San Diego’s lack of quality Chinese food has been a chronic issue. Great Thai food? We got it. Vietnamese? Here’s a map. But save for Dumpling Inn and Minh Ky, Chinese food seems more of a Bay Area skill. Village North improves things, though.
Owner and UC San Diego grad Steven Ji has hired two chefs—one specializing in southern Chinese food, the other in northern—and their fermented cabbage and pork soup is divine. But the Taro Root dessert is an odd, thrilling magic trick.
Taro root is one of the world’s first cultivated plants—a nuttier, sexier potato. Take a spear of steamed taro draped in caramelized sugar, dip it in a bowl of room-temp water, and the sugar crystallizes. On the bite, the sugar crackles like thin, sweet glass to reveal the tender, steaming taro inside. (Careful; it’s very hot.) It’s like a hot version of the classic chocolate-dipped ice cream cone, and an altogether new experience.
4428 Convoy Street, Kearny Mesa
Sweet Spot: Taro Root Dessert at Village North
Photo by Jenny Siegwart
