Sieu Sieu BBQ

I try my best to go into any new eating establishment with a "good" attitude, a blank slate, always hoping for the best meal possible given the price, food, and service. That doesn't mean that I'm always successful. Sieu Sieu BBQ is such a case. When we first relocated to San Diego, Sieu Sieu BBQ occupied a small space on Linda Vista Road. Being curious about the Chinese BBQ offered at the tiny shop, I sampled the Roast Duck, Salted Chicken, and Roast Pork, and found all three to be severely lacking...in flavor. I had never had bland Chinese BBQ before, until that day. Needless to say, I never returned. While driving down Linda Vista Road last year, I noticed that Sieu Sieu BBQ was gone......and I felt bad, perhaps a bit of guilt. I really never gave them that "third chance", that I could have.

And then, one recent morning, I drove by one of the multitude of strip malls on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. And there it was; Sieu Sieu BBQ, back from the dead!

The first thing that went through my mind, was "nice sign, but couldn't you afford some paint?" As you can tell, this is the location of the now defunct Maui Maui Hawaiian BBQ. At that point, the "two little men on my shoulder went into action". The "good Kirk" whispered, "hope springs eternal" in one ear, while the "bad Kirk" murmured "see...bad pennies always show up." Good Kirk, "the third time is a charm". Bad Kirk: "Three strikes and you're out." What to do? My solution? I opened the window and let the breeze blow the two "Kirks" out the window...my way of taking my mental "Etch a Sketch", shaking it, and clearing off all of the haphazard mental drawings. In essence, starting with a clear slate.

One of the things I noticed about this version of Sieu Sieu BBQ, was the new dining area. Tables, many of them large and communal, all lined up. And on the morning I passed by, there were several older couples eating in the restaurant. All "good signs". In spite of this, I started slowly. On the first day, I ordered something from the menu. A simple Wonton Egg Noodles Soup ($4.95):

 

The noodle and soup menu is quite reasonable; all the dishes are under $7. And for under 5 bucks this was a pretty good "deal". In the exact opposite of what is usually done in restaurants, the bowl looked quite small, but there was a good amount of egg noodles in the "just about average" (at least not too salty) broth. The wontons were also just okay, there were 6 of them in the soup. Not much soup, but a ton of noodles. To me, worth the 5 bucks.

And this was good enough for me. Good enough for what you may ask.....good enough for a "meat-fest"! First, let's go to the Roast Duck (1/2 Duck $7.99):

Dry and bland...this was the Sieu Sieu BBQ I remembered. It did not bode well, but I also ordered other stuff.

The BBQ Duck (1/2 Duck $7.99). You can tell the BBQ duck from the Roast Duck, because it is cooked split and hung in a "spatchcock" position. You can easily tell the difference.

We had never tried this at the "old" Sieu Sieu. It is much more meaty, moist, and tender, than the Roast Duck. On the other side of the coin, this duck was suffering from "bean paste overload", as the beany flavor overwhelmed all else except for one thing; it was very salty.

The Roast Pork ($8.25/lb):

You'll find something interesting at Sieu Sieu; it's the 2 ladies who chop and handle the meat. They are both really nice, and after checking out the pork, have some decent "chops"(pun fully intended) as well. Each piece had just a little sliver of bone. Again, the meat was moist, though the fat was a bit "hard"...it had not been cooked enough. The "skin" was on the hard side, though Da' Boyz didn't complain very much.

The BBQ Pork (aka Char Siu $6.55/lb !!!):

Hmmm, that's a bad photo.....it looks sort of radioactive. How about this one?

The Char Siu wasn't bad. The pork was moist, had a decent amount of fat, and was fairly tender. Unfortunately, just as the BBQ Duck, it suffered from bean paste over-load, and the flavor was too salty, lacking in a balancing sweetness.

Lest you think it was just a (BBQ) meat-fest, here are a few more dishes:

The Beef Stew on Rice ($5.25):

Man, there was a ton of rice (not a bad thing) provided. The beef was just mediocre, though the piece of tendon had that wonderful buttery texture.

I'm thinking that my assessment rally wasn't 100% accurate during this meal. I saw something that I hadn't seen since we moved from LA. In the San Gabriel Valley, it is, or at least was, quite common to see someone eating, say chicken feet, and upon completion of eating, spit out the bones and inedible parts right onto the table. The thing I've always found humorous about the whole thing was, that after spitting and dumping all the bones on the table, that the person in question would grab a toothpick in one hand, and cover his mouth(it was usually men) with the other, in what was almost a gesture of modesty. Not good, not bad, just ironic in a twisted way. And yes, I was sitting across from a "spitter", who ended up "depositing" a bunch of duck bones on the table. The nice woman, who a minute ago was chopping this very bird, now came up to clean up. She looked at me, and simply smiled and shrugged. And though I've seen this many times, I'm still not used to it.

