Tiki Central / Tiki Travel / San Diego Area (mostly vintage) Bars and Restaurants
Post #223793 by hodadhank on Wed, Mar 29, 2006 1:21 PM
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Wed, Mar 29, 2006 1:21 PM
Chinese in San Diego... Peking Restaurant Located in North Park this place opened in 1934 and originally had private curtained booths lining it's the walls. Cozy, friendly, VERY INEXPENSIVE and still serving satisfying mid-century style Cantonese comfort food as it's awesome Neon on it's vintage facade proudly boasts "Chop Suey"! Hodaddy's GF loves the Hong Kong Style Chow Mien served with an enormous nest of crispy noodles. My favorite is the wonderfully hard to find Wor-Shu-Op here known as Almond Duck braised boneless duck in a sweet & sour plum sauce with almonds. Without the sauce you might mistake this for a plate of baklava squares! As I understand it the vintage machines needed to prepare this dish haven't been available for almost fifty years and if they break you might as well remove the item from the menu! (There was one at the Chinese restaurant in the Las Vegas Tropicana eight years ago but when I returned it had closed and the mysterious machine had vanished into legend.) Hong Kong Restaurant Open till 3:00 am in Hillcrest although I must admit I preferred their old decor to the new pastel fern bar look. Superb Szechuan entrees and possibly the best "old school" egg rolls in town. Chubby and filled with veggies and distinctively spiced meat. Order two! Jimmy Wong's Golden Dragon Once dingy and rumored to have been a place even vermin might avoid, the vintage host of San Diego's most famous fire breathing neon sign has been given the kiss of life by new owners who have redecorated and are snazzing up the once-traditional Chinese menu to include Thai, Japanese, Korean and other Asian influences. I've not been there yet but the buzz is VERY POSITIVE. With San Diego's coastal proximity there no wonder many large Chinese Seafood houses have thrived... Jasmine Seafood Restaurant Dim Sum lunch is a must at this giant banquet hall. Speedy waitresses push brimming dumpling covered carts between the tables. At a raised hand they will stop to offer an ever changing variety of unusual two or three morsel plates, but be careful those plates add up quick and I've never gotten out of there without spending more than thirty bucks. Their standard entrees are delicious too and a popular Chinese New Year celebration always offers a fantastic special menu, firecrackers and an small army of Dragon dancers to dazzle your eyes. Jasmine also boasts an efficient take-out shop in a corner of the same building. If you need a roast duck and three pounds of BBQ pork in a hurry fresh from the Jasmine kitchen, this is your place! Emerald Chinese Seafood Restaurant Another excellent Dim Sum spot. Everything delicious. Crab, shrimp and fish dishes are superb, and a more intimate space makes for a more relaxed feel than Jasmine. However, trying to compare the two would be as difficult as asking a dozen people from South Philly to vote on who makes the best steak sandwich, Pat's or Geno's. You'd end up with six for one and a half dozen for the other! |
