Steamy Piggy - San Diego

Ambiance: Clean with limited seating, but there is a deck outside with heated lamps. The black designs were nice. Service: Very nice waitress, attentive and helpful. Food: - Piggy Bao: Soft and fresh bao with moist and tender pig belly. Worth trying. - Chili Wontons: Vinegary chili sauce, not as good as Din Tai Fung. Skip. - Soup Dumpling: Decent, a bit dry and served with vinegar instead of soy sauce. Better options at Shanghai Saloon or Din Tai Fung. Skip. - Spicy Ramen: Good taste but noodles were too soft. Very oily. Santouka in Mitsuwa has better ramen. - Red Braised Pork Belly: Good flavor, tender meat but can be quite rich. Worth trying. - Kawaii Buns: Delicious with subtle sweetness and moist custard. Definitely worth trying.

I waited for 1 hour on Friday evening at 6 o'clock. There was limited staff, but the food was good. Finding parking could be a problem and took some time. I ordered shrimp dumplings, chicken with beans, chicken roll, spicy chicken wings, and Thai tea. I loved the shrimp dumplings as they melted in my mouth. The chicken roll was made from scallion pancakes and had an amazing crunchy texture.

There was only one waitress seating and serving food for the whole entire restaurant. I kinda felt bad for her. Seeing how the situation was, I wasn't surprised about the wait time to get a seat and my food ordered.

Restaurant closed at time of reservation. No explanation given.

We got to the restaurant and it was closed. Apparently the open/close dates/hours are not updated on OpenTable so after booking the reservations 3 weeks in advance and getting a confirmation text the day before, we arrived to a closed restaurant and phone number listed wasn’t taking any messages. Very frustrating and was looking forward to dining there. On the upside, Tajima (next door) had openings and the ramen there was very delicious!