Closed – Page 42

Nolbu Mini Gastropub

September 30, 2014 mmm-yoso Beer, Chicken Wings, Gastropub, Korean Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** Nolbu has closed and is now Yummy House

Well, since we did Common Theory yesterday. I guess Nolbu deserves equal time, right?

Hidden behind the Convoy institution that is Chopstix, this tiny little place is easy to miss. I'm really not the Min Sok Chon, Thang Thang, soju bomb kind of guy, but I got a few recommendations from folks I knew. Though I still had reservations because when I quizzed these folks on the food, the standard answer usually included big portions, and not remembering much because they were…shall we say…..taste deadened and mush minded from overindulging a bit?

It is a pretty small and somewhat cozy kind of place. There are only 5 beers on tap. The main drink of choice for most of the young people who go here are the flavors of soju…."white gummy bear"???

The bartender/server on both of my visits was a very nice and friendly young woman named Nancy…very calm, very chill.

The menu is full of what I call "Kogi-truckish" dishes…you know, bulgogi tacos, bulgogi quesadillas, bulgogi fries, stuff that's already kind of passe'

The dining area is set-up like one of those faux outdoor porch type of restaurants. A acquaintance of mine actually knew the Korean name of that style of set-up….but you know; old age and all that. I just can't seem to remember the term right now.

There's actually one reason I came to Nolbu…the Korean Spicy Wings ($8.99). Almost everyone I spoke to mentioned these wings, though none could not really tell me much about the flavor.

The wings are quite large, the flavor as you can imagine is based on kochujang and almost tastes like my Spicy Misoyaki without as much bean paste. It is indeed a basic sweet chili sauce…sticky, more sweet than spicy, perhaps in need of a bit more complexity. maybe a bit more sour/tart, or savory-garlic tones. The batter was nice at first, perhaps a bit too thick, but still crunchy, but it got really gummy in minutes. Not terrible….but definitely not… Kyochon by any stretch. In fact, this eerily reminded me of the stuff they used to serve at BBQ Chicken, though not nearly as crunchy.

I also decided to try the mandu ("Dumplings" on the menu – $6.99).

These weren't very good in my opinion, too much cabbage filler, the sauce also tasted watered down. The wrapper were decent, but I'd take a pass on these next time.

Overall, not bad and as always I thought a return visit should be done.

One funny thing; when I was waiting for my drink a guy walked in laden with bags….shopping for supplies I'd guess. All the plastic bags were from Zion Market! I guess that's where they do their shopping? I really think stuff like that should be done via the rear entrance.

This time I came with my friends YummyYummy and Candice. We had the spicy wings again, which were a bit better this time…less sickly sweet and the texture held up a bit better.

We also had the haemul pajeon – the seafood pancake ($12.99), a bit small for the price.

But with a pretty generous amount of well…..Zion Seafood probably….. I will say that in terms of texture it was less gummy and a bit lighter than what I'd had at Common Theory, though it was 2/3 the size.

I also wanted to try the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.99).

A bit light in flavor, these wings swere pretty straight-forward…basically naked, without a coating, but not bad….I'd have these again, as these were nicely fried.

The same five beers on tap; my favorite being the Stone Arbalest since I do enjoy tripels, quads, and Belgian strongs. this one was pretty good, light citrus-woody flavor with a mildly boozy-hoppy finish.

While waiting for my friends to meet me, the same young man walked in ladened with plastic bags….again from Zion Market.

Anyway, in terms of food, this place serves up a more Asian flavor than Common Theory. I was surprised that the food wasn't as salty as, say Min Sok Chon. They do have a decent bottle collection, but only five draft beers and the temps on my second visit seemed a bit off. As much as I like the folks working here, there's really no working knowledge of the beer they're serving…it's more of soju service. As in the version of an umbrella drink - soju served up in a half watermelon.

That said; I might drop in again for some wings and a beer…..if I feel like eating groceries from Zion….

Nolbu Mini Gastropub
4633 Convoy St. Suite 102
San Diego, CA 92111

COMC: Revisits to Golden City and Carnitas Snack Shack

September 25, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chinese Restaurants

What the heck? What’s the tie in with these two places? Well, read on and I think you’ll see. Mostly photos in this one….I’ve posted on these places before. So let’s C(lear) O(ut) the M(emory) C(ard) shall we?

