seeing as how my day has practically disappeared already, i might as well take a few moments to reflect upon two other blog-worthy asian eateries i've had a chance to enjoy since getting to san diego.
the first: ba ren szechuan. a pick of miss wendy, who loves her spicy food! we went on a monday night, and it was fairly quiet around 7-7:30. we weren't even sure it was still open for business, given that we didn't receive any sort of greeting upon walking in the door. thankfully, the situation was quickly rectified, as a waiter pointed us to an open booth. even before i could take a few steps, i was distracted by the case of yummy goodness on my left. in it was house a huge selection of cold dishes: seawood, pigs ears, tripe, and who knows what other kinds of offal. to which i say: YUM!
yelp had warned us that at least 1/2 the menu would be in chinese. that didn't dissuade us, as we were starving and we already had a few things in mind. we started with a few of the dishes from the case by the door. the pigs ears had just the right amount of chew and spice, but methinks they could've used a bit more salt. the pork tongue was more flavorful and disappeared fairly quickly. i believe we also picked out some seawood, that offered a nice cool contrast to all of our other dishes.
this was necessary (as was the white rice that i normally don't eat) b/c the rest of the meal was HOT. so very HOT. not bad hot, just HOT. (get my drift?) seeing that it was just the two of us, we couldn't order everything we wanted. so we went with two yelp suggestions (the sliced boiled fish & the chicken with hot peppers), the smoked duck (a personal must-try), and some sort of spicy veggy dish (i think). let's just say that the first two were SPICY, with the chicken being the spiciest of them all. it was one of those things where you eat it and you think you're ok. but within seconds, you realize, you're not ok. it's a "creeper" spicy, as i like to call it. so thank goodness for lots of rice and water. again, it wasn't bad hot, just simply very very HOT. the little chicken pieces were nice & crunchy, which made the whole experience seem like eating spicy pop rocks. the fish also had a bit of a kick, so the duck was definitely the palate calmer/cooler/cleanser. personally, i think the duck could've been smokier and saltier, but it provided a nice contrast to all the intense spice.
all in all, ba ren was definitely a great way to kick off asian eating in SD. thanks, wendy, for picking the first yummy spot!
ba ren szechuan
4957 diane avenue
san diego, ca 92117
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ba-ren-szechuan-san-diego
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to kick off a fun weekend/week w/the in-laws, i decided to partake in family dim sum at pearl, located in rancho bernardo, only a mere 15 minutes away. i wasn't quite sure if i was up for it, as i'm not the biggest fan of asian carbs. it's not that my tastebuds don't enjoy them -- i just always end up eating too much! but considering that i haven't had dim sum in a year, i thought i'd cut myself some slack, especially post-2-hour workout. (it's painful how i challenge my body. *sigh*)
i was certainly pleased to roll up to a lovely restaurant front. as most of my dim sum experiences have taken place in cramped NY and LA (and even sydney) restaurants, this was definitely a treat. first of all, i arrived to see a big purple sign w/"pearl" in hip font. i'm a big fan of exterior & interior design, so this boded well. i walked in to see a sea of tables & chairs done up in wedding attire -- all white w/the requisite bows on chair backs. according to jerry, "it always looks like this" -- our waiter even switched out two of our chairs so that they would all match! in addition, one side of the restaurant (which was a nice long rectangle) looked out on a man-made pond w/ducks floating past. (we checked out "webb park" -- the park out back -- after the meal, and it was definitely the perfect spot for wedding photos.) in addition to providing great service, the staff were all dressed in uniforms or traditional chinese attire (chi paos & mao jackets), which added a nice touch.
foodwise, i was quite pleased with the variety of dishes, which included traditional as well as more contemporary options. the dragon's claws (chicken feet) were intensely flavorful and meatier than i've ever had them. even though this meant that there were only 2-3 of them on the small plate, i'd much prefer this over skinny claws w/nothing but skin. we picked out both the steamed bbq pork buns (which T&J preferred) and the roasted bbq pork buns (which i preferred). both were scrumptious, though mine could've had a better meat: bread ratio. regardless, 2 of these buns (and a crispy spring roll) were a good use of my allowable carbs. the salt & pepper calamari dish (apparently a big fave of the aussies in sydney, as they were literally on every single menu i saw) was actually a bit too salty (though i'd never admit that to teresa) and definitely did not come straight out of the fryer. the thing was room temp, if not chilly to the tongue, and could've used a flash-fry or something before coming out to the table. (a nearby table also mentioned one of their dishes being too cold, so this may be something that management needs to work on.) the mango pudding was also in need of some serious sugar AND mango flavor, plus it could've done w/o the non-ripe cantaloupe & honeydew (which cameron promptly spit out). the fam did, however, enjoy the roast pork noodles, the pork ribs, and the shumai -- none of which i partook in, though i trust their assessment enough to mention it here. the rest of the dishes on the carts floating by looked delectable (and worth a taste in the near future), though the roast pork in san diego all seem a bit too lean for my tastes. what's w/the lean meat, folks??
the phuong trang gang did mention pearl as one of their top dim sum picks in the area (the other two being jasmine & emerald), so i'm glad i made it out. jerry also mentioned pearl & emerald having the same owners, so it seems like jasmine is next on the list to try. for now, this place gets two thumbs up. it was 11:30AM by the time we sat down on a saturday morning, and we still had TONS of elbow room -- a definite plus in my book!
pearl chinese cuisine
11666 avena place
san diego, ca 92128
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pearl-chinese-cuisine-san-diego
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