Fortunate Son was very busy when we arrived at 4pm. Hostess quoted us a 90 minute wait for a table or 15 minutes for takeout. We opted for takeout.
Pork egg roll had a crunchy wrapper and pretty good tasting pork.
My eggrolls were slightly overcooked as I prefer a golden brown wrapper which gives a light fried flavor while my eggrolls were more dark brown and the flavor was getting close to burnt.
Shrimp lo mein which I added chinese sausage to was nicely seasoned. Great shrimp to noodle ratio. Shrimp were fat with a nice fresh flavor. Chinese sausage was pretty good except one side was char’d black giving a bit of burnt flavor.
2nd visit. We arrived a bit before Fortunate Son opened and got a table inside.
Fried rice with added shrimp came out quickly. I was expecting my rice to be steaming hot from the wok but it was barely warm and missing the smoky wok flavor I love. The menu indicated there was Chinese sausage and it was work finding the 2 little pieces. Flavor was strong with a delicious 5 spice powder flavor. I wish I had ordered double extra meat as ordering with extra shrimp still left about 20 percent of the rice without any meat despite my rationing the shrimp the best I could.
Food was nicely seasoned but needs better quality control as several dishes were at least partially overcooked. Service was very good. I loved how the place is decorated. If I chose where to eat based on how great a place looked I’d be eating at Fortunate Son all the time. Instead I prefer places where dishes are always cooked just right, contain lots of meat, and is low priced. It’s also nice you can see the friendly owners hard at work like at Shanghai Cafe.
2943 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 391-3766
Just love the unique interior/exterior design. Great pictures! That’s unfortunate about your food.
Thanks! It’s good for them lots of people like the food the way it is.
I’ve not been but from some pictures I’ve seen this place has always struck me as being more about style than substance. At least there’s Polite Provisions next door for some great drinks. 😀
There’s no need to go unless you want to take some photos yourself.
I’m not really sure why people rave about this place. I found the food mediocre at best. I had the kung pao chicken and it had enormous pieces of chicken breast, which was dry and flavorless. Only thing good was the dumplings. So disappointed. I’m not quite sure why San Diego chinese food scene is not very good overall.
I like a bunch of Convoy St restaurants:
https://www.hungryones.com/2021/11/eastern-dynasty/
https://www.hungryones.com/2018/06/imperial-mandarin/
https://www.hungryones.com/2018/02/dumpling-inn/