Golden City for the billionth time:

**** Golden City has closed

I actually hadn’t been back to Golden City in a while. But after reading Lynn’s post, even though she ordered things that I would never have at Golden City. I thought it was time for a revisit and yet another post to see if they have gone severely downhill. I had thoughts of picking up on my Golden City Hot Pot project, but man, it’s been so hot. Anyway, the photos kind of speak for themselves.

My favorite – the Kwai Fei Ji. Also a favorite of Dennis.

Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetable.

Macau Roast Pork……on one visit, with my buddy Candice, it was too salty. On this visit, with my coworkers YZ and Lily, it was quite good…..

YZ, from Shanghai and Lily from Shanxi (“I’m from Taiyuan, not Taiwan, ok”) really know the questions to ask whenever we eat Chinese food…. where are the owners from and what is the style of food. I think of Golden City as basically a Guangdong (Cantonese to you) style restaurant that pulls ever so slightly toward Chaozhou (Eastern Guangdong), though many of the dishes that reflect that are no longer on the menu .

Like the Beef Stew (actually a braise) with Radish. I’ve had it when it was quite good. On this day, it wasn’t quite ready for prime time; the beef was nice, tender, moist, yet not falling to pieces, but the daikon was still too hard.

The food can sometimes be uneven. The Fish in Black Bean Sauce had me asking where the fish was during a lunch with Reza.

The textures and flavors were right, but the ratio of onions to everything else was off.

The dishes we order occaisionally draw stares from the gringo ordering customers, as I’ve mentioned before, I really don’t think ordering dishes from the Easternmost Regional Chinese Cuisine….. that would be ABCD (“American Born Chinese Dining”), is what they do best here. And I think folks like CAB, Dennis, and even Kirbie would agree. Nothing fancy, but decent grub.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Carnitas Snack Shack:

**** This location of Carnitas’ Snack Shack has closed

The Missus had been fighting a cold during the super hot week we had recently. She doesn’t handle being sick very well. And the heat just made things that much worse. So, while on the road to recovery, the Missus told me She wanted to visit one of Her current favorite places, basically for this.

It didn’t look quite right, but the flavor, the sweet-porkiness was still right on. And the Missus just basically inhaled the thing.

Carnitas now has a second location in Del Mar, which Kirbie, Jinxi, and Faye have posted on…man, it’s Food Blogger Central! I was wondering if there was going to be a drop off at the original location, but no, things were good as ever. It’s really nice that things have really been fine tuned since my first visit back in 2011.

Carnitas’ Snack Shack
2632 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92104

So how’s this for a pork-a-licious COMC post?

Shirahama: One Night of Sushi in San Diego

August 26, 2014 ed fromyuma Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Usually at the mmm-yoso foodblog, Kirk is the head chef, presenting meals from around the world and in San Diego; many times Cathy serves up some interesting dishes here too; today, however, ed (from Yuma) has some sushi (from San Diego) for you to enjoy.

Like most people, I am a creature of habit. I also love sushi, so when I find myself overwhelmed with desire for a sushi dinner (or two), I head to San Diego. Which explains my two day visit earlier this month.

The first dinner was Shirahama. I had been twice before and posted about it here and here. Because the chef’s presentations on this evening were similar to previous visits, a lot of this post will be pictures with minimal comments.

One thing that has changed in the past two years is the signage at the restaurant:

Something else different were the marinated baby squid that led off the meal:

Koji-san explained that the squid are placed in the marinade as soon as they are harvested to preserve their soft and delicate texture. These little guys were full of umami:

Next came tuna and fluke, much as before:

A mantis shrimp and a solid piece of snow crab were next:

The crab was very good, but the shrimp was rather different from what I would have expected, meaty but a bit dry and lacking in standard shrimp flavors.

The next to arrive were amberjack (kanpachi) and sprat:

The sprat was quite appealing to the eye, shining and reflecting light, a silver strip at each side of the little filet. This relative of herring had a clean fresh fishy flavor. The taste of the amberjack was even more striking – balanced firm richness, worthy of the mmm-yoso dance according to my notes.

Next came Spanish mackerel and a clam:

The mackerel was flawless and nicely accented with fresh grated ginger. On this evening, I was especially impressed by the clam which had a nice variety of textures from crunchy on the edge to soft chewy in the center, all very fresh and flavorful. One of the other customers said to his friends, "mirugai overwhelms rice; this clam is more balanced and refined." It was a good point.

I had started the meal drinking chilled water, but I finally broke down and ordered a 300 ml bottle of Dewazakura sake ($26.50):

Its label says that it has a floral nose and a mellow fruity flavor, along with "a wholesome freshness, a green apple tartness, and a refreshing finish." It seemed fine to me.

