Chicken Wing Thing: BBQ Chicken, Golden City, Homestyle Hawaiian, and Empirehouse Urban Palate

Wow, it's almost been a year since I did my last "Chicken Wing Thang" post, I guess I better do some catching up. Here's a round-up of some (but not all) of the chicken wings I've had since then.

BBQ Chicken:

As a whole, I'm not a big fan of B(est of the) B(est) Q(uality) Chicken, I've found the the flavor, and Q(uality) just wasn't the B(est) I guess. I've been back a couple of times since my post back in 2008, and am really just not wowed by the chicken.

However, a couple of years back...... yes, I can't remember where I park my car in the morning, but when it comes to food my memory is sometimes quite sharp. I recall a conversion with my good FOY (friend of yoso) Howie, who passed on a terrible tale of having to eat the Sweet and Spicy wings from BBQ Chicken. He likened the experience to being helpless in the grasp of sticky napalm, unable to move with sauce burning a hole on his face and his fingers in fire. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair.... sorry Howie, I know it ain't right to laugh at someone else's misfortunes, but the expression on your face as you told us the story was priceless!

And after all those years, I decided to give those wings a try. First off, you gotta remember, this ain't fast food, even though it looks like it. It'll take a good 20-30 minutes or more for your chicken.....which is why I thought it was really funny when they actually had a drive-thru. They don't have one any longer do they? It was pretty late when I got there, so I didn't notice. Anyway, the wings aren't cheap at almost ten bucks.....at ten wings, they've crossed into "Kyochon" pricing territory.

I will say the wings are pretty large and the bright red color looked quite impressive. Though I'm fine with smaller wings since the skin to meat ratio is sometimes better.

 

The chicken had retained a good deal of crunch on the drive home, and as I mentioned before these were some pretty hefty wings. In terms of flavor, these are more spicy and sticky wings......upfront spicy, kind of sweet, but lacking in any real savory component. The lack of of complexity in the flavor really makes this a one trick pony.... it is spicy (though not even close to Quaker Steak and Lube), but that's about it in my opinion. It just seems to need something more and lacks that "I need to keep eating because I think they put crack in these wings" factor.

At a dollar a wing this really ain't worth it in my book.

BBQ Chicken
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Golden City:

You know after all my posts on Golden City you knew that someday I'd have to relent and actually try the salt and pepper chicken wings here, even though I really didn't have a good feeling about it. So here it is, in its bitter garlic, kinda soggy, dry meat glory.

 

Not enough salt, or I daresay MSG, hardly any spice......... it won't keep me from ordering Kwai Fei Chicken that's for sure.....

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Homestyle Hawaiian:

Say what? Yes, according to the sign it said Salt n' Pepper Chicken Wings. And Mo couldn't wait to have me try them.....

 

At the time I tried them; this was late last year, about the time I had the Roast Pork Loco Moco, I thought they needed a bit more leavening since they got soggy fairly quickly. The flavor had an interesting sweet tone, but not enough salt.... Mo did tell me, that at that time he wasn't using MSG..... Needed some kick to it as well. I believe that the price is now $7.50, but I did see these still on the menu.

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Empirehouse Urban Palate:

**** Empirehouse has closed

A FOY asked me to check out the Red Miso BBQ Wings ($7) at Empire House Urban Palate, a newer restaurant located at 127 University, a location that has been through several restaurants in  recent years. Ed from Yuma did a post on The Better Half which was in this location a couple of years back. Taking a cue from the various back to comfort food style cuisine that is big in gastropubs and fusion style food typical of food trucks, this place serves a line-up of burgers, hot dogs, along with chicken karaage, tacos, and of course chicken wings. Kind of an interesting stretch..... and a lot of territory to cover.

But this is a chicken wing post, so let's get down to those wings.

 

These weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination.... I just wish that there had been a bit more imagination.... these tasted more like a usual BBQ sauce, with perhaps a touch of Hoisin for some very mild beany savory flavor and sweetness. Where was the deep salty-savory flavor of Aka miso? The wings were on the smallish side which wouldn't have been bad if the skin had been a bit more crisp.

 

A bit more spice, maybe sweetness, or perhaps the kind of assertive flavor like those of Que Huong's Fish Sauce Chicken Wings...... What these did do for me is make me wonder what kind of miso glazed wings would I make? Hmmm.... folks do enjoy the Spicy Garlic-Soy Chicken wings I make......

I will say that the young ladies working here are very friendly and enthusiastic and made eating here a pleasure.

Empirehouse Urban Palate
127 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103

There you go the latest installment of chicken wings! Thanks for dropping by!

Comments

[Nate]

The Red Miso BBQ Wings at Empire House Urban Palate sure look tasty!

[Poguemahon]

Kirk...

I've tried to follow your recommendation for Homestyle twice in the last two weeks and drove 10 miles down there only to find it closed when their posted hours said it would be open. Might try one more time since this sounds so good.

[kat]

aw these didn't sound too good, hope you can find something better.

[Kirk]

Hi Nate - They were ok. I think it needs some work.

Hi P - That's terrible! If you do make it, please try the Korean Chicken. Let me know what happens. I'm kinda a regular, so Mo always asks me what I think.

Hi Kat - I hope so too!

[Faye]

Oh how i missed your chicken wings posts! I've driven by the BBQ Chicken so many times and never even had a desire to stop in. And not sure about paying $1/wing.

You are the one that good me hooked on the Phuong Trang butter wings. But in recent visits there, the wings have been sooo dry.

Have you tried the Korean chicken wings (I thought there was one here in SD but I can't remember).

[Faye]

Just went to BBQ Chicken site and realized it's Korean! I only read your previous post of this place just now. Wow, after all these years this restaurant has been there, i can't believe I just realized they have Korean chicken wings!

[Carol]

I love your wings posts, even if the wings weren't that good. The BBQ Chicken wings look really good, a little like Saveur's Korean Fried Chicken Wings (which I love!).

[Fred]

I occasionally give in to the temptation to get the fried chicken wings from the hot deli counter at 99 Ranch. They're not always good, but they're a real bargain!

I've driven by BBQ Chicken dozens, if not hundreds of times, never felt inclined to stop there. Like my dad says, some restaurant locations just have bad feng shui.

[Kirk]

LOL Faye! Yes, BBQ Chicken is the K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) joint here. I'm not a big fan.

Hi Carol - Those wings were huge; but just didn't do it for me.

Hi Fred - I should do a comparison to the wings at Yum Cha Cafe, which are also dirt cheap... and also sometimes pretty lousy! Thanks for the idea. It's really nice to hear from you. I hope all is well.