Spicy City warms my spicy heart

Where spice dreams are made.

Neighborhood: Convoy Street, Kearny Mesa

Price: $$

Vibe: Tiny, busy Szechuan Chinese restaurant in a strip mall off Convoy Street. The mirrored wall can deceive you, the tables in this small space fill up fast. Plan accordingly.

I love restaurants with seasonal menus that evolve throughout the year, almost as much as I love restaurants like Spicy City, offering the favorites, the steadfast, tried-and-true dishes that I crave and think about often.

Spicy City is for spice lovers. Like for real. If you or your dining partner don’t like spice, either pass on Spicy City, or lean-in, let your nose run, and enjoy it in all its spicy glory.

Szechuan cuisine is a wonderful eating adventure, but the menu at places like Spicy City is vast and can be a bit overwhelming. I was happy to enjoy my first experience here with a friend who had been before and seemed to know every delicious dish on the menu. This very well could be because everything on the menu is fabulous. I do my best to branch out and try new things, but when I visit a place like Spicy City, I looking forward to my favorite dishes. Here are a few that I would consider my favorites at Spicy City.

Beef in Dried Pot

The Beef in Dried Pot is a wonderful stir fry of beef, spicy peppers and vegetables over fresh bean sprouts, steaming and simmering in the dried pot. It’s fabulous! Try it.

Shredded Pork with Baked Tofu (This may be my fave!)

The shredded pork with baked tofu sounds basic, but it’s a rush of flavor and textures that I find I want to keep eating, and I can’t really say if it’s the pork or the tofu that star in this dish, it’s kind of like a beautiful duet that you never knew you needed to eat!

Boiled Fish Filet in Hot Sauce

I know i said that the pork and tofu dish is my favorite, but I’ll be honest, the Boiled Fish in Hot Sauce is a favorite also. Mmmm how I love the spicy, oily sauce that this fish comes cooked in, it seems like it’s going to be too spicy to bear at first, but then you keep eating and enjoying and the next thing you know, you’ve cleaned the hot pot!

On this visit we also tried some fried dumplings and Chinese Greens. The dumplings were a little doughier than I’m used to, but let’s be honest, they’re dumplings and they are delicious.

Fried Dumplings

Chinese Greens in Garlic Sauce

I always love a good Chinese Greens. You really can’t go wrong with any of the Chinese veggies, but these cooked in garlic sauce were especially delicious.

Spicy City is an authentic, traditional and absolutely wonderful dining experience. You will overheat a little, you may sweat, but it’s all worth it for some of the most deliciously spicy offerings in the city. I’m grateful to have this as an eating option here in San Diego, I definitely feel that I should imbibe more often.

Spicy City

4690 Convoy Street, Suite 107

San Diego, Ca 92111