6171 Mission Gorge Road #115
San Diego, CA 92120
(619) 640-9688
It's really quite notablethat there are so many amazing places we've sampled in San Diego, in the most humble of places. King Oriental is a Chinese/Thai place located on the same strip mall as Toro Sushi. The preponderance of really good Asian food (and Mexican, for that matter) in this area, and the relative dearth of other types of cuisine has led me to formulate Superfatty's theory of proximity.
This theory postulates that because:
(1) you can always count on good cheap ethnic fare in the specific enclave you are in (due to the population density, greater availability of specialized ingredients and the greater specialization aka pickiness of one with respect to their own cuisine), AND
(2) in general, migration of peoples have a larger epicenter that is closer from the point of origin rather than farther, THEREFORE
(3) good ethnic food will be better, cheaper and more available the closer you get to the point of origin.
To wit, I've noticed a great many good Asian and Mexican food on the West Coast, but less Carribean, middle Eastern or Italian/French/European fare. The opposite can be observed on the East Coast, where the latter dominate.
Of course, there are exceptions. I did not see a lot of South Asian markets and restaurants in the brief time I was in San Diego, whereas I know several hot spots here in Jersey.
So going back to King Oriental, we noticed that it specialized in both Chinese and Thai. As a rule, UFC avoids these hybrid places (unless it is buffet) because they tend to be subpar. But my mom and dad picked this place because it was close to home and she was too tired to go out. It had the perfect balance of flavors that good Thai food has. Everything we had was good. It seemed that the word is out too, because the place was full that night. Two years ago when my dad and I went, they did not have as many customers.
Shrimp roll with peanut sauce. All the herbs were fresh and the wrapper tasted like it was just made. The peanut sauce was rather starchy (probably from a mix).
Kai tod. Deep fried marinated chicken wings with sweet chili sauce. They looked rather bare, to be honest. Despite appearances, they were crispy, well-marinated and tasty, and received a six on the fried chicken scale.
Seafood pad thai. We found shrimp, squid and the fake crab bits. Perfect mix of sweet, salty and spicy. This was a big serving, good for two.
Seafood in red curry sauce. I specified medium heat, and it came out perfectly. The sauce was creamy with a nice homestyle curry kick to it. I always like it with a little fish sauce and chilis on the side, which the kitchen kindly provided.
House special fried rice (with shrimp, beef and chicken).
No comments:
Post a Comment