Xi'an Kitchen

Biang biang noodles -- so tasty, so spicy, so hard to eat elegantly...

The Fresh Three Flavor -- the three flavors are eggplant, potato, and bell pepper.  And deliciousness.

We were surprised that the shrimp dumplings came out in a soup! 
But we liked the soup.  It was sort of smoky-vinegary.

Miko clutching her Coke, the only panacea for spicy food.

Rating: Two thumbs up (Gold star potential)

Date: 9/25/2015

Time in: 1:25 PM

Time out: 2:30 PM

Servers' recommendations: Fresh three flavor, handmade biang biang noodle

What we ordered: Fresh three flavor, handmade biang biang noodle, shrimp dumplings, two Cokes.

Number in our party: 2

Final check amount: $35.61

Price per person: $17.81

Notes:

• We had a feeling this place would be good when we walked in and saw that:
1. The place was busy at 1:25 PM on a Friday. Everyone was happily eating from giant platters of food.
2. The captions for the photos of menu items on the wall were in Chinese. No numbers or English translations.
3. We looked around, and it seemed we were the only American-born people in the entire restaurant. Jenne was certainly the lone white person.
• The server was excellent at giving recommendations. He listened carefully to our preferences and was decisive! We hate it when servers walk us through the menu or suggest the most boring item, e.g. "How about the broccoli beef? Or the orange chicken?"
• I (Miko) am a giant wimp when it comes to spice, and the handmade noodle dish was pretty damn hot. But the noodle was so yummy that I kept eating anyway.
• The seasoning on everything was excellent.
• The portions were generous. We had a good amount of leftovers, and by making a pot of rice, we had enough food for dinner for three!
• Two top-notch Convoy Conquest meals in a row! We are falling in love with Convoy once again. Thank you, Kula & Xi'an Kitchen.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION  

Address: 4690 Convoy St Ste 109

Phone number: 858.571.2788

Noise level: 3 when it's busy, 2 when it's not

Accepts credit cards? Yes, but only 1 -- no splitting the check

Parking: Shared lot -- not one of the craziest ones

Ideal group size: Any

Available vegetarian options: Tomato and egg noodles with pepper oil, baked bean curd, eggplant dishes (but they might have hidden fish or meat in it).

Szechuan Chef

Amusingly, all the vegetable dishes on the menu just had photos of the whole vegetable rather than the prepared dish?

The decor is very modern and non-Convoy.  Look at the exciting chandelier!

Sad mushy dumplings.  We didn't even finish them!  We always finish dumplings.

The pork dish was truly delightful.

This was my favorite thing.  SO DELICIOUS.

Fried pumpkin -- it tasted like something you'd eat at a fair and then wish you hadn't.

Xiaolongbao...but ugh they were terrible. 
Mushy wrappers, too-sweet broth, creepy meatball-like filling.

Rating: One thumb down (Miko), one sideways (Jenne)
Date: 4/25/14

Time in: 12:49 PM
Time out: 1:45 PM
Servers' recommendations: Mongolian beef, diced chicken with chili hot sauce, pepper-stir fried country style pork
What we ordered: Dumplings, the recommended pork dish, steamed pork buns, Chinese pancake, egg yolk pumpkin
Number in our party: 2
Final check amount: $40.99
Price per person: $20.50
  
Notes: 

• The Chinese pancake was flaky, doughy, and delicious!
• The pork dish was tasty and not too spicy.  It was especially good if you wrapped it in pieces of Chinese pancake.
• The pumpkin tasted like it had been coated in boxed cake mix and fried.  It was very strange, especially since I'd been hoping for a light tempura.
• Both of the dumpling dishes that we tried were terrible.  The wrappers on both were mushy, and the meat was flavorless.  The soup inside the xiaolongbao was viscous in a creepy way, and way too sweet.
• We both felt gross after the meal.  I felt heavy and saturated in grease, and Jenne had a bad-food headache later that afternoon.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION  
Address: 4344 Convoy St
Phone number: 858.279.8881
Noise level: 3
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot -- one of the best on Convoy.
Ideal group size: 2+

Friend's House

I (Jenne) was just getting over a cold, and this was the most comforting thing I could imagine right then.

So many panchan!  I had trouble fitting them all in one picture.

A spinning wheel?

This was SO HOT it took me forever to eat but it was delicious.

