mmm-yoso!!!

Revisits - Chung Hing, Chicago Fire Grill, and Tenkatori

So, what would you consider a decent price for lunch close to work that's not a sandwich these days? Maybe under $14? Yeeesh, I never thought I'd ever be typing that. So, since we've gotten back from our trip, I thought about a couple of places......GyroGrill came to mind, but then I recalled that the "Gyro Combo" was $15 bucks when I last visited back in May.

After thinking over things a bit I came up with three places last week and I tried them all in a row. So here goes.

Chung Hing:

I'm not sure why Chung Hing came to mind. I'm not a fan of Chinese fast food, but I drive past the place quite often. Last time I visited; a whole 16 years ago a plate at Chung Hing was barely over five bucks! I was wondering how things were now, so what the heck.....

Chung Hing opens at 1030 and I got there at around 1045. Walking up to the shop, I noticed that "combination plates" are now $10.75, which in terms of the area is dirt cheap.

The woman working was all business. The only item I've found being close to edible here is the char siu; which is kinda their ahem, "claim to fame". So, I got the Chicken Wing - Char Siu plate with Fried Rice. They chopped the char siu fresh for me; I paid and was on my way.

    Yes, that's what the plate looked like. Man, those...in very loose quotes "won ton" were like a cardboard gau gee, time didn't do the wrapper any favors as it was quite chewy.

The fried rice was on the mushy side, but decent coated and on the salty side.

    The chicken wings were still a crisp-crunchy when I got back to the office, but had way too much MSG and had me gulping down water in no time at all.

The char siu is still the best item here, though I think it has slipped a bit over the years. It's now a bit leaner with many pieces on the chewier side. The pieces that aren't incinerated and bitter have a decent savory-sweet porkiness.

Well, at $10.75 these days I guess I got what I paid for? I have eaten at Panda Express in nearly two decades, how much do they charge now? And in that vein, we may have to wait another 16 years before I eat here again.

You can read about Soo's visit here and Mary's visit here.

Chung Hing
7160 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121

Chicago Fire Grill:

Man, had it been a year-and-a-half since I last visited? I think part of the problem is all the crazy road construction in the area with ever changing traffic patterns. Still, it had been a while since I'd seen George, so I decided to return to Chicago Fire.

The Chicago Dog, which comes with fries is now $9, up a buck since my last visit; but still under ten bucks. The young lady working the register was quite nice and George was busy working the back. 

    It seems that I had a "shift" in the tomatoes on the drive back to the office. I was just happy to have tomatoes on my dog which were MIA on my last visit. The fries, which were crisp on my last two visits, were soggy and dry this time around; though I kinda liked the pieces that had celery salt on them.

Other than the roll being on the soggy side, it was pretty much status quo, snappy dog, sport peppers, neon green relish, and all......

Still, under ten bucks......

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Tenkatori:

Well, Tenkatori is an interesting one. I will usually order the Mix Bento Box. But never online. Just for kicks I went and checked how much it was online....$16.30! I will usually call, but this time I drove down and got there right at 1030.

So, would Tenkatori's Mix Bento make the $14 cut-off? 

Well, look at the price on the menu; $12.50. Can you believe a $3.80 upcharge just for ordering online, not even delivery? Sheesh.....

    All the chicken, both the karaage and the wings were nice and crisp and very moist; nicely seasoned, a hint of soy, but not overly salty. The best I've had from Tenkatori thus far.

The mashed potato was consistent with other visits; though a bit too cold for my taste.

The one item not good on this day was the rice. Holy cow, it was so mushy and sticky, like it hadn't finished steaming. Look at how it stuck to the piece of karaage in the photo above. Maybe I should have been like FOYs Derric and Junichi, just ordering a bunch of chicken and just forgo the starches.

Perhaps next time! I will say that Tenkatori seems to have really "hit their stride" at least with regards to the chicken.

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121

When it comes right down to it. For a $1.75 more, I'll take Tenkatori over Chung Hing any day of the week......

Crispy Chicken n' Tomato (La Jolla/UTC)

Back in the comments of my "Rebuilding the Rotation" post FOY "Peter" mentioned that the La Jolla Village Square location of Padadak was being replaced by something called Crispy Chicken n' Tomato. Peter kindly included a link which indicated that the chain was the #1 Korean Fried Chicken Chain in Japan. Is that something to brag about? Hmmm.....sort of like saying Ajisen Ramen is the #1 Ramen Chain in China?

