Sam Woo BBQ-Part Two- Lunch Specials!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog with the Temp, Cathy, writing while the Main Guy, Kirk, is on vacation.  She still writes about food.   That's why you are reading this blog, anyhow. 

Hi again.  Yesterday, I blogged about breakfast specials at Sam Woo, inside the 99Ranch complex.  Here is a little snippet of what the lunch specials are like.

You will notice there are  two sets of items- Specials #1-#55 cost $4.95 each and #56-#82 are $5.95 each. The all include rice and a bowl of the soup of the day (sometimes egg drop, sometimes hot and sour, sometimes tofu, and on this day a black bean pork soup)

Pretty much this was the best soup I have had here, in that it was unique with the salty black beans  and rich pork broth.  You never know what the soup will be, so I always look forward to it. 

This is a combination of two dinners post, therefore more than three entrees are shown. #56- honey glazed walnut shrimp, always a favorite.  Plump, juicy shrimp, fried in a light batter and then topped with Kewpie- a mayonnaise sauce- and served with those crispy wonderful not sticky honey glazed walnuts.  The flavors go together .  Really... and this stuff is addictive. The only vegetable served with this- lettuce shreds, which you will like to eat with some of the mayonnaise.

#78- spicy salted squid.  Oh yes.  You will see plates of this coming out of the kitchen all the time.  Fresh squid, batter fried with the spicy salt in the batter.  The squid is scored and so it curls into tubes when it is fried, making it easy to hold and eat with chopsticks.  Not too hot/spicy- that comes from the only vegetable on the plate; the chili peppers and green onion tops.  Still, it isn't a bad spice or heat.  It is very light.

This is #5- shrimp with black bean sauce.  Usually we get the rock cod fillet with black bean sauce, but the main thing I like is the black bean sauce.  Spicy, salty, onions and green peppers compliment the flavors and you can still taste the sweetness of the shrimp.

#77 spicy salted oyster.  Oh my, yes.  There are only four oysters on this plate.  They were obviously farmed in Chernobyl.  Same light salt batter and those chilis on top, along with some more lettuce.  Excellent flavor. 

I saw some jarred oysters inside 99Ranch across the hall that were this size, so am pretty certain of the source for this dish (you know, after being shucked in Chernobyl).  The Mister likes clams, and I like oysters so this dish is pretty much only mine to eat.  He will eat maybe half of one oyster, as he does enjoy the salty crispiness of the crust.  heh heh...the rest are mine....

Ah, #61- scallop with XO sauce. Oh.  XO. Yes.

XO sauce is quite unique.  It has dried scallops, dried shrimp, dried red chiles and various other spices.  Most people make their own.  It is unique, spicy in a good way, kind of crunchy because of the dried small pieces of seafood and...wow...I love XO sauce.   Sometimes, we order #55- fresh mushrooms with XO.  A whole plate of various mushrooms slathered in XO..and, oh, it's a vegetable!  As you can see, this dish is served with onions and green peppers  as well as a lot of thin sliced scallops.

Here is a photo of #11- the rock cod fillet with black bean sauce.  After a bunch had been taken off the plate.  The rock cod is thin and juicy and the sauce is, again, the same one as witht eh shrim. above -and I  crave it.  Red and green bell peppers compliment this dish in a nice way.  Crunchy and refreshing, to go with the saltiness of the beans.

We usually only get hot tea when we eat here (no charge at lunch, but 30¢ for a pot at breakfast...I dunno) but one day, I had a craving (they sell more of the iced/boba drinks via the attached 'To Go' Sam Woo steam tray area attached to the restaurant, but store the ingredients in the glass doored refrigerators where I could see them from where we were sitting)  and asked for a red and green bean iced concoction-no boba ($2) sweet red beans and sweet green (yellow) beans, ice, sweetened condensed milk and a cherry.   Very nice.

If you are shopping at 99Ranch anyhow and hunger strikes, this is a great place to stop and eat.  We have tried just about every item on the lunch menu, and do like the beef and chicken and pork as well as tofu dishes, as well as the deep fried whole fish and the vegetable only dishes (sometimes we get a whole veggie plate because we know there basically aren't any vegetables with what we ordered, as we always order three plates anyhow..but they usually only give us two bowls of soup, since there are only the two of us eating).  I only blogged these most recent meals.

Sam Woo BBQ 7330 Clairmont Mesa Blvd, inside the 99 Ranch mall. Lunch Specials 11 a.m.-4 p.m., 7 days.

Comments

[Sandy]

I should not read this blog when I'm hungry!

Love the honey walnut shrimp and the salt & pepper calamari. I also like to order the scrambled eggs with shrimp (my mom wonders why when it's so easy to cook at home), the beef and Chinese broccoli (gotta have some green vegies) and the spicy eggplant (I can never duplicate the sauce at home).

