I always felt Oceanside was particularly lacking in the Chinese culinary department. Spicy King was stellar until they shut down. I was excited, albeit cautious to discover that 24 Suns had entered the local restaurant scene. From what I read, they are a pop up, having previously operated as a food truck. Looking at their insta, the offerings looked creative and intriguing. The few available reviews indicated it was pretty good and with the chefs' fine dining backgrounds (with one having grown up in SF), I decided to give it a hopeful shot.
I'm not sure how to feel about having checked them out. On one hand, I appreciate the endeavor to elevate Chinese cuisine, fusion it, whatever. On the other, the execution has to follow through, and I just don't feel that this delivered. Pretty much all the "ethnic foods," in my opinion, already delivers independently at a rather basic level. You can experience some amazing food without paying fine dining prices. But here, it felt like fine food for an elevated price.
A list of what was sampled:
-bok choy 1/10: It may be that I'm a bit of a sensitive taster, but the blackened cashew and soy caramel made this unpleasantly bitter. Crispy garlic also skews toward slightly bitter depending how fried or browned it is, and bok choy naturally has a somewhat bitter taste, maybe more if grilled. The nutritional yeast was cute, just not sure it added much. Perhaps the intent was for the soy caramel to balance out the bitter with a hint of sweetness, but in practice this one was an overwhelming bitter chin scratcher. If I may recommend incorporating some black garlic in R&D, perhaps there would be more sweet to counteract some bitter.
-sichuan sliced beef 3/10: This beef lost the Sichuan somewhere along the way, and was seeking a fair amount of salt, maybe more acid which I think I tasted a hint of. In contrast with the bok choy, it was rather bland, which reminded me nothing of Sichuan cuisine. $21 for approximately 6 thin slices of beef means the expectation that every bite be a beautiful medley of balanced flavors. At this point we just had to say something, which the staff was very kind and understanding about. They brought out the next dish in replacement.
-bird's nest 9/10: This is the kind of flavor and textural contrast I'd pay extra for. Nice richness & smokiness from the swordfish contrasted by some salt, tingly Sichuan peppercorn, and crunchy noodles underneath (I believe they said was phyllo dough).
-shrimp & scallop dumplings 6/10: Enjoyable enough, but a dumpling traditionally has a thicker wrapper and hearty amount of filling. This was more like a wonton dressing up as a dumpling for picture day. Not a whole lot of shrimp/scallop filling but they were folded nicely, so when you bite into it it's really airy and the filling wants to escape. Pineapple was a nice touch, but the sauce did not contain discernible doubanjiang flavor. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to understand this level of fusion.
-xiaomai noodles 3/10: Another bitter party in my mouth, I assume from the tomatoes' acidity and capers. Noodles had a nice bite, which I understand is made by the chef who specializes in dough, so I was excited to try his standout craft as the star. Unfortunately, the sauce just had no redeeming contrast. To me, it would have benefited from a dash of sugar and/or more salt.
I wish something like this could thrive in a place like Oceanside, but I'm skeptical given its location, the potential lack of consistency (because I assume everything was a hit during R&D), the pricing, and the state of the economy. I appreciate the chefs taking on the challenge and their humility in receiving feedback.
Being of Chinese descent and having eaten a lot of the food, my standards are admittedly scathingly critical by average American standards. Given the price range, I don't think I'll try again but wish the establishment the best.
PS if you go out for service and not 100% food, their service is excellent. read more