Emerald - Part 1, The Dim Sum of Everlasting Regret?

*** An updated post on Emerald can be found here.

Have you ever gone to one of your dependable, favorite restaurants, and have a very mediocre, maybe even lousy meal? There are few feelings of regret and disappointment that match the trauma of finding that "your" restaurant is possibly going downhill.

About a month ago I posted on a Dim Sum meal at China Max. In that post I mentioned a lousy  meal at our favorite San Diego Dim Sum restaurant; Emerald. Emerald had just been re-opened for about a month, since being closed for several weeks following a vent fire. We figured a month would be enough time to straighten out any service and food issues, and made our way to Emerald on a Friday. We knew something was a bit "strange" when we entered at 1130 and found the place empty except for two tables!

After seated, we had to ask for tea! Talk about a bad start; things looked so very disorganized, I really couldn't understand. Finally after about 10 minutes a cart was finally pushed in our direction from where they were parked by the kitchen.

BTW, our tea still hadn't arrived...... But how was the Dim Sum? Well the Shrimp Ball stuffed Bean Curd was pretty lame, bland, and the frozen peas and carrots really didn't do much for the dish. The Curry Chicken Siu Mai was well, too salty and dry. And the Shrimp Dumplings were bland, and the shrimp tough. Not a good start, but luckily the Pei-Dan Jook (Congee) cart made it's way to our table:

Ok, but obviously over-thickened with corn starch. Only 2 pieces of preserved egg as well.

Next up, one of my personal favorites, tripe:

This was an average, mediocre, dish. The tripe had a nice crunchy texture, but the dish was lacking the former rich "brothy" taste, and if I remember, each little dish had a chili pepper in it that added a nice bit of "zingy" heat to the dish. At this point, I started doubting my own taste memory. Had it been so long since I've eaten here that my tastes had changed?

At that point we got finally got our Deep Fried Taro Ball:

We actually had to ask and wait for these. They came out piping hot, but were terrible! There was so much taro, that was slightly undercooked, and so very "gummy" and bitter! There was also very little pork in this.

We also got some Shrimp Cheong Fun, and favorite of mine:

I enjoyed the sauce, but the noodle was not cooked well and there was a slightly powdery texture to the noodle. Yuck.....

We also got the Sticky Rice in Lotus leaf:

Unfortunately, by this time we were both pretty disappointed and asked for a take-out container, and took this home. Ironically, this was probably the best dish of the day!

What a terrible visit to our favorite Dim Sum Restaurant in San Diego. At the time we called it quits, the tab came out to $29. I was so disgusted that I forgot to take a picture of the storefront; so this past weekend I drove by for my photo:

During this time I gave this meal some thought, and rationalized; perhaps Emerald had lost some of it's Chef's during this period? But the front of house staff were recognizable. The best "excuse" I got, was the "well you need to go on the weekend...", which I answered with, so if I did a lousy job for two-thirds of the time I work, and a good job for one-third, I should be considered a success? That's weak and a load of you-know-what. I'm paying the same price as someone who eats on Saturday or Sunday.

In the end it came to this; we're not every week type of customers, I don't want to eat Dim Sum that often. It's about 6-7 times a year. We've had many excellent meals at Emerald, and have been coming here since '99, when I was doing consulting work in San Diego, and before we moved here. I don't think we'll give up on Emerald just yet, thus the Part 1, we'll give it another shot in a few weeks and see what happens. Stay tuned.........

Emerald Seafood Restaurant
3709 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Jo]

I've experienced this scenario a couple time myself. Very disappointing. I'm willing to bet dollar to a dime that it will be just as bad next time, maybe even gone completely... Hope I'm wrong.

[clare eats]

There is nothing worse than being let down by an old fav, you just go in none the wiser, not on the prowl or cautious then BAM a crappy meal :P so sorry you had to put up with that

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - We'll see in a few wekks.

Hi Clare - Yeah, this was a let down - bummer....

