You can't attend a Filipino party in San Diego without them, those miniature deep fried limbs, full of MSG goodness. Pulling yourself away from the aluminum tray of Salt and Pepper chicken wings sometimes takes a Herculean display of will power. I had long contemplated doing a comparison of Salt and Pepper wings, and after all these years, with the help of Howie, who having done comparisons of everything from Carne Asada Burritos from 'Berto's to New York style Pizza to Fro-yo i n San Diego, is master of organizing such events, I finally managed to do a tasting.
For the tasting, I had an enthusiastic crew, who displayed no fear of the MSG bloat; Howie, Candice, Sarah, Jenne, Mr & Mrs Zompus, and Dennis. I had a list of five places, one of which was closed and had to be replaced by a last minute substitute due to sad and unfortunate circumstances.
The rules were simple, each person would try at least one drummette, and one wing. They would than rank each sample from first to fifth. The lowest total amount of points would be number one.
The results are startling, and I'm sure will be quite controversial. At the end, I'll list my picks which seemed to go totally against the trend. So without further ado.
#5 - Royal Mandarin:
Yes, the mecca of Salt and Pepper Chicken wings ended up dead last by a large margin. Some of the comments: "more like American fried chicken...." "rating of meh...." "underwhelming in flavor...." "overcooked...."
This one was a surprise, and I'm sure will raise eyebrows.....
Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-4151
#4 - Golden Chopsticks:
Yep, the other popular Salt and Pepper Chicken wing joint finished second to last! "bland....." "soggy......" "not even spicy in the least...." "don't like the light color...."
Another big surprise!
Golden Chopsticks
1430 Plaza Blvd #E/22A-23A
National City, CA 91950
(619) 336-1888
3 - A & D Hawaiian BBQ - National City:
**** A&D Has closed
Another surprise. The darkhorse last minute replacement came in a respectable third, and missed second place by one point! Yikes! "most flavorful by far...." "thinner crust but better taste...."nice spice, lots of garlic, but too salty...." "right amount of spice...."
A&D Hawaiian BBQ
Grove Plaza Center
2220 Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
2 - Panda Palace:
**** Panda Palace has closed
Well what do you know...another surprise. This one was all over the board with three fourth-place votes, and two first place votes. It managed second by one point.
The comments were the most entertaining of all the entries: "tastes like Panda Express smells...." "someone didn't change the oil after frying all that shrimp" "too sweet..." on one hand, "very flavorful...." "like the garlic and spice..." "not greasy...." on the other.
Panda Palace Chinese Restaurant
1105 E Plaza Blvd Ste D
National City, CA 91950
(619) 336-1725
#1 - Mandarin Chinese Restaurant:
The favorite overall by a whopping six points, and voted the best by four! Some of the comments; "lightest and crispy-est..." "good crunch, but meat a little dry...." "definitely the best, the only one I wanted seconds of...." "nice and light batter".
Mandarin Chinese Restaurant
945-A Otay Lakes Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91913
(619) 656-8080
So there you have it folks! Surprised? I sure was......
The gang did a great job going from this:
To this:
It's amazing what you can learn while chomping on wings with one another. For instance, Candice makes a mean Cucumber granita and Mango Sorbet which helped to keep our palates fresh, I never knew Librarians can sing so well, and there were moves attributed to the movie Flashdance that I don't recall....or umm...maybe I don't want to recall????
My thanks to everyone who participated!
Oh yes, how did I see things?
#1 - Royal Mandarin
#2 - Mandarin Restaurant
#3 - A & D
#4 - Golden Chopsticks
#5 - Panda Palace
Let the debates begin!!!!
Interesting. I have not had these before. Funny how you had to go all the way to chula vista/national city for them
Posted by: Stephen | Wednesday, 24 June 2009 at 10:14 PM
hi kirk!
i just had some really good sisig at Sinugba in Daly City...will post eventually!
anyways, what a cool taste test - i'm not surprised by the results. the mandarin place by the now defunct henry's in c.v. is my fave wings place (either that or the mandarin on telegraph near vons- i think this is the one where unfortunately the owner was murdered in tj)!!!! mandarin's are my fave and it's only 5 minutes away from my house!!! score!
Posted by: caninecologne | Wednesday, 24 June 2009 at 11:01 PM
everything looked great! except #4 too "white"
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 12:51 AM
Hi Kirk! Sorry, missing was the bucket of water and leg warmers but I'll remember props for next time!?? ;) The biggest surprise for me was that I was craving wings as early as that same night! Glad I took some home. Anyway, it was a very fun day.
Posted by: Dennis | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 05:34 AM
How funny had about a 100 wings with a group of friends just this past weekend.
