LIttle Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

Tonight I had no idea what I wanted for dinner.  I had tried to make a reservation at a seafood restaurant in La Jolla, but couldn't get anything before 8:45 pm.  I was definitely not going to wait that long, so I did a little surfing and came across Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot.  I'd heard of hot pot before, and seen it in t.v. food shows, but I'd never actually had it.  I'm always up for trying authentic ethnic cuisine so I decided that's where we were going to go.

First off, for a place I'd never heard of before the place was huge and packed.  My roommate and I seemed to be the only caucasians there who weren't with Asian friends or relatives, (Always a good sign!) and the smell coming out the door was amazing.  It smelled spicy and woodsy and meaty.

 There was a short wait.  The front entry of the restaurant is very chilly, but I imagine that's because the dining room is full of steam from the pots on the tables.  When we were seated, we were given a menu on which one is to mark off the items that they want.  First is the broth.  You have a choice of their original, spicy original, half & half or vegetarian broth.  Then choose your meats.  There are too many choices to list here but include various kinds of beef, lamb, chicken, pork, seafood, tofu, meat and fish balls, blood cake and on and on.  Next the vegetables, then the noodles and accompaniments.  Many of the choices are available in half orders, which was good for us since we were only 2 people.  Their online menu only shows a fraction of the items that are available, and features the items that would be most palatable to the average American diner.

I like spicy foods, my roommate, not so much, so we got the half & half broth.  We both like beef, and if you've read my blog before you probably know I love lamb, so we got the lamb and beef combo.  We had considered getting chicken, but the only option was breast meat which I don't care for.  I also ordered a 1/2 order of tripe.  I'm not sure if that was more because I wanted it, or just to annoy my roommate.  Because the majority of the vegetables were ones I wasn't very familiar with, I decided to play it safe on our first time out.  We got Napa cabbage, spinach, corn, enoke mushrooms, seaweed knots, wide fresh noodles and lamb won ton.  We also ordered the sesame pancake, which was not a pancake at all but a fairly dense bread that was crisp on the outside and covered with sesame seeds, Mongolian kimchi and street style lamb skewers.

Many cultures have their own version of a hot pot.  I have had other culture's versions of hot pot before which usually have a fairly bland broth, I was not expecting the strong aroma of the broth.  It smelled spicy and delicious with an overpowering woodsiness.  I'm not sure what it was flavored with, but it did take a moment to get used to, it had a very strong umami flavor.  Besides green onions and garlic there were various pods in it including goji berries and dragon fruit pods.  I wasn't able to identify the others.  The lamb skewers also had that same distinctive woodsy flavor.  The kimchi was totally unlike other kinds of kimchi I've had before.  It was spicy but it was also sweet and crunchier than others.  It was probably my favorite item of the whole meal.

The staff were very helpful and patient.  At first we had marked many other items on the menu, but the waiter looked at it, suggested it was too much for the two of us and helped us decide what to take off.  When we were done, one of the waitresses packed up our leftovers for us as I'm sure we would have made a mess of it.  At the end of the meal they brought orange slices to the table.  The oranges were a perfect way to end the meal, cleansing and cooling the pallet.

The only problem I had with this restaurant was that the wall we were seated next to probably could have been wiped down a little better after the previous diners had finished.

I'm sure next time we go it will be an even better experience as we will have a better idea of what to order.  I am definitely looking forward to it.

Review - Saigon

Good and authentic...Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant

I can see Saigon from my house. Saigon is an authentic Vietnamese restaurant with a huge menu. I love this place, and luckily it’s only ½ a mile from my house so I walk there. The restaurant has no ambience and the building is odd. The dining room is just a large, high-ceilinged square filled to the brim with tables. There are murals of forest around the top of the walls which makes one wonder what used to be there previously. High up near the ceiling, in the middle of the murals there are big screen televisions on the front and back walls. In addition there are large dark windows on one side which makes it look like there might have been a dance club there at one time. There is a big fish tank for decoration and a few tanks of crabs and such for eating. Even though it looks so odd inside, they are one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants. If you’re looking for pho this may not be your first choice, but if you want something a little more interesting you’ll love this place. If I want pho there are a few other places I can go which make it with more flavor, but I’m not the biggest pho fan. I prefer the highly seasoned grill meat and vermicelli dishes. They also have very good versions of dishes you’d think of more as Chinese which is great if you‘re taking someone who isn‘t very adventurous. The menu is huge and may take a while to navigate through, but except for their pho I’ve never had anything there that wasn’t great. You'll also find a large selection of unusual drinks such as avocado shake, pennyworth, or soda with salted plum. When we first started going there we were usually the only people there who weren't Vietnamese. Now it's about 50/50. It's growing in popularity without losing any of it's authentic flavor.

What do I get?

There are a few dishes I love here. On their appetizer menu they offer a rare beef or rare shrimp salad. It’s probably nothing like you’re imagining. Thin slices of rare beef or shrimp top a mound of crispy thinly sliced vegetables such as celery, cucumber, carrots and daikon and chopped peanuts are added. It’s served with a sweet vinegar dressing and lime. Definitely too big for an appetizer unless you’re sharing it with a large party.

I also love their char-grilled pork with vermicelli. Tender highly seasoned chunks of pork in a bowl of vermicelli and thin cut crispy vegetables, pickled daikon and carrot and sprinkled with chopped peanuts. It’s served with a vinegary sweet chili dressing. It may be meant for dipping, but I like to pour the whole cup over my food so the noodles and veggies soak up that great flavor.

My other favorite dish is curry goat with vermicelli or French bread. This is a curry soup with chunks of tender goat meat and potatoes and just the right amount of sweetness. You can order it with noodles or French bread but I’ve never tried it with the French bread. The soup is slightly thin to begin with, but thickens up as the potatoes break down. I put a few slices of jalapeno in it when it first comes to the table and take them out when the broth has reached the right heat level.

I always take home half of any of these dishes. There's just too much food for one meal.

Sometimes I’ll also order condensed milk with lime. This is no longer on their menu but a couple of the waiters there know me from when I first started going and I can usually get one of them to have it made for me. It’s just condensed milk over ice with lime juice. Very refreshing but not too sweet.

My roommate is not as adventurous as I am so he gets one of the more Chinese style dishes like Mongolian beef or curry chicken with steamed rice and Thai iced tea. Even though these aren’t what I usually order they are very very good.

What's cool?

For me, it’s great that it’s within walking distance. It’s also nice to have waiters who know you and what you like. Other than that there’s nothing interesting here except for the food.

What sucks?

Like most other Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to the chopsticks are plastic. It’s very hard to use smooth plastic chopsticks with slippery noodles. Also, they have the worst fortune cookies. They’re artificially colored and flavored and aren't crispy.

Rating...Great food, period.