March 2007 – mmm-yoso

Quick Saturday Dinner: Furikake Crusted Ahi Salad with Ponzu Dressing

March 31, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Today it almost felt like summer, and we needed something pretty quick to eat, and I had a nice piece of good, but not quite sashimi grade(at least for me) Ahi. So I decided to make a really easy dish that I haven’t made for a while….it’s really easy, takes me less than 20 minutes!

Much of what I use is already prepared…the ponzu sauce, furikake, and the wasabi oil I made ahead of time for something else. I enjoyed making this, it’s been a while, I have a little story that I’ll mention at the end of the post. I also use a garlic press(I call it my ginger press, since I never use it for garlic) to juice small pieces of ginger…you don’t need much. It is kind of Asian-Fusion-ny…..it has also spoiled the Missus, She understands how really simple some of these Pacific Rim Asian Fusion Dishes really are.

Furikake Crusted Ahi

1 Block of Ahi(1/2-3/4 lb)
1/3 Cup of Furikake( Japanese condiment for topping rice)
3-4 Tb Sesame Seeds

2 Tb Soy Sauce
1/2 Tsp Prepared Wasabi
Ginger Juice

Mix last three items in a bowl and place Ahi in marinade, turn Ahi to coat. In a clean dry plate pour out Furikake and Sesame Seeds and mix. Place the block of Ahi and coat with mixture, I only coat three sides, we’ve found that coating all four sides of the fish makes it a bit too salty. Sear over high heat, do not overcook! Slice carefully and serve with mixed greens with Ponzu Dressing

Ponzu Dressing
1/2 Cup Ponzu(I used the bottled Kikkoman Ponzu)
1/4 Cup Sugar
3-4 Tb Soy Sauce
Ginger Juice
Canola Oil as desired

Mix first 3 ingredients until sugar is dissolved, add ginger juice(I use a garlic press to create ginger juice). Add desired amount of oil and mix in a jar. Dress greens well, and add some acidic and a few other items(in this case, I had some Jicama, and cucumbers are great as well). Really simple.

Wasabi Oil
1/4 Cup Wasabi Powder
1 Tb Mirin
1 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/4 Cup Water

In a bowl combine the first 3 ingredients. Add water slowly(you may need less) until a pancake batter consistency is reached. Slowly whisk in oil, and whisk till smooth. Let stand at least 30 minutes. This great with Maguro or Tai Carpaccio, and other seafood, or even as an addition to salad dressings.

When I first met my future Father and Mother-In-Law, they wouldn’t eat rare fish or sashimi, in fact they wouldn’t eat fish that didn’t have a "head" attached, a bit suspicious that anything without a "head" meant it was less than fresh. I felt really bad, because one of the benefits of living in Hawaii is access to really great fresh fish. So one evening, I made this…and they enjoyed it!

So next time you have some xxx crusted Ahi or whatever…….it seems like doing the dishes takes longer than making this!

Ch-Ch-Chain: Sansai Japanese Grill

March 28, 2007 mmm-yoso Chains, Japanese Restaurants

*** This location of SanSai has closed

As much as I enjoy the San Diego Asian Film Festival, I lament the lack of what I consider decent eating choices nearby (except for Trophy's right, Ron!!! LOL!)…most of Mission Valley is pretty much littered with various chain, or chain like restaurants. Because of location, right next to the Hazard Center, it's either non-stop hot dogs, Jack in the Box, Quizno's, or SanSai Japanese Grill.

SanSai is a pseudo-Japanese "concept" Fast Casual chain, and this location is always crowded. Most menu items are in the $5 to $8 range and consists of various bowls, salads, and (gasp) sushi rolls.

So let's get to food shall we?

This is called the Spicy Chicken Bowl($5.99):

The term "spicy" is used very loosely here, it wasn't quite spicy, and the chicken was pretty much food court quality and dry. The green salad with an Asian dressing was fine. Coming from a place where you get two scoops of rice, a good quantity of meat, and macaroni salad for the same price, this seemed a bit on the chintzy side. But I guess it's much more "healthy", right? 407 Calories, 12.5 grams fat, 747mg sodium.

On another occasion I ordered the Tempura and Teriyaki Chicken Plate($7.99), which comes with your choice of two salads:

The teriyaki chicken confirmed my thoughts on the chicken at SanSai…it's not for me. Weak sauces and dry chicken(this is dark meat, can you imagine chicken breast – $1 more) is the MO. The tempura, which consisted of two shrimp, and various vegetable tempura, and to be honest it was pretty good, still crisp, and rather light. I've had worse in restaurants before. I chose the Tomato Salad, dressed with a very weak vinegar based dressing and the mixed greens. The plate came with rice.

