Yummy House Revisited

After my fiasco of a visit to Yummy House (no hot tea, no tendon hot pot, no ong choi, no rice!!!!), I decided to give the place a "rest". I mean, really, the signature Peking Duck really didn't impress me very much. And while the kitchen seemed a total fail during that last visit, the folks working front of house, tried their best, and it really wasn't their fault. So, six months down the line, as we hit another streak of cooler weather, I decided to revisit.....solo of course....just in case of another total fail.

The gentleman working didn't understand much English but was very nice....the current menu is a copy of a take-out menu in a plastic cover....with a good amount of writing on it.

I decided to just order what were my two favorite dishes from my previous visits.

Starting with the Suan Cai Yang Rou. Of course, the Missus would enjoy the left-overs, with our own suan cai; both the fermented cabbage and juice added.

This was not bad; the suan cai was on the mild side and there wasn't a bracing fermented savory-sourness; but I'm thinking that folks might not enjoy that as much as we do. The lamb was decently tender and really added a nice gaminess to the soup that worked real well. The sour cuts the barnyard, while adding it's own layer of cheesy-sourness to the whole thing.

I was interested to see how the Beef Tendon Stew; what I thought was the best item I'd had at Yummy House would fare this time around....and yes, they actually had it.

This was much thicker than what I'd had before; but it was really good. Great acidity from the tomatoes, the beefiness from the meat came through nicely. Well seasoned, with a mild touch of spice. My only complaint was that the larger chunks of tendon were too hard. Rich and hearty and even better than what I'd had before.

Of course there were leftovers. The Missus enjoyed the doctored up suan cai yang rou and the stew. When I showed Her the photos of the menu, She looked at the Chinese name of the place, took in what I knew about the cooks, and made a recommendation. Calvin had been wondering about the tendon stew since our last, terrible visit when they were out of everything. So, one day, when our lunch hours were synchronized we headed on over.

We did have the same two dishes from the previous visit. This time there was less tomato in the tendon stew, but the chunks of tendon was much more tender.

We also ordered the Green Beans; which were a tad over-cooked.

It was also on the oily side, but unlike the previous version of this I had, was seasoned nicely.

And then the dish the Missus told me to order; something we'd had at banquets in China, "Four Joy Meatballs"....the Northern version of Lion's Head. The Missus told me to make sure there were four...….and there was.

These were surprisingly good, a nice porkiness, with a hint of five spice. The meatballs were moist, with obviously a good amount of filler; which, in this case, helped the cause making the meatball tender and very moist. The brown sauce wasn't too salty and had just enough ginger to help cleanse the palate of the richness of the meatball.

Funny thing; in spite of the number four being bad luck (four in Chinese sounds like the word for "death" - which is why we'd never catch Yellow Cab - 619-444-4444!); but in this case it symbolizes the four joys of life. The round meatball symbolizes a "gathering".....so basically the gatherings where the four periods in life are celebrated.

So, here's the thing, we enjoyed our meal, but if you want to check this place out you may want to do so soon. It may be because I visited during lunch, but during both meals, there were no other customers in the place.

Yummy House
4633 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[RedDevil]

Your first review was pretty discouraging so I haven’t been yet but this review is better so maybe I’ll try it, wonder if I’ll make it before they go out of business?

[Kirk]

Check them out RD and let me know what you think.

[Junichi]

Completely forgot about this place. Good option to go for a quiet weekday lunch.

[Kirk]

Give them a shot Junichi....the portions are fairly large for a solo lunch, but if you're good with leftovers.

[kat]

hopefully they can improve on their food

[Derek R]

Looks interesting. I wonder if their duck has improved? I've been craving a good Beijing duck

[Kirk]

I'm hoping they last Kat!

If you try it' let me know how it is Derek.

[Derek R]

LOL I don't think I'm that brave. The most consistently decent duck I've had is from Golden City (though I haven't had their duck in ages).

[Derek R]

I've heard that Noble Chef has a pretty solid duck but have yet to try.

[Kirk]

Hi Derek - I've heard that Noble Chef has gotten better over time. Also, I've had some decent roast duck and roast pork from Hong Kong BBQ inside Vinh Hung Market in Mira Mesa....of all places.

[Derek R]

Wow - I'll have to give it a try. Thanks Kirk!

[Kirk]

Let me know what you think Derek!