Wong's Golden Palace- La Mesa

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog and Cathy is today's blogger, not reviewer. (Reviewers get paid to do stuff like this.) Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy with other stuff. 

 If you have been East on University Avenue, you've seen this place. 

Wong's Golden Palace has been in La Mesa for about 42  years.

You can tell by the exterior. 

You can tell by the decor.

as well as the tabletops...

and sturdy ceramic dinnerware.

Then there is the menu . 

We had been here years ago, but not lately and chose some items we felt were pretty 'safe'... and to satisfy a craving I had... 

Egg Foo Young ($6) and chicken liver chow mein ($7.00)

I always like my egg foo young to be vegetables only, no meat.  This serving was three patties, properly fried, and served with gravy, but it was a very plain white gravy which had no flavor, only a smooth texture.  The patties were mostly bean sprouts with some onions and all was crispy but not overly flavored.  I had to add soy sauce to give it some 'kick'.

The chow mein noodles (soft, not fried) were excellent.  There were at least 12 chicken livers sauteed without a batter or flour and quite a bit of carrots, onions, fresh and plump snow peas and bean sprouts.  

Our third dish was the "Wong's Special Sizzling" ($9.50). A large sizzling platter of chicken, shrimp, ham, mushrooms, onions and more of the fresh snow peas. Served "spicy"...

You read that right.  Ham.

It was pretty much BBQ pork without the glow-in-the-dark-pink coloring.

Really, I see more people here in the bar area, and the American menu.  Even in the morning on weekends.

...but I just can't take pictures.  The $6 Steak and eggs or pork chop and egg breakfast is a great deal...

The Mon-Fri 1/2 pound burger and beer is quite nice, for those of you who want a beer at 11 a.m.  The burger is cooked to order; they will make it medium rare and it is very good.  The bun is toasted.  Again, eating alone in a bar on a Tuesday taking photos was just not in the cards for me.  It was kind of sad that I was drinking alone anyhow...

Not fancy, not fantastic, but still bringing in patrons daily.

Wong's Golden Palace 7126 University Avenue La Mesa 91941 (619)465-9222 website

Comments

[Gastronomer]

Cathy - Thanks for the write up. I've been wondering about this place for years and years. I used to live atop of Yale. The prices seem very reasonable. I may have to eat here just for the old school factor.

[Keahi Pelayo]

Looks like some really good food. Good job.
Aloha,
Keahi

[Carol]

Not so sure about that Egg Foo Young (kind of looks like southern fried steak) but the sizzling platter looks yummy!

[Kirk]

Hey Cathy - The first thing that came to mind when I saw the gravy was, "stick a couple of hamburger patties under that gravy, some rice, and you'd have a Foo-Loco, or maybe Young Loco"! ;o)

[sawyer]

6 bucks steak and eggs is a great deal. that place def. looks old school. 42 years my god...that's crazy. never heard of chicken liver chow mein but it sounds pretty good actually

[Andy (美國土子)]

Egg Foo Young is one of those dishes I've heard of but have never actually seen on a Chinese menu nor have I ever tasted it, so I decided to Google it. Interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_foo_young

and parse it through CantoDict

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/39194/

Now if I could only figure out what a Rangoon is in Chinese ;)

[nhbilly]

I'll join you ;-)

[Cathy]

You never walked in, Gastronomer? It seems to always be crowded with locals. You can get Chinese food, American food or a combination, depending on your mood. The onyx and gold sparkles embedded in the tabletops are mesmerizing.

Thanks Keahi.

The EFY patties were quite perfectly formed, Carol. The sizzling platter was good with a nice spicy kick.

Foo Young Loco...ooh a $5 Friday post is coming to mind...Thanks Kirk!

So you read the post did you, Sawyer...Yeah. Breakfast steak and eggs. For cheap. The American side of the menu has fried chicken livers (which I blogged from the Chicken Pie Shop, as well as in an omelette at DZAikins) so when I saw that chicken livers were on the menu on the Chinese side...I had to.

I kind of see egg dishes as binders for leftovers, Andy...you know fritattas, omelettes, Foo Young. I have tried EFY at various places and blogged them. Super Wok was by far the best I have had, with the one from Flaming Wok a close second. Rangoon is just a shape, I think. :)

Thank you Bill. Always more fun to eat lunch with someone. ;)

[ringoxcore]

the bf is obsessed with this place. i have no idea why. for what you pay, the portions arent spectacular either.

the waitresses are always super friendly, however. and their cocktail menu is tres sublime!

[ed (from Yuma)]

Love the post. Thanks for linking to that menu. What a classic old school place. Looks a lot better than the one I grew up with.

Actually, I think Rangoon is a reference to the capital of Burma. Probably a coinage by Trader Vic's or some other American restaurant.

[cathy]

Welcome to this side of the blog, Ringoxcore. Portions aren't huge and The Mister and I always get three items wherever we go (one for each of us and 'one for the table') so we always have leftovers. You are right, the cocktail menu is very nice. Be nice to your bf. It must be some sort of old memory triggering.

You are right ed. I should've used that Google toolbar right up there on the monitor...I remember Trader Vic's...foreverago.

[Andy (美國土子)]

Cathy, what is that sauce on top of the egg foo young.

The tables with gold speckled marbling is classic.

reading the menu..... 鍋雲吞 is translated to be War Won Ton... next stop, the Imperial Army!

[Cathy]

Hi again, Andy- It was a simple gravy, smooth and with some onion bits in it. I think they made it with vegetable water, because I got the vegetable EFY and not a meat based EFY, which is served with a meat based gravy. It is such a classic old style place. I love it here.

[mark]

we always grt the chicken chow mein
with cruchy noodles on the side the chicken frird rice and the crunchy honey chicken comes with steamed rice.comes to about 25.00 dollars and is alot of food.and yes the people are very nice

[Cathy]

The portions here are very large, mark. I never tried the honey chicken...but I will. Welcome to our blog and thanks for the tips.