When I was little my mom told me about life back in China. My mom, dad, and brother where born in a small village in Toishan. There wasn’t alot to eat other than rice and the occasional chicken. Perhaps that was why my mom would fill the freezer full of chickens when they had a good sale at the supermarket. While waiting for my order the waiter at Noble Chef asked me about my origins and it turns out he and the owner are also from Toishan.
The Cantonese style food here is much like that I grew up eating.
Won ton noodle soup lunch special was like Sam Woo’s version. Egg noodles were soft and had a nice mild egg flavor. Won tons were a mix of pork and shrimp with a nice tasting broth. I prefer the won tons at Sam Woo but the broth here is more flavorful.
A pot of tea was brought out with lunch. Nice earthy flavor like oolong tea.
I checked the pot and noticed they have an individual tea bag which I much prefer to the tea at Sam Woo which just has a single note to it’s flavor.
Whole roast duck for $22.
Skin was crispy while the meat was full of delicious flavor.
This is the most flavorful Chinese style roast duck I’ve found in town.
Honey bbq pork was tender and had bold sweet and savory flavors. This is really good bbq pork but Chung Hing remains my favorite spot to get bbq pork.
House special chow mein. There was an option for crispy noodles or soft noodles. I picked the crispy ones. Noodles were crunchy and came with a savory brown sauce. Meats included calamari, shrimp, mild flavored white fish, bbq pork, and chicken. Bbq pork was tender and full of delicious flavor. Among the best in town. Shrimp and chicken were tender and I loved the flavor. I order pan fried noodles at most of the Chinese restaurants I visit and the Noble Chef version is one of the best I’ve had.
Bbq pork chow mein with crispy noodles tasted just like the house special chow mein only bbq pork was the only meat in the dish. Bbq pork was tender and full of flavor. Liked the egg flavor from the egg noodles.
Yang zhou fried rice included shrimp and bbq pork. Rice had a bit of a smoky imparted from the wok. Shrimp was plump, tender, and had nice shrimp flavor. Bbq pork was delicious but I wish there was more of it.
Fried chicken wings had crunchy skin and tender juicy meat. Flavor was classic Chinese style fried chicken wings. A bit less msg than Golden Chopsticks.
Noble Chef has many Cantonese dishes I like and the staff is very nice. Kirk from mmmyso and Faye from Fayesfork have visited too.
6159 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 278-8688
San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 278-8688
That’s cool you found your fellow people from Toishan.
There are a few of us around town. 🙂
I loved the backstory of your origin Soo. I always find it amazing when food brings people (even strangers) together. I haven’t re visited this place in ages as the food was just so-so. But gosh, your dishes (and roast duck!) look amazing. I think the roast duck at Sam Woo is $24 (with tax) now. Might have to come back here to try out more items.
Thanks! From your review I suspect they had day old duck and served it to you. If you order duck to go they grab those from the display and you get the fresh ones.
That’s too bad the price of duck is going up. It’s my fav takeout item. The first time I visited Noble Chef it was $21 for duck.
i’d heard that the food here had gotten significantly better in the last year Soo. Especially the BBQ and dinner; since the owner oversees the dinner.
Hi Kirk! I visited for lunch and I saw him coming out of the kitchen a few times. I enjoyed all my meals here. 🙂