The Home Style Rice Vermicelli Noodle ($6.95):

This was very much "Home Style", quite simple in flavor (soy sauce), and though not bland, a bit like this:

The Rice Vermicelli was a bit over-cooked, though there were 5 shrimp in the dish. I did feel like I  could have made this at home. Still, for $6.95 it wasn't too bad. More than enough food for 1 meal. But wouldn't you know, I sat across from another "spitter".....just my luck. This time it was Salted Chicken...I guess I can't complain about variety!

As a whole, the Chinese BBQ at Sieu Sieu is better than what I remembered, though not top notch. The folks working here are very, very nice. The menu dishes are inexpensive, and perhaps a good diversion from Sam Woo, at least you won't have the "attitude and parking" problems.

I did find that on every visit, I dealt with an "older" crowd.

As a last note; FOY "Fred" emailed me and told me the Sieu Sieu Chow Mein was well worth the $6.95 you pay for it. And knowing Fred, it's a good recommendation. And for the "real" cultural experience, maybe you'll sit across from one of the same gentlemen I did!

Sieu Sieu BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

9am - 9pm Daily

Comments

[nhbilly]

Everything looks good and hearty but then again its all about the taste too. I'm starving now a slice of Costco combo ain't cutting it for dinner.

[Dennis]

Thanks for another thorough and informative post Kirk.
The photo of the Roast Duck does look dry! I'm willing to try the BBQ Duck and Pork though, but with an extra order of rice maybe. :)

[stephen]

Spitting out bones on the table? That's just gross. I would have RUN from the place! Bleah.
So, where does one go for good duck?

[Fred]

Thanks for the shout out, Kirk! I did fully enjoy the Sieu Sieu chow mein. Although it must be mentioned that I haven't gone back since that first time, and I work about two blocks away. By contrast, after my first time at Sab-E-Lee both myself and my coworker went back for take-out the next day!

The roast duck looks pretty skippable, especially with better options available less than a mile in every direction. When I took my coworkers there to eat, one of my coworkers ordered roast duck and salted chicken over rice, and he left most of the roast duck on the plate.

Next time I make roast duck chow mein or roast duck pad thai I might try the BBQ duck.

[Carol]

I thought about popping in this past weekend when I drove by but I think I'm going to pass.

I think Stephen is on to something. Who does have the best roast duck in SD? I've always just gotten it from Jasmine. Maybe I'm missing out somewhere else.

[The Food Ho]

Ha! I have never seen anyone spitting out the bones on the table! Maybe I was too engrossed in my own meals to notice.

That vietnamese place on University Ave kind of by Lucky Star has good roast duck and pork - I can't remember the name... it's in a shopping center across the street from a high school.

[Sandy]

A restaurant with lots of older customers usually means that the place offers big portions of food for a low price.

I've never been to the old Sieu Sieu BBQ place. Maybe I'll get some take-out one of these days to try out the wonton soup or the chow mein (I'm not much of a duck fan).

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - Most everything was decent...but not great.

Hi Dennis - Why thanks!

Hi Stephen - It's kind of frustrating....I've found most everywhere to be very inconsistant. So far, of all the places, Jasmine has been the most consistant.

Hi Fred - My pleasure. Yes, that roast duck needs some work.

Hi Carol - So far Jasmine has been the most consistant. I used to like Golden City, but I think they changed their BBQ Chef.

Hi TFH - If you've eaten in enough Chinese places in the SGV, you'd be sure to run into that. It's kind of common practice in China....or so I've been told.

Hi Sandy - Yes, you're right....it could also be that they are just checking the place out.....because it's inexpensive.

[RONW]

been there....with the skin on the hard side on Roast Pork and it's almost like chewing on leather. I bet the regular customers would be naturals with sunflower seeds.

[Kirk]

Hi RONW - Sunflowers seeds...LOL! This was not quite shoeleather, but was still pretty tough.

[Nicole]

This place has pretty good roast duck, Pi Pa Duck (the flat kind) and very very good roast pork with the crispy skin. They are more like a common folk version of China Max. Food is good, my family goes there for dinner too. Most of the dishes are very authentic Cantonese, if that suits your taste. Service is not bad, the guys are fast, and efficient enough. They run both the take out and the sit down area. Very helpful for food suggestion too. Service is better than Sam Woo, need I say more? :)
Kirk, please tell the missus that this place also has some kind of traditional lamb stew only served during the cold months. We missed it by one table this year once we found out, they only had one dish left.

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2007/05/hong_kong_bbq_d.html

[Kirk]

Hi Nicole - Thanks for the recommendation....I still haven't been back since that Dim Sum, so I guess I should!