mmm-yoso!!!

Takeout from Yummy House

After doing that crazy three stop takeout thing for the Missus, I started thinking about other Chinese Restaurants in the Convoy area. And Yummy House came to mind. For some reason, I thought that I hadn't been there in over a year.....but doing a search, I found that I actually last visited in February. Well, I guess with the pandemic raging, February of 2020 just seems like a different time these days. Anyway, since I'd pretty much have never seen customers in the place, I was wondering if they were still open. On one of drives I passed by and did notice they were still open. A few days later, I gave the online ordering on their website a shot.

And I'm happy to say, everything went fine as my order was ready and waiting when I arrived.....I barely spent 3 minutes in the place!

I unpacked the three dishes I ordered when I got home and set to work.

The Stir Fried Pork Intestine ($13.98), was passable, nice texture, mild musty-funkiness, with a bit of heat.

It was a decent prep, but nothing special, and perhaps could have even used a bit more savory-saltiness....sheesh, when was the last time I said that about any takeout Chinese food?

My usual favorite the Beef Tendon Pot ($16.98) portion size was quite a bit smaller than I recalled.

And while the "sauce" was a bit thinner than on previous occaisions, the tendon was pleasantly textured; slightly firm, but yielding easily when bitten into. I like the tanginess of this tomoato based dish, but the Missus isn't fond of the amount of acidity. The beef was sligtly toothsome, but full of beefy goodness. Still my favorite dish here.

For the Missus I got the Lamb with Suan Cai ($16.98)....I had to laugh as this is called Sauerkraut with Lamb on the online menu.

While the suan cai here wasn't overly fermented in flavor; and we were out of our homemade which we like to add to these type of dishes, our first batch of the year was bottled two days ago, so the Missus thought this was pretty "weak" and then proceeded to polish it all off, so perhaps it wasn't that weak after all? I did manage a few bites and found the lamb to be on the dry and chewy side, but nice and gamey. It definitely could have used more sour-fermented tones; but this was not bad and far from bland.

So, overall a not bad meal. I Yummy House is surviving thus far and I'll probably order from them again when I'm craving the Tendon with Tomato Hot Pot and perhaps find some other items I enjoy on the menu.

Yummy House
4633 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 499-8999
Current Hours:
Tues - Sunday 2pm - 1030pm

"I Want It and I Want It All" - Takeout From Kangxi is Coming, Village Kitchen, and Noble Chef

So, a few weekends back (it was actually right after Thanksgiving), I made a mistake.....of asking the Missus what She wanted and offering a few options......Her answer? "Well, I want it and want it all"! Ohhh-kay...like they say, "no good deed goes unpunished" and in all honesty, it was a bit of a challenge......of coordinating takeout from three places. In terms of coordination it turned out pretty well. And here's what ensued.

1 - The "wildcard" if you will was Kangxi is Coming, as I hadn't been there since the pandemic started.

2 - I knew that phone orders for Noble Chef worked well.

3 - I knew that Village Kitchen often did not have items available, plus when I tried a phone order and didn't speak Mandarin they hung up on me.

And so, here's what ensued.

1 - I placed an online order with Kangxi is coming.

2 - I called Noble Chef and was told they were really busy and my order wouldn't be ready for an hour; which worked out perfectly.

3 - I then headed to Village Kitchen and placed an order in person....and while they were out of certain items; I got a couple of things the Missus wanted to eat and told them I'd be back for pick-up.

And so I then headed to Kangxi is coming; where the Suan Cai with Pork was ready when I arrived.

It was quick and painless......no worries there.

I then headed to Noble Chef where my order was ready and picked that up. Ditto Village Kitchen. Take that food app.....

And yes, this is a food blog; so how did things end up?

Well, the Suan Cai with Pork from Kangxi is coming.....

Was lacking the really great fermented flavor of good fermented cabbage....it really ain't that hard making a decent suan cai; but this lacked the deep savory tones and everything seemed a bit overcooked.

