Emerald Part II: Repeat or Redemption???

About eight months ago we visited Emerald, our then favorite Dim Sum house, and were very disappointed. At that time I dubbed the post Emerald Part I, so there had to be a part 2, correct? But it took us nearly eight months to recover from our lousy Dim Sum experience.

Now prior to our last visit Emerald had been re-opened for a month after a vent fire; and we figured that any service and food issues would have been resolved. We were badly mistaken. But since we've had a history of good fairly good meals(by San Diego standards) at Emerald, we were drawn back on a recent weekday lunch hour. We got to Emerald at about 1115, and the place was empty except for one table.

But, those Dim Sum carts were ready to go. And as soon as we were seated they zoomed over to our table. We started with one of my old favorites here; the tripe. On my last visit, it lacked the rich flavor and the "zip" that the chilies added. But here was my old favorite back to form(you can compare with our previous visit).

The flavor was still not as rich as I remember, but this was so much better.

The Steamed Bean Curd Roll was quite good. The broth was full of flavor, and there was lots of tasty pork in the roll. Not enough bamboo shoots and cloud ears for my taste. But the broth was so very good.

Har Gow. We usually don't order these,  but the Har Gow were very good. The wrappers had just the right amount of "pull". The shrimp had a nice flavor as well.

The Shrimp Dumplings suffered from brittle wrapper syndrome, but the filling had a good balanced shrimp and green onion flavor. We enjoyed these.

Woo Gok, the Deep Fried Taro Balls. And this time the filling was more balanced, and without a strong bitter flavor from using too much taro.

Still, they leave a bit too be desired. Too cold, and too mushy, but at least not oily.

The Shark Fin Dumpling was not so great. The filling was very hard and tough, and I swear I bit into a toenail!!!!

Overall, overcooked, dry, and lacking in flavor.

The Shrimp and Scallop Dumpling.

No complaints, other then the top of the wrapper being too thick. Just average in flavor.

The Shrimp and Chive Fried Dumplings. Well, when I took a look at these mis-shapen and broken dumplings, the first thought that entered my mind was, "what kind of Chef would allow something like this to leave His kitchen?"

The wrappers were lousy, the filling very good; lots of pungent chive, and just the right amount of shrimp. Does it make up for the horrendously bad wrappers....

It looks like Emerald is back on our "list", and it's a heck of alot closer then Pearl; though still not quite as good. But still, much improved over our last visit.

Emerald Seafood Restaurant
3709 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Anna]

just the pictures are making me drool...is it lunchtime? :o)

since having the baby (she just turned 4 months), we haven't been to dim sum. i don't think i can handle and baby and all the hot steaming carts. sigh...missing it so much...

[Alice Q.]

Jesus, a toenail?? I had hair in my food twice at Taste of Thai and I have never been back (two visits in a row in the same dish!) but I don't know what I'd do if I ever found a toenail in my food!

[Kirk]

Hi Anna - I hope that you and the little one, will be able to enjoy the pleasures of Dim Sum...and whatever Mommy should want soon! Though you might need 2 bibs! LOL! ;o)

Hi Alice - Sorry, we call any hard, inedible piece of food (like those sometimes found in a burger)a "toenail". I'll not state my opinion of TOT in Hillcrest....let me just say, you'll never see a post on TOT in my Blog. 'nuff said.

[Passionate Eater]

I agree with Alice Q., if I ever had a toenail in my dish, I would be throwing around dishes and pushing dim sum carts to the floor like crazy!! I'd call it the Emerald Riots!

[toisan]

are emerald and pearl still under the same ownership? i prefer jasmine over emerald/pearl. imperial mandarin is a good alternative if you need a table right away and don't need the fancy foo dog statues.

[Kirk]

Hi PE - I can't imagine you doing that....

Hi toisan - Yes, Pearl and Emerald are still have the same owner. I've noticed that most either like Jasmine or Emerald, not both. I've been to Imperial Mandarin many times, and the food is okay, for 70's American influenced Chinese.

[Kristy]

Yo Kirk-san! I LOVE Har Gow! mmmm........ I love anything shrimp for that matter. Anyhow, I'm heading down to SD this Friday after work for the weekend. Will be coming back to LA on Wednesday morning...maybe we can find some time to meet and eat some dim sum or other good eats out there? ;) I'll check with the Mister to see what our plans are and when his parents are coming to town too.

[Kady]

I've only been to Emerald twice but I think it was before the fire. The dim sum isn't as good as Pearl but it is cheaper (which I like). However, I love the food at Pearl, it's closer, and the view is nicer...so we'll probably stick with that location. Oh great..now I'm dying for dim sum!

[Jeffrey Chow]

Gosh Kirk, you really know how to get the stomach growling. Even out here in the desert of Phoenix, our top rated dim sum place still doesn't even reach the knees of Emerald. Ho Hum, next time I'm craving dim sum, I'll just take what I can get here in Phoenix and be thankful we can get it at all.

[Kirk]

Hi Kristy - I hope we get the timing right? We keep missing each other!

Hi Kady - I was wondering how you enjoyed Pearl.

Hi Jeffrey - Sorry man.....hopefully, more restaurants will open where you're at, and the quality and choices will get better.

[charsiubao]

hmm, i tried out emerald in sometime in may. it was pure chaos. ok, having a party of 8 is asking for it, but it took over 10 mins to get any tea or chopsticks. the place was also half empty. the food was as you described, and it was expensive... i think 2something for a "small"? but that's just SD, i guess. i've been spoiled by LA.

there's this seedy looking dimsum place up on mira mesa attached to Vinh Hung market... ever been there?

[Kirk]

Hi CSB - When it gets crowded at Emerald it does get a bit nuts. I know exactly which restaurant your talkng about - haven't eaten there yet - last time we were at that market(they sometimes have good lychee), we could smell the "fragrance" of the meat/fish department all the way to the restaurant.....didn't quite stimulate my appetite, if you know what I mean.

[Ellen T. Brenner]

Mmmmmm ... dim sum! I need a fix again real soon. Nice to know that it won't be strictly necessary to shlep up to Pearl in Rancho Bernardo. Now I just need to get on the right side of the next paycheck ... :-)

[Kirk]

Hi Ellen - Well, I hope you get your fix in! I still think Pearl is better, but with gas prices......

[Rachel]

Mmm those pictures of the assorted dumplings just make my mouth water! I loooove shrimp and chive dumplings! Glad you found a place close to you that has reasonable quality dim sum :)

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - Emerald was much better on this visit then our previous visit. I hope you're feeling better, BTW.

[Jack]

Last week I had a lunch meeting where the other party wanted to have dim sum. It was Emerald or China Max. Ended up at China Max, but happy to see that all is well with Emerald.

[Kirk]

Hey Jack - Emerald seems to have recovered a bit, but is still not as good as it used to be.

[EJ]

Kirk,
Have you been to Lucky Star at 54th and University for dim sum? They used to have a good lobster salad and I used to find one or two "new-to-me" items on each visit.

[Kirk]

Hi EJ - Thanks for stopping by and commenting. We used to visit Lucky Star alot, but have stopped after this experience...

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/10/lucky_star_rest.html

Only the second time I've ever walked out of a restaurant.