Off convoy in same lot as China max is a new Chinese restaurant specializing in homemade hand pulled noodles (first read about it on eater).
Currently they are only serving some of the items from their already relatively small menu. I got the beef noodle soup, preserved vegetable noodle soup and some cold table items. Noodles were not perfect but were still quite good. Broth and meat, particularly the beef, were also quite good. Should you stop going to Irvine or SGV? No, probably not, but at least to this newbie, another good addition to the sd Chinese food scene.
There are old standbys from SGV in DB like Bull Demon Cafe, A&J, etc. as well as places like Xi An Wei.
Then if you make the short hop over to the other side of the 57, you have a plethora of options in Rowland Heights, with things like Happy Duck House, NewPort, Ding’s, etc. and a litany of the cuisine du jour (Sichuan hot pot) options like XY, Uniboil, Greedy Cat Taste, Duo-Pot, etc., famous places like Chengdu Taste, and oddities like Hebei Renja.
And why is it that south of Camp Pendelton, good Chinese offerings almost drop off the map? Which is not to say there’s nothing to be had in SD, just slim pickings.
How else do you get the food you want then driving to LA, SF and LV ? (Even though it got less for food with a young daughter but we are “training” her)
What is humor ? (The older I get the less I can tolerate wasting calories/time on middle-of-the-road/mediocre food (which more recently makes looking for interesting new restaurants difficult, beside the daily opening of a new gastropub or ramen shop)
Clear broth beef noodles, seafood stir-fried noodles, lamb, mutton, and beef skewers. As well as as a selection cold appetizers - cucumbers, lotus root, shredded potato, and julienned seaweed.
Noodles, which were all hand-pulled, were ok. Broth in the beef noodle soup while savory was a bit flat and one dimensional. The stir fried noodles were nothing special. Skewers were fine, but begs for some marinading or seasoning. I guess that’s what condiments table-side are for.
Here’s what one should get at Green China Grill. Order up a bowl of just the noodles, no broth, no nothing, then get a selection of the cold apps (I would suggest the shredded potato, cucumbers, lotus root), and then toss it all together with the noodles, then drizzle with some soy sauce.
I thought beef soup was pretty good for sd but also agree with your post. You’ve noted previously saying good for sd isn’t all that good when it comes to Chinese food.
