SD chinese food news

A massive parking lot with shuttles sounds awful to me but I get where you’re coming from.

Would be great if the trolley went underground along a major road, maybe connecting UTC/UCSD and KM. Yes it would be years away but way better than having SD traffic get as bad as LA.

Sorry ipse, my quoting skills obviously suck.

How is it more accessible? And I don’t think mass transit is any cheaper than Uber or Lyft, if you factor in the cost of infrastructure. And, I forget which one it is, but either Uber or Lyft (or both?) is carbon neutral in the aggregate.

Well then, how about a massive underground parking lot. And an underground rail shuttle, like at the major airports?

Yep, accessible was a poor choice of words. The thought I was trying to convey was how many not well off people use uber/lyft vs how many take mass transit. Maybe it’s all just about cost. I think even given the cost of infrastructure, mass transit would be cheaper in the long run but I don’t have statistics to back it up so understand if you disagree. Bottom line, I think SD and Southern California need long term solutions to decrease the number of cars on the road. Uber, self driving cars,etc do not do this. In addition, our current government doesn’t seem to be interested in doing more to limit car pollution so who knows when or if that will change.

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Doc, so drive to KM and park in a big underground lot and then shuttle around?

Seems like this solves your problem of parking but not the larger problem of getting more cars off the road. Southern California car culture sure is frustrating.

Btw why don’t you just uber to Convoy or wherever?

You’ve got this one right for sure, RD. But the big problem with “mass transit” in a sprawled-out city is that you either have to have both your origin and destination within walking distance of stations, or you have to drive and park at a station that has parking.

I’ve been resisting Uber because I have real concern for the welfare of taxi drivers, and I support them with my business. Yes, when we go downtown or to LI (for instance) for dinner, we take taxis. Just not Uber. But during the day, we drive & park at a trolley station and get where we want to go that way.

Mass transportation should be free for all, or almost free, IMO. I recall when the toll at Mexico City metro stations was one peso. Or maybe it was 10 pesos. Almost free, in other words. And the trains were packed because of that.

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Anyone here been to Kroran (new Uyghur place) on Genesee? Ipsedixit?

I didn’t know it had opened yet, but I take from your post that it is. I was watching during the buildout, and it looked pretty close to being ready a week or so ago. I’m very interested in what the heck “Uyghur” cuisine is, so will try soon.

Thanks Doc!

Xinjian cusine with a focus on lamb, mutton, noodles (hand pulled and/or kneaded), kebabs/skewers, and various forms of bread (naan, buns, pies, pan-fried, etc.)

I had to look up Xinjian but I think I have the concept.

Is this the only Uyghur restaurant that you know of in SD, ipse?

Kroran is a different kind of place. It’s a modestly-sized restaurant with mostly simple but attractive two- and four-top tables, plus one large oval table that seats eight. Nicely appointed with what appeared to me to be largely Middle Eastern - influenced decorations. And it’s quiet! I arrived just when it opened (at 5 pm), and at that time it was of course silent, but by the time I left about an hour later, when it was already about 60% full, there was still almost no noise at all. This is a spot with an acoustic ceiling, no concrete floor, no TVs, no music, and soft-spoken (and very pleasant) staff. Peaceful dining.

They serve somewhat unusual food. I saw many things on the menu that I’d like to try, and some items brought to other tables that looked intriguing. Not knowing what to try first, I ordered the “House Laghman”, partly because it came with hand-pulled noodles. And partly because I figured “House” implied something special. There’s another version of laghman (with the word “House” left off) that, after the fact, I think would have been a better choice. That version comes with fried beef and stir-fried, large-sliced veggies. The “house” version came with beef cut into very small cubes (described on the menu as “thin-sliced”) and with almost-minced, pretty ordinary vegetables. The people next to me had the non-house version and it looked great.

The noodles were the standout by far, and there were lots of them. They were just right, both in texture and flavor, like excellent ramen noodles. The rest of the dish, however, was pale flavored – perhaps a good choice for the unadventurous. I asked for some chilies to bring up the flavor and was brought a small ceramic cup of sriracha sauce. That helped bring the dish up from a hotness value of zero to about three, but more importantly, it added missing flavor. I was told that if I want a truly spicy dish, I should order the “big chicken plate” on the back of the menu. I will definitely do so. Next time.

I was also intrigued by their several salad offerings, one of which is described as being “tough and numbing” spicy hot. We shall see. They also have skewers of lamb, beef, and chicken.

I think this is a place worth checking out more than once. But I’d say pass on the house version of laghman.

Doc, Thanks so much for trying this place out so quickly and reporting your experience here. There are a few restaurants in OC and LA that serve this type of food and they’ve always sounded and looked good but I’ve still never been. Hopefully will get the chance to try Kroran soon.

There’s another place that just opened nearby (i.e., in Bay Park / Clairemont West) called “Shabumi”. It’s almost right next to Ototo, in the Von’s shopping ctr. at Balboa/Genesee. Looks like a franchise, but pretty nice, if bare-bones inside.

Just opened. Haven’t been yet, but will soon. They call themselves an “all-you-can-eat hot pot” (semi-quote) restaurant…

The deal here is the constantly heated bowls. The tops are flush with table level, in the same manner as the “best” (IMO) Korean BBQ places. The bowls are kept hot.

You order a “soup”, such as miso or tomato, and your “meat”, such as wagyu chuck or pork belly. Only a subset of the meats is available for lunch. If you want to try the place at the lowest cost (e.g. a bowl of soup with veggies and noodles) lunch is available until 3 pm for $13.

Seems expensive because I rarely eat enough at “all you can eat” places. But I’ll try Shabumi soon, with the attitude “bucks be damned”.

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Made it to Facing East on Convoy over the weekend. They have mostly noodle dishes (not handmade noodles) and XLB (per menu made in house). I thought the food was pretty good. The XLB were okay, a little bit of soup and the thick skin common in SD, decent but not spectacular. The noodle dishes were good though. They were out of ice cream so we missed out on the freak shakes but went across the street and had really good ube ice cream at a Korean dessert shop. Is facing east great? No but decent and way better than steamy piggy. Also, I had been to facing east when they first opened and thought it was okay to not so good, so this is a rare example where the food has actually improved over time, at least for me. And it is not a hot pot spot so kudos for that.

One of my worst experiences.

I think they’ve considerably improved but they are probably inconsistent and I didn’t grow up eating mama ipsedixit’s XLB and Din Tai Fung have the best Ive tried (I did try Mama’s Lu and Dean Sin World as well) so I’m much less experienced and likely easier to please than you. The best dumplings I’ve had (and consistently so) in SD, however, are at Great Wow.

I haven’t been to Facing East in about a year and a half, but here’s a link to my post about the experience I had there at the time.

Hey Doc, Faye’s fork has a recent review for Shabumi if you’re interested. Thanks for FEast link.