The past few months, the UTC mall food court was under renovations. I was alerted that it had finally opened by Pink Candles at Ridgemont High. So even though I haven’t eaten at the UTC food court in a while, I wanted to go check it out and see what had changed.
A lot of the old food stations are gone, replaced with new ones. All the stations got a sleek makeover with black signs, many with digital screens. A lot of the food stations now also have an open kitchen, letting customers watch their food being made.
As we browsed the food court, quite a few stations offered samples. Finally, we chose two to get food from.
We previously used to visit the Mongolian station. The old one is gone, replaced by a new one called Mongrill. Also gone is the ability to get your own raw ingredients and attempt to stuff your bowl. Instead, the employee gets the food ingredients for you. Lamb also is no longer an option
I took some pictures of the food being cooked, but accidentally deleted them. Oops.
The food was just okay tasting, a little too salty since they use so much soy sauce. While the old station hadn’t been that memorable, it was better than the food we had at Mongrill. So despite the sleek makeover, this was a downgrade for me.
FH is a big fan of teriyaki chicken so we decided to get the combo from Saku Japan. Here, while waiting in line you can watch the chefs cook your food.
The chicken was pretty moist but drenched in too much sauce. I wish they did something more with the vegetables as they were basically steamed and very bland.
After the initial ooing and ahhing over new food court stations, we left feeling pretty underwhelmed. We probably won’t be in a big hurry to come back though we might stop by to try some of the other stations if shopping in the area. I also had my eye on the burger place.
UTC Mall
4545 La Jolla Village Drive
San Diego, CA 92122-1212
(858) 546-8858
Is the Burger King still there? 😀
Nope, it’s gone. Though I think it was gone even before the renovations.
i never tried the old mongolian place (something with khan in the title? i don’t remember), but the new name is yucky. mongrill! mongrilloid!
my daughter was disappointed about the lack of Hot Dog on a Stick. I was interested in the Thai place, but we got Rubio’s instead…
i like the new look – cleaner looking, bigger signage and menus.
Yeah it definitely looks nice inside now. I tried some sample from the Thai place and didn’t like it so then we didn’t get any food there. I think the old one was called Great Khan’s
I prefer to stuff my own bowl for Mongolian BBQ; I don’t want to tell the person, “just 3 cubes of tofu, keep on going with the cabbage, etc.”
I usually go to Rubios at the UTC food court – I assume they’re still there since they were open during the remodel.
I prefer to stuff my own bowl too. Yup Rubios is still there.
I am not too titillated by mongrill’s food, either, but I’d love to try out Simon’sBurgers!! Maybe it’s because I haven’t had a burger since November and I am seriously craving one, despite mall food being notoriously not-so-tasty. 🙂
I was definitely drawn to the burger place, even though there’s been so many others popping up. I love burgers
Oh thanks for that post! We’ve been wondering when the heck the food court will re-open.
I heard Tender Greens will be opening up at UTC?!
I liked the Mongolian place from before 🙁 Affordable, fast, and you can stuff the bowl! Sigh…
The new Mongolian place is worse than the old one. The old one was okay for me. It was about the only thing I ate at in the food court. I’m not a fan of the new system, new cooks, etc.
Mongrill is a horrible name, haha. And to imagine a group of people in a boardroom probably came up with that, haha. I’m sad Hot Dog on a Stick is gone. But if I seen anyone actually buy food there it was very rare so I guess it wasn’t too much a surprise.
I didn’t really think about the name until Kirk mentioned it. I didn’t ever say it out loud, but now that I do, yes, so horrible.
Ai-yai…..Mongrill sounds too much like mongrel too me!!! ;o)
Lol. I was hoping for some better options. It seems everything is newer but not really better.