wei wei asian express

Last Friday when I was heading down to Jake’s for the weekend, he asked me what I wanted to do for dinner that evening and suggested a place we’d been to quite a few times. But I was bored with that suggestion and countered by texting him with a link to a place called Wei Wei Asian Express. It was near his house and it was brand new so he relented to my suggestion. New things are always better, right?

Wei Wei Asian Express has been open for about two months. It’s in the same plaza as Carnitas las Michoacanas and Bourre Southern Bistro. The plaza is across the street from the Kroc Center. The plaza has had lots of empty storefronts over the last year. The old Save-a-Lot is now a Planet Fitness center. We were happy to see a new business move into this spot – it’s starting to look more lively in that plaza!

I don’t know why Jake has such a sour look on his face in this photo. Maybe cause it was cold out and we were sitting outside.

We did eventually snag a table indoors but I swear it made no difference because they had their A/C on high blast making it just as chilly as it was outside! Brrr! They only have counter service here and everything is packaged in to-go containers. If you’re eating in, just ask for plates and utensils. 

Here’s a closeup on the menu. Unlike typical Chinese restaurants, they don’t have pages and pages on their menu. They specialize in a few selection entrees. They also offer ramen which I thought was kind of odd. 

Now here’s where the waiting began. THE WAITING. And more waiting.

It took over 45 minutes for us to get our food. They had a lot of take out orders and they also do delivery so this place is mad busy! I highly suggest calling in or ordering online to avoid the crazy long wait. 

[wei wei wings / $4.99 for 6 pieces]

We decided to try both of the wings – they have “Wei Wei” wings which are their fried chicken wings covered in a sweet spicy glaze. This made the wings a little sticky and the sauce reminded me a little of orange chicken sauce or sweet Thai chili sauce. The skin managed to stay nice and crispy under the sticky glaze. I liked that you could see bits of pepper flakes and garlic in the sauce. These wings were quite large and on the meaty side, which I also liked!

[salt and pepper wings / $4.99 for 6 pieces]

We also got the salt and pepper wings which had a heck of lot of “stuff” on the wings. Most of it is underneath the wings but it was easy enough to sprinkle more of the onion-pepper-garlic stuff on top before you took a bite into the mad crunchy wing. The batter is a little on the thick side but I really enjoyed the flavor of the wings. It’s really hard to say which version of the wings I liked more – I enjoyed both pretty equally and I thought they were both excellent in terms of flavor, crunchiness, and meatiness. 

Here’s a little peek after a bite. Lots of meat left on the other side! Yum!

[crispy beef / $9.25 (dinner)]

For our main entree, my eyes lighted upon “Crispy Beef”. Once I saw crispy beef it was like I couldn’t see any other entree on the menu – that’s what I started to crave! The last time I had crispy beef from another restaurant it was not really very crispy and was kind of on the saucy-uncrispy-almost-chewy side. THIS crispy beef blew that crap out of the water and made me remember why I love this dish so much. The pieces of beef are lightly breaded and covered in a sweet glaze similar to what on the chicken wings. I think it tasted even better with the beef though! The beef was perfectly crisp and done just right. Jake asked what kind of meat they use for the beef and one of the cooks said they use beef tenderloin. The beef was tender and full of flavor. My only wish is that there had been onions swimming around in with the beef but hey, carrots aren’t bad either. Jake and T adored this dish. I’m pretty sure they would want to eat this as often as possible. Hah! 

[sautéed string beans in garlic sauce / $6.95 (dinner)]

We didn’t have any veggies in the rest of the meal and to try and counterbalance the (delicious) fried stuff, I also ordered some string beans. In a really yummy garlic sauce. They sure aren’t kidding about the garlic, folks. It’s practically swimming in garlic! I loved it since I’m a huge fan of all things garlic. 

[teriyaki sauce]

Jake wanted some teriyaki sauce with his rice and asked for it – and was told he’d have to wait a few minute while the chef made some. Then we got this to-go container with freshly made teriyaki sauce in it! Crazy! I found it to be quite strong and I don’t like putting it on my food but Jake thought it was pretty good. It was on the thick side and we were impressed that they made it on the spot. In fact, it was still warm when we got it. It’s nice to know they make their sauces fresh and that nothing just comes out of a pre-made bottle. 

We’ll definitely be back to check out more of the items on their menu – AND to call ahead next time! I’m glad the food turned out to be terrific after such a long wait! 

Wei Wei Asian Express
6465 University Ave.
San Diego, CA
(619) 287-8888