Mom Kitchen — Restaurant in San Diego

4.25 stars ⭐️ Very willing to bump up my rating to a 5, but I wanted to address some inconsistencies with the food.

On my first visit, I ordered the Hainanese Chicken Rice and the Beef Noodle Soup. I was was a bit disappointed with the chicken rice because it came with plain white rice instead of the flavorful, garlicky rice I was expecting. However, on my second visit, our friends ordered the same dish, and theirs came with the proper chicken rice! There wasn't any mention of a substitution when I had ordered it, so I'm curious if it was an oversight the first time. If the rice issue is addressed, I'd be more than happy to up my rating.

Food Ratings:

Hainese Chicken Rice - 3.5/5 Again, totally down to up my rating if the rice is addressed. A huge part of what makes a good chicken rice is the RICE! Also wish the ginger sauce was a ginger scallion sauce.

Beef Noodle Soup - 4/5 I thought it was decent, with a lot of radish in it (I love radish), but I thought the flavor of the broth was lacking a bit.

BBQ Combination Rice - 4.5/5! Surprisingly VERY good! I really enjoyed both the BBQ cha siu and the roast duck. Thought the rice was a little hard (slightly undercooked?). But I would order this very thing next time I come back!

The interior is absolutely gorgeous, the decor and dinnerware all match, and overall the service is...

I came on Friday night at 7pm, put my name on the waitlist that had 3 parties ahead and it took 35-40mins to get seated which is fine. There’s boba shop next door while waiting.

I ordered the crispy roasted duck but after waiting 20 mins, the server came to tell me they’re out no more duck and asked to wait so that she need to check with the kitchen what they have before reorder anything else. She never came back or brought menu to order something else! Wasted 1 hour!

The Hainanese rice chicken combo: the chicken and rice are so oily, LOTS OF OIL. It tasted bland no flavor at all, a ginger garlic sauce is also not anything special, the red sauce is sriracha. 1/10

Mom kitchen egg fried rice is decent, still oily. I like they have seaweed mix with it. The texture is good but the seasoning is bland. 5/10

Garlic water spinach is fresh and crunch, the garlic is mild. 7/10

The service is terrible, no customer service at all.

The price is high in my opinion for the quality and service.

Will I come back? Probably not during dinner time because it’s not worth the wait for just basic food. I might come back during off peak hour to try the roasted duck...

Update review-It’s my second time eating Mom’s Kitchen, this time, I came with my girl friends. Since I had a newborn, so they come over my area to hangout. And they also wanna try this place out. We ordered something I really recommend from the last experience, including the Hainan Chicken and Roast duck, and the Chocolate milk bread. We also had one veggie dish. All of us really enjoyed the food. One of the girl’s husband is from Hong Kong, and she packed a Hainan chicken for him, he is really happy with it. I’ll come here in the future! I like here’s food! Previous review- We arrived at 5:30 and got one of the last tables. The place is small but popular. We tried the Hainan chicken, BBQ pork and roast duck rice, French toast, and a pineapple bun. The food was tasty—especially the French toast and roast duck—but prices are a bit high at $40 per person with tip. Service was quick, but some dishes could be more authentic. Would likely return...