The Dragon Room at Wongs Golden Palace (La Mesa) lunches

mmm-yoso!!! is a simple blog, with each post eventually concentrating on food consumed.  Today, Cathy is showing what was consumed and where it was prepared.  Kirk is way busy at work and Ed(from Yuma) is doing his own consuming out there.

In 2009, I wrote about Wongs Golden Palace, then a 42 year La Mesa icon. I mentioned our favorite food selection, chicken liver chow mein and had a few photos of the ever so classic faux marble with gold vein tabletops.  

Near the end of that now five year old post, I mentioned the bar area and their 'specials', telling you  I just can't take photos in the darkened area. Five years later, the photos are still coming out dark.  Be forewarned.  The food is great, so I am sharing. 

The now 47 year La Mesa restaurant and attached bar, the Dragon Room, (there, to the far right) has a classic exterior (as well as interior) design, from the signage to the facade.Once inside, there are four televisions above the bar, lots of signage about specials and a large selection of beer, and liquor...(the pint beer on tap is $3.75).There's a modern juke box, foosball, pinball and of course, a pool table.Here are the best photos I can acquire of the 1/2 lb angus burger.  As you can (sort of) see, it is served on a toasted bun (sesame seeded), hand formed, can be ordered with cheese, comes with crinkle cut fries or battered whole onion rings or half and half.  $5.50, available only Monday-Friday from 11:30-2:30. It's really good. Taco Tuesdays are particularly good, if you like tacos like Mom used to make, with ground meat and packaged seasoning.  The shells can be soft or fresh-fried (my favorite) and the toppings are fresh and plentiful.  Three for $3.25 is a usual order; the five for $4.75 is a great deal, and way too much for the two of us to share.  The Fish Fry Friday ($7.50) Plate is a particularly good, large, filling meal.  On this day, we received eight smaller batter fried (perfectly fried I might add) pieces of a solid white fish, along with a lot of crinkle cut fries, cole slaw and similarly sized bowl of tartar sauce. Excellent. This plus the 1/2 lb angus burger make a very filling meal.

On every day except Tuesday, you can order from the Wongs menu and have it brought over from the kitchen (Wongs Golden Dragon is closed for lunch on Tuesday).  I did not photograph the WingsWednesday nor the weekend menu items (Steak and eggs for $8 Saturday from 9-noon is a deal; the pork chop and chicken fried steak and eggs meals, $7 each are also really good diner-type meals). Hopefully, I'll post about those before the 50th anniversary.

Again, apologies for the dark photography. We come here to eat and don't want to interfere with other patrons. 

Wongs Dragon Room 7126 University Avenue La Mesa, CA 91942 (619)464-9772

 

Comments

[Jessploitation]

Thanks for this write-up. I have always wondered about the Dragon Room because I love the exterior. I'll definitely have to go check it out!

[caninecologne]

OMG, ditto the comment above! I love that facade!

[Nhbilly]

Sounds like a nice place to visit. The tacos and burger sold it.

[Dennis]

Nice Cathy. Those crispy tacos look great, especially along with a cold one. :) I've visited a long while ago and remember dining on the restaurant side of the place.

[Cathy]

Both the Dragon Room and the Golden Palace are what I'd consider 'old fashioned' and kind of 'dive-y', Jessploitation. They've withstood the test of time and are comfortable in a non-hipster, not trying way. Welcome to the comment side of our blog.
This was my 'alternate' for breakfast/brunch the other Saturday, cc.
It's a great, local place, Bill. The food here is just great and would be so even if not in a bar setting. The person who works the fryer knows how to do it right.
Thanks, Dennis. The restaurant has some interesting selections (ham and chicken livers as proteins) and apparently the mixed drinks are a draw. The bar food is equally interesting when combined with the atmosphere; just tastes better in the dark room...

[Soo H.]

Wow! Chicken liver chow mein sounds pretty good! I must investigate further...

[Sandy]

The bar and the very-retro-exterior are like night and day (literally!). I wouldn't guess from the bar that there's a Chinese restaurant (burgers, Taco Tuesday). Although from your photos, there's no indication of Chinese food on the outside signs.

[Cathy]

It's unusually good, Soo.

Click on the underlined words in the first paragraph under the green paragraph, Sandy; that's a link to the Golden Palace post, which has all the Chinese food (and is the larger building with the glorious facade). The Dragon Room is the other side of the building, attached via a small hallway, it's in the second photo all the way to the right (looks like a smaller building). Dragon Room is the Bar area, with all the specials, but they will also bring in any of the Golden Palace menu items to you every day except Tuesday. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Sandy]

No misunderstanding, Cathy. I was just amused at the contrasts of the bar and the restaurant (and a central kitchen, I presume). It really looks like two different establishments.

[Cathy]

Oh, it was *my* misunderstanding, Sandy, hahaha! Yes, there is a central hallway joining the two buildings (the central outdoor signage indicates it is all a ramp (from parking lot and to the left to the restaurant and the right to the bar) for handicapped patrons, probably put in to follow ADA laws) and there is some small ornate 'Asian' facade on the Dragon Room roof and exterior walls...inside there are paper dragons on the ceiling (next to the mirror ball above the karaoke stage) which are some sort of beer advertisements (I added the bottom photo just now), but no, nothing really 'Asian' about the Dragon Room. Maybe they were once two different places...that makes sense about half a century ago.