Noble Chef was fast and easy....though they had packages piled up along several tables and folks waiting in their cars in the parking lot. The roast duck did well after I went and did the "usual" with it.

And for some reason, the Missus likes the Wintermelon Soup from NC.

Because the Missus wanted the Wintermelon Soup; I decided that anything with stinky tofu might not do well. I ended up ordering the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg and Pork with Cucumber Skin.

And while my first choice would have been La Rou (Hunan smoked pork) with cucumber skin; this version was quite good.

What I consider to be the signature dish here; the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg was terrible.

The eggplant was undercooked and not mashed, there was almost no roasted chilies in this, there was a pervasive greasiness. It was really bad...…..kinda sad......don't think the Missus is going to want this again soon.

Still; I think I did a pretty good job doing the "I Want It and I Want It All"...….huh? What do you think?

Kangxi Is Coming
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Village Kitchen
4720 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

It's Fry-Day - Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings From Royal Mandarin

Folks who've read this blog for a while know of my affection for Royal Mandarin's Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. I don't have them very often, but it's a true guilty pleasure for me. And just the thought of not having access to it of plays that "mental" game with you.....yes, it's all in your head....but I recall having the same feeling when fire shut down Royal Mandarin at the end of 2009 (has it really been that long?) and having to wait six months until they finally reopened.....honestly, I've had longer periods of time between visits, but just the fact that you can't get something drives you crazy. Now I know that I could have gotten out of "my bubble" at anytime and driven down there....but for 8 months, even though we did takeout we limited our area. But finally, after both FOYs ("Friends of Yoso") Sandy and Junichi mentioned in comments how good those wings were and after returning from our roadtrip, where the Missus and I dined outdoors, I finally decided to get my fix.

RM opens at 9am....so at 9am, after finishing things up at the office, I called in for an order of S&P wings to go (for some reason I have the phone number memorized) and headed right down to the restaurant. Getting there right at 920, thinking that no one in their right mind would be doing ABCDE takeout at that time right? Wrong....

There were four parties ahead of me, each standing at the red tape "marker". Six people were waiting outside, well distanced, all had masks on. RM is currently only doing takeout. They had 4 people manning the elongated "counter" area and it actually took less than ten minutes for me to get my order!

Soon enough my entire car smelled of fried goodness....something that I would usually not enjoy, but in this case, it had been so long......

After plating, I sat on the back steps, Frankie wandering around somewhat aimlessly and had them wings.

It was just as good as I remembered. There are differences I did note. The batter these days isn't as thick, there's a bit more lightness to them, but the crispy crunch might be even better now. There seems to be less of the "secret ingredient", so no more "MS - heebie - geebies", but it doesn't seem to hurt the flavor. A bit more spice these days, but still pretty mild, good salt, and yes, there's still MSG, but I think it's used more judiciously these days. Of course, it could just be a case of "time makes the heart grow fonder".

And so, even though I still haven't had a sit down meal at a restaurant in San Diego since the middle of March; I did expand my range (I'm retiring that map). And so, thanks Sandy and Junichi, for reminding me how food can really bring comfort during these trying times!

Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-4151
Open Daily 9am - 10pm

Dry Pot to go from Sizzling Pot King

Funny how the term "out of sight, out of mind" really holds true. With the rather limited amount of driving we do these days; we tend to forget about places we enjoy. And with the pandemic raging on; we all need that little bit of enjoyment in life; whether you like art, movies, cooking, or eating, we need those moments. Last week, I asked the Missus why, in spite of the chilly weather, She hasn't wanted the dry pot from Sizzling Pot King. I got a wide eyed look and a laugh.....and guess what I went to pick-up for dinner?

I basically walked into the dining area; which looks like a fairly messy storage area these days. Placed my order, went back to the car and fifteen minutes later our dry pot to go was packed.

