mmm-yoso!!!

Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum (again) (inside Vinh-Hung Supermarket)

Thanks for stopping to read this food blog named mmm-yoso!!!  Kirk (and His Missus) are gallivanting elsewhere while Cathy is writing. 

My most recent post about Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum was in 2019, before Covid.  Here's an update. 

 The former movie theater, now a Vietnamese Market, with the Cantonese restaurant in the former lobby has survived Covid-19. 
 You can see where the snack bar had been located in the last photo of this post. 
 From the small Dim Sum menu, we ordered XLB-soup dumplings ($6.38).  A nice bite and, as you can see, not quite perfect, but no soup was actually lost because of the creative steaming system.
 From the 'appetizer' portion of the menu, we ordered the 'Double Delicacy' ($19.95) because we couldn't decide on roasted pork or roasted duck and this was a way to get both (there were leftovers) (both of these meats are really good; tender meat, crisp skin, not too salty.).
 Lately, Chow Fun fulfills the craving I've been having for noodles.  The wide, flat, rice noodles, stir fried to get that smoky 'wok hei' flavor always seems perfect.  (This order was shredded pork with preserved vegetable chow fun ($14.95).  I enjoy the briny 'pickle-ness' of preserved vegetables in any dish and combined with the smoked noodles, each bite was delightful).

Always a nice stop before grocery shopping.

Hong Kong BBQ Kitchen 10550 Camino Ruiz San Diego 92126 (858) 408-4888 Website Open daily 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
 Hot tea is always free.  We did have to ask for chopsticks.

Takeout from Eastern Dynasty (Revisit)

A few months back "FOY" KennethB sent me a couple of emails regarding recent experiences at Eastern Dynasty so I was intrigued. But of course based on our previous visits, it was going to be a challenge talking the Missus into going there. In the end, we decided to do another takeout visit.

I got there just after opening and there was only one table occupied. 

I placed my order and went for a walk. Upon returning, my order was ready and the place was starting to fill up.

I ordered what I considered to be the best item I had on previous visits and the Missus was craving Her "salted fish" dishes.

First off, we got the Eggplant with Salted Fish and Pork. The eggplant was wonderfully cooked, so creamy. But overall, the dish was worse than on the last visit; it lacked salted fish and hardly had any pork.

It also looked totally different from what we'd had before.

During my previous visits, I was specifically told not to order the Salted Fish and Chicken with Eggplant, and favorite of the Missus's at Noble Chef. This dish was the complete opposite of the Eggplant with Salted Fish. It had way too much salted fish...it was very salty.

It was so funky and fishy, the Missus could barely finish a bite. Add to that the saltiness and well..... It was left up to me to try and finish this up. It took a couple of days. I recall making double sure that I sealed the storage container tightly because I didn't want any of the noxious fumes permeating in the fridge. Heating this up in the microwave was also an interesting endeavor.

I had thought that even though we hadn't enjoyed the flavoring; or lack thereof of the Pork Maw with Preserved Vegetable, the Pork Maw was stir fried nicely. So, I decided to order the Pork Maw and Green Peas with XO Sauce.

Like the previous dishes; the stir fry/cooking technique was decent. The green peas had a good snap to them; though no wok hay. The pork maw had a pleasant chewiness with a good, mild, intestine-ish flavor. However, the savory-salty-aromatic-mild spice of XO sauce was missing. In fact, this dish could have used more saltiness. I guess you could say the XO was MIA?

We also got some Roast Duck and Kwai Fei Chicken.

 I gotta say, that Kwai Fei Chicken was the best I've had in a while. Moist, tender meat, decently seasoned. The sauce, while still high in the oil to ginger, was much better than last time. Really good. Alas, the Missus is not a big fan of Kwai Fei Ji. 

As for the Roast Duck?

Man, this really lacked any anise flavor and was quite bland. The skin was hard, not crisp, though the fat was rendered out, but the flesh was dry and really tough. I tried my toaster oven "hack", to no avail.

Kind of a bummer. I'm thinking I'll have to dine in to enjoy a meal at Eastern Dynasty. I'll probably try to talk Calvin or someone else to join me.

