A few days ago; in the comments of my Yummy House revisit post; "DerekR" asked me for some roast duck recommendations. I mentioned having had a decent roast duck from Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum a few months back (sorry; no post on that one; but here's one from a few years ago). A couple of days later, that question, and my recommendation was still on my mind. So, with some time for lunch; Calvin and "Big Daniel" and I decided to head on over to see how things were.
We ordered four dishes....one of which made me crack up.....
The first to arrive was the House Pan Fried Noodles. Man, the potion size was quite large.
The noodles and the gravy were fine....the noodles crisp and crunchy, slowly softening from the gooey gravy, which wasn't overly salty. The proteins were a mixed bag; typical low quality dry chicken and the fish, while decently velveted had that muddy flavor of low quality fresh water fish. The shrimp were quite tender and moist, but basically flavorless. Not terrible.
"YZ's" sources had told her that along with the roast duck, the roast pork here was good. So, we ordered that.
This was the best dish of the day; thin and crisp skin, tender fat, that wasn't waxy in texture, tender meat. Good seasoning, not too salty, pretty good overall. Maybe a tad better than the roast pork we last had at Golden City.
Next up was a second carb dish....Calvin saw Minced Beef Fried Rice on the menu and got it into his head it was Wadan Oyok Fan; Cantonese Minced Beef and Egg Rice....but, there was no false advertising here as what we got was Beef and Lettuce Fried Rice.
This was so bland, the beef tough, the rice hard......iceberg lettuce brought nothing......
And last, but not least, the Roast Duck.
This was not terrible, but definitely not as good as what I'd had a few months back. The skin was crisp, the fat rendered nicely, it was on edging to the salty side, and the meat was rather tough.
So, I guess I'll wait a couple more months and try again. If that doesn't work out, it's back to the drawing board.
Overall, large portions, good prices, perhaps a notch below Golden City.
Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum
10550 Camino Ruiz(Inside of Vinh Hung Market)
San Diego, CA 92126
The Mister and I really like it here. Lunch specials are pretty good. Would choose to go here over a few other places in the same parking lot.
Posted by: Cathy | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 07:25 AM
It's a really good value and in some ways similar to Golden City Cathy!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 07:28 AM
Bummer about the fried rice. Pork looks good!
Posted by: Junichi | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 10:25 AM
The pork was the best item we had Junichi. That fried rice however, was terrible.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 10:40 AM
I've been wanting to revisit this place for a while now. The House Pan Fried Noodles looks tempting with all that gravy for some reason. Don't they also have a peking duck special here (for like $28 but one course)?
Posted by: Faye | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 11:04 AM
I heard that the chef that was here for a long time has moved on to Emerald. I was surprised when our friend suggested we go to Emerald for dim sum recently because it was pretty crummy years ago. I'd say they have raised their quality.
Posted by: Janfrederick | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 12:30 PM
Yes, I heard the Peking Duck is a good value here Faye!
So you're saying that Emerald is better now or Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum Jan?
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 12:34 PM
Their dim sum is not too bad either. You should try their wings and let me know what you think?
Posted by: TFD | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 09:18 PM
We had dim sum here in 2013 and it was beyond awful even by SDs low standards. Glad to hear they’ve improved.
Posted by: RedDevil | Monday, 29 April 2019 at 09:46 PM
i'll try their wings TFD....I'm not a big fan of their dim sum.
Hi RD - Yes, I'd stay away from the dim sum here.....like I did.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 30 April 2019 at 06:40 AM
Emerald improved. :)
Posted by: Janfrederick | Tuesday, 30 April 2019 at 02:02 PM
OK, good to know Jan!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 30 April 2019 at 02:27 PM
bummer fried rice...
Posted by: kat | Wednesday, 01 May 2019 at 01:11 AM
It was Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 01 May 2019 at 06:35 AM
Ha! You beat me to it though, I did end up having some BBQ from Sam Woo over the weekend (they're closer to home). Next time I'm up in Mira Mesa I'm going to order a duck & some pork - thanks for sharing Kirk!
Also & speaking of Dim Sum, ended up at Emerald on Sunday and was surprised by how decent it was. Doesn't hold a flame to LA Dim Sum but not bad for SD and definitely scratched the DS itch. I'd go back.
Posted by: Derek R | Wednesday, 01 May 2019 at 10:25 PM
I gotta go and check them out then. Thanks Derek!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 02 May 2019 at 07:01 AM