Mandarin China- The first place I ever had "chee fee"

mmm-yoso is the name of the blog. Kirk and Cathy and other friends write about food they ate.  That's all it is. Today, it's Cathy's turn.

Me again.  Thanks for stopping by.  The Mister and I were once again driving around wasting fuel and being hungry while running some errands and fondly remembered an incident many, many years ago.  It was our first Dim Sum experience.  Suddenly, there we were on West Point Loma Boulevard, looking at the place. It has been there since 1980 and still doing a brisk business, including a *lot* of take out.

It was a Sunday and they were only doing to order Dim Sum- no carts rolling around, and we looked at the menu

 

and decided to re-live our early-early dating days back in Ann Arbor and try some favorites.

Well, there it was-Shrimp Toast, 3 pieces ($4.95).  There is just something about a layer of  chopped shrimp on top of a piece of crustless white bread, thickly coated with sesame seeds and deep fried that brings back so many memories.   The plum sauce served with was extremely good with pieces of plum and just  a hint of heat.  Hot mustard in jars were on the table and that added to the flavors.

Of course, more of the memory was helped along by using forks and not chopsticks to eat our food...

We decided to try stuff we knew we should like, again sticking with the original dating experience.  Ma Pu tofu (7.95)

This was the most home made Pa Pu (or Mabo, as most of us know it) we have ever had- twice cooked pork slices (not ground pork , as we usually get) sauteed with mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions and scallions in a great sauce that has a good kick of heat to it.  The tofu was soft and flavorful also.  We were very pleased with this choice. 

I decided to try the pan fried home style noodles with BBQ pork ($7.95).  The pork was not outstanding (could have had more fat marbled in it) but it was sliced into nice, thick chunks and the seasoning on it was good.  It was served with a good variety of vegetables-more fresh mushrooms, carrots, water chestnuts onions and green onion tops.  The accompanying sauce was great; totally different than that on the Ma Pu.  Those noodles were outstanding!  Nicely firm and then sauteed to a gentle crispness.  Extremely satisfying.

At the end we got our bill and fortune cookies that were not wrapped a la Smart N Final.   The cookies were nice and fresh, there was no charge for the very tasty Chinese Restaurant Tea flavored tea and our fortunes merely told us things we already knew:

You set your sights high and enjoy striving for the best things in life.

Age is a matter of feelings and not years.

Mandarin China 4110 West Point Loma Boulevard San Diego 92110 (619)222-6688 Sun-Th 11 am-10 p.m. Fri and Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Ah, the rest of the story.  The Mister was getting ready to leave on a lengthy (more than 6 month duration ) cruise with the Navy and we met another couple here for dinner- the husband would end up being a roommate with mine and His wife was pregnant with their first child.  We all were adventurous and wanted to try this 'new' phenomenon called Dim Sum.  (This was a  *long* time ago).We were happily ordering just about everything that came by from the nice ladies who had strong accents.  One lady showed us something and I said "oh yes!"  She said it was "chee fee".  It had a red sauce on it.  "Chee fee", she repeated and I said, yes.  She pointed at something else on the cart that had no sauce and I said "no, I want that".  She repeated "chee fee" a few more times and I was starting to get irritated.  I insisted.  There were four pieces, so each of us took one.  I kept looking at it on the small plate in front of me, turning it over and trying to figure out what it was.  It wasn't in a bun or steamed in a wrapper.  It was something.  As I put it in my mouth, I quickly spit it out, screaming " chicken feet!  she was telling us it's chicken feet"... we kind of all simultaneously spit out the bony stuff back onto our plates, began laughing hysterically, and then went back and ate them.  It was terribly tedious and not that tasty. The sauce wasn't even hot or spicy.

Comments

[Hungry]

LOL... can't you tell what they are just by looking at them? I don't eat chicken feet either, but I've tasted the sauce they're cooked in and it's usually very nice. Still can't bring myself to eat them, though.

[Cathy]

Hi Hungry. Seriously, it was the first time any of us had ever experienced Dim Sum and each of us had only read about it but did not know really what to expect. It was a *very* long time ago. The feet were piled in a small bowl with a lot of red sauce and didn't look like anything. I know that chicken feet are supposed to be medicinal, and I occasionally still try them, but they are a lot of trouble and nothing I crave.

