My son wanted to try Facing East Noodle & Bar, a multi-cuisine restaurant in San Diego’s Convoy District. The menu covered a wide range of East Asian dishes, spanning several different cuisines:
Here’s a small sample:
- Japanese – Tonkotsu Ramen, Takoyaki, Chicken Katsu
- Chinese – Dan Dan Noodles, Wonton Soup, Zha-Jiang Noodles
- Taiwanese – Boss Bao (pork belly with pickles), Popcorn Chicken, Braised Beef Noodle Soup
- Korean – Spicy Beef Udon, Korean Spicy Wings, Bulgogi Lo Mein
- Malaysian/Singaporean – Laksa Ramen
- Asian Fusion – Korean Spicy Beef Udon, Bulgogi Lo Mein, Duck Drunken Noodles
I’ve been attracted to restaurants with extensive menus before, but I’ve learned to be wary. More often than not, a wide variety of dishes comes at the expense of quality.
Anyhow, it was a fun atmosphere on a Friday night, nicely decorated with good music. My Shazaam app identified HEAT—by lIlBOI, Wonstein & MIRANI.
What we ordered:
- Spicy Cucumber Salad
- Braised Beef Noodle Soup
- Two Thai Iced Teas
- Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap
- Pork Belly Bao Buns
- Soup Dumplings (called 黑豚小笼包 7pc Pork Xiao Long Bao on the receipt)
- Takoyaki
- Golden Pine Cocktail
My wife really liked the cucumber salad because they were cut thick. She enjoyed the superior crunchiness and the sauce was good.
And the bao buns were fantastic. My son was in love. They were the highlight of the meal.
My son really likes cracking his own egg, and once he discovered the chili oil—hidden in an opaque golden chili oil pot—he really enjoyed his dol sat beef bulgogi bibimbap.
He admitted it wasn’t very good by comparison to others, but he enjoyed it. I found it to be disappointing.
The braised beef noodle soup wasn’t up to our high standards either. Not very beefy or hot.
Also, while I prefer non-soup varieties of dumplings, I do understand that a soup dumpling should be soupy. You usually have to eat them carefully, in order to not spill the soup or burn your mouth.
Not so with these. They didn’t make good dumplings of any variety. They were just… meh.
I did like my Golden Pine Cocktail. I was afraid to try an Asian IPA. I’ve made that mistake before. The Golden Pine was nice.
We all enjoyed our meal. It was fun. It doesn’t have to be the highest caliber cooking to be fun. Hell, the dancing bonito flakes are enough to make you smile.
Our bill was under $95 before tip.
BTW, we ordered and tipped and paid using their system before the food came. My wife would prefer to decide the tip AFTER the service.
Their website is:
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