The large dry pot is now $32.99.....we've stuck with the combination we enjoy; numbing hot (mala), medium spice, tripe and pork intestine, with frozen tofu ($2.99) added. There's currently a 10% discount for cash transactions; but I paid the full price with a tip.

I did notice some differences when I opened the tray up at home.

The portion size seemed smaller. Indeed whereas a pan used to be three full meals for the Missus and I; this was just enough for two. Also, the cauliflower.....SPK used to use Fioretto, what we called Chinese Flowering Cauliflower, which has an amazing texture and nutty-sweetness, has now been replaced with regular broccoli.

Still, the Missus really enjoyed this...it was nice a numbing-hot.....we both got a nice little "buzz". The tripe was perfectly prepared, no off flavors with a nice crunchiness, and the intestine had a bit of chew and a wonderful, light funkiness. The "frozen" tofu seemed a bit soft for our taste....but the Missus scarfed it all up with no problem. She has a thing about the potato and mung bean sprouts in this as well.

Here's an old photo for comparison. I'd say it's even more spicy these days.

Still, the Missus really enjoyed this so much that She requested an encore, hoping that they'd be back to using cauliflower; but no such luck.

Regardless, we still enjoyed this, and like so much that is going on now, we're just thankful that the Missus and I can enjoy what we consider to be comfort food.

Sizzling Pot King
8058 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 279-0088
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 11am - 10pm
Sunday    11am - 930pm

What has been giving you comfort during these difficult times?

Chef China (Spring Valley) Take away

mmm-yoso!!! , the food blog, is sometimes written by Cathy and usually written by Kirk.  Today it is Cathy's turn. 

Even in the era of COVID-19, The Mister and I have kept up our habit of just driving and stopping when we see interesting signage.   This storefront, just a block East of Grecian Cafe, across from Rana's and in the same mall as Fruity Loco  (as well as kitty corner from the former Butler's, (which now has plainer signage of "Coffee Shop) has been located in this same space since at least 2006.  Seeing that it was open (for take out only) and knowing that we were hungry..we parked and walked up.  

 There's a table at the doorway and you can order and pay, (although it did seem that most people were calling in orders).  We were told it would be about 20 minutes, so we walked to Fruity Loco for a (tamarind) raspado while we waited.

   Deciding to try an appetizer, nothing in that section of the menu looked interesting, but at the "Salt and Pepper" section of the menu were Salt and Pepper Chicken wings (six for $6.50, 12 for $10.60).  What a great choice!  Easily a meal, these large, meaty, garlic spiced properly fried (and still crispy after the drive home) wings were wonderful.  The rice wasn't necessary, but used for a future meal. 
 My usual 'first time' choice at Chinese restaurants is the (Shrimp) Egg Foo Young ($10.90). There were three large patties, nicely crisped, filled with fresh bean sprouts and onion, cabbage and carrot.  Apologies for no cross section photo.  The gravy for the Egg Foo Young was unique and delicious.  The sauce had large, juicy shrimp,  celery and chunks of water chestnuts, making the whole dish filled with texture as well as flavor.   Going for texture worked out well with the Shrimp Fried Noodles ($10.10).  Packaging for take out is important and keeping the noodles crispy is necessary.  The sauce had a different flavor than the one that went with the egg foo young.  The broccoli, sugar peas and carrots were crisp and fresh (canned mushrooms and bamboo shoots, of course) and each flavor was distinguishable. 

 Plating at home with a bit of everything.  We will be returning to this longstanding local restaurant.  

Chef China 9726 Campo Road Spring Valley 91977 Closed Monday Open Tues-Sat 11-9, Sun 3-9 (619) 460-7286

Dim Sum To Go From Jasmine

My first visit to Golden Island had me wondering how takeout was going at Jasmine. I had checked out their website and found they were doing online takeout orders. So, I decided to order some dim sum...which was 20 cents cheaper then Golden Island......at $5.99. Interesting to note, Jasmine Express opens at 1030 as does online ordering. And then it's at least 50 minutes before your order is ready.

