Royal Mandarin reopens and Honey Pig revisited.

Royal Mandarin reopens:

I thought it would be fun to do an ABCDE (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) post, in the midst of my posts on China. And the reopening of Royal Mandarin would do just fine. I first posted on Royal Mandarin waaay back in 2005. Most folks who have been in San Diego for a good number of years tell me that Royal Mandarin was the first place to sell the very popular version of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings in San Diego. These wings have become a staple at Filipino (and other) parties across the South Bay. Of course popularity breeds imitation, and now there are many imitators. By the time I held a Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing comparison in June of 2009, Royal Mandarin's rings had seemed ot have lost some luster. Then, on December 30th, "Johari" left a comment, and a link which detailed that Royal Mandarin had burned down. I dropped by during the beginning of January, and the sign posted said that Royal Mandarin had not given up the ghost, and was to reopen in March. On April 3rd, I dropped by and found that while the place was being worked on, the sign now said the place would reopen sometime late in April. Of course I was gone from late April through the end of May, and since returning, the last thing I really wanted was ABCDE food.... Then on June 21st, FOY "Sandy" commented telling us that Royal Mandarin had reopened. So about a week later, the Missus and I decided to drive down and see how, or if things had changed at Royal Mandarin.

 

The front counter looks the same, and they've even rebuilt the divider/waiting area that blocks the view to the dining area. For some reason the interior, though it has been brightened up, with new tile, and some strange paintings of fruits and vegetables (c'mon, when you think of Royal Mandarin, do you really think about fruits and vegetables?), it still looks like Royal Mandarin. It is, without a doubt, a good example of "lipstick on a pig".

The Missus had some concerns about the food. You see after Mandarin Canton reopened following the tragic murder of the owner. The Missus took some friends to eat there, and was disappointed. The one strong point of many of these restaurants are the fried items, and everything seemed very pale, and underflavored. After mulling theories, the Missus came up with the possible reason the food lacked color and flavor. She told me, "they must've changed their cooking oil!" In Her mind, there's a vat of well seasoned cooking oil that has seen batches of shrimp and chicken wings, and like a good wok, it had become well seasoned. Actually, if you think about it...... that would be kind of scary. But since that day, we've called examples such as that "changed oil syndrome." We both truly hoped that Royal Mandarin didn't suffer from changed oil syndrome.

Frankly, there's only one thing I really like at Royal Mandarin..... and you know what that is, right? The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings:

I was very pleased, these were even better then the last few orders of wings I'd gotten before the fire. It's like crack I tell ya'......... it was also crisp and fairly light. And yes, the full pleasures of salt and MSG is brought to it's ultimate glory.....

The Missus ordered the upside down pan fried noodles which I found disappointing.

It suffered from too little "gravy", and the noodles had a strange, almost powderiness to them. They were also too tough and chewy, and the afore mentioned lack of sauce meant that the noodles never got softer. I also can't recommend anything with chicken that's not fried. The Missus in total contrast to me, liked this.

One of the Missus's favorites here, the Salt and Pepper Shrimp with Shell, was much lighter than I recalled.

The flavor of the shrimp came through, and it was cooked well, still soft and tender, and not overcooked.

So there you have it...... Royal Mandarin.... you can still get your ABCDE Fry-o-rama on here.

Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

Honey Pig revisited:

*** Update: Honey Pig has clsoed and is now Old Village ***

Recently, the Missus wanted some Korean BBQ. And She really didn't want to spend fifty bucks, which seems to be the usual lay-out at Buga. We both thought that it would be a great time to revisit Honey Pig.

Not too much to say that I didn't cover in my previous visit. The portions are about 1/2lb, Honey Pig serves Certified Angus Beef, prices run from $8.99 to $15.99 - which is for the bulgogi which is a double portion.

There's a bit more in terms of panchan served, and the service has gotten better. All the items for "bossam" are delivered on time, and seconds are brought out on request.

 
The bulgogi here is decent, fairly tender, not overmarinated.

By San Diego standards this was pretty good.... not too sweet.

The one surprise was what FOY "YY" recommended. On the menu it is called "Natural CAB Finger Meat", and reminds me, in flavor of Tsuruhashi's Prime Skirt, a usually tough cut. In this case, it dies have a good chew, but has a nice beefy flavor to it.

