Sieu Sieu Chinese Barbeque in Clairemont Mesa, San Diego

This little Chinese barbeque shop that could is tucked in the middle of the Crossroads Plaza strip mall on Clairemont Mesa Blvd just east of Ruffner Rd. It is rather hard to miss, though, thanks to being right next door to one of the colorful Baja-California fast food franchise shop, Rubio. There is plenty of free parking in the mall's lot, and a bus stop (#44) is just a block away across from Ruffner Rd.

I think the restaurant had just moved here from another location. I dropped in for lunch on Thursday and found the place still in a 'settling in' state with the previous occupant's menu still on display (but with a black cloth draped over to partially hide it). It's a dimly lit eatery with a few tables set along the left side of the shop (and a couple of plastic ones out on the patio) while the right side is dominated by the glass display with a couple of whole roasted ducks and what appeared to be a whole slab of roasted pig ribs (with skin intact) hanging tantalizingly in it. There are a few dishes warming in the steel trays along the counter that would either elicit your enthusiasm or totally destroy your appetite, depending largely on how delicate an eater you are... I didn't enjoy to look of the pig intestine swimming in a thin brown sauce much, but the chicken feet and heads were rather interesting looking.

The owners appear to be a young-ish Vietnamese couple who smile a lot though don't speak English all that well (it doesn't hurt, though, since they had taken care to keep the menu very simple and well numbered so you don't have to attempt to try to pronounce the name of the dish you want to order). They generally do barbequed or roasted pig, duck, or chicken on steamed rice or noodles. If you are in the mood to throw a big party, you can also order whole pig in advance (it goes for over $200, though).

I went for the barbequed pork on steamed rice, the first item on the menu that also costs only $5.25 while my pal Jeff had the beef stew on rice for the same price. They both come with enough rice to feed the whole of Ethiopia for a day (well... perhaps not quite, but it sure is a lot). My barbequed pork came beautifully sliced into thick chops of most interesting colors. The outside was almost acid reddish-pink, the meat very chewy, sweet, dark and with a sliver of fat that makes up nicely for the slight dryness of it all. It's a meat-eater's treat! It also came with a bit of sauteed broccoli whose function is really merely to allow you to say that there was some green vegetable on your plate during lunch. The beef stew was rather different from the American stew I'm used to (it is lighter and has quite a bit of soy sauce in it, I think). To tell the truth, the beef part is nothing very special, but the tendons are really good.

Service here is ok. The owners do everything and they are very friendly, but can be quite slow when the place gets busy. Sieu Sieu is a good place to catch a meaty lunch for under $10 whenever you are in the area, though.

Sieu Sieu Chinese Barbeque: 7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Suite 112 (east of Ruffner Rd), San Diego, CA 92111. Tel (858) 571-8928. Opens daily from 9AM-9PM. Major credit cards accepted.