[Cathy]

Hi Sandy- You aren't the only one reading. Looking at the statistics, more people look at this blog between 11 and noon and 5-6 p.m. daily. I suspect either looking for a lunch idea or apparently a lag time at work. The Mister loves the shrimp with scrmbled egg and I do like the eggplant (it is made with pretty much a Mabo sauce). I don't think there was anyhing we did not like, although I don't crave the black pepper sauce nor sweet and sour much and the curry is different, but good when it is raining/cold and also The Mister doesn't like onions, so the beef with onion or with scallion has not been ordered after the one time, as was the chives and bean sprout with assorted meat (#41). But, I haven't had anything particularly bad. Must be the MSG...

[Trent]

I like getting the spicy salted squid at the to-go counter and taking it home. I did once find one of those transparent "squid bones" in it, but that was once in about 3 years. No harm done.

[Cathy]

The pack those 'to go' boxes pretty darn solid with the squid, I noticed, too, Trent. Eh, having a piece of cartilage or whatever that clear plastic-y stuff is, is just proof that it is a fresh squid they are using...Sometimes that is all I get and end up eating it in the car while driving home...

[Caroline]

$6 for the honey walnut shrimp?? I'll have to go there ASAP. Is this only weekday lunch or any day lunch?

That red bean icee drink looks good, too. I'd at least like to try it.

These are great. I usually just get a couple items to go, but now I have new items to try. Thanks!

[Cathy]

Seven days a week, Caroline...You can click onto the menu I photographed at the top of this post, or if you do get take out, the paper menu is at the cash register. Not posted on the walls, so a lot of people don't know. The prices actually just went up to what I have posted. Yes, way back when, the same items were just $3.50 and $4.50.

[Michael]

Hi Cathy, I love this place and glad you blogged on it. Great job!
I need to go back there soon. YUM!

[Sandy]

The eggplant dish that I usually get is #42 on the lunch menu (spicy eggplant with garlic sauce). The sauce (from what I recall) is kind of sweet and spicy, not similar to the sauce in mabo (or mapo) tofu.

Perhaps I need to refresh my memory by visiting Sam Woo soon!

If you have more than one person for the lunch specials, they serve the food family style.

I do seem to check this blog before lunch and before dinner :-)

[Cathy]

Hello Michael. Yes. Go. Don't you do you some weekly shopping at 99Ranch? Doesn't everyone? Thanks for the kind words.
OK, Sandy...yes it does say spicy garlic sauce. For some reason, in my mind the sauce was MaPo-ish. Not with pork or anything, just the sauce that comes in that red box that is on sale and on an end unit at 99Ranch...I think I will have to try it again, also. I do love eggplant.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Back when I was real poor and living in SD (10 years ago), I had many lunches at Sam Woo. Your post brought back memories even though I often ate different things, I remember the rock cod in black bean sauce. Thanks for reminding me.

[Cathy]

Hey there, Ed- We have eaten just about everything on the menu but pretty much have to get a spicy salty something and a black bean sauce something each time. Glad to bring back some good memories.

[yummieyummy]

Cathy the drink looks goooooddd! How did the yogurt turns out?

[Cathy]

Hi YY! I don't usually order sweets you know, but the sweet bean drink hit the spot that day. The homemade yogurt is the best. I was making some every other day...and then it hit 116 degrees (not exagerating) and I stopped making it...or moving much....or doing anything for a while. I have to get back into it now that I am normal. (that was a joke).. I can see having it for breakfast during the holidays. Simple, easy and perfect.

[yummieyummy]

Yeah me too, I'm not a big fan of sugar. I always tell my friends, I count sugar not calories =) 116 degrees? Wow, that's like El Cajon/Santee's heat. I've been there...for 5 years.

[Cathy]

I stopped caring about calories long ago and eat what I grew up with-and not fake sugar or low fat, YY. Yes, I am in Santee...can't you tell by my posts? It gets crazy hot- and crazy cold inland. I love it.

[yummieyummy]

Cathy, then I might know you. I know a lot of people in El Cajon/Santee area. That's pretty neat! Yeah, no fake sugar for me. I just hate the after taste not to mention the side effects.

[Cathy]

Hi again YY. I'll send you a note soon. As far as sweets go, if you do go to See's and have to get something (becasue everyone is buying by the piece and you just want to be social)- get a Scotch Kiss. It is a marshmallow topped with fresh butterscotch and hand wrapped in wax paper. Salty, creamy, wonderful.

[yummieyummy]

hhhhmmmm salty... sounds like something I would like. Thanks!!!