Spicy City Chinese Restaurant

Nestled somewhere in the China Max complex surrounded by Honda dealers, between a karaoke place and a pool hall is Spicy City, one the a few rare good Chinese restaurants in San Diego (don't even mention China Max). I didn't even know of its existence until an old friend of mine enlightened me to it. We met here Thursday night around 5:30 to grab dinner, having not really seen each other in years, despite being in the same school for so long (I blame the vastness and soulless-ness of UCSD). Apparently this is one of her favorite restaurants, the waitresses knew her when we went in.


It was rather empty when we arrived, but it quickly got very crowded after 6ish. We ordered 3 things:

A cold appetizer combo for $5 or $5.99, I forgot. You choose three. We had spicy beef (on the bottom left, sticking out), veggies (the green things), and pork tongue that you see on top, which was rather good.

Dry-cooked chicken, without bones. This was very good, I dare say better than the same dish at Ba Ren. There were good amount of chicken, and since it doesn't have bones, a lot more edible parts, I felt.

We also had spicy eggplants with meat. There was a good amount of spiciness and sauciness. It was above average compared to some other Chinese restaurants in the area.

Overall, the restaurant was very clean, and it comes through in the food. I felt everything tasted fresher than your usual Chinese food, a good sign. The portions were generous, and prices were right. The total came out to be ~$27 without tips, and we still had plenty of leftovers. The service was also pretty nice. They were pretty patient with us even though we stayed there and talked for a very long time. I would definitely come back here again when I get a chance. I have to show HES this place because we love spicy food and he loved Ba Ren.

So far, I would rank it right below, if not tied with Ba Ren in terms of quality of food and authenticity. I don't understand how it can have a lower rating than De De's on Yelp. I've been to De De's only one time years ago and I've never been back, nor do I have the urge to anytime soon. That just shows you Yelp is not always right, especially when the people rating isn't very experienced. To each their own, I guess. If you know and love real Chinese food, give this place a try.

Spicy City
4690 Convoy St Ste 107
(between Engineer Rd & Opportunity Rd)
San Diego, CA 92111