Rating: Two thumbs up
Date: 2/23/13
Time in: 12:46 PM 
Servers' recommendations: #11 (Dol Sot Bibim Bap), #12 (Kim Chi Dol Sot Bibim Bap), #17 (Man Doo La Myun), #22 (Soon Do Boo), #27 (Gae Ji Jae) 
What we ordered: #11, #17 
Number in our party: 2
Final check amount: $20.50
Price per person: $10.25
Notes: 

•  It's very cozy inside.  They have X factor!  The place is full of the strangest assortment of knick-knacks, so it really does feel like you're at a friend's house -- a friend with a kooky grandmother who collects all kinds of junk at flea markets. There's an antique telephone where you walk in, and the stereo looks like a fake plastic rock.   
• The booths are private with high wooden walls, and the cushions on the benches are really homey and cute.
• The panchan is especially good here; they must make it themselves.  The potato panchan is delicious and still a little warm.  We asked for a second helping.  The jelly is better here than at other places.  It's usually so bland.  We don't get the lettuce with the Thousand Island dressing though -- ew.
• The ramen dish is very comforting and well-seasoned.  There are TONS of noodles (probably 3-4 packs of ramen noodles) that aren't overcooked.  It has scrambled egg (and we all know how I feel about egg on anything) and carrots in it, with furikake sprinkled on top.  It's just the right level of spicy.  And it has dumplings in it!  The dumplings might have been packaged, but they're flavorful.  This would be a great hangover/cold food.
• The bibim bap is also yummy.  The vegetables in it taste very fresh and are nicely cooked.  The dish is REALLY hot -- it sizzled for almost the entire meal.  That means there's a lot of good rice crust.
• The servers could check in a little more often with water refills, but they were really nice.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION 
Address: 4647 Convoy St, Ste 101A
Phone number: 858.292.0499
Website: http://friendshousekorean.menutoeat.com
Accepts credit cards? Yes, 25 cents for orders under $10
Parking: Shared lot, still crowded
Ideal group size: 1-4
Noise level: 2

Mapo BBQ Korean cuisine

Miko remarked on the "blinged-out" menu.

Bland panchan and weird-tasting kimchi.

I was charmed by the "Help Roaster" logo.

Bland mushy dumplings.

Bland tofu stew.

Rating: Two thumbs down
Date: 1/26/13
Time in: 8:46 PM
Time out: 9:31 PM 
Servers' recommendations: Tofu stews
What we ordered: Bean paste tofu stew, boiled dumplings
Number in our party: 2
Final check amount: $17.26
Price per person: $8.63 (but we were still hungry)
Notes: 

• It was surprisingly spacious inside.
• It was rather difficult to get a recommendation from the servers.  The first lady didn't speak a whole lot of English, but the fluent guy had trouble too.  They kept waving vaguely at the menu.
• The boiled dumplings were clearly from a package.  In fact, they tasted suspiciously similar to the frozen Daylee Pride gyoza that I get at the Asian market.  I was not pleased -- for the same price I paid here for a dish of 10 dumplings, I could get a bag of 40.
• The panchan was bland, and our favorites (potato salad, fish cake) were missing.  The kimchi had an odd flavor to it -- sweet and musty.  
• Gah, the stew.  It tasted like miso soup, but with tough, stringy beef and clams that were definitely not the freshest.  We did ask for the stew to be mild, but it was so bland that we were forced to mix the kimchi into it.  And then we'd realize that the kimchi tasted funny and made the stew taste even weirder.
• This was incredibly rude of me, but I called Red Moon Noodle House on my cell phone and ordered Singapore noodles while I was still sitting at the table, waiting for the check.  My mother would kill me if she knew.  I couldn't help it; the disappointing meal had taken away any shred of courtesy I'd had!  And we knew Red Moon was closing in just a few minutes!

RESTAURANT INFORMATION 
Address: 4647 Convoy St, Ste 104 
Phone number: 858.565.0403 
Website: http://mapobbq.blogspot.com 
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot, still crowded
Ideal group size: 2-6
Available vegetarian options: Vegetable tofu stew, chivas [sic] green pancake
Noise level: 2

Dede's Chinese Cuisine

Cumin lamb, yum.

Cold appetizers -- cucumber pickles, seaweed, "husband and wife."

Deep-fried chicken with dried pepper -- this was delicious and also good cold the next day.

Fish with pickled pepper -- meh.

Pea shoots with garlic -- I (Jenne) really liked these.

Dramatic adding of the chicken to the sizzling crispy rice!

Crispy rice with chicken.