Eastern Dynasty
4690 Convoy St. #109
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for the heads-up Kenneth!

Dining in at Noble Chef

About a week after returning from Paris and Scotland the Missus was ready.....to finally dine in at Noble Chef, which had been a regular takeout spot for us during the pandemic. Of course having been thru the last 2+ years we didn't throw all caution to the wind. We got to Noble Chef at 430.......there are times when Noble Chef will only do BBQ from 230-430pm, so we wanted to be able to get all the dishes the Missus (and I) wanted.

Of course we got some Roast Duck. Actually, the first plate we got was terrible, the duck was room temperature and seemed rubbery, there was no sauce, and the skin was missing on some of the slices. We spoke to our Server, who took one look at the plate and replaced it.

This was much better; though I think the Missus has gotten used to eating roast duck using my toaster oven hack to crisp up the skin and heat up the flesh. The Missus thought this was just ok.

We both appreciated that the Gailan, in the Chinese Broccoli with Garlic was peeled and very tender.

The portion size was quite generous, though this was under seasoned. Still, peeling the gailan eliminated any fibrous textures from the dish.

The one dish I had been looking forward to eating when "dining in" was the Salt and Pepper Pork Chop. This dish just doesn't hold up real well for takeout.

While much better then when doing takeout, it was still not as crisp as I remember. The flavor was also on the milder side....though maybe it's a good thing not to have as much MSG??? Though to be perfectly honest, I would have loved to have it the way I remembered.

The Missus's favorite dish of the evening was the Salted Fish and Chicken with Eggplant.

While a bit short in the chicken department; the eggplant had held shape, but was so buttery in texture when consuming. Most of the salted fish was on the bottom of the dish, so a good mixing was necessary to enjoy that funky-porky-salty flavor.

And the Missus was enjoying things so much that I let Her have both of our desserts.

We really enjoyed just sitting and dining in at Noble Chef. Much like my good friend Candice recommended several years ago, the food at Noble Chef is better when dining in for dinner. As we were finishing up folks started arriving for their dinner....it was time for us to scoot. We're still a bit leery with regards to crowds and such, but this seemed so nice, almost normal....or perhaps the "new normal".

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

More Takeout from Golden Island

During the fall, I received news that the kitchen staff at Golden Island had experienced some turnover.....the interesting news was that the "new" folks were from China Max...which BTW, still looks quite far from any construction, even though they said they would be reopening this year (2022). 

I decided to place a takeout order and headed on over.

There were actually people dining in and it just seemed quite "normal"......

For whatever that would mean. One of the reasons I keep returning is the manager, Michael is such a nice guy. I asked him about the staff change and he confirmed that yes, the kitchen staff had changed over.

So, I went ahead and ordered what I believe is one of the two items they do well; the Shrimp Siu Mai.

This was actually better than what I'd had here before; moist, tender, and just toothsome enough. Good shrimp flavor without "muddiness", the wrapper wasn't as dry and tough as before, though it's now $7.45!

I also went ahead and ordered something that was recommended to me, the Baked BBQ Pork Bun ($4.99).

   Not a big fan of these; though the bun is nice and fluffy, it's quite dry and bland. The cubes of char siu are really tough and the "sauce" also seemed quite bland as well. Even though it's one of the most inexpensive items on the menu, there's a bit of a shortage of filling as well.

Well, it seems like there was some improvement; so I waited a few weeks and did a revisit. This time I ordered  an item I wasn't very happy with before, the Har Gow and a recommendation, the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf.

The Har Gow ($7.45) was a bit better.

 The wrapper was a bit more pliable, the shrimp was still on the drier side, but this had a nice "shrimpiness", with no off or muddy flavors. Nice large pieces of shrimp, but I bit more chewy than I like.

Still this was definitely better than what I'd had before.

I also got the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf ($8.69).

This just wasn't very good.

