mmm-yoso!!!

Ngon Ngon Food 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

COMC: Revisits to Smack’N Guamanian Grill, R & B Filipino Cuisine, and Krispy Krunchy Chicken

I'm just going to do mostly photos in this C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post. I've done so many posts on these places.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

Been here so many times since they opened in 2019. I usually get the same thing; the Chebot BBQ Chicken, which is now $17.79. It was $15.79 on my last visit.

For some reason, the chicken wasn't nicely grilled and was really chewy; the Kelaguen was super bland. This was disappointing. 

This is what it looked like on previous visit.

Man, raise the prices and cut down on the quality and execution? I hope this is just an aberration, but I'm going to give this place a rest for a while.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126 

R & B Filipino Cuisine:

Another regular "turo-turo" stop for me since I first visited in 2008! 2008??? Man, what were you doing in February of 2008? 

I basically get sisig and whatever just comes out of the kitchen or looks good. So this time it was the Sisig and Beef Mechado. I can't put it away like I used to, so I go with "half rice" nowadays.

  The sisig had decent spice, balanced with some good sour tones. This might be the best I've had here in terms of seasoning and flavor. The lechon kawale was on the chewy and hard side; but still, I liked the flavors.

R&B has this weird habit of keeping large and ponderous slices of meat in their stews, which I've mentioned before. The meat was tough and there was a kind of greasiness to the dish.

At least the sisig was good.

And I know what "FOY" JanFrederick was doing in February of 2008. He recommended that I give R&B a try....almost 15 years ago! Thanks Jan!

R & B Filipino Cuisine
11257 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Krispy Krunchy Chicken:

This is totally "low hanging fruit". It's so easy for me when I'm shopping at 99 Ranch Market (I know of folks who still call it "Ranch 99", do you?). I place an order and return to pick it up on my way out of the store. It always handles the trip back home with no problem. And on this day, they fried it up fresh because there were no wings ready.

Potato wedges are usually a bit on the dry side; but like the name says the Krispy Krunchy Chicken, is still indeed crispy and crunchy. For me, this always needs Crystal Hot Sauce or Tabasco to cut thru the fried tones and saltiness. It's not amazing and worth going out of your way for, I call it "Popeye's elevated". But it's a pretty consistent product, convenient to get when I go shopping, I guess it fills a niche.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken
5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Chicken Wing Thang - Katzya Revisited (H Mart Food Court)

One of the things about being on a trip for over a month; the fridge and pantry gets pretty bare. I spent last week and weekend catching up, restocking, and believe it or not; the Missus has been missing my cooking! Go figure. One of the stops was H Mart. It was just a tad after 11 and I was getting a bit hungry. I had enjoyed the Chicken Wings from Katzya on previous visits and the wings did well on my takeout visit, plus I'd last had wings from the recently opened Pelicana Chicken, so I decided to go for it.

I recalled that the Soy Garlic Wings were pretty good, so I went with that. When I last visited, the price of $14.99 for 7 wings seemed really high, and while still pricey, it feels less so these days with all the inflation.

I got the wings home and opened up the container and oh my.....

 These wings were just drenched in sauce. There was a huge pool of sauce at the bottom of the box. The two or three pieces on the top, while over sauced held up fine, but the pieces on the bottom were a soggy mess.

The texture of the meat was fine, moist, tender, lacking in any discolored spots, but it was just swimming in too much sauce, making this overly sweet.

For you reference, here's what I got back in 2019.

    Doesn't even look like it's from the same place, does it?

Another thing that was different was the the Mul Kimchi. But this change was an improvement, at least to me. The radish was not as sweet as on previous visits, making this somewhat refreshing. Though nothing could overcome the sticky sweet sauce overload.

Bummer, because I think the quality and size to batter ratio of the wings here are to my liking. I guess I'm back to just the fried wings here.

Katzya
(In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Pelicana Chicken (Balboa Avenue)

I noticed that Pelicana Chicken was opening in a post last month, the latest in the "KFC invasion" of the Kearny Mesa area. In fact, I think there are more places serving KFC than pho in the area these days! Then just a few weeks later, while running some errands, I noticed that Pelicana was in soft opening mode. So, the next time I had some late errands to run (Pelicana currently opens at noon), I decided to stop by and do a takeout order.

I parked and walked into the shop and was greeted in a very cheerful and smiling manner. I was told that the place had only been open for less than a week at this time. So even though the place opened at noon, it was empty.

I know prices like this are pretty much the norm these days, but the amounts on the menu still gave me pause.

I placed my order and was told 30 minutes. So I made a quick Nijiya run and returned. I waited another 5 minutes and my order was good to go. At least it wasn't sitting around, right. 

I was wondering how the wings would hold up on the drive home, so I ordered the 9 piece Original Fried Wings ($15) and got the Original Sauce on the side which added another $1.50. It's free if you order it on the chicken. 