There is one item from SanSai that I do enjoy once in a while. It's the Sumi Salad($4.99):

It's a far cry from the Sumi Salad that my Mom made, which was a Rice Vinegar based "slaw", and the secret ingredient was dry broken up ramen noodles(and sometimes the dry ramen broth mix as well)! This version is very mild, and short with regards to any vinegar flavor. Still it's not bad, if a bit on the bland side, the portion size is on the large side. What I think is a bit odd, is that the salad comes with an order of rice….. go figure. Rice and Sumi Salad?

When I order the Sumi salad, I do a little embellishment….

Yep, I add a nice amount of Baby Star Crispy Noodle Snack(it just ain't right without those dry noodles), and if I feel like it, a bit more rice vinegar…and it's almost close to Sumi Salad.

I guess if I had a choice between Baja ~~Rash~~ Fresh and SanSai, I'd probably choose SanSai….don't look at the fish they use for sushi, though.

Sansai Japanese Grill, they're all over California.

Mi Ngoc So 1

March 27, 2007 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Update; Mi Ngoc So 1 is gone and has been replaced by Thai by Tara

While stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Linda Vista Road and Ulric Street a few months back, I noticed that a new business had sprung up in the little strip mall on the corner. The place was called Mi Ngoc So 1, and replaced Linda Vista Food To Go as small Vietnamese take-out joint that made what I thought was so-so Banh Mi, but pretty good spring rolls. I made a mental note, and is the norm for me, just up and forgot about the place for a few months. Finally, with the onset of some pretty chilly weather, one of those poor little brain cells of mine managed to rub up against another…and I remembered Mi Ngoc So 1.

One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter this tiny restaurant is how small it is…which will lead you to wonder how the heck they managed to actually fit 6 tables into this small space.

The menu is typical of these Vietnamese-Chinese Noodle Shops, Egg and Rice Noodle soups, Fried Rice, and Fried Noodles. As is also typical of these type of shops, the prices are very reasonable. There are three middle aged women working at Mi Ngoc So, kind of makes me feel nurtured in a way….

On this day, I decided to try the Beef Sate Egg Noodle Soup($4.75):

I find Vietnamese Sate Noodle soup interesting, no two versions are the same, and some are vastly different. The usual ingredients that I notice in most of the "sates" are chilies and garlic, it is also usually a on the salty side. In fact, once when the Missus had a bad cold, with the terrible side effect of not being to taste much, I took Her to Tan Ky Mi Gia for the Beef Sate soup, which is a bit pungent, spicy, rich, and salty. This version was not quite as salty as I’m used to, and the spice was muted as well, though the garlic flavor came through. The egg noodles were the usual thin crunchy egg noodles, just how I like ’em. The few slices of beef were too thick, and had the metallic flavor of old beef, and was not very good. Still, not a bad bowl of noodle soup, and the hot tea was free, altogether after tax was just a shade over 5 bucks.

Today, was a heck of a windy, blustery, and cold San Diego day, and since I was in the area, I thought I’d drop by again and try out something else from the menu. This time I had the Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle soup ($4.50):

Okay, just so you know, the Won Tons are the round dumplings…and the dumplings are the long "dumplings". As is pretty much the status quo for this type of won ton, the filling was a dense pork meatball, and the dumpling filling was an elongated dense meatball with a piece of shrimp attached. The Won Tons had a decent pork flavor, but the dumplings were kind of flavorless. All told 4 won tons, 4 dumplings, and other than 2 pieces of Char Siu and green onions there wasn’t much else, unlike the super loaded version at Minh Ky. The scalding hot broth was on the lighter side, with a decent but not overly salty flavor, kind of in between Minh Ky and Luong Hai Ky. The egg noodles had not been cooked long enough and were still super hard, I had to leave them in the broth for a few minutes before eating.

Still, with a pot of tea(free) lunch came out to under 5 bucks, and I was out of there in less than 30 minutes and on my way, my belly full of hot soup. On some days, that’s more than enough!

Mi Ngoc So 1
2405 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Open – Tues-Sun 8am-8pm

Fred’s…Ummm Ed’s Bistro

March 25, 2007 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub, Sisig

*** Ed’s Bistro has closed.

I’d heard about Ed’s Bistro in National City a while back…well I thought it was Fred’s Bistro.

