of Hong Kong

Chicken Wings, Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

**** Taste of Hong Kong has closed

After our revisits to the Noble Chef and Golden City, the Missus wanted us to try out the roast duck at some other places. I’d been wanting to have the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings from Taste of Hong Kong and it been almost a year since our last visit. So, we headed on over. We had noticed that the place does get a bit crowded for dinner, so we arrived just after the opening time of 430pm.

The Missus looked over the menu; we had three items that we wanted to order and the Missus got a fourth, kind of surprising item.

Of course we got the half Roast Duck.

Taste HK Rev 01

This was a bit of a surprise as it was much better than what we’d had here before. The fat was nicely rendered, great duckiness, good anise tones, the meat was moist and tender. The one thing I didn’t like was the skin which I found to be too hard and chewy. Still, in terms of fatty goodnes, this was the best we’d had so far! But the texture of the skin needs improvement.

Of course the Missus got Her Salted Fish and Chicken with Tofu.

Taste HK Rev 02

The usual sauce/gravy was more like a thin soup. Loved the smooth and velvety tofu, but there was hardly any salted fish flavor in this; the dish was lacking in the funky-savory tones. It was on the blander side of the spectrum.

I’d been looking forward to having the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings. During our first visit it was “love at first bite”. On our second visit, there seemed to be some “QC” issues and the wings weren’t as good. So, what would be the result on this visit?

Taste HK Rev 04

Man, there was a good amount of savory-eggy yolk used. The entire bottom of the plate was yellow! The skin was crisp, the flesh moist and tender. This was an umami flavor bomb. Of course, I don’t think this travels well and so we finished it all during this meal.

For the last dish; like what we had done at Golden City, the Missus wanted something different. I’m not sure why; but She ordered the ChengDu Style Roast Duck and Spam in Spicy Broth. It was a huge dish.

Taste HK Rev 03

Man, that broth was spicy, though it was lacking in the numbing “ma” that we expected. There was supposed to be tripe in this dish as well; but we found nary 4 little strands of tripe. The spiciness of the broth totally wiped out any flavor the duck would have, though it seemed to highlight the saltiness of the Spam. I don’t think we’ll be ordering this again.

Taste HK Rev 05

Though I’m sure we’ll be back for those wings.

Taste HK Rev 06

And perhaps even the roast duck….though I think we’ve got at least 3-4 more places to try.

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Golden City Revisited

Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants

**** Golden City has closed

After our last visit to Noble Chef, the Missus and I decided that we needed to get out there and do the “roast duck rotation”. It had been a year-and-a-half since I’d last dined in at Golden City and it had been been even longer for the Missus.

We arrived right at 5pm and the restaurant was empty.

GC Rev 01

Though the place soon started filling up. Of course we got the half roast duck ($17.95)….but, just for a change of pace, we decided to order items we hadn’t tried before.

As for the Roast Duck. Well, it was not very good.

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As you can tell by the color this was quite bland. The skin was rubbery, this was a very meaty duck, but the flesh was dry and too chewy. One of the worst versions we’ve had in recent memory.

We also ordered the Dry Bean Curd with Fish Fillet Clay Pot ($19.95). We fully expected this to have a good amount of Yuba – Tofu skin and was quite surprised to see that the dish had more Fried Tofu than anything else.

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We also would have preferred nicely velveted fish, instead of battered and fried, then sauce fillets. This made the texture somewhat gluey. The flavor of the sauce was fine, not overly salty.

Our good friend Candice had recommended we try the Dry Scallop, Shrimp, and Chinese Broccoli Fried Rice ($18.95). At first glance, the rice didn’t seem evenly coated.

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But this was surprisingly good. Very savory tones; the shrimp perfectly cooked, tender and sweet. We were kind of interested to see what was going on with gailan in fried rice; but it was just the stems sliced thinly cross-wise. A nice, fragrant dish.

I was kind of surprised that the Missus ordered the Fried Capelin with Spicy Salt ($18.95).

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I think that perhaps I misguided Her when I mentioned that Capelin was in the smelt family. She expected small, crisp, savory fish. These were quite large and assertive in flavor. The Missus wasn’t able to deal with the oily-fishiness of the capelin. I was ok with eating this fried “bait”. The dried chilies and garlic did help a bit.

Well, perhaps our exploration of dishes we’d never tried at Golden City didn’t go quite as planned. And that duck was not very good at all.

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In terms of price; our meal was quite a bit cheaper than Noble Chef. But, I think if and when we return to Golden City we’ll be sticking to old favorites, like the Kwai Fei Ji.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Sun – Tues, Thurs  11am – 830pm
Fri – Sat                    11am – 9pm
Closed on Wednesdays