Upon arriving, I noticed that the signs lead you to Jasmine Express for pick-up.

And you have to wait in line with everyone else....all of the folks in front of me were placing orders. They placed their order and waited across from the restaurant to be called. So, while I expected my order to be ready at 1130.....which it was (see the photo below, it's on the shelf); I still had to wait another 25 minutes in line. Add in the rather perfunctory service..... Wouldn't it make more sense to have a separate line for online pick-up?

Anyway, check out the outdoor dining at Kula above....creative uses for those concrete dividers.

Eventually I made my way to the front of the line, mentioned my name, and was handed my bag....I mean...really, my food was laying on a shelf for 25 minutes, when I could have walked up and been out of there in less than five.

I then drove back to the office and checked things out; I went with the Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai, Har Gow, and the Steamed Shrimp Fun Gor (fun guo aka Chiu Chow Dumplings). All $5.99. Man, if I hadn't been to Golden Island before this; I'd have had a bit of sticker shock as this was twenty bucks of dim sum.

The siu mai was decent. The pork had been evenly minced, thus achieving a better texture and was also more tender and moist, Good porkiness; the wrapper was still pliable and not hard. Pretty good overall.

The Har Gow was the best of the bunch; no torn wrappers here. The shrimp were plump and tender, with a nice mild sweet-brininess. This was quite good.

The Chiu Chow Dumplings was the worst item; the wrapper too thick, the filling under seasoned.

I actually like a bit more pungency and peanuts in this style of dumpling.

Overall, while the pick up process was really weak, this was much better than Golden Island.

A couple of weeks back; I decided to try the whole drill again.....with the same results. Enter order and pay at 1030; told to pick-up at 1130, arrived, this time at 1115, and still waited almost 30 minutes to pick up my order which had been lying on the shelf since I arrived.

This time I got the Shrimp Siu Mai, the Har Gow again, and the Steamed Scallop and Shrimp Dumplings.

This time one of the wrappers on the Har Gow was ripped....bummer.

Still, these were as good as what I'd had on my previous visit.

The shrimp and pork siu mai was also quite good; moist, fairly tender, nice balance of porkiness and shrimp flavor.

No hard pieces, no grittiness, no muddy flavors. The wrapper was even more tender than with the pork siu mai on my previous visit.

The Steamed Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling was ok.

While the wrapper was a bit on thick side and the dumpling could have used more scallop.....I missed a nice tender-sweet-oceany scallop flavor, the shrimp in this was again quite delicious and prepared well.

So, while the dim sum at Jasmine was, in my opinion, superior to Golden Island, GI definitely had the better service and process. So, I'm not quite sure....maybe it's best for me to wait until this is all over and I can have a proper dim sum meal.

Jasmine
4609 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Dine In Hours
Mon - Thurs 10am - 3pm
Fri - Sun   10am - 3pm, 5pm - 8pm
Jasmine Express
Daily 1030 - 830pm

COMC - Visits "BC" (Before Covid) Cueva Bar, Ma's House, Hachi Ramen, and Submarine Crab

Well, welcome to March 225th. Who'd have thought 2020 would be like this? For my posts; I usually do multiple visits to a place....after all, everyone can have an off day.....even though it goes against my "fool me once shame on you....fool me twice shame on me" rule, I'm willing to take full responsibility for my poor judgement....though there are many paces where; perhaps we've had absolutely terrible food/service; or the food has been lackluster and the prices quite high....or something in between that'll be just a "one and done". It's pretty obvious in many cases just by the absence of a post on those places.

To be perfectly fair; after a certain period of time; like 6-9 months or so, I'd just as soon start things up all over again. And Covid-19 has just changed things. So here are a bunch of places that I fully intend on visiting again once we're past all this craziness....and I'll just "start the meter" from the beginning with a clean slate, hours, staff, menus, could all have changed, right? But, I thought you'd like to see the photos anyway.