   The chicken held up quite well after the drive home. This batter is more of the "laquer" type and it was still quite crunchy. Not much seasoning though, so it really needs a sauce. The sauce came in a presealed container and was like a sweet (emphasis on "sweet") chili sauce that was kind of weak overall.

The Mul Kimchi was also provided in a presealed container.

   

This was not as crisp as I enjoy and much too sweet. Man, read that ingredient label. You know, sometimes I'd rather not know. It has sodium saccharin and aspartame, i.e. Equal®, and sugar (glucose) no wonder it's so sweet. Oh, and in case you didn't get your daily allowance of aspartame and want an extra one of these....well, that'll be $1.50.

I also considered getting the Sea Snail Salad, but really didn't want to pay another $24, so I just went with an order of fries ($6). As well as the wings held up on the drive home, the fries were a total fail.

You can tell by the color, these weren't fried enough. It was dry and they barely seasoned it at all.

Well, at least the chicken wings held up quite well.

A week later, I decided to give Pelicana another go. This time I decided to have the wings sauced and I figure I'd cover myself by ordering the "Crispy" Chicken Wings ($16) and went with the Soy Based Sauce. The young man working was awesome and efficient and I did the same Nijiya run. Timing was great as my order was approaching the counter as I walked into the restaurant. 

These wings are more heavily battered.

 The wings were somewhat unevenly battered, the pieces on the top were quite crunchy, but for some strange reason, even though I liked the fact this wasn't swimming in sauce, the bottom pieces had gone mushy. For some reason, the meat of the wings were drier as well. This soy based sauce was also too sweet for my taste.

Personally, I prefer the "original" prep to the "crispy", which is actually more "crunchy".

I'll chalk these visits up to the "soft opening" for now. Though the presentation, menu, and food has a definite corporate "feel", the folks working were very pleasant. We'll see what things are like in a couple of months.

Please read Soo's post here.

Pelicana Chicken
7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 12pm - Midnight
Fri - Sat 12pm - 1am

Golden Chopsticks - Mira Mesa

So, while I was between trip Golden Chopsticks finally opened in Mira Mesa....well, I'm thinking they took long enough. Upon returning from our last trip, I read Soo's post on GC's soft opening. I know by buddy Calvin was waiting for his shot at Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and not having to drive down to National City for his fix. We quickly arranged for an all important, ahem, "lunch meeting".

We both arrived just before 11 and they actually waved us in early! The place filled up quickly. The service was the typical "all business" menu down, what's your order kinda thing.

The dining room is of pretty good size and still filled up quickly.

Of course man does not live by salt and pepper chicken wings alone.....well maybe you could, but in this case we needed to order a couple of other items for lunch as well.

The menu is full of "ABCDE" (ab-cee-dee, American Born Chinese Dining Establishment something I coined back in 2005) classics. Which, when done well can be quite enjoyable.

So, it ended up that I selected what I recalled was a decent dish from my visits way back when, along with what our dining companion in absentia "LeahA" recommended to go with our wings.

I recalled that the Sizzling Shrimp/Beef/Chicken combo was pretty good on former visits.

Now this had enough flavor; the beef was surprisingly tender, as was the chicken. Nice soy sauce tones, not overly sweet or gooey, crisp veggies...perhaps the broccoli was a tad undercooked; but not bad at all. This was the best dish of the meal and I'll gladly order it again.

And then came the dish we were waiting for.

 Now, the batter on the wings from GC back in the day was on the lighter side and was also quite thin and the wings got soggy quickly. In this case it was the opposite; the batter was almost hard; not crunchy...hard. Also, I'm not sure if I'm rubbing off on Calvin (good lord, I hope not), but after our first bite we both said "where's the salt and pepper"? Barely any garlic, pepper was MIA, a few slices of scallions. I mean, this was bland, and while the wings were moist, there was just too much batter. The wings were large...but heck, I could have used some "salt" on my Salt-and-Pepper Wings........

If you're wondering what the wings used to look like - here's a photo from "the vault".

Our starch came out last "LeahA" told Calvin to order the Shrimp "Chow Mein", which I remember being pretty decent.

 The noodles were nicely cooked and coated. But we both noticed something right away when biting into the shrimp. You can tell by the color. It seems the shrimp were blanched and just dumped into the dish. It had absolutely no flavor. 

Perhaps it's the soft opening blues......maybe we'll try again in the future; though Calvin did say that the wings at QT Pot were better than these. He is Cantonese, but his Missus is not, there was no way the Missus would eat the leftovers, so I told him to take it home.

One might say that at least the less salty wings means less MSG....well, I don't know about that....I ended up drinking like five glasses of H2O immediately after lunch. On the bright side, Calvin's Missus enjoyed the noodles and sizzling plate (the wings she said tasted like cardboard). I guess it measured up with her favorite "Chinese food"......she loves Panda Express.

Golden Chopsticks
8155 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Daily 11am - 9pm

Sandy, I know you were looking forward to Golden Chopsticks opening, I hope your visit was more like Soo's than mine.