Octopus and see bream showed up next:

To me, the bream tasted a lot like good hirame, fresh clean whitefish flavor. The octopus, on the other hand, was uniquely wonderful. Uncooked, it was creamy and moist with a firm soft chewy texture and mild molluscy flavor. Three stars in my notes. Certainly one of the highlights of the meal and even better than the clam I had fallen in love with just a few bites earlier.

Fresh sardine and squid followed:

The ika was fine, pristine and mild in flavor, making it a perfect foil for the sardine, which had a big mouth filling flavor, the taste of the sea but not overly fishy, rich but not unctuous. Another excellent fish.

Koji-san had already wondered if I was finished, but I simply couldn't stop the wonderful meal. I did worry, however, that he might be running out of interesting sushi. The toro and yellowjack that he delivered next convinced me that he had not run through his bag of tricks yet:

The jack was okay though I am hard-pressed to remember much about it because the toro sitting beside it was so absolutely wonderful. Tender and buttery. It melted in my mouth, dissolving into creamy bliss. Wow!

The last item was sea eel topped with a few of salt crystals:

I thought it good, but not exceptional.

One thing that did seem exceptional that evening was this:

I took that picture of the gari as a reminder to myself. Shirahama’s pickled ginger that night seemed especially floral, complex, and sweetly spicy, so good it almost made me doubt my taste buds.

Shirahama is still on its game. Rather than trying to say what I have already said in some new way, I’m just going to plagiarize myself: Koji-san is the master of the traditional and old school and understated. Like a rock garden. If you have some extra money sitting around (this meal was $111) and want to have real Japanese sushi in a Japanese environment, this place is for you.

Sushidokoro Shirahama, 4212 Convoy, San Diego, 92111, (858) 650-3578, open daily 12:00-2:00 and 5:30-10:00

Sunday Sandwiches: El Gallito Tortas Ahogadas revisited

August 24, 2014 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

**** El Gallito Tortas Ahogadas is no longer

On a recent weekend, I drove down to the parking lot of RTA/Toys R Us in Chula Vista. It had been a while since I had a chance to check out the Mariscos el Pescador truck, once our favorite. Unfortunately, when I arrived at 10am, there was already a line……good for them, bad for me, as I wasn’t willing to stand in line. Instead, I headed to the other end of the parking lot. To the El Gallito Tortas Ahogadas truck.

I remember first coming here when they actually had a lonchera, which has since turned into a trailer. As you can see, they really push on the fact that Andrew Zimmern has been here……I hope it has brought them a ton of customers, though I’m thinking, the serious torta ahogada lovers, those who love the real deal from Guadalajara wouldn’t really care…..

I had a traditional torta ahogadas at heat level “9”. This is what I got.

On this visit, the pork in the sandwich was moist and nicely flavored. The chili de arbol sauce, while singular in tone, delivered a slow crescendo of heat…. it truly grows on you. The birote, the “roll” was much harder and less crusty than I recalled….it was once my favorite part of the sandwich.

I consider eating this “dipped sandwich” a challenge, packing extra napkins….. always thinking it was some kind of personal short-coming, I felt some vindication on this day as I saw several locals struggling with the sandwich….somehow it made me feel better.

This ended up being quite the “wake-up call” for a late breakfast. The woman working here was so very nice, even checking on me to make sure I hadn’t dropped dead while eating my sandwich, then offering more hot sauce!

So, if you’re in the area and looking for something more than some caffeine on a late morning…..perhaps you should have a tortas ahogadas, heat level 9. I’m sure it’ll eventually get your attention.

El Gallito Tortas Ahogadas
1008 Industrial Blvd
Chula Vista, CA 91911

No Burgers at JK’s Burgers and Hot Dogs

August 20, 2014 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs, Sandwiches

**** JK's has closed

I was talking to someone about Chicago the other day and they mentioned a place called JK's in the Renaissance Towne Center….which kind of rang a bell. It really should have as this used to be Chicago on a Bun.

It wasn't the Chicago Dog's that drew me here. As much as I love a good Chicago Dog, heck a bunch of years back I even did a comparison post, I'm sort of an under-dog (no pun intended) kind of guy.. While I love a good Philly Cheesesteak as you can tell by the three part posts I did a while back, with subsequent follow-up posts, it was the Roast Pork Sandwiches that I remember from Philly. The same with Chicago, I really enjoy a good Chicago Dog, but absolutely love a good Italian Beef, with my favorite being Johnnie's Beef with Mr Beef running second. Yep, I was here for an Italian Beef….though I won't be ordering it "beef…juicy…hot" here. That might get me arrested.

