Takeout from Village Kitchen

The rather recent cooler weather had the Missus craving some spicy food.....that meant it was time to start doing takeout from Village Kitchen.

Of course the Missus couldn't be bothered with actually calling the place. Luckily, I had of copy of the takeout menu.

I called and managed to get my order in.

A few minutes later I was on my way.

The restaurant actually has a couple of tables set-up; the front it almost blocked off and I stood and was handed my order and was on my way. As a bonus, the really nice woman from Kangxi is Coming was now working here! It was nice to see her.

I was interested to see how this was going to be since our last couple of visits had been rather lackluster.

Man, the portion sizes were pretty hefty.

Of course the Missus had to have the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg.

Man, there was a ton of pidan in this! In terms of flavor; it was fairly good; smoky eggplant, not enough green chili for me. It was however, super greasy.....man, how much oil did they use on this?

One of the Missus's favorite dishes; the La Rou (Smoked Pork) with Cucumber Skin was pretty good.

Decent spice, a good amount of La Rou; the crunchy, dried cucumber skin added a nice palate cleansing mild brininess, and this had a decent amount of spice as well.

My favorite dish of the meal was the Stinky Tofu "Stew".

Well, I think this might be a better look?

I always heat this on the stove; it just does better.....the slightly chewy, funky, savory chou doufu….just stinky enough for me...….which, of course meant that it just wasn't smelly enough for the Missus. Loved the savory tones, so pretty good heat here. Nice dish.

A week later, the Missus wanted me to order from VK again. This time, I noticed that the dried radish with La Rou on the menu....they'd been out of this several times on previous visit....along with the version with the smoked bamboo shoot version as well.

I decided to try and order this....which was interesting.....I called, a woman answered in Mandarin. As soon as I spoke English she hung up on me! Usually, I would just quit right here....but the Missus was at work and was looking forward to having VK when She got home. So I called again and managed to place my order.

We got the Eggplant again (with less pidan, but still just as greasy) and the Stinky Tofu Stew (even more spicy this time.....).

And of course the La Rou with Dried Radish Skin.

This was quite good; the smoked pork was not overly waxy; great smoke-salty-savory flavors. Good variety of textures. Nice spice, perhaps a bit too salty, but pretty good overall.

There are aspects of doing take-out from VK that we prefer to eating in the restaurant......service has always been a weal spot; though now that my favorite Server from Kangxi we might enjoy eating there more. But who knows when that will be as we're definitely not ready to eat out yet.

The portions we've had for takeout are quite large, the eggplant is not nearly as good for take-out; but the La Rou dishes and that smelly tofu seem to do real well for takeout.

Village Kitchen
4720 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

We're hoping everyone is staying safe this July 4th weekend. With the way things are going, bars and other places closing, Oceanside closing beach parking lots, restaurants closed for indoor dining in OC along with beach parking lots closed, beaches closing in LA, but staying open in San Diego...…..well, 'nuff said.

So, please, stay safe!

Comments

[RedDevil]

I seem to remember you saying the original VK chef left a while back and is now at Taste of Hunan, but those dishes look and sound quite good! Hope you guys get the holiday weekend off. Happy 4th!

[Hangzhou Hero]

"As soon as I spoke English she hung up on me!"

Drew a hearty chuckle from me. Have a great July 4 weekend Kirk!

[kat]

stay safe & happy 4th!

[Kirk]

Yes, he went ahead and opened Taste of Hunan....which had kinda gone downhill on my last couple of visits RD.

Glad you got a chuckle out of that HH!

Thanks Kat!