Rating: Two thumbs up
Date: 1/26/13
Time in: 6:56 PM
Time out: 9:20 PM 
Servers' recommendations: Cumin lamb, deep-fried chicken with dried pepper, crispy fish with sweet and sour sauce
What we ordered: Cumin lamb, deep-fried chicken with dried pepper, fish with pickled pepper, crispy rice with chicken, pea shoot leaves with garlic (daily special, not on the menu), cold appetizers 
Number in our party: 6 (with Arun, Victoria, Dora, and Mara as guest judges--this was a first for us, guest judges who were strangers from the internet!  It was a Metafilter meetup, organized because someone had posted a link to the blog and people were curious to try a Convoy restaurant.)
Final check amount: $72.31
Price per person: $12.05
Notes: 

• The cold appetizer that we tried was the "husband and wife" beef dish.  I (Miko) couldn't be a fair judge, since I can't handle offal in general, but Jenne reported that the tendon was a bit too chewy. (Tendon is usually kind of rubbery-firm, but you should be able to bite through it easily.  As far as I could tell there was no tripe in it, which is so totally fine with me. --Jenne)  The cucumbers were good in it, but the seaweed wasn't as good as others we've had.
• The cumin lamb had a unique flavor that we hadn't tasted before.  Arun is half-Indian and eats a lot of cumin, but he had never had anything like this lamb.  The onions in the dish were nicely cooked -- not raw or limp.
• The crispy rice was our favorite dish!  It wasn't spicy, so it was a nice break between the other dishes.  It had a comforting, home-cooked flavor, and it was seasoned just right. (Even though we asked for it without MSG!)
• I would prefer the fish with pickles without the celery -- I thought that the celery flavor overpowered everything else.  Arun thought the fish was too soft.  Jenne and I wouldn't order it again.
• According to Dora, the pea shoots were greasier than China Max's, but they were more tender.  Arun says they were standard -- not bad, not amazing.
• The steamed rice was cooked well!  Rice that comes in big portions in plastic pots is often dried out, but not here!
• I (Jenne) have been to Dede's several times before and I thought they were a bit off their game this time, but everyone seemed to enjoy it even so. 
• The portions were giant! We ordered 5 dishes for six people, which is usually a bit on the low side I think, and we had a huge amount of leftovers. This is not a bad thing!
  

RESTAURANT INFORMATION
Address: 4647 Convoy St
Phone number: 858.297.5999
Website: http://www.dedessandiego.com
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot, very crowded at dinnertime
Ideal group size: 1-6
Available vegetarian options: We didn't check. There might be vegetable/tofu dishes, but we're not sure if we could trust that there's no meat product (like oyster sauce, for instance) hidden in it somewhere.
Noise level: 3, but it was a 3.5 or even a 4 by the time we finished because there was a big jolly party at the table next to us.

Red Moon Noodle House

FIRST VISIT

Milk tea.  I (Jenne) liked how it wasn't mixed up--I enjoy having a job to do.

Singapore noodles--guess what sold Miko on this dish?

Salt and pepper shrimp--again, not fried hot enough!  What is with the Convoy fryolators lately??  But the shrimp itself was good.

We don't really like Chinese-style rice anyway, but it was dry even so.

Rating: Two sideways thumbs
Date: 10/20/12

What we ordered: Milk tea, salt and pepper shrimp, Singapore noodles, rice

Number in our party: 2

Final check amount: About $12

Notes: 

• I lost the scrap of paper that I wrote my Red Moon Noodle House notes on.  Fail.
• Jenne and I both love curry-flavored Singapore noodles, and when I saw that there was an EGG on it, I couldn't resist.  I would've really liked the noodles if the seasoning wasn't still powdery on them -- it lingered on the tongue.
• The lady who served us was very nice.

SECOND VISIT

Singapore noodles again!  The egg was especially good this time.
We also had the champon (Japanese noodle soup) but I forgot to take a picture.

Xiaolongbao -- not on the menu!

Rating: Two thumbs up

Date: 11/19/12

Time in: 8:40 PM

Time out: 9:34 PM

What we ordered: Singapore noodles, champon, xialongbao sample

Number in our party: 2

Final check amount: $18.09

Notes: 