I like what they've done with the decor. A nice fast casual look. Service on this first visit was interesting….the young man handing out, "bro'….dude" like Santa passing out candy at a Xmas parade. He was quite nice, if a bit too friendly and rather efficient though.

This was pretty much what I expected. In spite of the rhapsodic praises from my colleague, this was pretty much a glorified roast beef dip. The jus was lacking in beef flavor, the giardiniera seemed mass produced tasting like it had a base of Italian Dressing. The roll was much too hard….I like a little crusty, I appreciate the effort to stand up to wet beef, but this was much too hard. Speaking of hard, those tater tots were really fried "hard"….though it's hard to not enjoy tater tots, right? The onions were weird, heated but not soft….I say either saute them or serve them raw. I did enjoy the roasted jalapeno….not a classic addition to the Italian Beef; it's usually pickled hot peppers, but this did a some interest to the sandwich. I'd say Lefty's makes a better version of the "glorified roast beef dip in processed jus." To me, this really isn't a Chicago style Italian Beef, which I don't think exists in San Diego.

I did decide to return to try the Chicago Dog, I wanted to see how it compared to Chicago on a Bun. There was a bit of sticker shock with this one. The last time I had a Chicago Dog, it came with fries and a drink for $4.75. This dog was $5.24!

This was actually not bad….I thought it needed more celery salt, but I almost always think that. It was "dragged through the garden" and everything looked in order. The bun was fluffy, nice sport peppers, and of course the neon green relish. Mustard, of course. The dog itself seemed not quite up to snuff. The signs say Vienna Beef, but this was strangely gummy, and lacking in the "snap" I enjoy.

Not sure what to make of that. Overall, a decent Chicago Dog, not the best, not the worst, maybe the most expensive. Still, I think it was a vast improvement over the Italian Beef. I am wondering about the burgers….but I'll wait and see if anyone out there has tried them.

JK Burgers & Hot Dogs
8935 Towne Center Drive
San Diego, CA 92122
Hours:
Open Daily 11am – 9pm

Fruitmania – A Fruiteria and more(Lemon Grove)

August 14, 2014 Cathy Desserts, Fruiterias, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

You have navigated your way to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is taking a break from posting, Ed(from Yuma) is taking a break from retirement and Cathy is posting and not quite retired.

Broadway in Lemon Grove. A street filled with small storefronts and feeder road parking. Looks like small town America. Every fifth store with a similar footprint. Large side display windows leading into the main area.The inventory is behind the counter, not on display as at some other Fruiterias where The Mister and I enjoy various snacks and meals throughout the year. Fruitmania has been here almost ten years. Family run. Not air conditioned. Friendly people. Great food. We are so lucky to live here.The signage is self explanatory. Eight tables and a couple of couches with clean, comfy seating.Choices are almost overwhelming.

Raspado Tamarindo ($3)- shaved ice filled with fresh made tamarind 'tea', (including the pods) and a more authentic flavor than most syrups. Refreshing and a new favorite during this hot summer.

A small pico de gallo ($5.50). Watermelon, cucumber, jicama and mango, topped with fresh squeezed lime and Tajin make this an automatic order whenever I stop in. You may have noticed one of the front window signs mentioned 'monster sandwich'. They all are – enough to share. Above is a Cuban Torta ($7-worth it). A toasted torta roll, sliced pork, sliced ham, pickles, cilantro, cheese and Dijon mustard. It's served with the extra large pickled jalapenos and the slices of Tajin topped orange..truly a perfect meal.One recent humid day, The Mister and I decided we wanted a dessert…and not one made of fresh fruit nor a beverage. A scoop of ice cream here is $2- and it is a quality ice cream: the vanilla has specks of vanilla in it, the strawberry has real strawberries in the ice cream and the chocolate is very rich and not too sweet. However, a banana split is $6. So we did. It was good.

I hope everyone is staying cool!!!

Fruitmania 7941 Broadway Lemon Grove CA 91945 (619)463-0241 Open M-F 9-6:30, Sat/Sun 10-7

The Haunted Looking Aisles of Hana Mart

August 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

**** Hana Mart did not last long either.

Well, U Mart sure didn't last long, did it?