Cueva Bar:

The Missus and I visited Cueva Bar last year and fully intended of returning in a couple of months, before the pandemic struck. We weren't particularly struck by the food; we enjoyed the Choripapas the most. The flatbread would have been pretty good, but there just wasn't enough Chorizo on the "Norteno" to really make an impact on our palate. I gotta say; really pretty presentations though.

I still need to try the Empanadas.

Cueva Bar Café
2123 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours
Thur - Sat 4pm - 9pm

Ma's House:

Ma's created a bit of buzz when they opened last fall. I went with Calvin back in November. Even though I know folks who were really excited about Ma's opening.....we'd been to Ma's Islamic in Anaheim and were really not impressed. Perhaps having all those meals at the now defunct Tung Lai Shun (in the SGV) and other places in China has set the bar too high.

Both Calvin and I were underwhelmed.

The cumin lamb was terrible and the deep fried crispy duck was super hard and bland.

The one item that was quite good was the sesame bread. In fact, we brought the leftover bread back to the office (remember those days? When folks worked in an office?) and gave it to "YZ" who loved it.

So, while that gave me a reason to return; I just feel I need to eat in the restaurant and I'm just not ready to do that here. The Missus who tasted the leftovers will probably not be my eating companion here as well, so....I need to wait I guess.

Ma's House
5537 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Hachi Ramen:

So....the curse of Hachi Ramen. I had visited a few times when the place was Artisan Bento. I actually used to have quite a few meetings up in the Hillcrest area. So in 2017 the place changed concepts and became Hachi Ramen. Like I mentioned in my Ramen Ryoma post, I'd had two aborted posts on Hachi (also mentioned in Waters Fine Foods post) , just because my visits were spaced a year apart.

So, in February, I decided to start over.....get things going.

And while the noodles were standard issue and the broth a bit on the overly salty side; this was not bad.

Then of course, we hit mid-March. And Hachi has been closed ever since.  Though I understand you can order some of the menu items from Azuki Sushi.

So, there are questions; will Hachi ever reopen....AND will the "fourth time be a charm"?

Hachi Ramen
2505 5th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Currently Closed Due to Covid-19

Submarine Crab:

So, this is an interesting one. Back at the end of February, I made multiple visits to Lotus Garden in City Heights. The young man working there; I believe his name is "Tu" is from Little Saigon and we had a couple of nice chats about Vietnamese food in San Diego. Surprisingly, he told me that he and his girlfriend will often visit Submarine Crab for the Banh Canh.

So, at the beginning of March, I grabbed Calvin and we drove over to Submarine Crab.

After looking over the menu a few times; I figured out that the Banh Canh was called "Udon" on the menu.

It was quite a thick/gooey as I like; but this was not bad at all.

The Beef Stew - bo kho, as a bit on the thin side, but not bad either.

We also had the chicken wings.

I understand that the "Seafood Udon" is currently on the takeout menu; but the Beef Stew is only available eat in.

I definitely need to return; but will wait for a bit, and will start things fresh.

Submarine Crab
4647 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 987-0333
Current (Covid-19) Hours:
Mon - Thurs 330pm - 9pm
Fri - Sun   12pm - 930pm

And lastly......I'm just adding these photos. We won't be returning here.

Hope everyone is safe and in good health! Have a great week!

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 Taste of Hunan

The Missus had been wanting more Chinese food recently; and in the mood for something on the spicier (here in SD it's all relative, there's northing even close to Hunan Chilli King here). Her natural choice would be takeout from Village Kitchen, but we'd just done some takeout visits a few months back. I was wondering how Taste of Hunan was doing. It seemed that Taste of Hunan had started pretty strong; but on our last visit, they seemed to be slumping after that start.

So, we decided on Taste of Hunan.....the online ordering made things easy. We ended doing takeout a total of three times over the last month.