[nhbilly]

Looks and sounds like an interesting place for a date ;-)

[sandy]

The shrimp toast looks yummmy. That story about chicken feet is hilarious! Spitting out the feet has got to be everyone's first reaction, but there is nothing more impressive than watching a seasoned chicken feet eater spitting out a pile of spotlessly cleaned bones...

[Cathy]

Click onto the photos, Bill. See the variety of dishware used and make note of *how* worn away the multitude of patterns are. Our water glasses were etched with scratches from being in the dishwasher so many times. It is a way old fashioned (70's/80's)date night place. Heavy red tablecloths, dark carved wood, moo goo gai pan...and the food does taste good. It is quiet enough for going on a date...
Hi, Sandy- The shrimp toast was great; just like we remember. I agree, once you know how to eat chee fee properly, you savor it and get every last bit of meat you can. I have had some tasty pieces, but still, never developed a craving.

[Fred]

I grew up eating Dim Sum with my family, so eating chicken feet seemed pretty normal to me. I don't really like them personally, since you're basically eating skin, fat, and tendons with a lot of bones to get in the way. It's a lot of work for not a lot of fulfillment.

My dad once told me that as a part of preparing the chicken feet, they remove the outermost layer of skin because it's very tough, as well as being the surface that stands in dirt all day long. So the feet aren't as dirty as one might think. I do get a bit grossed out by pigs' feet though.

[Cathy]

I agree, Fred. So much trouble and you can't eat the feet bones. I love shrimp heads and tails and shells and catfish tails. Pickled pigs feet are yet another delicacy that I never embraced. Not so much gross as an acquired taste...

[toisan]

wow, I totally forgot about Mandarin China. That used to be THE ONLY dimsum place in San Diego. It was such a huge deal to have dimsum in SD. That meant no more driving to LA for it.

[Cathy]

You are *very* correct, Toisan. I didn't put that into my post, but it may have clarified what I meant by "new phenomenon". Then again, when I said we had 'read' about dim sum...I meant off of paper, and not the internet, which, as you know, wasn't quite invented yet. Of course, it also puts an 'age' on both of us, too. ;)

[Ashley]

I’ve been a frequent reader of this website and just had to comment on this place. My entire family (including cousins, aunts, and uncles) have been going to this place ever since I was a baby! (I’m now 26.) Even though the dim sum has gone down in quality since Jasmine and Emerald came around, this is the stuff I grew up on. They have the best crunchy seaweed shrimp rolls with this super yummy white cream sauce that I try to get at least every couple of weeks. They’re also pretty popular with their vegetarian options of mock meat and deliver within the OB / Sport Arena / Point Loma area.

[Cathy]

Hi Ashley! It is so good to hear from someone who really knows this place. We will go back soon to try the crunchy seaweed rolls-sounds yoso-yummy! Thanks so much for stopping to comment. I did see that they deliver from 5-9 p.m. daily. This would make my life even easier if I lived in that neighborhood.

[Feng]

Cathy! Lovely posts! You mentioned Ann Arbor- just curious, did you study at the U of M?

[Cathy]

Hi, Feng- Both Kirk and I have kind of kept anything "personal" out of the blog...you figured it out, although I did give a clue in my Dec 31, 2006 post (cross posted under What Cathy Eats; Yoso Silly; Sandwiches; Road trip) at the very bottom. You can click onto the photo to enlarge it. The Mister and I met at the U of M studied there and go back to visit once a year (which I will blog). Thanks so much for your kind words.

[amanda]

hey guys! as i'm sure you know i read mmm-yoso several times a week, but never have i been more thankful for it... t and i live in ob and wanted to get some delivery chinese and this was the only place i could find the menu for mandarin china on the internet! you guys rock for always posting photos of the menus for the places you review. :-) Muchas Gracias!

[Cathy]

Why, thanks, Amanda. I guess we never even thought about it, just do it that way...or at least let people know how much stuff costs, to give them an idea. Now, did you like the food?