Afforable Asian (i.e. Chinese, Korean, etc.) Restaurant for 50 People?

[cmltang]

Hi! My fiance and I are looking for an affordable restaurant near Kearny Mesa to have our welcome/rehearsal dinner for about 50 ppl. We prefer an some type of Asian restaurant since it will be mostly older Chinese relatives who prefer to eat rice with every meal. We also want to stay below $20/person. A private or semi-private room would be nice but not necessary. Any recommendations? Please help!

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Kearny's
8310 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111

[cmltang]

Thanks for all the suggestions! We'll be sure to check them out. Has anyone ever been to ChinaMax on Convoy? How are the portions? We're thinking of ordering a la carte instead of the banquet menu to save money.

[araknd]

Been to ChinaMax for dim sum once. It was OK. They have a separate room upstairs that might work for you, but I don't know about the menu at all.

[mliew]

The dim sum at China Max is good, probably the best in the area, the dinner not so much. I've been there a couple of times for dinner and was never very impressed with the food, especially for the price.

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China Max Restaurant
4698 Convoy St Ste 101, San Diego, CA 92111

[SaltyRaisins]

Chin's on Convoy has a nice back room that could easily fit 50. Also, it's newer and a cleaner than the big dimsum houses. There is a banquet menu that includes some Taiwanese dishes that are pretty good.

Cheers!

[mliew]

For 50 people you're probably best off looking into Jasmine or Emerald. Most of the restaurants in that area aren't big enough to accommodate that many people. A couple of the larger Korean BBQ places (Buga, Seoul House, Manna) might work for that many people but they would have to split up into smaller tables obviously to do tableside BBQ.

Unfortunately the food quality at Jasmine/Emerald isn't that great but you're pretty limited with the number of people you have. If I had to pick between the two I'd go with Emerald although the last couple meals I've had there were pretty mediocre.

[scottca075]

I think Jasmine might be your best bet.

[Josh]

I'd probably go with Jasmine. It doesn't get much love on the boards, but they are hugely popular for this exact kind of event, it seems. They have tracks on the floor and ceiling allowing them to wall off any number of private rooms, and they have special menus for large groups based on budget. From what I have read, the food is Hong Kong-style, though I haven't been to Hong Kong so have no idea how accurate that description is. I have enjoyed the meals I've had there.

[araknd]

Pearl in RB would probably be able to handle the crowd, but I don't know about the pricing. When my wife and I got married, we had a "traditional" Chinese banquet reception at Jasmine with over 200(!) people. They have the ability to section off their huge dining room, as does Pearl. They might be able to meet your price target, but you would have to negotiate with them in the best Asian traditions. :-) Good luck and congratulations.

[okletseat]

I tried looking for the same a while back but in North County. Was going to decide between Pearl or Chin's on Miramar. Both have banquet menus. I had older Chinese relatives have the banquet menu at Chin's and said it was decent. You may want to see if Chin's on Convoy has the same. I've never been to Chin's on Convoy.