Chicken Wing Thing: Phuong Trang, Tajima, and Huynh Hoa Tuu

Anyone out there kinda obsessive about things? I'll be the first to admit that I love chicken wings..... I mean I've created a category for them. To add to the obsession, I've even created my own little "value scale" for chicken wings.....  I automatically divide the price of the wings by the number of wings in an order. Of course taste is king.... but I gotta admit at Kyochon level price levels,$1 a wing, it better be pretty darn good. I guess that's why I've thought Royal Mandarin's Salt and Pepper wings at $7.95 for an order, which usually contained 14 wings (about 57 cents per), was a bargain. I hope they reopen soon. For some reason, I've kinda drawn a mental "line" of 79 cents a wing, as being reasonable. Of course, Tebasaki Wings are in a category all their own. Weird, I know.......

Anyway, I've had a couple orders of wings from different places (surprise!) in the last couple of months, and here's a short round-up.

Phuong Trang - Butter Chicken Wings:

In the comments area of my post on City Dragon's chicken wings (at 7 for 6.99 was in Kyochon territory, and believe, it wasn't even close to Kyochon), "Arlene" mentioned that the chicken wings at Phuong trang might be worth chicking ummm, checking out. 

The item mentioned was the "Butter Chicken Wings", and take a while to cook, at least fifteen minutes. So if you order these, and your Com Tam or Bun comes out first, the "appetizer sin" occurring, at least you can be sure you get some hot and sizzling wings.

At $8.95 for a dozen wings, this runs to about 75 cents each, which is reasonable. The wings are juicy and sizzling hot, these are more crusty than crunchy, as the batter turns out to be kinda crumbly. It deteriorates quickly, and gets to be kinda greasy.... but, hey they are called "Butter Wings", right? I thought these were kinda high on the salty scale, and I like salty wings....

Decent price, but overall, just ok.

Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima Sushi and Japanese Tapas Restaurant:

On one of my visits to Tajima "2", I ordered the fried chicken wings. I thought at $5.95 this was pretty inexpensive.... but with only five wings, these broke the Kyochon price ceiling:

These are what I call "dipped wings" and are made much like my Garlic Chicken, where chicken is first battered and fried, and then dipped into a mixture right after frying. These were nice and sticky, but very low on the flavor scale, edging toward sweet. The batter wasn't very crunchy, and the meat was on the dry and chewy side. 

In my opinion, not worth the price.

Tajima Sushi & Japanese Tapas Restaurant
4411 Mercury St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Huynh Hoa Tuu - Hot Wings:

Update - Huynh Hoa Tuu has closed.

After all the dishes I've had at Huynh Hoa Tuu, you know I had to check out the "Hot Wings".  At $5.95 for 7, this was on the high side with regards to price, but still below the "Kyochon line".

These wings were battered and fried, then cooked, a la Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, but with the addition of a sweet and spicy Nuoc Mam Cham(fish sauce) style sauce. These were still crunchy, and the flavors came through very well.... salty, but in a good way, with some depth. Some of the garlic had been burnt, which caused some bitterness, but on a later visit with some FOYs it was done better. There was some decent spice, and the hints of sweetness helped.

Overall, like much of what Huynh Hoa Tuu serves; good beer food.

Huynh Hoa Tuu
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

So there you, three more orders of Chicken Wings served up! Much thanks to FOYs (Friends of Yoso) like Arlene without whom I'd be chicken-wing deprived (or is it depraved???).

Comments

[kat]

mmm!

[Sandy]

I like the "Kyochon line"; it's kind of like baseball's Mendoza line, but in reverse.

Since Royal Mandarin is out of commission, we've gotten wings from a couple of other restaurants using your comparison post. My family's verdict: we miss Royal Mandarin!

[janfrederick]

Are you *sure* you like wings? Seems like only one of the versions really did it for you. :)

Hey, ever see Endless Summer II? Your new nickname should be Wingnut. ;)

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Yes, a "chicken wing thing"

Hi Sandy - There's another place for you to try.... coming up in a future post.

Hi Jan - I have standards you know..... Wingnut, LOL!!!

