Lee's, Um No It's, Ly's Garden, Or Is It?

**** After a very long run; Ly's has closed

Recently, we've been eating at all of our regular Chinese Restaurants; China Max, Ba Ren, and yes, even at the "ABCDE" special, Mandarin Canton. For a change of pace, and for the sake of "material" for a new post, I needed to find someplace new to eat. Just then it came to me, let's try Lee's Garden, we hadn't eaten there in years. The Missus was game, so off we went for a nice weekday lunch. As we took the turn at 54th street, the Missus grabbed my arm and said "turn around, turn around, you just went past it!" Me: "Are you sure?" The Missus:"Turn around I just saw it on our right!"

So I did two U-turns, and drove into the seedy strip mall parking lot. And there it was:

Or was it? This was Ly's Garden.... I mentioned this to the Missus, who responded; "How many Ly's/Lee's Garden do you think is going to be on this street?" "OK, I just thought they were on the other side of the street."

We entered the Restaurant, and surveying the cavernous, but slightly run down interior, I knew immediately, that this wasn't the "Lee's Garden" I was thinking about. But the display of roast pork and duck hanging in the display was calling to me. We were immediately seated by the most cheerful server, and opened the menu. And oh my, the prices..... Just to keep this interesting, let's play a little game. I won't reveal the prices of each dish, and we ordered alot of food, until near the end of the description of each dish.

We ordered a bowl of Won Ton Soup, which came with a plate of bean sprouts and lemon:

The steaming hot bowl of soup was delivered, with a few slices of fishcake, lots of fried garlic, green onions, cilantro, and even some Gailan. And it was a good thing; the broth was on the mild side and needed a little "help".

The wontons were typical Vietnamese-style wontons, very dense pork meatballs. There were 8 wontons in this decent bowl of soup, that cost us.....guess, 4 bucks, maybe $4.50? Well........

It was $2.75!!! Yes, less then 3 bucks for won ton soup.

The Missus also ordered Porridge with Pork and Preserved Egg:

The porridge was served steaming hot, but was on the watery side, with hardly any preserved egg. Also, the Missus noted that the pork in the porridge was almost like ground pork, not the strings of pork She is used too. The Missus noted a lack of pork flavor and velvety richness that a good bowl of Jook has.

The price? Yep, $2.75......

I ordered one of the most expensive items on the menu. 3 Meats with Steamed rice. While waiting for my lunch this arrived on the table.

I asked the Server what this was, and was informed that it came with the roast meat dish. So hey, another meat. This rich beef-pork broth, along with the soft meat from the pork shank was delici-yoso!!! I'd be happy with just a bowl of this. The broth had the flavor close to that of Pho', but with a bit more "oil" and richness.

As I was polishing this off, my plate arrived:

I had ordered Roast Pork, BBQ Pork (Char Siu), and Roast Duck, all of which came on a bed of Jasmine rice. The BBQ pork was moist, but really too mildly flavored, lacking any of the sweet-beany-saltiness that good BBQ pork has. The duck was also underwhelming and the meat lacked the rich flavor of good roast duck. The Roast pork was pretty good, the skin portions crunchy, the meat slightly sweet and very moist.

This set me back......$4.50!

The Missus, not believing how inexpensive the food was, had to get something else, and went to the deli case and ordered the Shrimp and Chive fried dumplings($2.95):

These were fried up, and arrived on our table a few minutes later. Though a bit on the oily side, the chive and shrimp filling was quite good. And no skimping on the chives either!

In the end we spent $14(without tip), for 4 dishes! Bargain city.......

Some notes on Ly's: The service here was very nice and friendly. The parking lot looks a bit dicey, but there were 2 Security Guards walking around. The atmosphere is quite "divey", but the good service made up for any shortcomings. All prices are for lunch, I think that prices are a dollar more during dinner.

Ly's may not be a "Foodie" destination; but if you're in the neighborhood, and short on cash, Ly's is worth a visit. You will get what you pay for.

Ly's Garden Chinese Restaurant
4350 54th St # B
San Diego, CA 92115

After lunch we drove further down 54th St, and to our left, there it was, Lee's Garden. A Ly and Lee on the same street? Talk about confusion! Guess where we'll be headed next? To Be Continued.......

Comments

[elmomonster]

Whoa! And I thought that Fishball Noodle House I like in Rowland Heights was cheap! Excellent find Kirk. This one's definitely going on my list the next time I go down to SD.

[thess]

Hi Kirk!
my, the images look good enough to eat..especially your plate after the broth.

and i agree , they are cheap!

[Tokyo]

You tried spicy city? it's in the same shopping center as china max. China Max didn't really do it for me. But I've been to spicy city a few times and enjoyed it.

