More Regional Chinese Cuisine Comes to Mira Mesa | Eater San Diego

"Friends of Eater have been raving about this recently opened restaurant in the Trader Joe’s shopping center at the intersection of the Scripps Ranch and Mira Mesa neighborhoods; the spacious eatery showcases the bold, spicy, and pungent flavors of Hunan province, using fresh, dried, and pickled chilies as well as smoked and cured meats and preserved vegetables. Its chef and owner is reportedly an alum of Village Kitchen and brings with him that restaurant’s signature mortar-and-pestle dish — a combo of mashed eggplant, peppers, and “thousand-year egg” — which appears on the menu alongside buns stuffed with pork belly and preserved vegetables, Hunan-style lotus root, stir-fried chicken with pickled chilies, and more. Diners can also bring their own fresh seafood, including shrimp and scallops, for the kitchen to prepare in a variety of ways; a whole fish can be steamed, braised, sliced raw for sashimi, or cooked with a spicy mix of chilies." - Candice Woo