Anyway, a couple of weeks back, not sure on what to grab for lunch I decided to check the place out. I did the Google search and found that all the Padadak locations in San Diego, save the San Marcos location, though some would say that's not really San Diego had been replaced by Crispy Chicken.

The one good thing about this mall is that since the trolley stop was built there always seems to be ample parking. I arrived right at opening and sauntered on in.

The friendly young lady was an absolute joy. I placed my takeout order and was told there would be a 15 minute wait. The young lady mentioned putting in an online order, making sure I knew there wasn't any additional charges.

Of course, I couldn't help but notice the #1 Korean Fried Chicken Chain in Japan sign.

One quick note. Since when is Hiroshima in "China"? Last I heard, Hiroshima was in the Chūgoku region of Japan? Did I miss something in Geography class?

Anyway, I took a short walk and returned to pick up my order.

I had wanted to just see how the wings were without all the various sauces just to get my bearings, so I ordered the 8 piece wings Original ($14.50). A look at the fries had me thinking that they would not hold up well, even on the short trip back to the office, so I got the Onion Rings with Truffle Salt ($7).

    That's what things looked like when I opened up the boxes back at the office. I did a quick taste of the tomato topping which was super bland, you couldn't even really taste tomato. The version of Mul Kimchi provided was weird as it had a real strong anise/clove flavor that wasn't very pleasant.

As for the Onion Rings with Truffle Salt....well, the color was very dark...maybe black truffle salt??? Ahem, no, it was burnt, the breading bitter.

    And not a hint of truffle flavor to be found.

As for the wings; well, they did not hold up real well during the 10 minute trip back to the office. I found the batter to be thicker and the wings were fairly evenly coated... the pieces that weren't overly soggy were more crunchy than crisp, the seasoning also mild, apparently you do need some kind of sauce on this. The wings were on the larger side and were quite moist.

Looking over the website, I noticed that Crispy Chicken had lunch specials where you could order a bowl, yakisoba, bulgogi, or like I did the Chicken Plate, which comes with both the boneless chicken and chickens wings, corn slaw, veggie fried rice, and one of three choices of sauce for $14.50. So, I went with the Soy Honey I ordered online and my lunch was ready when I arrived.

Of course you know what what stated on the takeout box, right?

I gotta say, the price to portion ratio was quite good for these days of inflated prices.

    The wings had held up better this time. I tried the sides first. The corn slaw was terrible, the "dressing" was really watery and this lacked flavor. Very little corn, you might as well just give me raw coleslaw mix.

The fried rice on the other hand was not bad. The rice was nicely coated, decent, simple, straightforward soy sauce flavors. It was my favorite item of the day.

The boneless chicken was served in fairly hefty chunks.

    The batter had peeled away from two of the pieces, which had been turned face down in the box. The sauce was not overly sweet, but I still would have preferred a bit more saltiness, this was much milder than the versions at other places. The chunks of chicken were on the dry and tough side.

    I'm not going to beat a dead horse about that Mul Kimchi. I just don't care for the flavor.

The wings had held up much better this time and definitely did better with a sauce. Though the wings weren't evenly coated really paring down the impact of the already mild soy-honey. Perhaps I should have ordered the "Monster" sauce, after all, from my experience Japanese don't like super spicy food and you know...this is the #1 blah, blah, blah, blah......

In the end, this might be my least favorite of the four KFC chains in San Diego. Though I'm wondering what it would taste like in "Hiroshima, China"?

Crispy Chicken n’ Tomato
8657 Villa La Jolla Dr.
San Diego, CA 92037
Current Hours:
Open Daily 11am - 10pm

Bunny Chow

Back in August of last year, LouiZiana Food closed and was replaced by Bunny Chow. "FOY" Sandy was quick to let me know when the place opened that it was serving South African food, something that's a bit of a rarity in San Diego. In fact, I only recall being to the stand in the Hillcrest Farmer's Market, Sabor Piri Piri in recent years.

Over the course of the last 9 months, between trips, I managed to visit Bunny Chow a couple of times.