[mabel]

Have you tried Pearl in Rancho Bernardo? Many people seem to agree that it's better than any of Convoy dim sum places. If Emeralds continues their lousy streak, you should head up to RB. www.pearlchinesecuisine.com

[Kirk]

Hi Mabel - I went to Pearl when it first opened, I think in '04, and thought it was just ok at that time....but, I'm wondering, since Pearl and Emerald have the same owner, maybe all the Chefs have moved over to Pearl during the time that Emerald was closed?

[mabel]

Hmm, maybe they have! The first time I went was this past Feb, and I have been 4 or 5 times so far. I thought all the dishes were better there than at Emeralds. Give Pearl another try and let us know what you think!

[Kirk]

Hi Mabel - Thanks, that's a great suggestion....I think I'll do just that.

[howie]

It stinks when one of your old standby's goes downhill. Being almost empty on a Friday lunch is *really* weird. I could swear it used to be packed on most lunch workdays. Maybe people didn't know it was back open.

I'll cross my fingers and hope that it's just a temporary drop in quality.

[elmomonster]

Like Mabel, I've been to Pearl in Rancho Bernardo about 3 times this year. While I can't say whether it is better than Emerald (never been), I can say I was pleased with the quality of the food (and they view of the fake lake).

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

I am so sad you had a bad experience at an usually good standby restaurant. I have gone through things like that too, and it is quite dissapointing. The pictures looke really good, and too bad my favourtie was terrible ( the Cheong Fun). Well hopefully the second time will be the charm. They are scape goating and lame to say that it is better on the weekend. They should try to be good as many days of the year as possbile. *shakes head*

[Kirk]

Hi Howie - Well, we'll see in a few weeks.....

Hi Elmo - OK, that's two votes for Pearl - don't get up "North" that often, but I'll get there soon. I was surprised at how empty the place was!

Hi Mills - Hopefully just a little blip!

[Dylan]

kirk, the food actually looks decent, but so did that NRM from that shandong restaurant you reviewed. i typically don't go for dim sum on weekdays.

[Green Turtle]

It's just not fair that we in SD pay more for lower quality food than our counterparts 70 miles north. Case in point: Seafood Village in Rowland Heights (off 60 & Nogales St) has excellent dim sum at better prices ($2 for "small") as well as some really good deal lunch specials ranging from 4.25-6.95. If only we can get more asians to move down here from up there and open up restaurants so there'd be more competition here.

[lance]

Kirk,

Been that you are "there", but originally from "here", you'd know. A little off the subject, but I think I've been calling the Cheong Fun wrong all this time or do people in Hawaii call it Look Fun roll? Like in Char Siu/Shrimp Look Fun roll?

[Kirk]

Hi Dylan - Yes, looks are sometimes deceiving...

Hi Green Turtle - You got that right. We lived in Rowland Heights for almost 5 years before moving to SD in 2001 - I still remember all the great lunch specials. It's just that the cost of transport/rent/materials is alot more here too! But in a competitive environment we win.

Hi Lance - I actually use both interchangeably, it's just that if I use Look Fun here on the mainland no one knows what I'm talking about.

[Rachel]

Hey kirk,

I think food in the US is a lot cheaper than here in Aus the "smalls" here start from 4.00 and not many things are "small" at all ! A usual dim sum lunch for 4 with not many "special" seafood things, just lotus wrap leaves, cheong fun etc. will set you back about $75 AUS

Anyway, we need to coin a name for food that looks good but tastes dissapointing ... I suggest "Decepticon Food" Any other suggestions? hehe any geek fan of Tansformers will know where the name came from.

I really hope your old fave picks up, but otherwise there is always fun in looking for new places to call your own and to introduce other people too. Nothing more exciting than finding a new gem :)

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - How about - "All Show No Go"......LOL!

[rachel]

hehe I like it ! Its as good as "all talk no action" :D

[Jack]

Bummer about Emerald. I haven't been back since they've reopened...and probably awhile before they closed down. Hopefully in time they will improve. It's always been the old standby.

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - It's an old term from my Hot Rod days..... ;o)

Hey Jack - I hope so as well, it was one of our dependable standby's as well.