By the end of the first quarter a change over was already occurring. I felt really bad for the folks who started up U Mart, who used to have small, mom-and-pop First Korean Market. Just think, you close up a shop that has been surviving for years, taking a shot at the big time….and going down in flames. Kind of sad. I asked around a bit and one thing really stuck out…..I was told that among the really bad decisions made, the worst was putting all the produce in plastic…folks like to touch, smell, feel, and I guess sometimes even throw the fruits and veggies around? Anyway, I was told that the former owner of U Mart was still in the picture helping to manage Hana Mart.

The Missus and I visited one weekend afternoon and the place was deserted…..as in, "you could hear a fish fart" quiet.

The prices, even for produce was competitive and I'd say of better quality that Zion Market, where I've been less than satisified as of late.

I felt kind of sad, which soon turned to creeped out….this seemed like a set for an Asian horror flick. I expected to hear a young girl laughing, catching a glimpse of a pony tail and school uniform which turns the corner. Curious, I'd follow only to be startled by a faceless apparition, making strange clicking sounds, which then sucks the life out of me! Yeow…..

There was not a single customer in the place…….

Eerie, yeah?

Finally, I saw a flash of yellow….what was it? Some kind of alien creature that feeds on human flesh? No, it was only the cashier…whew….

We ended up buying bunch of stuff, including some baechu kimchi which was better than the stuff we get at Zion. It's kind of sad, I'm hoping that business picks up.

Hana Mart
4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111

We heard a bunch of laughing when we were paying for our groceries. At least Happy Family, which Cathy posted on seems to be doing well.

Pho Pasteur Anh Hong (revisit)

August 11, 2014 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! A food blog based in San Diego. These hot summer days have Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) out and about and busy with so many activities. Cathy is writing because she isn't out. Or about. Or active.

I was reading Kirk's latest "Circling Back" post, with the last photo being Bo Tai Chanh (which was unimpressive to him, as it was to me) and thought I'd share a version I've enjoyed.

Yes, I've written a few posts about Pho Pasteur, because it is a place where the Mister and I default to when we know we want a nice meal (or when we want to go to K Sandwiches and the line is sometimes daunting.). Looking at the other posts, my photos are all from this table, Table 4, where we are always seated when we come here (I can tell you where the Table 4 is located at just about every Asian restaurant in the County, by the way).

We started this meal sharing Nem Nuong Cuon ($4.99), because I am now on a quest for San Diego's best version, after trying the Nem Nuong at Brodard (which I still have to post about). These were freshly made, tightly wrapped, the seasoned pork patties were very good. Noodle, lettuce and fresh mint filled the rice paper skin. I like this version.

The Mister ordered Bun Bo Xao ($7.99), which has been my usual order at Pho Lucky lately (again, I need to post on it). Bun (cold rice noodle on top of salad) topped with lemongrass-onion flavor beef. This version was a bit less 'delicate' than the one at Lucky, but quite enjoyable; the salad part (under the noodles) includes shredded cucumber as well as mint with the mixed lettuces.

The menu at Anh Hong has 196 numbered items, with a few subsets of said numbered items. We have tried almost half the menu here, always picking one which is 'new' to us.

This "Lemon Beef Salad"($10.99) was skipped over on the menu by me so many times, either because of the price or because I wasn't in a mood for salad. This marinated thinly sliced beef was **wonderful**. Barely cooked in citrus, so very tender and beefy flavored meat, a pleasant citrus based dressing (you will notice both versions (mine and Kirk's) are surrounded with lime slices, not lemon) and topped with peanuts, fresh herbs (and celery leaf)…and you can see underneath- no lettuce, but instead ribbons of cucumber, carrot, daikon, onion and…celery. I don't know why, but that celery and cucumber just made it all come together and I really liked this salad.

I have now tried 'Lemon Beef' salad at quite a few other Vietnamese restaurants this summer, and the version here is my favorite, so far.

I hope your week is good!

Pho Pasteur Ahn Hong 7612 Linda Vista road San Diego 92111 (858) 569-7515

Chef Chin revisited

August 7, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian

**** Chef Chin has closed

Well, sort of……. I've posted on this place when it was just Chin's on Convoy. I actually had dinner here after the name change which was….well, ok. It was too dark and my photos never came out. A few weeks ago, feeling the need for some Niu Rou Mian, I decided on revisiting.

Even though it was pretty hot out, I just needed some NRM.