The folks working on all my visits have been friendly and welcoming. The menu is huge and there are "photos" of the various dishes taped to the front table.

The bright yellow color of LouZiana Food has been kept and the tables now have covers with designs on them

All my visits were for lunch and on my maiden voyage into B. Chow land, I went with something that I am somewhat familiar with. I got the Chicken Thighs with Peri Peri ($14.95). I also got a side of Chakalaka ($3) as well. When I unpacked my lunch I was a bit taken aback by the appearance of the chicken.

 It looked like it needed to be airlifted to a burn center; it was so black. A quick taste confirmed things. The chicken skin was incinerated and bitter. The flesh very dry. The peri peri was quite sour and very mild in terms of spice.

I did enjoy the yellow rice, which was moist, tender, not overly sweet, and mildly buttery-peppery. I understand that "Geelrys", the yellow rice, has its origins in Cape Malay Cuisine, firmly rooted in the food brought by slaves brought to South Africa; Indonesians and Malaysians were among those brought by the Dutch.

I also enjoyed the Chakalaka which had nice sour-earthy tones. I was told that this had some spice, but I thought it more tangy-sour than anything else.

It was also much more tender than I expected. One of the guys in the office sniffed the air and asked me what it was? I told him "chakalaka". He said, "what?" I then went off and said, "you know, like Boomshakalaka, Boomshakalaka, Boomshakalaka, Boom!" I got a blank stare, so I added:

"Why'd the chicken cross the road?
To get from the left to the right
He stepped out of rank, got hit by a tank
He ain't no chicken no more"

Of course, I totally forgot, this was before his time. And if this seems strange, you might enjoy this clip for some "clarification"? 'Nuff said.

After this visit, well, I was a bit conflicted with regards to the food. That chicken was terrible, but I enjoyed the sides. I decided to return.

I really wasn't sure what to order and finally decided to go for it and got the Bunny Chow Sampler Platter ($19.95) with an upcharge for Lamb Curry ($2) and a side of Peri Peri - spicy ($1.50). It was $23.45 without tax and tip! It seemed to weigh a ton as I carried the containers back to the office.

 There were two containers involved here. The smaller one consisted of  4 rubbery and overcooked wings, the spicier peri peri helped things a bit, but it still didn't seem very spicy to me. The peri peri was on the sour side and not even close to the version I enjoyed in Lisbon. Again, I enjoyed the rice.

The Bobotie, which came across as a type of casserole, was high on the acidic side of things.

    And the peri peri came in handy here again....though it seemed to heighten a tanginess of the dish a bit too much. I thought the brioche roll, which looked quite dry, added a bit of buttery sweetness and really helped things out here.

The Durban Curry seemed more like a tomato based sauce/stew was also quite tangy and the lamb flavor, which I enjoy was muted. It was mildy spicy, but I still wanted a bit more heat.

So, of course....

   

In the end, I miss LouZiana Food. The folks here are nice though prices trend on the high side of things. Perhaps I'll return in the future to get more chakalaka, but for now I'll give it a rest. Let me know if you've enjoyed the food here and what dishes you enjoyed!

You can read Soo's post on Bunny Chow here.

Bunny Chow
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 8pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sunday 11am - 7pm

Sunday Stuffs, the Sign but "No Sign" (of life) Issue - Honeyjam Chicken & Beer, Hanzuyu Ramen, and Spicy Lao Kitchen. And Current Problems with Photos

Just a couple of things for a quiet Sunday.

It seems that places are taking longer than ever to open these days. I won't pretend to understand the issues, obstacles, and effort places must take to open.....and while we do appreciate great places to eat opening, sometimes....when the wait is so long; it can be somewhat discouraging.

Case in point, back in fall of 2021, there was a sign for a place named JJ Chicken that was going to open in Renaissance Towne Center. Fast forward to October of 2022, thanks to "FOYs" Patty and Rena, I found that JJ was no longer in the spot, but a place named Honeyjam Chicken was taking its place. Fast forward to June of 2023 and we're still waiting.

Patty had asked me if I knew anything....but sorry, I'm not an "insider", but perhaps a reader of our blog might know.

I'm hoping they open soon.

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

And......in the same strip mall I recall seeing the sign for Hanyuzu Ramen. That was in August of 2022. This is what it looks like now.

