Liang's Kitchen

** Liang's has closed

There was a bit of a buzz when Liang's Kitchen first opened during the fall of last year. Not so much for us though, since a couple of years back we had a most horrendous meal and service at Liang's in Irvine...so bad that I wouldn't do a post on it. So even if I'd be willing to visit Liang's here in San Diego, the Missus will not.

Actually, the Chinese name of the restaurant,  translated as something like "Mama Liang's home style military dependant village kitchen, is perhaps a more apt description of what Liang's serves. Now before you go off and think this will be something reminiscent of mess line slop, stop for a moment. When the KMT retreated to Taiwan, housing had to be built for those fleeing. Settlements were funded by the military and built with the intent of being temporary housing. It was believed that people would only have to live in these villages for a short time until the ROC defeated the Communists and folks would move back to their homeland. This of course, never happened. Over time these villages comprised of people from all over China developed social networks and a sense of community. A nice article on these villages can be found here, I particularly enjoyed the story of "Ho" from Shandong:

"After Ho retired from the military, he opened a breakfast store in the village selling traditional Shandong dishes like steamed buns, fried dough sticks and salty soybean milk which became quite popular among villagers and even nearby Taiwanese residents."

Liang's claims to serve the diasporic cuisine of those villages, using the sentimental value  to draw folks in.

Since Liang's first opened, I've visited five times with mixed results. In the beginning, the prices seemed to change, always in the "up" direction...perhaps three times on items like the Niu Rou Mian and Niu Rou Chuan. Once I was served by a young lady wearing flip-flop like sandals and grey sweat pants. I will say that my last two visits have been the best, as the prices and service have finally evened out a bit. Not quite sure about the food yet....

The first two times I had the Niu Rou Mian (Beef Noodle Soup), I was less than pleased.

 On the first visit, the broth had been flavored by what the Missus calls "the wave method", as in the soup tasted like someone had waved a beef bone over it to flavor it. The beef was fairly tender, but dry and cold in the center. I selected the regular noodles, which were prepared nicely. On the second visit, the broth was better, but too sweet, the beef was still pretty dry, and the "Lapian Handmade Noodles" tough and gummy. The broth also seemed low with regards to anise flavor as well.

However, on my last visit, I ordered the Beef  Tendon version and was rewarded with a decent bowl.

 Even though the broth still didn't have enough anise or beef flavor for me, it was hot, not too sweet, not overly salty, and most of all, not bland. The beef tendon was very nice, soft and almost buttery. The pieces of beef were still the same, too dry and stringy for me. Ditto for the handmade noodles, too gummy and over-worked.

Still, I felt pretty happy about the whole situation, until FOY (Friend of Yoso) the "Zompus" asked me, "since when is one out of three good, other than in baseball." I'm hoping that I improve on that slow start during future visits.

On one of my visits, I had the Niu Rou Chuan - the Beef Roll, which was then something like $6.50, but the last time I looked at the menu was up to $7.25.

The sesame bread was too dry as was the beef. I did enjoy the addition of what I believe is Ji Cai, pickled mustard greens, which adds a nice palate cleansing salty-sour component to this, but overall, I didn't care much for it.

When I mentioned this to another FOY "Liver", I was instructed to order the Pork version instead. Which is what I did on another visit with my good friend Candice.

The fat and the flavor of the pork added to the dish.

During our visit we tried a couple of other items.

The Special Red Pork Cutlet($5.25) had a nice light-crunchy texture.

Mild sweetness, though not much else that stood out.

The stuffed squid ($6.99) served cold.

Would have been a real winner if they removed the quills from the squid before they stuffed them. Biting into the squid, then being stabbed by the plastic like quills makes for a rather unpleasant experience.

The Stewed Pigs Feet ($6), in my opinion could have been stewed much longer and needed a flavor injection.

It was like eating hard rubber......

And that's kind of how it's gone for my meals at Liang's. I'd try something like the Salty Pork Stuffed Chili ($5 when I tried it, now $5.50).

Which was indeed salty, but in a good way. You'll also play a bit of chili-roulette with this one as some of the peppers were hot, but other not. The roasting of the peppers also adds a bit of sweetness.

Then I'd order something like the Salty Duck ($6.75). If I'd gotten something 1/10th of what I had in Nanjing or even half-way close to what I get in the SGV, I'd have been happy.

But this was very dry, tasted salty, but also a bit "refrigerator-rancid"......I tried to explain to the yong lady working, but she either didn't, or pretended not to understand. I opted to cut my losses and retreat.

