Jeff Wong remembers playing with his siblings in a back room of Wong\u2019s Golden Palace while his parents swooned customers with dishes like orange chicken, walnut shrimp and Mandarin fried rice.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad cooked and my mother worked the front of the house. They didn\u2019t want us disrupting anyone,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n That was back in 1966, when Wong\u2019s first opened and non-Asians viewed the fare as novel and exotic. The restaurant\u2019s d\u00e9cor also sent patrons to a distant land via imported Chinese lanterns and elaborate wall plaques flaunting hand-carved images of dragons and ancient Chinese port scenes. None of that has changed.<\/p>\n Wong\u2019s parents, Stanley and Helen, opened the decorative \u201cpalace\u201d at 7126 University Ave. after moving here from San Francisco. They had emigrated from southern China with the vision of launching a place to showcase their cuisine and culture. But the Bay Area was saturated with Asian kitchens, so they set their sights on La Mesa.<\/p>\n Now in retirement, the couple passed the torch to Jeff Wong, who was tasked with replacing the restaurant\u2019s plumbing and electrical systems after a kitchen fire broke out in August 2017. The damage was confined to the stove and hood areas, but the upgrades required by the city and health department amounted to $200,000.<\/p>\n \u201cI was shocked,\u201d said Wong, adding that his family owns the building and had no intention of selling it after the fire. \u201cMy folks want to see their legacy live on. And deep down inside, so do I.\u201d<\/p>\n Wong\u2019s Golden Palace reopened in early May. Its adjoining bar, The Dragon Room, sprung back to life a few months earlier.<\/p>\n Wong\u2019s parents acquired the bar lounge several years after opening the restaurant. They knocked down a wall to create an interior passageway connecting the two.<\/p>\n \u201cIt used to be a Hell\u2019s Angels bar before my parents took over,\u201d said Wong.<\/p>\n The Dragon Room opens daily at 6 a.m. and features karaoke four nights a week as well as live classic rock on Saturday nights.<\/p>\n Sitting between the bar and restaurant is a small open-air smoking section with the restaurant\u2019s original koi pond. Wong pointed out that several of the larger koi are more than 40 years old.<\/p>\n Numerous other historical elements prevail throughout the establishment, which at this point in time stands as a museum to Chinese restaurants of yesteryear.<\/p>\n Cocktails, for example, are served in a variety of kitschy, ceramic vessels ranging from Buddhas and angels to tiki barrels and moat-shaped bowls. The latter are designated for fruity rum-spiked flaming scorpions, which come with 18-inch straws for easy communal sipping.<\/p>\n Po po platters containing assorted appetizers are still served on old boards with mini habachi grills in the middle. Fueled by Sterno, they\u2019re used for adding a barbecue essence to some of the already cooked meats you get.<\/p>\n The d\u00e9cor is equally precious \u2014 all of it imported from China by Wong\u2019s parents. Miniature landscapes are displayed in glass cases throughout the dining room while two wall hangings of significant size reveal intricate relief work in wood and bronze. In the Western world, they might qualify as godly art suited for old churches.<\/p>\n Most unusual are the dining tables residing between the red leather booths. Wong doesn\u2019t know where his parents obtained them, but their irregular-shaped pieces of embedded marble, separated by gold inlay, possess a strange gaudiness unrelated to any particular culture.<\/p>\n From a culinary standpoint, Wong says nearly the entire menu is exactly the same as it was more than 50 years ago. Dishes that became his favorite as a young child haven\u2019t changed: chow mein, fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and \u201cWong\u2019s special noodles\u201d in a dark sauce with vegetables.<\/p>\n \u201cJust about everything is made from scratch, including the egg rolls and pot stickers. And we still cut our meats and fish in-house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Coming in June are various sushi rolls, which will mark the first additions to the menu in many years. Wong recently installed a small sushi counter, which signaled one of the first changes to the dining room in decades.<\/p>\n The introduction of sushi, he added, is an attempt to procure new customers seeking something modernly familiar. In the meantime, longtime patrons have begun returning to both the restaurant and bar with giddy excitement, per the full parking lot on a recent weekday morning and the enthusiastic patrons inside.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember some of the customers from when I was a kid,\u201d Wong said. \u201cThey are very supportive and keep coming back for the traditional dishes and flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the notion of giving the space a more modern look down the road, he doesn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n \u201cMy folks are adamant about keeping the facade and the art the same. I can\u2019t see them ever being replaced,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n The website for Wong\u2019s is currently being rebuilt. Until then, call 619-465-9222 or 619-464-9772 for more information.<\/p>\n![\"Iconic](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Wong27s-Jeff-Wong.jpg\")
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punch and pina coladas\u00a0(Foto por Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>
define the dining areas\u00a0(Foto por Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>
dining room.\u00a0(Foto por Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n