Guess the Dim Sum Restaurant - It's Silver Ark

The Missus and I recently had some Dim Sum, and of course I automatically took some photos. But we arrived right at the end of Dim Sum service, and so we decided that perhaps we'd just delete these photos. Not that the Dim Sum was "tired", well some of it was........

But then it came to me! It seems that everyone had fun with the Mid Week Mystery Market; so how about guessing the Dim Sum Restaurant? Same rules, first 7 Emails I receive that guess the correct Restaurant, I'll send you a cup of Peet's on me!

So let's get rolling, shall we?

The Jook was excellent, really rich, with lot's of preserved egg, and strips of pork instead of the usual ground pork.

But of course it could be that the porridge had been simmering away all day, gaining flavor. And all of the good stuff had sunk to the bottom. Which is what we got. But really good anyway.

The rest was average to mediocre. Except for one other dish that I'll reveal tomorrow.

I just realized that this one may be waaaay too easy, so I'll stop here.

My one clue? The restaurant is in San Diego County.

The rules are same as usual; one correct guess per IP address. First seven wins.

I'll finish the post, and have a few more photos, along with revealing the restaurant tomorrow evening!

Friday Morning Clues - You know, I've had some good guesses, along with some really excellent observations that I will add as clues. These will help those that have had Dim Sum in San Diego, and still are not quite sure which restaurant it is.

1 - Notice the Taro Gok, if you look toward the upper right you'll see some interesting clues.

2 - Same photo, notice how the fried taro balls are served. A certain Dim Sum house in San Diego serves it up differently, immediately removing that restaurant from contention.

3 - Notice how the tripe is cut; very thick. Also, some Dim Sum restaurants top the tripe with a red chili, removing that restaurant from contention.

4 - The best observation was made by Liver Bomb who noticed the mustard/chili dish. Talk about attention to detail!

So has anyone guessed correctly yet? Sorry, can't say.....

Friday Afternoon Clues - Just a photo of the Pan Fried Noodles with Seafood and some prices.

Pan Fried Noodle with Seafood($9.50):

Dim Sum Prices :

Small - $2.10

Medium - $3.20

Large - $4.20

Super - $6.50

Good Luck!

The Restaurant is...... Silver Ark, a restaurant that recently opened on Mira Mesa Boulevard.

Since we arrived at the end of Dim Sum service, we've decided to revisit when we have a chance. Our overall impression, is that the restaurant is a step below  China Max, Emerald, and Jasmine. The Pan Fried noodles were pretty good, lot's of noodles, the scallops were good, though the shrimp was not of the highest quality.

But we'll definitely try Silver Ark again, and do a "real" post.

Silver Ark
8993 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

So how many correct answers?

One. Congrats Green Turtle!

Comments

[noromdiam]

Emerald?

[Jim]

Jasmin, Pearl, China Max or some other Chinese place on Convoy.

Damm, I'm getting good at this!!!

[dietchilicheesefries]

thanks for the great clue.

[Kirk]

Hi noromdiam & Jim - Sounds like wild guessing to me. Especially you Jim.....this isn't baseball where batting .300 is good.

Hi DCCF - You mean you can't figure it out, with mt most excellent clue? LOL! More clues are forthcoming.

[Green Turtle]

Silver Ark in Mira Mesa? I had to do some CSI image processing to enhance that image of the check by the fried taro balls.

[minote]

I think it's either Emerald or Pearl.

[Cathy]

The place on University, East of 805, maybe 15...north side...door opens in corner of mall (at a diagonal)...Burger King right across the street...

...they have green Dim Sum checks anyhow...

....and probably a name to the restaurant....been there once and the large noodle thing looked just like that...

[Ed]

Drats - no fair! I haven't lived in the SD area since 1996! ;)

[Jack]

I didn't realize that a new place opened in Mira Mesa. I imagine that it could get pretty crowded on the weekends.

[Scott]

Green Turtle really had it going on! After his comment I could just barely make out "Silver Ar" on the check.

[Kirk]

Hi GT - Nice work, the "check is in the mail".

Hi Minote - Sorry, but thanks for participating!

Hi Cathy - Do you mean Lucky Star?

Hi Ed - Sorry, next time I'll do a place that has been around forever!

Hi Jack - I imagine you're right, the area could use a Dim Sum restaurant.

Hi Scott - Talk about being serious about getting a cup of Peet's!

[dietchilicheesefries]

pretty impressive Green Turtle..

If Homeland Security had hired Green Turtle years back, we might have Bin Laden by now....

[liverbomb]

After seeing that insanely delicious picture of the seafood pan fried noodles, we had to go try it for dinner. I agree with your assessment 100%! We'll have to go back and try some of the other dishes. It's nice that Tea Station is right there too, as I think my wife can live on boba milk tea alone.

[Kirk]

Hi DCCF - Just be glad "GT" is on "our" side - hehehe

Hi liverbomb - We actually went back for Dim Sum recently, and that post will be forthcoming!

[Ed]

Hmm, that pan fried noodle dish looks good enough. But the scallops - I have a couple of semi-professional fishing friends who say that many places substitute rounds cut out of skate wings as a scallop substitute. And that most people can't tell the difference.

[Kirk]

Hi Ed - Haven't come across thatr yet - these were scallops. How do your friends really know, skate and scallop both cook and taste different, skate will start to flake around the edges......it's not like the jicama - water chestnut substitition...and you can still tell - jicama is sweeter.

[Ed]

Hi Kirk - I guess the people they served samples of real scallop and "skate scallop" to didn't really have experience with telling the difference. I'm just wondering how Chinese restaurants in general can afford to offer scallops at a reasonable price, while other places appear to gouge you (I think). As a tangent, I remember this Chinese seafood restaurant in Emeryville (outside of Oakland near the Bay Bridge) that served perfectly boiled noodles stir-fried with generous slivers of dried scallops. That was heavenly!

[Kirk]

Hi Ed - I guess the real intersting thing is....when a scallop approaches being overcooked, it will sometimes start splitting from the middle, usually into halves or quarters...I'd like to see if I get "skatted"....

[ed (from Yuma)]

I haven't been served faux scallops as scallops, but sometimes the discs in "seafood combo" lunch specials are clearly not scallop.