Posted by: nhbilly | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 06:27 AM
Crud, now I want wings. So how about another wings test for places north of the 8? Oh oh, I hear someone mumbling, "Oh God, does this mean you're going to drive to every one of those places to try the wings?!?!"
Posted by: Carol | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 07:43 AM
I guess you heard about the tragedy at Mandarin Canton which I thought had great chicken wings.
So sad and I hope they find the criminals and reopen soon.
Posted by: tina | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 07:56 AM
I love this challenge! Guess what I'm going to have this weekend?
Posted by: Jack | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 08:05 AM
It was a tough job, but someone had to do it, right?
Royal Mandarin is our go-to place for the salt and pepper wings. We picked up wings for two recent parties, and people couldn't stop eating them. Maybe one day we'll give the other places a try.
As Stephen said, it's funny how all these places are down south.
Posted by: Sandy | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 08:05 AM
haha veyr nice!
Posted by: tastymealsathome | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 11:01 AM
Any good wing places in the Convoy St area? How much do these party trays typically go for?
Posted by: Green Turtle | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 11:04 AM
Haha, never underestimate librarians...and I thought Dennis's interpretation was very authentic.
Thanks for inviting me, I had a great time!
Posted by: Jenne | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 11:13 AM
This tasting was a blast, as was the karaoke jam afterward! Thanks for inviting me!
I was really surprised by the results too. I never noticed the texture of the batter on the Golden Chopsticks wings, until we tried a whole bunch back to back. Looks like I'll have to make it down to Chula Vista more often...
Posted by: Howie | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 11:27 AM
Hi Kirk,
Thanks for inviting us! The leftover wings made a fine plate of fried rice later.
Posted by: zompus | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 11:45 AM
What a fun idea! The wings look so good..I've got to go try them out. Strangely, I haven't been to a Filipino party where they serve salt and pepper wings..
Posted by: kirbie | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 12:34 PM
What an intersting "chicken off." My favorite place for Salted Pepper Wings is Panda Palace. Light and crispy and only freshly fried up with tons of spice and flavor. The other places taste like they refry their chicken more than once. Ick.
Posted by: Ruby | Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 09:15 PM
Just toss a rock anywhere in National City and you'll find a Filipino spot with great wings. Filipino garlic wings are to die for!!
Posted by: Caleb | Friday, 26 June 2009 at 11:42 AM
Hi Stephen - That's where the "good wings" are.....
Hi CC - Mandarin came in tops. BTW, they believe that the poor guy was killed in the restaurant and than driven to TJ.
Hi Kat - Yes, much too white....and kinda soggy.
Hi Dennis - Oh, ok...so that's why I didn't recognize that....it's the leg warmers! ;o)
Hi Billy - And so did I!
Hi Carol - That's going to be a mighty short list.
Hi Tina - That was the one I mentioned with the link at the end of the second paragraph.
Hey Jack - Ummm...peanut butter and jelly?? he-he-he.....
Hi Sandy - They are the most popular....probably because they were the first. I like them the best as well.
Thanks TMAH!
Hi GT - What you're seeing is just two orders of each. I put everything into those trays so folks wouldn't recognize them easily. You'll get 10-12 wings in each order for about $6.25 - $7.95. I have the Royal Mandarin catering sheet in front of me, so here are some of the prices:
Small Tray - 40 pieces - $21
Medium Tray - 60 pieces - $29
Large Tray - 120 pieces - $55
X Large Tray - enough for a whole school of turtles - 150 pieces - $65
Hi Jenne - Thanks for coming. And I'll never, ever underestimate a Librarian again!
Hi Howie - I had a blast as well.
Hi Mr Z - Fried rice, what a great idea!
Hi Kirbie - Funny thing is; I've never been to a Filipino party in San Diego that didn't have these chicken wings!
Hi Ruby - personally, I think PP puts too much of that wonderful flavor enhancer in their wings...it's also kinda on the sweet side sometimes. And I think the oil was bad, cause these tasted like shrimp chips!
Hi Caleb - Just make sure it don't go through their window....I'm sure they've got some pretty hefty chopping implements.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 26 June 2009 at 04:52 PM
Hey Kirk that sounds like so much fun one day we need to do that with tacos :P Thanks for the research
Posted by: Masa Assassin | Friday, 26 June 2009 at 06:25 PM
Amazing. So much salt and pepper chicken wings! We like these too but don't eat it too frequently. I like the combination of the salt and pepper, as well as the crispy, yummy batter.
I can see why you rated the Golden Chopsticks place lowly. Those wings don't look very appetizing and are missing the golden color. How can a place called Golden Chopsticks end up with food that isn't golden, I do not know :).
Posted by: Eat. Travel. Eat! | Friday, 26 June 2009 at 09:54 PM