I don't know if it was bad timing, or if it was the "b" team in action, but this wasn't even close to what I had here before. Sorely lacking beef flavor, this was very salty, missing the nice kick I had in previous versions. The beef was fine, moist and tender, but those noodles were terrible. I was never the biggest fan of the noodles here, which are passable when prepared well, but when overcooked and mushy……

I ordered the fried pork chop, which was even worse than the NRM.

Greasy, soggy, and too salty….I think I'll leave it at that.

After this visit, I wondered if it had just been a bad day. I'd been craving Shanghai style cold dishes and with all the hot weather, it just seemed like the right time to try again….this time with my buddy "R" along for the ride.

We started with the Wined Chicken, which was pretty good.

The texture was spot on, the mildly cured texture, not too salty, and without the overly boozy, sometimes bitter flavor of too much Shaoxing, this was a decent rendition of the classic "Su Cai" dish.

The five spice beef was nicely flavored, not too sweet, which this type of cuisine can be.

If it were just a bit more tender I would have enjoyed it more.

The cold roasted duck's flavor was much better than what I've had here in the past. The nice sweet-soy flavor came through nicely.

Nice duck flavor, combined with a toothsome, but not too tough duck, made this the best dish of the day.

I'm glad the duck and chicken came through with flying colors, because the Wuxi Spareribs, a dish that's usually pretty good here was terrible.

Usually, I'm complaining that they make make it much too sweet here. But this time it really lacked flavor….the sauce was very bland. Combine that with gloppy gooeyness, sometimes a mild plus when sauces tend to be heavily flavored just made this a mediocre dish at best. The spareribs really lacked flavor, though they weren't too tough. Bummer, because this was possibly my favorite here.

At least my second meal was better than my first. If it gets terribly hot, I might just head back…..I'm hoping those spareribs are much better. The lunchtime crowd here is quite diverse, mostly made up of folks ordering the "ABC" style dishes, perhaps that's why the NRM wasn't very good?

Chef Chin
4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Revisits: The Spotted Cow and Gala Chicken

July 29, 2014 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are a couple of revisits for today.

The Spotted Cow:

**** The Spotted Cow has closed

When the Missus needs something from Zion Market on the weekend, I'll go right when they open. I really never paid much attention to the food court during these morning visits until I was a bit hungry one day and was surprised to see the Spotted Cow open for business.

I really hadn't been overly impressed on my previous visits, but being a bit hungry I thought it would a good time to try the food again. Instead of the items I had before, I decided to go with the "Mi"; egg noodle soup. The young man working was very nice and efficient. I was surprised to see all that cilantro and scallions floating at the top of my bowl.

The broth and the herbs was pretty much what I expected, lacking in savory flavors and salty (broth) and fairly sparse (herbs and veggies).

What really surprised me was the amount of char siu in this bowl….my goodness. Not the best pork, a bit light in flavor and some rather overly chewy bits. But for a $6.95 bowl of noodle soup, this was probably the most I've ever seen in a bowl of egg noodle soup.

A very generous amount of egg noodles as well…..prepared quite well.

This might be the way to go here if you need a quick bite. Not a place to go out of the way for….but if you're hungry at 9am in the morning and are shopping at Zion Market, this might be ok. If ok will fill the bill…..

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92111

Gala Chicken:

**** Zion Market has moved and Gala did not make the move with the market

One evening, the Missus needed me to pick something up from Zion on the way home from work.

Looking at the Gala K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) stand, I thought it would be a good chance to try the chicken again. It had been about a year since I tried the chicken here, they had just opened and I had hopes the execution was better.

I went for a regular order of wings ($7.99). I was told it would be about a 20 minute wait, so I went ahead and finished my shopping. By the time I was done, so were my wings. I went home and opened up my the styrofoam container.

The wings were still hot, the coating wasn't quite as crumbly as I recalled, and not greasy, though I still think the seasoning is on the bland side. The wing pieces were fine, but the drumettes kind of dry and tough. I turned over one of the pieces…..

Sigh…… If you read my earlier post, you might recall how the guy running the fryer kept poking and cutting into the chicken pieces during the cooking process. So the chicken is losing moisture, drying out….. I would think if your business is frying chicken and have been doing it for over a year, you'd know when it was done without having to cut into pieces.

That's it…. what more can I say? I think it's sad that a product would never hit full potential because of something like this. I also realize that it might not matter to you, but it does to me.

Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (Inside of Zion Market)
San Diego, CA 92111