The food is perhaps a step (or two) behind LA standards, but is a good alternative to the higher priced Korean BBQs in town. And it seems to be getting better everytime we visit.

Honey Pig
4681 Convoy St Ste B
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[kat]

those s&p fried items sure looked good!

[Johari]

I found a place that sells Li Hing in PB. Motu Hawaii. Ever been there? http://www.motuhawaii.com

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Yes, this place does fried quite well.

Hi Johari - Wow, they're still around. They've been there since Da' Kine's was upstairs. I used to recommend that place when folks wanted leis.

[kirbie]

Ooh, I need to go to Royal Mandarin! I've never had these salt n pepper wings, but have been wanting them ever since your taste test post. Time for a National City trip. I need more ice cream too. I just saw Honey Pig the other day and was wondering if it was any good.

[Fat Fudge]

Hey Kirk came across this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_re_as/as_china_gutter_oil

Hope you and the Mrs. weren't affected.

[Tammy]

Isn't Royal Mandarin your best place for salt and pepper chicken wings?

I notice you have salad for panchan at Honey Pig. They didn't have that when we went.

[Sandy]

I have never dined at Royal Mandarin - it's always to pick up a tray of wings! I didn't think I was really missing anything by not eating at the restaurant, although that shrimp looks tasty.

The salt & pepper calamari was pretty good, but as a party tray, it really deteriorated if you didn't eat it soon.

We have a family party next month, and already received a request for salt & pepper chicken wings.

[ruby wong]

Glad that Royal Mandarin is open again, but I like to get my ABCDE food fix over at Panda Palace which is across the street. I find that their Salt Pepper Chicken Wings are not overly dry and the the egg noodles they use for the up-side down dish is more suitable.

Mmmm.... Honey Pig looks tasty.

[Dennis]

Hi Kirk, I get overwhelmed at names of edible cow parts. My favorite is Harami, I think called outside skirt.. Not the most tender but great flavor. Anyhow the S&PCTasting was one fun day! :)

[Kirk]

Hi Kirbie - Honey Pig is ok, it is cheaper than other alternatives.

LOL FF - The Missus came across that the other day as well. And no, we weren't affected.... at least not my my knowledge.

Hi Tammy - It was, and it's still my favorite, though for a while they weren't quite up to par. That "panchan" is actually for the bossam.... did you guys have dduk and mu wrappers for your BBQ?

Hi Sandy - The S&P Wings are bascially the only thing I eat at Royal Mandarin, but the Missus likes some of their other dishes.

Hi Ruby - You know, I've gotten some pretty funky tasting wings from PP.... once they tasted real sweet, twice they had the residual taste of shrimp.....

Hi Dennis - I think the Harami from Tsuruhashi is the most flavorful cut they have.... though for some reason, I haven't been back in a while.

[Carol]

Hi Kirk! The finger meat looks like something I would enjoy. I'll have to keep Honey Pig in mind when we want a cheaper alternative.

There's a "fairly" new Korean restaurant in RB that I've been meaning to try but haven't yet. It's called Soban. Have you heard anything about that place?

[Carol]

I forgot to mention, the exec. chef of Soban was on the "liver" challenge of the Japanese Iron Chef.

[Kirk]

Hey Carol - Two people mentioned Soban to me.... but I'm waiting for more reliable info before I make my way up there.

[janfrederick]

We took our 5-year-old here for his first Korean BBQ experience this weekend. He loved it! The food was decent. However, is it standard practice for the servers to put the meat on the grill for you? I didn't see them doing that to other guests and I kind of wanted to do it myself. Also, we ordered a side of spicy tripe...but received something more akin to intestine (never see tripe look like small tubes before). It was good, but not what we thought we had ordered.

We got bulgogi and pork belly. The belly was OK, but we really liked the bulgogi.

[Kirk]

Hi Jan - They'll do that for non-Korean customers.... they try and do that for me, but I just tell them we can do it ourselves. I believe they are worried that we'll screw things up, and won't have the best experience. The Missus like the bulgogi, and it's priced fairly reasonably. You're training the little early on! I like that!