The front doorway is now blocked off by a table, with some Plexiglas hanging down as a shield. There was a short wait on all three visits and the young lady working on all those visits had fits trying to pronounce my name....it was funny; by the third visit, it had become some kind of long playing joke. The menu during this time is rather limited; so it's best to see what's available on their website.

So, I thought I'd go over the dishes we had from our (the Missus's) favorite to our least favorite.

The Missus favorite - The Minced Pork with Pickled Vegetables and Bamboo Shoots ($13.99). The Missus's Dad is from Hunan province so She has a fondness for the pickled, dried, and preserved vegetables of the region.

While not being particularly spicy; the Missus really enjoyed the earthy, mildly sour flavors with a hint of spice, and the pork was pretty tender. It wasn't overly greasy and the flavors came thru rather cleanly.

We had this twice and it's the current favorite of the Missus.

On our last visit; I decided to order a dish that I had enjoyed at VK initially, but not on recent visits; the Stir Fried Chicken Gizzards with Pickled Long Beans ($14.99).

The shaved chicken gizzards were springy, yet tender. The Missus loved the preserved long beans in this dish; which had been sliced crosswise, while not super strong in fermented flavor, wasn't overly salty as is the tendency. There was a mild heat to the dish, though nothing too strong. While a tad on the salty side, the Missus said that this dish of all we had is the closest to the flavors She remembers from Hunan.

On our first visit; I got the Changsha Smelly Tofu ($12).

There's was a hint of that decaying vegetable matter, though it definitely wasn't wasn't the stuff the Missus loves. You know, like She always says, "if you can eat it; it isn't stinky enough". Nice savory tones, decent spice, a strong cumin flavor....lovely with rice. Sadly, this was only available on our first visit and not on subsequent ones.

Speaking of rice; I had to try what was my previous favorite dish at Taste of Hunan, the Smoked Pork and Preserved Vegetable Fried Rice ($10.99).

While definitely not as good as the version we had during our earlier visits; there's a lot less preserved vegetables and la rou these days. There's still enough of the smoked pork to give it a pleasant smoky; almost "bacony" flavor. And having the smoked pork finaly chopped minimizes our issue with the la rou at ToH being too hard and tough. While evenly coated with soy sauce; it was a tad on the drier side the two times I got the dish. It is a winner as leftovers with easy-over eggs on it. Which is the main reason I got it in the first place.

The classic Hunan Smoked Pork with Preserved Green Beans ($15.99) was a disappointment.

Village Kitchen still wins out with regards to La Rou in our opinion. The pork as dry, really tough, super salty. The preserved green beans were too hard and there was too little of it in this dish.

The other dish that VK wins out with is the Smashed Eggplant and Pepper with Century Egg ($14.99).

While we found the version from VK to be on the greasy side; this was the polar opposite; too dry and stringy. It also lacked the wonderful smokiness of a well roasted eggplant and was strangely quite bland. We'll stick to the version at Village Kitchen.

Overall, it's now kind of a toss-up between ToH and VK. VK's dishes tend to be more greasy; but the eggplant with pidan, dishes with dried cucumber skin, dried radish, and the Hunan Smoked Pork there gets my vote there. Here at Taste of Hunan; it's that Pork and Bamboo Shoot dish, the Chicken Gizzards, and the fried rice which we enjoy. We didn't order the fried intestines and such since I didn't think it would hold up real well. So, we'll see when we turn the corner on the pandemic and we feel comfortable about dining in again.

When Taste of Hunan first opened, the food was definitely better; though the same could be said for Village Kitchen as well. At least we've got our favorites at each place.

Taste of Hunan
9880 Hibert St. Suite E2
San Diego, CA 92131
(858)-860-5118
Current Hours:
Mon -Tues, Thurs - Fri 11am - 230pm, 5pm - 830pm
Sat - Sun              11am - 830pm
Closed on Wednesday

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