Hui An Garden

A couple of months ago, I met up with Kirbie for early lunch...

Hui An Garden used to be Fu An Garden (which Kirk had posted on earlier this year before they closed)...

At least they have their own parking lot, but I ended parking near Big 5 because there was shade under a tree.  Our dessert spot would be across the street and I didn't want to repark in that particular strip mall either.  I had to be a pedestrian that morning, ha ha.

The specials board as you walk in to Hui An Garden:

We were more interested in the $6.99 lunch specials, which are in effect everyday, not just weekdays.


We shared two entrees - the roasted pork belly with rice (vegetables were cabbage and broccoli with carrot and daikon batons.


The pork was really succulent with a crisp outer skin.  Every piece was so tender and flavorful.

Our second dish was the bittermelon with black bean sauce and pork spare ribs. As a caveat, the ribs are cut up in small pieces so be careful of bone fragments. There really wasn't a lot of meat in this dish. The standout was the bittermelon; we both liked how they were slices wide instead of cross wise. The black bean sauce wasn't overly salty either. I normally don't like black beans but this provided a nice contrast to the flavors of the bittermelon. I was just happy that Kirbie also likes bittermelon; it's one of those vegetables that people either love or hate.

We noticed this new dessert place in the parking lot. It is next to a massage parlor. I wonder when this place will open?

On a more recent visit...which I am going to do out of order (since it was the LAST stop of D's epic birthday foodcrawl a few weeks ago; can't wait to do those posts), the Educator GF's and I made this our last stop...


It's still their "soft opening" even though they opened back in March.

Specials:

and more specials...


We shared four items - the first was 1 lb. of roasted pork belly. It came with a side of hoisin sauce and salt (not shown but they were in small saucers; the salt seemed like overkill to me though).  This pork belly wasn't as good as the version that Kirbie and I had, meaning the skin wasn't crisp. This was also served at room temp instead of warm. Some of the pieces seemed tougher as well. The flavor seemed liked it had more "five spice" in it (not a big fan of five spice flavored foods but I will eat it in small doses).

Mixed fried rice (pork, shrimp and chicken):

Braised eggplant - Man, this eggplant dish was the big winner that evening! Whatever was in that sauce was so good!

This was the least impressive item, the pork and shrimp dumplings. Just looking at them, the dough seemed thick and gummy. They were just okay. I guess I am not a fan of the boiled or steamed texture.

The aftermath...with us four having gone through twelve hours of visiting places and braving crappy traffic, you'd think we would have polished off everything, ha ha.

Leftovers were enjoyed by several of the gals that evening.

Before we left, one of the managers offered us a free dessert. We only asked for one since Bert bought dessert already at our local 99 Ranch.  The free dessert turned out to be mango pudding with coconut milk topped with a cherry. This was a tiny cup which was fine with us because we were saving room for when we got to my house.

This dessert had a nice and light texture which was a perfect end to our meal here...

Here's that upcoming 21C place sign again...How many dessert places can Convoy Street support before the bubble bursts?

Who else went to Hui An Garden?
Faye visited when they first opened in March 2017
Kirk  a few months later...focusing on the  "Lunch specials at Hui An Garden"
Mary also posted on their lunch specials last month

Hui An Garden
4768 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 650-6999

www.huiangarden.com + the yelp reviews

Looking forward to coming here with Bert and TC so we can try their other menu items....