Lunch Specials at FuAn Garden

During this past summer FuAn Garden officially changed course and owners. Going from Sichuan to Cantonese fare. One of the main players was a former manager of Jasmine. I tried the place and had a terrible meal. Then according to what I understand, there was a major kitchen revolt and the manager was booted. And then I noticed a sign while driving by announcing lunch specials.

Man, $6.99....how good could the food here be now? Well, with the help of Calvin, several visits were made and we got to try out a good amount of the lunch specials.

In case you're thinking that the $6.99 specials were basically going to be egg noodle soup, porridge, and vegetable dishes, you'd be wrong. I was surprised to see some seafood item, though I remained somewhat skeptical about the quality of the dishes.

So here's a rundown of the items we had; best to worst.

In terms of texture, the Salt and Pepper Squid might have been the best overall.

Notice I didn't say technique. Though the squid was impressively tender and decently seasoned, batter was peeling off the squid, showing some lack of good technique. It was also not very crisp; like the oil used for frying wasn't at optimum temp.

Coming in a close second was the Stir Fried Pork Stomach (intestines) with Chili Pepper.

Edging on being too greasy and with little or no spiciness; this was still a decent dish. The intestines were nicely prepped; just the right amount of funk and chew, the vegetables were crisp, and this was mildly seasoned, so you could make out all flavors of the peppers, scallion, intestine.

The Missus's favorite dish; at least for two of the four times I bought it was the Gailan with Preserved Pork (la rou).

This was the first lunch special item I ordered on a solo visit. The portion size was large enough that I ended taking half of it home. The Missus loves La Rou and on this first visit the gailan was perfect; the stalks cooked but crunchy, and the leaves not over cooked. The seasoning was simple which suited this perfectly. So, during my other lunch visits; I'd order this to go for the Missus. The second time it was decent; but the last two times the gailan was blanched too long and was rubbery. After which, the Missus stopped requesting it.

It's hard to mess up simple Soy Sauce Noodles. Which might be the only thing over priced on this $6.99 menu.

The noodles were on the hard side, the presentation left something to be desired, and this was bit too salty.

The Eggplant in the Eggplant with Fermented Bean Curd; basically Yu Hsiang ("Fish Flavored"), was much too sweet and this was on the greasy side.

Though the texture of the eggplant was fair.

The Bittermelon with Black Bean Sauce was terrible.

An overcooked, greasy-gloppy mess, displaying some haphazard wok skills. Way too salty; bitter garlic....'nuff said.

Perhaps my least favorite item here...mainly because of flavor and portion size, the Roast Duck Rice.

Well geez, look at all that broccoli. This was basically the bottom two thirds of a duck leg with the meat and skin splayed out to make it look like more than it was. This was mostly bone. The skin was pleasantly crisp, but had very little of the beany-salty-sweet tones of a good roast duck. The meat was super bland. The rice was on the hard side and I wish they'd put a bit more jus on the rice. Well, I made fun of the broccoli, but that might have been the best item on this plate.

It's hard to complain too much about a $6.99 lunch item. Some things were decent and a good value; others rather uneven. One of the women who works here is very nice. I'd say while your mileage may vary, it might be worth checking out the lunch specials here. It might even be a good alternative to Golden City once in a while. It's even cheaper too.

Fuan Garden Seafood Restaurant
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[kat]

still cheap even if it is hit or miss

[Kirk]

Very cheap Kat!

[Soo @ hungryones]

The fried rice and chow mein is tempting. I gotta eat leftovers this week...

[Kirk]

There's always next week Soo!