[Rosa]

Kyochon...mmmm. I tried it for the first time about a month ago. Opted for a half soy-garlic/half spicy "whole chicken" which only set me back around $20... Agreed that it was pricey but it was darn good eats. The spicy burned though so either the location I went to was very generous with the spicy or my tolerance is diminishing...

[Carol]

Mmmm, chicken wings...That's all I have to say. (Wingnut! chortle-snort-snort!)

[Cheezpweez]

Have you tried BBQ Chicken on 4768 Convoy? Its not bbq, its "best in best quality" and they use olive oil to fry their chicken wings... my personal favorite is their sweet/spicy ones, though.

[Arlene]

Hi Kirk, Is salt & pepper chicken wings a San Diego phenomenon? My brother in LA and sister in HI had never heard of them...only salt and pepper shrimp. Do you know any restaurant in LA or Long Bch area that sells them?

[Christina]

I love the tamarind wings at Quehuong!! So tasty.

[Derek]

Hey Kirk,

If you haven't tried them yet, the wings at Sab-E-Lee are just yummy. Lightly fried with garlic and crispy and then touched with some nam-pla. Very good ^-^

[Faye]

The Phoung Trang looks yummy. Did it taste like 'butter' at all? I love your chicken wing posts! All hail to the Chicken Wing master...

[Kirk]

Hi Rosa - I still have problems paying that much for chicken....

Hi Carol - Are you calling me a Wingnut?? ;o) he-he-he.....

Hi Cheezpweez - I've done a post on BBQ Chicken:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2008/10/bbq-chicken---b.html

Frankly, I wasn't too impressed. It doesn't help that on my last two visits, they screwed up my order.

Hi Arlene - I'm pretty sure that other places have them on the menu.... but the S&P wings phenomenon is pretty much a San Diego kinda thing.

Hi Christina - I'm partial to the Fish Sauce wings there!

Hi Derek - I've had them...tasty but they don't hold the crispness for very long.

Hi Faye - LOL! No butter taste really. BTW Huynh Hoa Tuu and Que Huong have them on the menu as well.... so maybe one day soon... ;o)

[H]

there is this place off of plaza blvd 805 that has island food...near red ribbon and popeyes. They have 6 chicken wings for 2.99 special. I found them to be gigantic and crunchy. wish i could remember the name!

[Kirk]

Hi H - A & D Hawaiian BBQ????

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2009/06/a-d-hawaiian-bbq.html

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2009/06/salt-and-pepper-chicken-wings-the-challenge-a-comparison-of-salt-and-pepper-chicken-wings/comments/page/2/

[Derek]

Hey Krik,

Very much so... I've always enjoyed eating them fresh in the restaurant but the one time I got them to go I was sad they lacked the "crunch." I know you did the top wings in National City... who would you say has the top wing in the Clairemont/Convoyish area?

[Michelle]

Hmmm...Kirk they executed the vietnamese butter chicken wings very poorly then =( It's just a matter of dusting the wings with a mixture of corn starch+curry powder+salt+sugar, deep fry them. Then dip the wings in a sauce that include melt butter + garlic + curry powder.

[Kirk]

Hi Derek - I might just do that..... though I haven't been very happy with what I've gotten in the area.

Hi Michelle - With regards to Butter Wings, it's kinda funny. Every version has been different. I've had them sorta "wet" and with a chili sauce, and they were called Shaken Butter Wings, I've had them with tons of black pepper (not very good), I've had them really greasy and buttery, so when I order "butter wings" I never know what to expect.

[Rosa]

Yeah...I don't know if I'd go to Kyochon regularly. I'd have to have a very specific craving to dish out $20 again. But thinking about it, the 2 boxes did provide me with enough chicken for a meal (with rice and banchan) for 3 days. So that's about $7/day...hahaa...still expensive.

[zompus]

Hi Kirk!

Too bad, the chicken wings here sound a bit disappointing. I got lunch from 99 Ranch the other day and the fried chicken wings there were terrible! Like they forgot to season the wings before they fried them.

I remember liking the ones at Schezuan Garden in Mira Mesa, but it has been a few years since I've been there.

[Jess]

What do you think of the wings at Sam Woo? I only remember being super thirsty all night afterwards...