You can easily see the issue I had with this, right? First off, the seasoning hadn't permeated the sticky rice.....plus there were some undercooked rice in this; really hard and not good eats. There was a whole shrimp, which was on the hard and chewy side. And there was just not enough filling to give this much flavor. I brought one home for the Missus. After heating; She opened it...there was no real fragrance, She took a look at the fillings and gave me a look, telling me; "well, this one is for you....."

Sooo.......I decided to return in November. I had been craving Kwai Fei Chicken and the version I'd had from here on an earlier visit was one of the two items I enjoyed. 

I also got the Soy Sauce Noodle ($12.99)....because you know....I needed some carbs to balance out that chicken.

This was pretty good, though I would have preferred a bit more soy sauce. Still, all the noodles were firm to crisp and well coated. The bean sprouts were also still crisp; but the dish could have used a bit more "wok hay" as well.

As for the Kwai Fei Ji ($17.99).

 What the heck happened here? This was so disappointing. The chicken had all these weird and somewhat bitter "brown spots" and was very dry, the overall flavor was a bit off. The "sauce" tasted a bit off and lacked assertive ginger tones. This is basically why I ended up trying the Kwai Fei Chicken from Eastern Dynasty.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. 

It's too bad about the inconsistency as I really like the manager here; though not quite sure on the service as I always arrived at my assigned time and always had to wait for my order. 

Though they do have "Jazz Night" if you're into that sort of thing.

Golden Island
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Eastern Dynasty - A Couple of Takeout Visits

Back at the end of September, I noticed that new Chinese Restaurant had opened in Convoy Pointe Plaza; in the location that had become "Guest Kabob" and had previously been Xi’an Kitchen and Jin's Pot. A couple of days later I did a takeout visit.....which was interesting as the menu looked quite familiar.

I asked if anyone at Eastern Dynasty had been at Noble Chef and was told; "no, absolutely not....why would you think that?" I pointed out several items on the menu that looked suspiciously familiar. But was again rebuffed. Of course, a couple of days later it became clear that there was a link to Noble Chef.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've done a couple of visits....sorry to say, that unlike Soo (please read his post for another viewpoint on Eastern Dynasty), I've been kind of underwhelmed. Perhaps dining in makes all the difference? But, because of the seating arrangement and how crowded the place has been on all my visits....even at opening time, I'm holding off for now.

Here's a listing of the dishes we've had from Eastern Dynasty.

Decent:

Kwai Fei Chicken:

I recently had some very disappointing Kwai Fei Ji from Golden Island and decided to try the version from Eastern Dynasty.

 On the good side; this was tender and moist. On the other end of the scale this was really quite bland and the sauce seemed watered down as well. It could have used more sesame oil and ginger tones. At least it was texturally good.

Soy Sauce Noodles:

Something I usually order from Noble Chef.

   Not a bad version; decent "wok hay", though it needed a bit more soy sauce and it was cooked unevenly. There were hard pieces of noodles stuck together in clumps. Also, the noodles seemed to have been chopped into short strands as well.

Mediocre:

Eggplant with Salted Fish and Pork:

 This one had potential; the eggplant was perfectly cooked; quite creamy in texture. You can see what the issue here is, right? Where's the salted fish and pork....well, there are a few "crumbs". Usually, the salted fish acts as a "foil" for the eggplant, which has been fried and can be somewhat greasy. This was one bland and greasy dish.

Roast Duck:

I know folks rave about this.....but we didn't for it very much.

The duck looked good; but both the Missus and I noticed something right off....where was the fragrance of five spice? The skin was hard, not crisp; the flesh was tough and bland. The Missus had two bites and told me; "the rest is yours......."

Shrimp with XO Sauce:

Here's another one where the stir fry was done well; the shrimp plump, though lacking in flavor and the snow peas crisp.

Not enough seasoning; not enough XO sauce, this was so bland.

Not Good:

Fried Tofu with Two Mushrooms:

Another dish that looks strikingly familiar, right?

The tofu as cold inside; the sauce was overly thick and as you can see, really light in color; it needed more soy sauce.

Pork Maw with Preserved Vegetable:

On two occasions I was told "not" to order something and recommendations were made. I tried to order the Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetable, but was told to order the Pork Maw with Preserved Vegetable instead.

