***** Gaya Gaya has closed
About a week-and-a-half ago, one of the folks in the office told me that Sarap had changed owners.
A day later, I read in the Eater that DJ Tangalin had taken over the spot and renamed it Gaya Gaya.
While I thought my meals at Bivouc Ciderworks were a bit of a mixed bag, I was interested in checking the place out. As were a couple of other folks so we headed on over.
The interior looks a bit more spacious; the rather huge benches and tables had been removed and things spaced out a bit better. Other than that things looked pretty much the same. The "Sarap" signage is still up, but one look at the menu and you know it ain't the same place. The names of the dishes are familiar, but reading the descriptions, well, it was now a different world. There seemed to be fusion touches to many of the dishes.
Of course; there were those that were excepted.
It had been ages since I've had decent Balut….but man five bucks! Whatever, I decided to try it. No one else around the table wanted to join me though.
In most cases; I've had it overcooked, which really didn't help texturally. Also, the nice "fowl-ly" flavors are lost. This was nice, soft, juicy, savory, with a light mustiness. I have a couple of stories about the first couple of times I had balut back home in Hawaii; but I'll save that for another day. I really enjoyed this version as it wasn't over-cooked.
The Bicol Express ($15) here is served with mussels.
While I missed the spice (thus not really Bicolano in my mind) and the usual good dose of bagoong; the mussels were tender and those twice cooked potatoes did well in the dish. This dish seemed more Thai than Filipino to me. Still, not bad.
The Bagoong Fried Rice ($6) on the other hand was terrible.
The rice wasn't coated well; there were many clumps and some really hard pieces of rice. Not enough bagoong for our tastes. All of us had eaten the bagoong fried rice at Sarap, which was much better than this.
Calvin just had to order the "Award Winning" Tuna Poke ($13).
Maybe it's because I just got back from visiting "home"; but man, this was bland. It seemed so good while reading it through on the menu; but the fish wasn't coated well enough, not enough white shoyu. The fish itself was fine, moist, tender, but was just so bland.
Next up; the Crispy Pata ($19).
This was interesting; the pata seemed brushed with a slightly sweet glaze. It was served with a pseudo atsara which had masago in it. The soy concoction was interesting as it had a good balance of salty and sour. Sadly, the skin of the pata was really hard....not crunchy or crisp, hard. The flesh was also quite dry...not sure why the mint-dill garnish was necessary. It was disappointing.
So, a bit disappointing, but I wanted to do a revisit a few days later....sadly, I had no takers so I headed over by myself.
I decided to go with the Adobo Rice Bowl ($12). This was quite good.
The pork belly was cooked just the way I like; not falling to pieces, but super tender and moist. The sauce was a perfect balance of salty to mildly sour, with just a hint of sweet. The porkiness of the pork belly came through nicely as well. The rice was decently cooked, perhaps a bit on the dry side. The pickled cucumbers helped to cut the richness of the dish. No, it's not your typical "gut-busting" portion; but more quality than quantity.
I also decided to the order the Pinakbet ($9).
This was decent; the eggplant soft and buttery; the pumpkin was slightly firm and not mushy, with a touch of sweetness. Loved the bagoong in this....it added a wonderfully pleasing savoriness and saltiness to the dish. I did sorely miss ampalaya (bittermelon); which I think adds tannic-bitterness to pinakbet.
Overall, a decent visit. Which had me wondering; was the first visit just a fluke? So, I decided to drop by one more time. Not being particularly hungry; I just went with the Chicken Tocino Rice Bowl ($11).
Not quite sure about this....the chicken thighs didn't seem to have been marinated enough. It had a decent amount of saltiness; but really needed that fruity sweetness (usually from pineapple if I recall), and some tanginess. The color was really light and the chicken was on the dry side. The egg was overcooked for my taste; I'd have preferred easy over. The rice was moist and fragrant.
Well, not sure what to make of my visits. The Servers working, a different one on each of my visits are very friendly; but man, the space is so large, so I'm hoping they'll staff a bit better. I feel the prices would be fine for elevated Filipino food; but I'm not sure if that's what is happening here. Still, things are still on soft-opening mode. The chef was either meeting with folks or doing paperwork in the dining area on each of my visits.
I'm going to revisit in a couple of months; hopefully things will just keep on improving.
Gaya Gaya
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm
I'm sad I didn't go to Sarap while it was around =( I had been wanting to try the Lechon Kawale & crispy pata.
Posted by: Derek R | Wednesday, 15 May 2019 at 07:49 PM
pricey!
Posted by: kat | Wednesday, 15 May 2019 at 08:11 PM
Hi Derek - Why not check out Villa Manila for the crispy pata - haven't been in a while but it used to be pretty good.
Quite pricey Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 07:18 AM
My visit mirrors yours Kirk, a bit of a mixed bag. I really hope they settle in. San Diego really needs a filipino place where you can have good filipino food while drinking a few San MIgs :)
Posted by: jack | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 07:45 AM
So much potential Jack! I hope it's not wasted.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 08:07 AM
Your poke description was great. SD poke, so bland!
Posted by: RedDevil | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 08:58 AM
is that Bourdain art for sale???
Posted by: Dereck | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 09:17 AM
I liked the food at Sarap. I guess I'll have to try this new spot before it becomes something else.
Posted by: Soo | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 09:25 AM
Hmmmm. If they're still around in a few months I may give them a try.
Posted by: Junichi | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 09:55 AM
I agree RD!
I dunno Dereck; I didn't ask.
Check them out Soo.
If they are still around in a few months, I'll do a revisit Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 12:31 PM
Was interested in the Bicol Express but if it's not even spicy....
Posted by: kendi | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 12:39 PM
Hi Kendi - I think you should check the place out....but it really lacked spice....and the wonderful flavor of bagoong.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 12:52 PM
I'll check out the crispy pata at Villa Manila - thanks Kirk!
Posted by: Derek R | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 03:22 PM
no ampalaya in pinakbet is a travesty. san diego is behind in terms of the filipino food movement. hopefully this place will improve
Posted by: caninecologne | Thursday, 16 May 2019 at 04:21 PM
Let me know how you like it Derek!
I was quite disappointed CC!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 17 May 2019 at 06:50 AM
Kirk - off topic but I saw that there's a new halal Chinese place from OC coming to Clairemont (Ma's House). Hoping for some good lamb noodles and dumpling. Makes me think of Jamillah Garden from back in the day by the OG Tajima.
https://sandiego.eater.com/platform/amp/2019/5/17/18628610/orange-county-halal-chinese-mas-house-muslim-san-diego
Posted by: Derek R | Friday, 17 May 2019 at 01:05 PM
I saw that Derek. I've been to Mas' Islamic in Anaheim:
https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2010/03/road-trip-mas-islamic-chinese-restaurant-anaheim-orange-county.html
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 17 May 2019 at 01:46 PM
Ha! Thanks for the link - I had missed that one. Hopefully their suan cai yang rou has improved. Regardless, it's nice to see more ethnic Chinese coming to SD.
Posted by: Derek R | Friday, 17 May 2019 at 04:17 PM
Hi! I tried Gaya Gaya and linked to your review. Loved the lechon kawali.
Posted by: Soo | Monday, 11 November 2019 at 07:43 AM
Thank Soo! I gotta get back there soon!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 11 November 2019 at 10:19 AM