Golden City revisit
Shortly after my first late night visit to Golden City, I read two great posts on Golden City from Carol of CAB cooks and Dennis from A Radiused Corner. I also received some recommendations of other dishes to try for Kirk at mmm-yoso and Carol. So of course I had to go back and try all the recommendations.
Here is a photo of the late night menu:
First, after seeing pictures of the crispy duck skin from the duck that Dennis and Carol had, I had to get the duck. The duck carving is a nice presentation. They wheel out the duck on a cart, and carve it in front of you. Since I whipped out my camera, the waiter handed the duck over to my brother for a picture.
I do wish the duck was a bit bigger. It was definitely on the small side. Here’s some blurry action shots of the duck being carved:
Here’s the finished product:
The crispy duck skin is served with steam buns,onions, and a sauce. I do wish that it was plated better though. The buns were displayed haphazardly on a steamer, some of them stuck to the bottom.
Usually when my family orders this dish, everything is nicely plated on a huge platter.
The duck skin was nice and crispy. I wasn’t able to get a very clear shot though.
You get to choose the second way the duck is prepared. There were three options. I can no longer remember what they were. I didn’t know which way would be best. In the pictures from Carol and Dennis, they chose the lettuce wraps, so I chose the same thing.
I wasn’t really a fan of the lettuce wraps. I couldn’t taste the duck the way it was prepared. The mixture inside the lettuce wraps was really salty. Next time I’ll choose a different preparation.
We also ordered a fish fillet with vegetables.
The fish was good, but I didn’t particularly liked how the vegetables were cooked. Next time maybe I’ll order the sauteed fish fillet rather than sauteed fish fillet with vegetables.
Fish fillet with corn sauce
This was one of Kirk’s recommendations. I was surprised to see the fish fillets were deep fried. Normally when I order this dish, the fillet is not fried. However, I liked this dish all the same. The fish was not overfried. The corn sauce went well with the fish.
Pork intestines with pickled vegetables
Last time I had ordered the deep fried intestines. Kirk recommended the pork intestines with pickled vegetables. And of course he was right. Is he ever wrong? I loved this dish. They basically cook the pork intestines with black bean sauce so the pickled vegetables are not overwhelmingly sour.
Scallop with garlic sauce
This was my least favorite dish of the night. i didn’t like the sweet sauce. I actually made a mistake in ordering this dish. Carol of CAB cooks had recommended that I try the squid with shrimp sauce, but when I was at Golden City, I couldn’t remember what she had recommended. I only remembered it was a seafood dish and ended up thinking it was the scallop with garlic sauce. Doh! Next time I’ll try the squid with shrimp sauce!
At the end of the meal we were given mung bean soup.
The shredded option sounds yummy! Too bad everything was salty though…Hopefully it was just an off day.
Sorry you had trouble commenting. I wonder why. I actually was having trouble commenting on your site a few times…I’ll have to try the beef stew with daikon hotpot and the stewed pork sometime.
Wow, $19 for both? that’s amazing! I wonder if they still have it or if they will have the special again. I haven’t eaten at Pearl in RB yet.
Hey Kirbie, we just had lunch over the weekend for the Peking Duck and ordered the 2nd course shredded (3rd option is chopped) instead of the lettuce wrap. So it’s shredded duck with bean sprouts and mushrooms stir fried. It had a similar flavor to mu shu and it was great as a leftover with the remaining steamed buns.
We also got the squid in shrimp sauce again since I couldn’t remember exactly what the sauce was. So I remembered incorrectly, not a sweet sauce. As a matter of fact, it was a bit too salty and not as good as the first time we had it. As a matter of fact, all the dishes except the dried fried green beans special was on the salty side. The duck was still really really good! It was just an off day, I think.
Hi Kirbie, I’ve been having trouble commenting for some reason.. anyway I thought the peking duck was great for the deal price. Other dishes I liked was the beef stew daikon hotpot and the fish fillet with black bean sauce. The stewed pork with preserved vegetables was good too but probably best to share. Cheers (hope this one goes through ok)
The duck skin looks yummy! I usually order the lettuce wrap as 2nd dish too but most of the times, i think the wraps tastes too sweet. But was it $25 for both dishes – that’s not bad, not bad at all 🙂
Pearl in RB had a peking duck special a while back – i swear it was like $19 for BOTH courses! BUT they don’t carve the duck in front of you.
I don’t like sweet garlic sauce either. But that one dish looked pretty!
I knew you were at the lunch and I couldn’t remember if you did a post. I searched your site and didn’t see one. I was worried I might have left you out!
First time having peking duck? Wow. I’m glad you liked it! Most Cantonese restaurants have it. And if you get the expensive set menus that chinese people usually have at weddings or other nice occasions, it’s usually on there.
Yes, mung bean soup is a sweet dessert soup. Have you had red bean soup? It’s kind of like that, except with mung beans which taste a bit different.
It’s been so long since I’ve been to Jasmine. I’ll have to go and see if they still have the deal. I don’t think I’ve ever had dome shaped bao with peking duck. It’s usually the like the one I had at Golden City, though one time I had something else, but I don’t remember what it looked like anymore.
hehe…i was gona do a post on golden city too! this was my first time having peking duck and i liked it…is mung bean soup some kind of dessert?
Jasmine used to have a weeknight special on the Peking Duck (Sunday through Thursday); it was something like $20 for two courses, but it’s been awhile since I’ve been there. I don’t remember getting a choice on the second dish.
It’s been many years since I lived in the Bay Area, but I remember having a round, dome-shaped bao with Peking Duck. The bao was steamed and had layers, all the better to hold the hoisin sauce.
I’ll have to check out Golden City’s version soon.
Hi Kirk- Do you have recommendations on the second preparation? I’ve never had the peking duck at other places in SD. I’m used to Bay Area prices, which tend to be a lot cheaper, duck is bigger and it’s also very tasty. (Also a lot of the restaurants offer three way prep, making duck broth with carcass). Thanks for letting me know that this is good price and preparation in SD. I won’t waste my money trying it elsewhere.
Hi Carol- I don’t think I’ve ever had shrimp sauce before, so I still want to try it out. I don’t mind things that are sweet, but I think the garlic sauce tastes weird sweet.
As for the duck, I guess I’ve never noticed the prices of peking duck at other places in sd. This is the first time I’ve had it in SD. I usually only have it when I’m with my parents in the Bay Area, which is a lot cheaper.
Hey Kirbie – Thanks for the mention! One of the main reasons the Peking Duck at GC gets mention is because of value – 2 dishes – $25 bucks. It is up to $15 cheaper than other places in San Diego, and not 33% worse than other versions. BTW, you can act like the Missus and request the carcass, take it home and make a nice soup! Ugh, anything in Garlic Sauce is terrible at GC….
Hi Kirbie and thanks for the mention! Aw, too bad that lettuce wrap didn’t turn out so good for you. I don’t recall what the other 2 options were but I’m sure Kirk will chime in. I can’t remember the exact price of the Peking Duck except that it’s cheaper than some of the other places. I suppose that accounts for the size of the duck.
The scallop dish looks good but too bad the sauce was too sweet. Come to think of it, I think the squid with shrimp sauce was on the sweeter side too so I’m not sure if you’re going to like it better than the garlic sauce.