Revisits - Tasty Noodle House and Great Wow

A couple of revisits for a quiet Thursday:

Tasty Noodle House:

For some reason, I was craving Zui Ji - "Drunken Chicken" and I thought the version at Tasty Noodle House had been pretty good on previous visits. So I headed over and braved the worst parking lot on Convoy....good thing they open at 11am....there were still three open parking spaces; albeit two of them were partially taken by very "thoughtful and considerate" folks in gigantic SUVs that they aren't able to park like normal folks.

As with previous visits, the staff here are pretty nice.....except that they were out of the Wined Chicken! The young man recommended the Steamed Chicken with Spicy Sesame Sauce....so, thinking this might be something along the lines of Ko Shui Ji. This is what arrived.

Well, the one good thing about this dish; the chicken was nicely prepared, meaty, and moist. But that super thick, "un-spicy", gloppy sauce with too much sesame paste.....well, I think that's a apt description.

On a previous visit, I thought the Chao Nian Gao (stir fried rice cakes) were decent, so I ordered that as well.

I think these folks kind of undercook the rice cakes a bit, but it's not terrible. The pork was tender, though I think it needed a bit more seasoning, especially in terms of sesame oil (I know, if I really wanted sesame flavor I could have dipped this in the tar pit from the chicken dish), though the vegetable (Jì Cài) added a mild bitterness and a textural counterpoint. 

I was kind of bummed as my craving wasn't satisfied. I hope the next time I visit, they'll have the drunken chicken.

Tasty Noodle House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Great Wow:

It's been just about 2 months since Great Wow opened. So it was time for a revisit...plus, I wanted some jiaozi.

They have a proper menu now; with quite a few dishes. Though I was basically here for the dumplings....I'll save trying some of the other dishes (no kung pao chicken or hot and sour soup for me from here though - wrong region if you didn't know....and based on what I've read, a lot of folks don't know).

I placed my order and was entertained watching the guy with the electric fly zapper work his way through the dining room. Not quite the most appetizing lunchtime sight....but for me; after watching that girl enthusiastically work her way around the lobby with one in Phnom Penh....well, I just can't help but smile.

Other than the pork hocks, I hadn't enjoyed the liang cai; cold dishes at GW much. But for some reason, I wanted to try the spicy potato strings. The Missus loves Her Sichuan style potato strings. This version was not bad.

It was lightly spicy, with a mild numbness as well. The potato was nice and crunchy. And while I've been indoctrinated into wanted a good amount of vinegar on my Chinese style potato dishes, this was not bad....though perhaps it could have used a bit more salt.

This time around; I just went with what I consider the most basic jiaozi....pork and cabbag.

First thing I noticed was that these weren't as plump as what I'd had here before. Also, whomever was making the dough for this had worked it too hard as it was too chewy and almost hard. The filling was fine, nice pork flavor, but could have used a bit more seasoning.

I think I'll stick to the Pork, Shrimp, and Chive. I didn't see pork and celery dumplings on the menu anymore. And one of these days I may try one of the entrees....though don't hold your breath!

Great Wow
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Junichi]

Man, that's the worst. Craving unfulfilled. Bummer on the hard dough.

[Kirk]

Yeah....now I'm craving it even more Junichi!

[Jenne B]

Did you try the beef pies? Those were our favorites!