If you like variety, you'll get it here. Is the NRM the best in San Diego? In a town of blind men, is the one-eyed man king? Ditto the Beef Roll..... They also say "nothing ventured, nothing gained", here's hoping that your ratio of gains to ventures is a good one. For balance please read Kirbie's posts and Gastro-bits post on Liang's.

Liang’s Kitchen
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

 

 

Comments

[kat]

too bad about this place.

[BeefNoGuy]

Yeah Liang's is now a California wide empire, and what appeared to have started in earnest in San Gabriel Valley is now a money making machine with very little thought put into quality, execution, and delivery. It is quite sad. On the upside, Savory Garden which I visited for the first time last month at 99 Ranch San Diego is not bad, and offers a similar kind of menu, but smaller.

By the way I spent quite a bit of time on your blog prior to visiting SD last month, so thank you so much for what you do. Had a blast trying Pt Loma sea urchin at Little Italy Farmers Market too!

[Christine]

Taiwanese beef noodle soup!!

I really need to try and find a good recipe, cause there aren't any restaurants in Ottawa that attempt to serve Taiwanese fare. =[

[ed (from Yuma)]

You should get extra points for persistence. I woulda quit trying after a couple lousy visits.

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Yeah, they have consistency issues.....

Hi BNG - Thanks for reading and taking the time out to comment. I hope you enjoyed San Diego. We've been to Savory Garden a couple of times....so that post is coming up. Love your blog BTW.....

Hi Christine - I looks forward to checking out your version of NRM.

Hi Ed - Folks kept telling me how either "good" or how "terrible" the place was......some folks loved the NRM, so I really had to try to find out what they were talking about.

[Janfrederick]

-1 for the squid prep!

[Jason]

Ahhh... the neverending quest for a really good bowl of NRM in San Diego. Just imagine if someone opened up a shop here that served terrific NRM, they'd be packed constantly.

[Faye]

I've been here a few times as well and found each visit inconsistent as well. And yeah, it's a bit tacky how they've raised the prices on their 'popular' items. Makes no sense. And i hate it how they cross off the price on the menu and just hand write in the new 'up' prices. But their thick noodles are terrible - so doughy, thick, under cooked or something. Their regular noodles are so much better.
Can't wait to read your Savory Garden review - visited there once and wasn't too impressed.
Happy New Year Kirk!

[kirbie]

Finally, your review! I think it's crazy how this place has been so popular and been able to open so many locations, and all of it really does seem to be based on playing up to the emotions of those missing the military village culture and cuisine. I've been served by that gray sweat pants girl several times, haha.
This place is definitely inconsistent with its dishes, but I find myself coming here more than I really should be, and then get mad at myself for spending more money here.

[Kirk]

Hi Jan - Yes, that's about right.....

Hi Jason - You're right, I'm thinknig if it was good and priced right they'd do really well, especially when the weather is cold and rainy like today.

Hi Faye - I agree, totally agree. Xin nian Kuai Le!

Hey Kirbie - I could easily be accused of doing the same....quite easily, as I wonder what the heck am I doing here again.

[Stephen]

Bummer on your experience. You are persistent, that's for sure.
Umm, I believe it's a health hazard for a waitress to be serving food, wearing flip-flop sandals on her bare feet. And wearing grey sweatpants! Blech! I would have gotten up and left. There is no excuse for that, and the fact that the squid was served with the quills shows carelessness in the food prep.

[jeff c]

Kirk and the gang @ mmmyoso, just wanted to wish you all gung xi fa cai. I enjoy this blog so much because I know how passionate you all are about putting this together for us to enjoy week after week. I really appreciate.
happy Lunar nEw Year!

[Kirk]

Hi Stephen - I hope the flip flops were just a one time mistake, though based on some of the comments above, the grey sweats are still being worn.

Xin Nian Kuai Le Jeff! Best wishes for the New Year to you and the family. It's always nice to hear from you!

[Angela W]

Have you tried the niu rou mien at mr. dumpling behind 99 ranch? iI loke that one quite a bit.

[Kirk]

Hi Angela - No I haven't tried the NRM from Mr Dumpling. To tell you the truth, I've never had a good meal from Mr Dumpling, but will go and check out their NRM. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Carol]

Happy belated gong xi fa cai, Kirk! Oh, those Salty Pork Stuffed Chili looks like something from "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Funny, that was one of the better items I had at Liang's.

[Catty Critic]

Man, that space has changed ownership so many times!

[Kirk]

Hi CC - Yes, you're right, at least five times that I recall, New Shanghai => Jamillah Garden => Crawdaddy's => Soju House.....sheesh.

[sofunsd]

great article, i gotta say their food has improved.