8935 Towne Centre Drive #113
San Diego, CA 92122+

Aaaand, the one place I've gotten a couple of emails on; Spicy Lao Kitchen, well I first saw the sign in March of 2022. From what I read back in 2022 this place was supposed to open in "Early 2022".  But of course, here we are in summer of 2023.

Several folks have asked me if this place is going to open. As far as I know, the folks who own the jerky shop in the strip mall are still intent on opening this place. 

5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Life sure has changed over the last 3 years. I have been told about the challenges with getting staff and supplies. I'm not sure, and hope that it is not, the how things proceed from here.

And finally.......

Are you having issues with photos displaying? Well, for several months, Typepad has been having a problem with their image server. I've tried to be very patient with the issue and have had a ticket open for weeks. But, what I've had to do was send them a link and proof every time an issue occurred. Sigh.........

Anyway, I finally did the "Twitter thing" and asked about he issue. And here's the response.

So, my apologies. I understand that there's a point in which I need to consider various "options". Still, we have over 5,000 posts.......I don't want to lose that. I thank you for your patience......

Have a great week!

Ngon Ngon To Go

Back during June of last year, I saw this signage on the side of Vinh Hung Market when I first noticed Paris Sandwiches was opening in Mira Mesa.

Ngon Ngon Food to Go? Well, that was interesting. Then of course, we did a bunch of travelling. And then, on one of my visits to see if Paris Sandwiches was open yet....they weren't, I decided to check things out.

Ngon Ngon has one of the shops down the hallway, before you get to Song Huong, right across what I think is a Filipino Bakery that never seems open?

Even though the name of the shop includes "Food-To-Go" there are several simple tables for those who want to dine in.

One thing I liked right away was the menu....this ain't your typical pho shop.

I went ahead and did a take-out order for something I hadn't had in a while, Bo Luc Lac. I then went and got some 85 Degrees stuff for the few folks in the office. When I returned my order was waiting. These folks are pretty darn fast.

Here's my Bo Luc Lac ($16).

   This was actually not bad. The large salad did have some brown leaves, but while the rice looked dry, it wasn't.

The beef was pretty good, with a pleasant toothsomeness. The sauce was a bit on the saltier side, but not overly so. I do like a hint of sweetness and deeper savory tones in my Bo Luc Lac, which was missing here. I usually expect a bit more green and red bell peppers, but really enjoyed the onions in this as it added a much-needed pungency to the dish.

This was actually better than what I expected.

So, I fully intended to return; though I guess with my schedule, trips, and such, I kind of left this place on the back burner. And when I did return to the plaza, I usually ended up going to Paris Sandwiches. Of course, it took one of our great "FOYs" to wake me from my slumber. In my post on Kumo Japanese Sandos, "Elle" inquired if I'd ever be doing a post on Ngon Ngon. Oh, yes! Thanks for the reminder Elle!

I really wanted to try a couple of dishes. So, on one of the days Calvin was actually in the office, we decided to head on over for lunch.

We started off with the Garlic Butter Chicken Wings ($9). These came out super-fast.

So, I believe the wings were being kept warm then fried quickly again before serving. The interior was on the dry side, but the batter was quite crunchy. Not much in terms of butter, but there was more than enough garlic to ward off any possible vampire attack. Good amount of salt as well.

Of course, we had to try the Bun Cha Hanoi ($15).

  A generous plate of fresh-looking bun, basil, mint, et al was provided. The nuoc mam cham was on the sweeter side of things. The sauce for the Bun Cha was on the sweeter end of things but wasn't too bad. Loved the pickled veggies, which helped to cut the sweet and saltiness. There were two good size pork patties, which were on the chewier end of things. The actual pork slices were much more flavorful in my opinion.

This was a pretty good version of the dish. I'd order this again.

The last item to arrive was the Cha Ca Thang Long ($17). This looked pretty bad.

While it arrived on the typical sizzling plate....well, it wasn't sizzling. The dill and onions were soggy and wilted, and the fish cold. This was quite strange. Totally a far cry from our favorite version in SoCal. The fish tasted slightly muddy as well.

It did come with the usual accoutrements and the Mam Tom wasn't bad at all. 

A pair of women came in a bit after us and ordered the Cha Ca and it arrived sizzling; so perhaps this was just a mistake? Perhaps our plate was sitting for too long? Still, even if it was an "oopsie", this is bad quality control.

