If you ever want my undivided attention, all you need to do is say "chicken wings". If you've read through enough posts, you know that I kinda have a thing about chicken wings..... from Fish Sauce Chicken Wings at Que Huong to trying my hand at making Chicken Alice's legendary Chicken Wings, and Kyochon, to the granddaddy of them all; doing a Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing tasting. I guess I've got a thing 'bout them wings.......
Recently, I got a taste of some wings from a Chinese fast-food joint called City Dragon. It really wasn't too bad. I thought the name sounded familiar, and sure enough when I drove up to the place, I realized I had been there before.
Located next to Ray's Mexican Restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard, I'd actually once gotten some pretty generic Chinese food from this place.
And the menu does nothing to persuade you that City Dragon is nothing but another of the possibly hundreds of Chinese Fast Food joints littering strip malls through out San Diego. In fact, just a quick glance at the generic menu, and interior makes me want to turn right around and walk out. I can't even bear to place it in the Chinese Food category......
But of course, I just had to check out those wings...which is what I did. They are called "Dragon Spicy Wings" and are $6.99 per order. It is fried to order and takes about fifteen minutes or so. So meet the wings......
From a value point of view, this ain't cheap, 7 wings for $6.99, that's Kyochon territory, and this is no Kyochon. No rice, nothing else, not even a fortune cookie for me. The flavor is decent, a bit of heat, good salt, could use a bit more garlic. The wings are moist. The batter could probably use a bit more leavening, as these did not hold up too well. I'd have appreciated a bit more of a crunch.
In the end, I guess if you'd stick one of these under my nose, I'd gladly consume it. But you wouldn't lose a finger in the process. In other words, I don't think these are worth $1 a wing. Still, this got me wondering how many of these little places have something on the menu, ala Fortune Cookie Express's Chowmamein? So maybe you can tell me?
City Dragon
2885 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
I always thought this place was too suspicious to go in. Glad you checked it out. You know the name of the place reminds me of some Karate/Kung Fu place for some reason?
Can we do a sample of wings from different places sometimes? I love salt and pepper chicken. I can eat 20 wings or so...with rice of course.
Posted by: Tammy | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 09:02 PM
I think some people are just wing people. My mother loves them and her dad loved them, but I don't care for them. I think it's great that you do wing comparisons. That was a great post!
Posted by: Lynnea | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 09:24 PM
no rice?! what a rip-off!
Posted by: kat | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 09:30 PM
Hi Kirk, a wing offer is definitely hard to turn down, ha. ;) I'm also a pretty big kung pao chicken fan myself but I found CD's with too much tenderizer for me personally.
Posted by: Dennis | Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at 09:55 PM
$1 a piece?? You are paying too much.
Posted by: RONW | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 02:31 AM
DANG! What a riiiiiip. But if you got some wing fetish by all means take care of it. ;-) It does look good too bad the results doesn't stand up.
Posted by: bill | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 05:16 AM
Hi Tammy - Hey, anytime....though I think only you and I will be able to last thorugh more than three different places.
Hi Lynnea - Yes, I think you're right. Folks either love 'em or hate 'em....
Hi Kat - Yeah, no rice.....
Hi Dennis - LOL! I've found the other food there to be mediocre at best.
Hi RONW - You sound like a GEICO commercial... ;o)
Hi Bill - At a buck a piece, they better be good.....
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 08:04 AM
Mmmm!!! I love wings too! Sam and I eat at this KFC joint (Korean Fried Chicken) and the mix comes with drumsticks and wings... he eats the drumsticks and I get the wings!
You guys REALLY need to visit SF area! Your post reminds me of my fav wing place in the city...
Posted by: Vicky (SF Bay Area) | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 08:19 AM
Hi Vicky - Yes, I really need to get up North.... I just need more vacation time, along with a spare stomach.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 08:38 AM
Hi Kirk - The wings are expensive indeed. I like some of that myself but at a $1 is just a little too high for me. At the same time, I notice the chicken wings price per pound have been going up.
Posted by: Dallas | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 10:41 AM
Hi Dallas - Funny you should mention that. I recall reading about a national chicken wing shortage, and found the article here:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-11-13-chicken-wings_N.htm
That may be driving prices up.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 18 November 2009 at 10:54 AM
I love wings too! Have you had the wings at Phuong Trang? Was just there on rainy Saturday and had to try them. They were not too crunchy or garlicky but had a nice marinated flavor.
Posted by: Arlene | Monday, 30 November 2009 at 06:42 PM
Hi Arlene - You know, I'm not a big fan of Phuong Trang....but I'll check out the chicken wings for sure! Thanks for the recommendation.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 30 November 2009 at 09:23 PM