[Kirk]

Hi Elmo - Don't know if it worth your time when visiting SD, unless you really want some cheap eats.

Hi Thess - This is the cheapest WonTon Soup I've had to date.

Hi Tokyo - ChinaMax and Spicy City are two diffeent types of cuisine. Spicy City is Beijing-style Sichuan, and is quite good. We used to be very regular customers, but now refuse to eat there for reasons I won't go into. China Max is Hong Kong Seafood; much milder in taste, where the key is fresh ingredients and cooking technique.

[mealcentric]

$2.75 for porridge? Thats unbelievable. At those prices, who cares if the food it hit or miss.

[gourmetish]

Those shrimp and chive dumplings look delicious. I love reading your posts. It makes me wish I lived closer to the city of San Diego and not up in the boondocks called North County.

I'm curious--what's your favorite Chinese restaurant?

[Kirk]

Hi MEalcentric - I know what you mean - what can you get for under 3 bucks nowadays? You comment did remind me to indicate that prices were a buck more expensive during dinner in bold.

Hi Kady - Without question, it's Ba Ren - http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/01/post_201_ba_ren.html
We also enjoy China Max, and Pearl for Dim Sum - http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/11/pearl_repeat_pr.html
Among others.....

[howie]

Wow! Less than $3 for a bowl of porridge? That is a great deal. The food looks pretty good too.

The only other $3 meals I get regularly are bahn mi and bean & cheese burritos.

[Kathy]

Chee! So it wasn't spectacular but I'd be going back pretty often from $3 lunches. Congrats on your "find" - it always feels good to discover a bargin!

[Kirk]

Hi Howie - Pretty pedestrian fare, but I guess if you put it that way......gotta go during lunch though!

Hi Kathy - I guess if I'm in the area during lunch, I'll probably drop by again, though there's so much to explore in the area.

[Jo]

That sounds totally up my ally! Especially the prices! But, I thought you were going for Chinese? Isn't this pretty much Vietnamese? Or is it a fusion? I'm in a state of confusion! Or is it just a delusion of my choosin'...

[Kirk]

Uh-oh, She's Baaaack! LOL! Welcome back Jo. Ly's Chef is from Hong Kong, and they make both Pho' and Chinese BBQ - go figure! It's a Vietnamese/Chinese Restaurant - we have many of them here.

[Jo]

::grinning:: Thank you! Won't be for long I'm afraid. This is just a short lull in the storm. Anyway, I guess this would be what you call true fusion? ::wink::

Speaking of fusion, I made a pretty interesting pot of chicken & rice tonight. I used Mexican spices, American ingredients, and Thai methodology. The result? HOT! I sauteed a couple of dried chilis negro with cumin seed, a couple onions, and nearly an entire head of garlic. When it was getting a tad soft I added a can of stewed tomatoes and allowed it to reduce. When done, I pureed the whole. Then I browned the chicken, set it aside with chunks of zukes, carrots, & celery. Browned the rice, then threw everything into a pot with an appropriate amount of water. The result was pretty tasty. I had to laugh because my son-in-law broke into a sweat eating it. Mike couldn't finish his, Dee couldn't finish hers... Guess who like it and ate almost all of it? ROBBY! I was shocked. Oh yea, I ate all of mine too. I thought it was pretty darn tasty!

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - Also, I think many pf the people working at Ly's are Cambodian. But the food is cheap and the service is good - you really can't complain.

[Jo]

Cambodian? No kidding. Is Cambodian food VERY different from Vietnamese? I can eat nearly anything if the service is good and the price is good.

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

Sounds good to me! Wish we had something like that here! :)

Jo,

So when are you sending that over here? Hmmm???

[Kirk]

Hi Jo & Mills - Not to get myself in any trouble, but Cambodian food does differ, but has the same influences as many types of SE Asian food, but has many of their own dishes - I've had it only once. Cambodian Cuisine also differs from Khmer Cuisine. There's a Cambodian/Khmer restaurant in town that I'll be trying soon.

[Jo]

::laughing:: It ain't going your way soon! Everyone else tossed theirs without eating more than a few bites. Only Robby & I ate it and poor Robby got sick a little later on. I was told, in no uncertain terms, NEVER to attempt such a dish again. ::grinning:: However, Mike did tell me I did all my chili-head buds proud by both the prep AND the consumption. The stuff was hot as blazes!

[Jack]

Great find Kirk. Looks great and you can't beat the prices.

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - So the heat killed them?

Hi Jack - Go for lunch, I think it's worth the price. Not great, and very uneven food, but how can you complain at under 3 bucks?