Now, I do like pork maw (the exterior wall of the pig stomach)...but where's the preserved vegetable? It's MIA. This, like many of the other dishes was really bland...maybe because there was "something missing?"

Mei Cai Kou Rou:

On one visit; I tried to order the Steamed Pork with Salted Fish and was told that it was "too salty" and asked to order something else. I was recommended the Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetable.

Good lord, this was so greasy and bitter. It was just really hard to eat.

I as told that the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops are quite good; so I think I'll wait until I feel ok with dining in here.

The Missus did say something kinda interesting; remember when I was told to get dinner from Noble Chef after a not so great lunch there? After confirming the Noble Chef connection She asked me; "is the old Noble Chef lunch cook the one at Eastern Dynasty?"

Eastern Dynasty
4690 Convoy St. #109
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm

More Takeout from Noble Chef

After having the Roast Duck from Golden Island, the Missus requested dinner from Noble Chef. And of course, that roast duck. Which satisfied Her craving.

But, She also wanted a dish I had hesitated in ordering; mainly because I didn't think it would hold up for take-out. One of the Missus's favorite dishes on our dinner visits was the Fried Tofu with Two Mushrooms. We'd always finish that dish at the restaurant because we knew the fried silken tofu would not hold up after being smothered in that mushroom sauce. But; the Missus wanted it, so I went for it. I was pleasantly surprised that things were packed separately.

I got the "gravy" nice and hot; the tofu was still warm and surprisingly still had some good texture to it. And of course we finished it off immediately. The Missus also enjoyed the plating.

And of course the usual other dishes. The Steamed Pork with Salted Fish was even better tis time around. More tender; a lot more savory-funky flavors, more sauce.

I'm thinking they are really getting into their groove with takeout now.

And of course, my Soy Sauce Noodles; which I enjoy as leftovers with fried egg on it.

Also of note; I was told that Noble Chef is now adding in a 10% upcharge for takeout. Kind of a bummer, because I was tipping at least 20% on all my visits; but I guess most folks weren't.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

So, tell me, what's been on your rotation lately? Anyplace that I need to try?

Takeout From Golden Island

Back in May, I noticed that Fung Fung Yuen had apparently changed ownership and was now something called Golden Island. Couple of weeks later, I did a online search and noticed that Golden Island took online orders. But oh my, the sticker shock....Har Gow at $6.19? Though I have to say that I recently did takeout from Jasmine; which is only about 20 cents cheaper. I went ahead and placed my takeout order online; it was accepted and I was given a time for pick-up.

I arrived precisely at my designated time and the very nice gentleman whom I believe is the manager greeted me. There was a makeshift able set-up for to-go orders....unfortunately, I had to wait an additional 20 minutes for my order...good thing I didn't have any meetings planned.

I had ordered three items; Har Gow ($6.19), Shrimp Siu Mai ($6.19), and because I thought the Missus would appreciate it; the half Roast Duck ($15.99).

The siu mai were of good size; the shrimp filling a bit on the tough side instead of a nice firmness; but the shrimp had a decent slightly sweet-savory-briny flavor....while mild; it wasn't bad at all.

The Har Gow was terrible.

First off, the wrappers were too thick and brittle. Two of the dumplings were already torn open when I opened up the container. Secondly; the shrimp were dry, tough, with some gritty bits and there was a definite muddiness to it as well.

I also got the Roast Duck.

Which wasn't too bad. I think you can tell that the skin is not quite as laquered and crisp as I enjoy. Also, if you look closely; there some feather remnants on a couple of pieces. The meat was quite tender and moist and the flavoring, while on the mild side wasn't in the same class as.....say.....Noble Chef. I took most of it home and prepped it using my toaster oven hack; but the Missus was unimpressed.

I had indended on returning, but kinda forgot about the place until "RD" mentioned (mainly about the prices) in the comments of my TJ Dumplings post. So, I decided it was time for a revisit. I again placed an order online and the same really nice guy; I think his name is Michael (??) greeted me. It seems that things were getting straightened out as I waited less than five minutes for my order this time around.