I'll give them a pass this time.....

The woman brought us some rice pudding for dessert which was a nice touch.

As things stand; I'd have the Bun Cha and Bo Luc Lac again and I may try a couple of other dishes at this no-frills stand. The woman working is very nice and with Bolsa closing, this place fills a niche.

Ngon Ngon Food To-Go
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Tues - Sun 9am - 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Chicken Wing Wednesday the HitH Edition - Bay Hill Tavern and Fast Times

So yes, while doing my H(anging) i(n) t(he) 'H(ood) posts, I've been holding out on you. While doing those visits, I went and tried some chicken wings, a bar food staple if there ever was one. So here it is for you all.

Bay Hill Tavern:

So, what I've found with BHT is that the folks that work the bar are quite friendly and helpful. I know that "FOY" Som Tommy told me he likes the wings here. Anyway, I went ahead and ordered them.

 So, the wings usually come tossed in sauce, be it buffalo, BBQ (what was recommended here), or mango habanero. Well, I just wasn't a fan of these. While the wings were of decent quality and prepped well, it was kinda soggy when it arrived. I prefer my wings to have some textural contrast that doesn't include mushy. Plus, it was over sauced for my taste as well.

In my post on Bay Hill Tavern I mentioned how accommodating the folks working here were....and how they readily made suggestions for how they enjoyed the various dishes here. Que in Adam, one of the bartenders. He told me that he enjoys the wings simply fried with salt and pepper, sauce on the side.

And so I ordered the wings that way....he also instructed me to get the ranch, BBQ, and habanero on the side so I could determine which I enjoyed the best.

 And I guess I take direction fairly well. The wings not being drenched in sauce was much better. There was still some crispness to them and I got to determine which sauce I enjoyed the best. The habanero edges on a bit too sweet, but there's a bit of spice. The ranch will quell that. So, I will order my wings simply "salt and pepper" with habanero and ranch on the side.

Bay Hill Tavern
3010 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

Fast Times:

Almost right across the street is another popular local hang out, Fast Times. While, like I said, the menu has me calling it "TGI F(ast Times)" it is still a favorite of folks. I went and ordered the wings. It arrived with both a "buffalo" type sauce and ranch.

    The wings looked lightly battered and fried. In fact, it had a decent light crispness. Until I really bit into them. Man, these wings were seriously freezer burnt. The wings were so gross and bitter. I mentioned this to the folks behind the bar and was told, "it looks perfectly fine to me....."

Go figure. Maybe it's perfectly fine for folks who come here?

I guess it's only the tater tots that I should order here?

Fast Times
3065 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

So there you go wings from places in my 'hood.

Mom's Pho and Grill

As I've mentioned many times before, I always appreciate all the tips, notifications, and recommendations I receive from all of you! And I'll say it again, I don't think this blog would still exist if not for all the wonderful comments and emails I get. Way back in October of last year, FOY "Laurie" mentioned that that the old "ABCDE" (American-Born-Chinese-Dining-Establishment) in Tierrasanta Town Center had closed and was going to be replaced by a Vietnamese Restaurant. Laurie was good enough to keep me appraised on the situation in comments of various posts.

Recently, recovering from the crazy adjustment in weather from 85 degree (not the bakery) and humid Taiwan, to chilly 50 degree San Diego had me wanting some noodle soup. It was time to get back out there and get some pho. Now here's the crazy thing. Since the start of the pandemic, the number of times I actually had pho in a restaurant totals......three! Yes, the guy whose done 150+ posts on pho only had three bowls dining in over the course of the last three years. And one of them was in Montpellier, France!

So, it was time to get back on that pho train and since Laurie had told me that Mom's Pho and Grill had opened back in January, I decided that it would be a good place to have my first bowl of pho in over 6 months.

The restaurant opens at 9am; I got there at 930 and was the only customer in the place, which is spacious, clean, though a bit on the dark side in terms of lighting.

The woman working led me to a table and handed me a menu. I quickly noticed the standard accoutrements laid out on the table.

Not wanting to hem and haw over the menu; I just went with Deluxe Mom's Pho without looking at the price ($16.99). 

I was in for a bit of shock when the sprouts and basil hit the table.