• This day, Jenne and I decided that we should meet in this plaza and have dinner in one of the restaurants there.  Despite the fact that we gave Red Moon sideways thumbs last time, we found ourselves skipping our RakiRaki revisit and coming here instead.
• Thomas (the owner) is a super-nice guy who speaks Chinese, Japanese, and English fluently.  Impressive.  He was curious to know how we heard about Red Moon and amazed to hear that we were trying every restaurant on the street.  He immediately sat down to check out our blog on his phone, and he was fascinated by our project.  We are definitely not immune to flattery.  Thankfully, he didn't take our previous lukewarm reviews on Red Moon personally.  "As long as you're fair and honest, and you were," he said.  Which made us like him even more.  
• The Singapore noodles were STELLAR this time.  There was no powdery seasoning residue, and the vegetables were crisp, but cooked through (which my mom tells me requires frying at very high temperatures.)  The shrimp in it was also cooked well -- not overdone and chewy, like it often is at other restaurants.  This dish is a great comfort food, and I've gone back for it several times.
• We wanted more salt in the champon, and I wanted shichimi to add to it. 
• We'd like a bigger assortment of condiments on the table; specifically, we request chili paste, sesame oil, and sriracha. Especially since they have a...
• SECRET MENU ITEM: XIALONGBAO!  Sick of waiting in line at Dumpling Inn?  Red Moon is right across the street!  There are few good choices in San Diego if you want soup dumplings.  Dumpling Inn's xiaolongbao has a more refined flavor, but Red Moon's gives them a run for their money.  Plus, because Red Moon is careful to space out the individual dumplings in the steamer, they don't rip on you as easily.  After all, a torn xiaolongbao is pretty much ruined. 
  There's no line here, and the staff at Red Moon is miles friendlier!   

RESTAURANT INFORMATION

Address: 4646 Convoy St

Phone number: 858.576.7466

Website: http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-moon-noodle-house-san-diego

Accepts credit cards? Yes

Parking: Private lot shared with rest of plaza -- it can get a little crazy, but you can usually find a spot if you drive around a few times.  But the spaces are teeny.

Ideal group size: 1-4

Noise level: 1.5

Bonus secret menu item--daigaku-imo!!  These are candy-coated sweet potatoes and they are AMAZING.  Thomas says they can only make them when it's not busy so they aren't on the menu.

Sushi, Roll Depot

Harris just wanted rice and seaweed,
so they brought her this seaweed salad.
I have a feeling you can buy it in 10-gallon buckets
from whatever the Japanese equivalent
of Sysco is, but it's pretty tasty.

Calm down; it's just chopsticks, people.

Red dragon roll.

Spicy dynamite roll.



Salmon skin roll.  The enthusiastic waiter highly recommended this,
but I (Jenne) thought it was entirely gross. 
I don't think the others hated it quite as much.

Crunchy roll, but the crunchies were stale.  Sad-face.

California roll.  Meh.

Rating: Two thumbs down

Date: 8/11/12

Time in: 5:50 PM 

Servers' recommendations: Salmon skin roll, red dragon roll

What we ordered: Salmon skin roll, red dragon roll, spicy dynamite roll, crunchy roll, California roll, seaweed salad, bowl of rice

Number in our party: 4 (with Anna and Harris)

Final check amount: I forgot to write it down, but it was about $10 each.

Notes: 

• The punctuation on the sign sure is puzzling.  On their website, they leave out the comma.
• The server was very nice and enthusiastic, and he tried so hard.  We didn't like the food and he could tell, which made us feel bad.  He graciously got Harris a bowl of plain rice, even though it wasn't on the menu.
• The rice in the rolls must be pressed into some sort of mold -- they're too square on the edges to have been rolled the traditional way.
• The red dragon roll tasted pretty good.  It was the first to come out, and we were fairly pleased with it.  Unfortunately, the meal went downhill from there.
• The salmon skin was a bit chewy.  I didn't find it disgusting like Jenne did, but it didn't taste good either.
• The crunchy bits on the crunchy roll...weren't.  They were stale.  Plus, the mayo sauce drizzled on top was spicy!  We all know how I (Miko) feel about spicy.
• The rolls that were marked "spicy" were actually quite spicy.  (And some that were NOT marked spicy were too -- see above.)  That's unusual for a sushi restaurant. 
• The ginger tasted like cleaner.
• Harris enjoyed her bowl of rice, but Jenne and I (being the rice snobs our Conquest has made us) noted that it looked rather dry.
• This was the second two-thumbs-down restaurant in a row!  Ouch, that's never happened before.  And we felt bad that we invited Anna along for the first Convoy experience of her life, and THIS was what she got.  Boo.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION

Address: 4225 Convoy St

Phone number: 858.560.5345
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/sushirolldepot/

Accepts credit cards? Yes, but there's a $10 minimum.
Parking: Crowded lot with itty-bitty spaces
Ideal group size: 1-4

Available vegetarian options: Vegetable roll, tamago, edamame and other appetizers, ice cream

Noise level: 2