This time I got the Pork Siu Mai ($5.39), Ginger-Scallion Tripe ($5.39), and seeing Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($10.99) on the menu, I had to get that as well.

The tripe wasn't braised long enough and was really hard....not crunchy, but hard.

The flavoring was quite mild as well; very light hints of ginger and there's usually a mild chicken flavor to this dish as it's usually braised in chicken stock.....but that was quite mild as well.

I did not enjoy the Pork Siu Mai.

The pork was really, really hard and too chewy. There were some rather large pieces of celery in the filling, The shrimp was over-cooked and had that same muddy flavor to it...similar to the shrimp in the Har Gow I had on the previous visit.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings could have been fried a bit more as it was on the mushy-greasy side.

It could have used more seasoning and I think the oil used was a bit old as there were hints of rancid oil in some of my bites. Wings had some black spotting on bones; so perhaps it had been in the freezer for a while?

Not a great meal.....

And in most cases; I would have left things at that. But the gentleman working had been really nice and I wanted to see if Golden Island could really pull off a Shrimp Siu Mai that was worth over six bucks. Plus, there was one more item on the menu that I wanted to try.

So, a week or so later I placed another online order. By this time outdoor dining was picking up and Golden Island had some al fresco tables ready for customers, along with taped marks for social distancing and lining up....which seemed a bit too close to tables if you ask me. Not that it mattered on this day since no one was eating at the time.

On this visit the timing was perfect as my order was ready to go just as I arrived.

I had ordered the Shrimp Siu Mai again, the Bean Curd Roll with Abalone Sauce ($5.39), and seeing Imperial (Empress) Chicken on the menu (aka Kwai Fei Ji) I decided to order that ($14.99).

While the prep job on the shrimp in the siu mai wasn't quite as good this time around; there some overly large chunks, the siu mai was steamed nicely as the shrimp was tender and moist, the wrapper had a bit of stretch to it and the oceany-sweetness of the shrimp could be made out.

The Bean Curd Rolls on the other hand wasn't very good.

The bean curd skin was strangely unevenly cooked; some spots mushy and falling apart; other parts too hard and brittle. The fillings had a nice crunch, but lacked flavor. The sauce was oh so bland and gloppy. I brought two of them home. After heating the Missus took one bite and told me to eat the rest.

So, how was the Kwai Fei Chicken?

I was so pleasantly surprised by this. While the skin of the chicken was a bit on the chewy side; the meat itself was tender. The chicken had been steeped/simmered nicely and just the chicken alone had good flavor, a hint of anise, a bit of a winey-ness, nice savory tones. And the best surprise was the sauce....take a look at it; full of scallion and ginger, not overly full of oil, it was perfect. Mild pungency, a hint sesame oil...….man, this was better than what my old standby, Golden City makes.

I'm glad I did that third visit. Things ended on a high note for me. Aaaaand, I have new place for Kwai Fei Chicken. Though I'm still not sold on paying Sea Harbour prices for routine Dim Sum.

For another view on things; check out Soo's post on Golden Island.

Golden Island
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
858-578-8800
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 10am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 930am - 9pm

Takeout from Noble Chef

The Missus had been missing the roast duck from Noble Chef as the place closed completely in March. Everytime we'd drive past She'd look out the window and wistfully whisper "roast duck".....really. I had to remind Her that even if they reopened, it would only be for takeout and as I mentioned in my previous post on Noble Chef, the food at dinner when eating in was definitely superior to takeout or lunch. But we'd come to the point that She'd take whatever She could get from Noble Chef. Then, as I mentioned in my Golden City post, we were driving by on June 1st and saw the open sign lit up.....oh the joy on the Missus's face.....I made a U-turn and dropped by, just to confirm that they were open....just for takeout, just from 11am to 7pm at first.

The next day I called in an order....our days of stalking Noble Chef were over.

I ordered the Soy Sauce Chow Mien, Steamed Pork with Salted Fish, and of course, a half roasted duck.

The noodles were a bit on the hard and chewy side...…..I've had better from there.

The Missus actually enjoys taking most of the Steamed Pork with Salted Fish home and heating it up the next day to put over Stir-fried veggies. I stir fried some ong choi on the Big Kahuna.