Is this the standard post-pandemic plate these days? Good lord, perhaps there's bean sprout supply chain issue? While waiting for my bowl to arrive I counted the bean sprouts, all 16 of them. This was even more shocking since I had gotten us Bun Rieu from Phuong Nga the day before and this is what I unpacked at home for our two bowls.

Anyway, my bowl soon arrived with a nice-looking beef rib floating on top.

    The broth looked very light, yet cloudy, and had what I call the "San Diego sweet" pho broth flavor. At least it wasn't overly salty, but it also lacked beefiness.

The noodles were in the typical clump in the bottom of the bowl and was on the mushy side.

There was quite the variety of meat in this. It was supposed to have rare steak, but I couldn't find any. The beef that I thought could have been rare steak at one point in recent memory was dry and tough. The brisket and flank were dry and lacked flavor.

 There were two strips with nicely done tripe and some very thinly sliced tendon which also wasn't bad. And of course there was that beef rib. The meat on the rib was quite tough and as you can see trying to get it off the bone resulted in the meat peeling off in one large piece. It did have a decent flavor, but was quite chewy. It definitely wasn't like "Dem Bones from Duyen Mai".

As a whole, I think Laurie summed it up well when she said that it was pho ""not to offend" somewhat toned down".

Still, I wanted to try some other items from the menu and happened to find myself in the area again. This was going to be a takeout visit. I really didn't feel like trying any of the Com Tam, stir-fry, or bun dishes. And since it was, ahem, "Fry-day", I decided to order a couple of appetizers to go.

I went with the Cha Gio and decided to try out the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. Both items did well on the trip home.

The Cha Gio (3 for $5.99) was nicely wrapped and because of the layers more hard than crisp.

The filling was slightly porky in flavor and was highly prosessed so you really couldn't tell what was in there. The nuoc mam cham was overly sweet and needed more fish sauce.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings (8 - $11.99) were actually not bad.

More on the crunchy side, these were perhaps a bit over-fried as the flesh was on the dry side. It wasn't overly salty, and the wok'd garlic-chilies-scallions-onions gave it a nice zip. This won't make me forget any of our favorite versions of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, but it was decent.

The gentleman working here is quite nice and friendly; the woman working is quite reserved. Perhaps I'll return when I'm in the area to see how the place is doing.

Mom's Pho & Grill
10645 Tierrasanta Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92124
Current Hours:
Daily 9am - 830pm

And thanks to Laurie for letting me know about this place and getting me to pho-rage for pho again! 

Thanks Laurie!

Takeout from Tenkatori (Again)

A couple of weeks back "FOY" ChrisR sent me an email with some photos with the title "Tenkatori impresses". I then sent him a link to my post from May of last year. Apparently Chris hadn't read that post? And here I thought he was a F(riend) o(f) Y(oso)! Of course, I'm just kidding (I think?). I actually appreciate that email as it placed a reminder in "mi cabeza" about returning to Tenkatori.

I thought about online ordering, but there's an additional $3 fee that I'd rather provide as a tip to the restaurant. So, just like what I do for takeout at EE Nami I called in my order right at 11. I was given the time of 1130 for pick-up.

I arrived a bit early and managed to find a space in the rather merciless parking lot. The woman working the counter was juggling a couple of takeout customers and the phone which seemed to be ringing non-stop. 

By the time I made it to the counter my order was waiting...in fact, it's that first package in the photo above. I had ordered the "Mix" Bento Box which was $9.90 in May of last year. It is now priced at $12.50.

The drive back to the office took about 15 minutes and this is what the Mix Bento looked like.

   The wings actually held up better than the Karaage. Don't get me wrong, the karaage was very moist and tender, but that light, what seems to be katakuriko based batter is made for eating quickly. I think of the flavors are very nicely balanced, soy-with a touch of sweetness. I like that the karaage still has skin attached. The "whole" wings (tips and drumettes included) did well. Like I've mentioned before, I like the addition of wing tips as they add a nice cartiligous texture with the addition of the batter of course. I could make out a touch of the shichimi togarashi a lot clearer than the karaage.

The potato "salad" was the same as before, mashed potatoes. Decently seasoned, with a sweet, teriyaki like sauce on it. The rice was a bit harder than I like, but serviceable. This is not by any means a large portion of protein, but these days it's enough for me.

