It's not just recently that I've been interested in food. Rather, I have been in love with food for most of my taste-budding career but only just admitted to this deep, rather embarrassing, infatuation. This relationship has been ongoing without my knowledge but now I am coming out:
I love food. After all, I am Chinese and this love for food runs deep in my veins, centuries old into ancient dynasties of China. But, of course, you don't need to be any type of Asian to love food! After reading four handfuls of foodie-blogs, I have discovered a world beyond campus cafeterias and home cooking.
My very first food review will be on Sam Woo, the one located in San Diego on Claremont Mesa. Located next to the 99 Ranch Market, the place to go for fresh fish and bok-choy. I have to admit: this isn't my first time eating at a Sam Woo. I've never really been a big fan of this chain restaurant . I'm not into duck or sweet stir fried anything, but staying put on campus for so long has made my stomach ache for real Chinese food. I Googled that picture on the side to show you what these type of restaurants look like. The Sam Woo we went to was really small and did not have such a large variety and it was not as decorated as the one in the picture, but it did have the traditional duck hanging in the window.
Sam Woo serves up Cantonese-styled food, particularly barbecued duck, chicken, and pork. When I arrived, I was disappointed that this particular Sam Woo did not have duck or chicken claws like the Sam Woos back home. But that wasn't going to stop me now! Nor was it going to stop my roommate [Kristine] or my suite mate [Nancy], both who are just as in love with food as I am. =D True friendship, I say! (My suitie just brought me a poptart! See what I mean?!)
So we ended up browsing the menu. It was hard to choose so each of us chose one item (Nancy got Duck Soup Noodle too, which she described as "heaven").
Here we have the time-old and well-known Hot & Sour Soup ($7-8). Extremely different from Panda Express. It had a perfectly thick texture that went down extremely well to warm up your stomach. In the soupy mixture, there was strips of pork meat, strips of black mushroom, green onions, peels of bamboo, and I think its eggs (?). It was a bit
too sour, but nonetheless, its a very satisfying Hot & Sour Soup. I would have preferred a different soup but it was such that most of the better tasting (imo) soups were also more expensive, but next time I want to try their Shark Fin Soup.
Kung Pao Chicken ($5-6) -- a plate of grease, peanuts, chopped water chestnuts, green onions, chili peppers, and chickens. It was
okay. It was much too oily and it did not differ from pseudo-Chinese food restaurants. We ate this with rice ($1/person) -- real rice, might I mention, and not the soft mushy stuff shaped with an ice cream scooper at UCSD cafeterias. The only good thing about it was the large portion given; it was enough to take back to the dorm and eat in the wee hours of the morning to satiate my hunger. At this point, you may be asking: why did you choose dishes we can find at Panda Express? What's the point? Well its the simple fact that we're poor college students. From past experiences at Sam Woo (when I was with my parents), I would recommend their Blossom Platter (small $24, large $36), BBQ Three Delicacy Combo ($18), & Spicy Salt Shrimp ($16).
How could we go to Sam Woo and not have their Barbecue? This one is called the Double Barbecue Duck with Noodle. I was pleasantly surprised that it was really tasty. The duck meat was not too dry and the steamed lettuce helped to wash down the grease and unhealthiness from the rest of the meal. San Diego's Sam Woo served a pretty good BBQ duck: it was not drenched in sauce and all skin like the Sam Woo in San Gabriel Valley (on Las Tunas, I think). The noodles were whatever. I've had better and it was definitely not 'Q' enough, but the main part of the plate was the duck anyway. While this was a fairly good plate, I would still recommend the BBQ Three Delicacy Combo that I mentioned above (if you're not short on cash).
Did I mention it was a Cash Only restaurant? This was strange as I do not recall any Sam Woo being cash only. But it is a Chinese eatery so I shouldn't have been surprised. The service was not too shabby for an Asian place as many other reviewers have said, but then again I was speaking Mandarin to them most of the time. The only thing that I was annoyed with was that there was only one waitress for 7 different tables. This did not lengthen the time of getting our food (Chinese restaurants are known for fast service), but getting to order and getting the check was a pretty lengthy process of me waving my hand in the air and meekly saying "Auntie!" in Mandarin. Actually, now that I think of it, that probably wasn't the right term to use.
Anyway, it was a pretty good trip. Afterwards, we splurged at 99 Ranch Market (a Chinese supermarket) on snacks and other good deals. But that was only after going to a small 'boutique' of sorts that sold lingerie, fake designer sunglasses, fake designer shoes, fake designer jewelry, cheap makeup and nail polish, and a whole lot of nothing. Yet, Nancy was able to buy a pair of sunglasses and some "Chanel" earrings, which I purchased as well.
Before we left Claremont Mesa for good, I drove across the street to the Tea Station where I ordered a hot Rose Milk Tea to go. Three words: it was good. A perfect mixture of creamy hot milk tea and the scent of roses. =) Heaven, in a cup!
P.S. As I said before, the picture quality sucks. So bear with me until I get my dSLR.
^ Chris, sitting outside on the bench. We were waiting for our friends to come. Our other friends came from their own foodie adventure. Well, hardly food. They went to do the spicy tuna challenge and came back with x-large drinks and a bottle of Pepto Bismol.
Choi and Kim with their Big Gulp and Pepto Bismol after their Spicy Tuna adventure, jealously eyeing our Korean BBQ that they couldn't possibly stomach after all those habanero spices. =D That's how the it got started -- Onion, Kimchi, Kimchi Pancake, and BEEF. The aroma was super amazing. It still is, after the third and fourth trip. =)
After finishing off three plates of Korean BBQ, the grand finale was the Kimchi fried Rice. It's my favorite part. The flavor is ... it's just wonderful. All the flavor from the meat grease, all that kimchi, the pancake -- it was a carb/grease heaven. YAY. To balance it off, there was also a Kimchi Miso soup (I think). It was alright. By the time I go to the soup, I was pretty full and couldn't down anymore.
