One of the other victims of the China Max fire in 2020 was the Convoy location of Tasty Pot. The place was repaired with the same owners in place; but I'm guessing with all the hot pot restaurants dotting the area the proprietors decided to go in a different direction, deciding on a sizzling plate/pepper lunch concept named Sizzling House which opened in December.
I'd been trying to talk the Missus into visiting, but She didn't seem to enthusiastic about "feeding another fad", but She finally encouraged me to check the place out on my own.
So, I decided to head on over; arriving right after 11 on a weekday. The spacious restaurant had but one table occupied when I arrived and just two when I left.
As is the trend with many restaurants these days; ordering is done via QR code. Though I found the folks working to be quite attentive, which is probably pretty easy with just two tables occupied.
Funny thing; as I was looking thru the menu; the Missus sent me a text encouraging me to order the Japanese A5 Wagyu. When I said I thought it was waaaay too expensive, She kept insisting! Perhaps She was just feigning Her distinerest?
I finally relented and ordered the Japanese A5 Wagyu rice, meat medium rare, with an egg (of course) which had a $1.99 upcharge. This wasn't cheap by any means.
Though you did get a free green tea, with or without hot or cold, with or without sugar.
My plate came out, with a cardboard "crown" to protect the innocent fairly quickly. It was sizzling quite nicely.
The portion of rice was quite large there was corn and edamame scattered about the hot plate. The beef, supposedly four ounces was topped with a small scoop of butter, which I thought wasn't necessary.
The pepper sauce came in a small gravy boat. I tasted the sauce; which was interesting as it was much spicier than the usual Taiwanese Black Pepper sauce. The sauce was rather rich in texture with some decent tangy tones, a mild sweetness, and a savory component. I think this kind of overpowered the black pepper component. For some reason, I thought it would go great with shrimp?
The beef was a rather thinly sliced and I got to moving it quickly so it wouldn't overcook.
With the beef sidelined to prevent overcooking; I worked on mixing the rice, other stuffs, and sauce to get things nicely coated. In some ways, I almost wished this was in a dolsot as some caramelization and crispy bits would add to texture and flavor.
As a whole, the sauce overpowered the beef which I'm glad I moved to the side and ate without contact with the sauce. You could cut it with the fork, but I don't think I'd get this again. As much as I thought that there was a good amount of sauce, I think I could have used even more! Though the rice did taste pretty good; and the corn added some sweetness and in combination with the edamame more textural contrast.
Then again, I'm not going to spent forty bucks for a "funky fried rice"; though, like I mentioned above, I do think I'll return to try with the chicken or perhaps have another sauce, mushroom and Japanese curry are offered.
The Missus didn't care for the leftovers as it was too "rich" for Her. Though I'm glad I tried Sizzling House out; as I thought it was better than expected. Service was very nice as well.
Sizzling House & Noodle
4698 Convoy St. Suite 107
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 930pm
Friday 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 930pm
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