This definitely not as tender or juicy as what we get when eating in - here's a photo of what it looks like during dinner.

It was however, much more pungent....they didn't skimp on the salted fish. And when heated, enough liquid was extruded and lent some additional flavor to the simple stir-fried greens.

And last, but not least, the duck.

The wonderful earth-gamy flavor and nice anise tones were there, the meat moist, with just the right amount of chew......the skin though.....in comparison to eating in.

So, I went and used a hack that I haven't gone to in years....since we lived in the SGV as a matter of fact. I busted out the toaster oven and first used the back setting and finished with the "broil". I then brushed the jus (we always request extra) over before serving. The Missus was pleased.

So, of course I ended placing another order later in the week....then again last week. This time I ordered the Salt and Pepper Pork Chop....which I knew wouldn't travel very well.

But I again used the toaster oven to heat and crisp; though to a lesser effect than the duck. Still......I realized how much I had missed this dish.

And this time a whole duck.

Here's what it looks like coming out of the toaster oven....I'm sure you could use a broiler to get the same effect.

Just brush with the sauce and you're good to go.

And then of course; all the overly fatty, bony, skinless pieces, along with the leftover sauce and rendered fat is the base for the Missus's favorite fried rice.

The Missus is glad that Noble Chef has reopened, as I'm sure quite a few people are. On my most recent visit; there were at least seven or eight take0ut orders lined up on the table.

As for eat in; the gentleman working said they aren't quite sure when they'll be ready for that. And to be honest; I don't think we're quite ready for that either.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Covid-19 Takeout - Golden City

I'm starting to work from home on some afternoons now that things are settling down a bit. The main reason being Frankie is getting up there; he'll be 17 in three weeks. We'd rather not leave him alone for long periods of time. So, on the days when the Missus isn't off, or is working a long shift; I've arranged the work from home stuff during the afternoon.....it's not that much mind you; after all, I get into the office around 515on most days....so, by the time 1130-noon rolls around..... The one thing this has let me do, is to order lunch to pick-up on the (somewhat round about) way home.

The Missus was missing roast duck, and at the time of this visit Noble Chef hadn't reopened yet (they have for takeout as of June 1). So, I decided to do an online order for my favorite item at GC, the Kwai Fei Ji and also order a lunch special of Roast Duck for the Missus.

This was an interesting visit.....as the guy working....I think he's the dining room manager, I've seen him many times before seemed totally out of sorts...…...like in total chicken-without-a-head mode. He quickly told me "too busy....too busy....."; in other words they weren't doing walk in take-out. I told him it was an online order and he displayed five different pieces of paper for me....I explained what I had ordered and he said; "going to be a while...…" and then busted out two order slips; one for $297 and the other for $210.....and said "only me and two cook...." Who the heck orders nearly three hundred bucks of food for lunch from GC?

Sadly, all walk-in orders were turned away, like that poor woman above who was left just standing and cooling her heels until the guy made an appearance out of the kitchen to tell her that ordering take-out wasn't going to happen....luckily, I had placed mine online....so, they had no choice but to make mine.

As for my Kwai Fei Chicken....well, it was nice a juicy....I actually took it out of the container, put it on a plate, placed it in the fridge while I booted up my remote desktop, and got things going in my home office. When things were ready, I put everything on a plate, poured the juices back over the chicken, along with the wonderful ginger-scallion sauce, busted out my chopsticks and had lunch while on my conference call.

It was just what I needed and wanted.

For the Missus, who would not be home until later in the evening, I tried an old hack of mine that I hadn't used in a while.

I took the duck out and placed in a container, the rice in another....poured the drippings out separately. When the Missus got home and wanted Her duck; I turned the toaster oven up to broil, brushed just a bit of the sauce over the skin of the duck and broiled for 3-3  1/2 minutes on high to crisp up the skin. While not the best roast duck we've had; a bit too salty, it was fairly tender, mildly gamy, and the skin was slightly crisp. Pour the fat back over an voila! Dinner for the Missus.