Which lead me to wonder why I don't come here more often. Of course, I really like the gizzards and the nankotsu.....so I'll probably wait for a day when Calvin comes into the office to order all that stuff.

Thanks again to Chris who took the time out to send me an email with photographic evidence! Hope you get back to Hilo soon!

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121

Taste of Hong Kong Revisited

I had been bugging the Missus to return to Taste of Hong Kong for those Chicken Wings I had enjoyed so much and perhaps we'd find something else on the menu that was tasty. Finally, She gave in and we returned early during a weekday. The place was empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up with families and large parties.

Looking at the menu I was immediately struck by this price change.

Good lord, those chicken wings had gone up two bucks in a month! Sigh-n of the times I guess.

Well, we ended up ordering those wings, some Chinese BBQ and two dishes that the Missus enjoys from Noble Chef. The service is a bit slow, but the folks working are very mellow and nice.

Things started out with the combination Roast Duck and Roast Pork.

 The skin on the Roast Pork was slightly crisp, but the flavor was way too sweet and the flesh was too hard and chewy. The skin on the roast duck wasn't bad, the fat had been rendered nicely, unfortunately this too was quite bland and tough.

We also got the Salted Fish Fried Rice.

The rice was hard, not coated evenly, there were clumps of rice, and the flavor was much too mild.

The Missus also wanted to try the Steamed Pork with Salted Fish. When it arrived the first thought in our minds was "where's the rest of it?"

And then there was that scum from steaming on the top off the pork, it tasted terrible and I quickly scrapped it off. Sadly, this had some definite potential as the pork was very moist and tender, but it was way too mild in flavor, the presentation wasn't very impressive, and of course it was topped off with that scum.

Last to arrive were the wings....which I had enjoyed so much last time. 

These were even more crunchy this time around, though there seemed to be less of that umami-salty-sweet flavor I enjoyed. And, it seemed like the quality of the wings had gone down. The flesh of several wings had dark spots and looked freezer burnt. The wings with the dark flesh were also overly dry. I was so bummed as I had really enjoyed the wings on my previous visit.

It seemed like we had an issue with every dish; which was really sad. I guess I'm not going to be able to talk the Missus into another visit to see if this was just an off night. Though I don't think they'll miss our business as the place was packed when we left.

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Taste of Hong Kong - A Quick Look

Man, it's been tough trying to eat out since we've returned from our trip. Usually, the Missus would be craving Chinese food after getting back home. But this time, we had some pretty good Chinese and Japanese food in Paris, so the Missus has not been wanting to dine in nor do even takeout much!

While running errands when we returned, I noticed that Kangxi is Coming was now Taste of Hong Kong.

I somehow managed to talk the Missus into getting an early dinner (they open for dinner at 4) and we headed on over.

We were seated upon arrival and the menus were distributed....sadly, most of it was the "usual suspects". I walked on over to the Chinese BBQ and we really weren't impressed by the looks of things.

There was one item I was interested in and we ordered that and two more dishes to try.

First to arrive was the Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetable ($16.95).

While the intestine was very thinly sliced it was nicely cooked, slightly crisp on the outside, the preserved vegetable was way too sweet throwing nullifying the sour-fermented flavor.

We ordered a favorite of the Missus, the Salted Fish, Chicken, and Eggplant ($16.95).

Like the previous dish, the eggplant was nicely cooked, very creamy. There just wasn't enough salted fish in this dish...if any at all. The chicken was dry and tasteless. And this dish was quite bland as a whole.

The one item I was interested in, was an appetizer, the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings ($11.95). Which came out last, though I'm not complaining as it was super hot when it arrived.

 Man, this was really good! Crisp, moist wings, perfectly fried and seasoned. Glazed with an umami-sweet salted egg yolk sauce. This as just heavenly to eat. It's also a great diversion from all of those "KFC" places that have opened up in the area.

Of course I've been trying to get the Missus to return. I don't think the wings will do good as takeout. But so far, to no avail, so I thought I'd go ahead and do one of my "quick look" posts, so that maybe you can try out those wings. Oh, and if you find some other good dishes, by all means let me know!

Taste of Hong Kong
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Wed - Mon 11am - 3pm, 4pm - 9pm
Closed on Tuesdays