Since Noble Chef is back in action, not sure the Missus will wanting anything from GC....so it'll be Kwai Fei Chicken for me for now.

Current Covid-19 Takeout only hours - Daily 1130am - 830pm

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

 

San Francisco - China Live Revisited and the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair

The Missus and I decided to take a short trip during the long weekend. The Missus had really enjoyed our last trip to San Francisco; so we decided to head back for two nights.

Our flight over was quite pleasant; except for the arrogant and condescending young man who marched back and forth at the TSA security check-point telling people, "you can get it right...any idiot can do it.....it's not hard!" I understand that perhaps working for the TSA is not a pleasant job; but there's no need to be insulting....it's always the one that brings down the other ninety-nine. As my experience with the TSA has been that folks are at least somewhat professional. Or perhaps by "any idiot can do it" he meant himself? I heard the guy behind me mumble to his companion, "he's definitely a candidate for a colonoscopy without anesthesia".

We arrived fairly early; our room at the Marriott wasn't ready yet which wasn't a problem. We needed a place for a rather "early-ish" lunch....the Missus had really enjoyed the duck from China Live....yes, it was pricey, but we were on vacation, right?

Since Chinatown was basically right up the street, and China Live opens at 1030 we headed up Stockton. We quickly found that there were booths lining the usually busy sidewalks making things even more crowded with folks shopping and browsing.

We eventually got up to Broadway and China Live had just opened.

And in spite of the crowds and lines outside (the line at Good Mongkok went down and around the block!!!!), the place was empty.

We were tempted, and should have just had tea and the duck and called it a nice snack and head off....but we felt kinda guilty for just ordering the duck (albiet it being $27 - it had gone up a buck since September). We also didn't really enjoy anything else on our last visit. We just went ahead and ordered the Suckling Pig.

The Suckling Pig looked pretty nice.....

And it was decent; not the best I've had, but the meat was moist, the skin was a bit too thick and hard instead of crisp. It also lacked a good porkiness. So, not too bad, until you factor in the price....$34! That's over four bucks a wafer thin slice! I wouldn't complain if this was excellent; but it was not.

We did enjoy the duck ($27)

Which, like the last time didn't look particularly inspiring, but had a nice, thin, crisp skin....the subcutaneous fat perfectly rendered. Nice mild gaminess...moist meat. Like the last time; the "sesame buns" were dry and were just used for scallion-cucumber-hoisin sandwiches for us.

Looking at dishes on other tables....well, the rice and noodle dishes looked pretty mediocre. The total damage with tea was over seventy bucks......as we left the Missus told me, "I think we're done here...." I concurred....we'll try to find the best roast duck next time and just eat it in Portsmouth Square or something.

China Live
644 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133

We headed down Broadway and took a turn at Grant and oh my......the horde....the mass....the huge crowd.

But the Missus, who is usually not fond of crowds (neither am I), just smiled and headed off.

Grant was closed off....there were booths lining the street. I came to find out this was the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair, which happens on the weekend before the Lunar New Year and everyone and their brother seemed to be checking it out.

To be perfectly honest; even I enjoyed myself.

The Missus found herself checking out many of the booths. "You know there's a problem with this, right?" She said. Not quite following Her logic I asked "Why?" She cracked up and said "No samples!"

Regardless, the Missus really had a fun time, She told me a few times, "this really reminds me of growing up in China!"

People watching was fun....checking out the folks in costume. I sent the photo to the right to my coworker "YZ" who is from Shanghai and she quickly pointed out to me that the fella' wasn't totally in character; "if he was really dedicated....he wouldn't be wearing Nike's!" You gotta love it!

Did I mention the crowds?

It was fun watching the kids having a good time with all the various characters. Call me out of touch but I wonder what the character "Fragrance" represents? And fragrance of what? Remember, this is Chinatown! The fragrance of roast duck...pork....fish, herbs, steamed buns, and other more "earthy" smells permeate the air. And that character looks like an egg?

I'd go crazy facing crowds like this everyday. But for one fine sunny morning in San Francisco, it was just perfect!

Happy Lunar New Year!