Tucked on a side street between 8th Street and Plaza Boulevard in a very unassuming space next to a barber shop and laundromat, I’d say that Ed’s is in a pretty strange location. I was also told, that Ed’s (Fred’s) was well….."a bit different". I kinda got a hint about the name when I saw the Application for Ownership Change posted alongside the front door. As for a "bit different", when we entered, "Ed’s" revealed itself.

And I couldn’t stop smiling! Call it a "lounge", "bar & grill", "pub", or in this case "bistro", Ed’s was an honest to goodness "bar"! The large karaoke set-up, really cheap furniture, 3 "lounge lizards" sitting at the small makeshift bar toward the rear of the dining area gave it away. You see I grew up with what I call the "Pau Hana Time Generation"…in this context, Pau Hana means "finished with work", and Pau Hana Time means basically Happy Hour! So "back home" there would be a "phone chain" of sorts, and without fail a few(or more) times a week, the phone would ring, and the following "conversation" would take place:

"Yeah?"
"So wea?"
"xxxxx"(name of the place)
"wat time?"
"’bout 5?"
"’kay den…."

So whether your pleasure was darts, karaoke, or just having "a few" and some good "grindz"(guess which I was), we had a pretty regular rotation. And it goes without saying that we all had our favorite dishes at the various places; be it the "Fat Fat Chicken" at Fat Fat Bar and Grill(it is a real place lovingly called "8 Fat" by us, RIP Sy – we all miss you), Steak and Mushrooms at Hibiscus Club, maybe something from Anyplace Cocktail Lounge, or some really good grinds from Side Street Inn(also nice post here.) You get the picture, some of the best food was to be found in these, dark, sometimes a bit seedy, neighborhood bars…though Side Street has risen above it all when it comes to "Pupu" culture, with mentions in Savuer and Gourmet magazine.

The preferred language at Ed’s is Tagalog, and the menu is a study in Filipino Bar Food:

There was one main reason we came to Ed’s, it was for the Goat Kaldereta(Goat Stew – $13.95), we both love Kaldereta….though we often have to deal with, "you know this is goat, right?" At first the Missus was somewhat concerned with the price, but when the food arrived we realized the portion size was on the large (as in family-style eating size):

Though a bit short on the nice and gamy goat, this was some reaaal good Kaldereta, a bit salty, the tomato sauce based "gravy" was nice and tangy. The best part were the potatoes, which seemed to have been roasted before entering the stew, and the olives which added a nice briny flavor to the dish…there’s not enough rice in the world for this dish.

Not knowing how large the portion sizes where we ordered some Pancit Bihon (Stir fried noodles – $8.95):

I’ve had better pancit, but this was a nice version with lot’s of black pepper. The photo belies the size of this dish, to this day we haven’t finished all the pancit. We got our money’s worth on this.

I couldn’t leave without ordering what I consider one of the ubiquitous bar dishes(along with garlic peanuts), the Sisig(not the Pampangan Sisig, but the regular – $8.95). Just a side note…I didn’t which photo to use for this. Was it this one?

Or perhaps this one?

The Sisig was good, though I enjoy mine a bit more sour and spicy, but the Lechon Kawale used for the Sisig was plentiful and very good, I’m used to Sisig made with leftovers and lot’s of onions so this was a ncie change. At this time, Ed’s started getting filled up, and Karaoke was going full blast, and every table had a plate of Sisig on it, so I guess I made a good choice. The Sisig tasted better the next day. I also wanted a beer to have with my Sisig, and in keeping with the atmosphere, there’s no frou frou microbrew beer served at Ed’s…don’t get me wrong, I love Stone Brewery, and my trip to Portland was an education in microbrews…but the selection at Ed’s is simple, "MGD, Bud ,Bug Light, Miller Light…and the premium beer, is Heineken!" Bottles, of course……

As we left Ed’s the place was going full blast, there was a large family, with kids in tow celebrating a retirement…..a Gal had come in to help keep everybody in beers and handle the Karaoke. And I felt a twinge of homesickness…….

Some notes on Ed’s: The lady working was very, very, nice, and was the young lady who came in later, and tried to get me to sing. At heart this is a Mom and Pop Bar and Grill, so don’t expect your food to arrive at your table in a blink of an eye, there’s just one guy cooking in the back, and it’s pub grub after all. The portions are pretty large, we made the mistake of ordering waay too much food(of course we ate a lot of rice as well), though leftovers are a good thing. Even though most of the people converse in Tagalog, everyone understands English…what a nice bunch of folks, and I’ll never forget the lounge lizard who made sure to sing 2 BeeGees songs before heading home….sigh. There are times that I miss home!

Ed’s Bistro
933 S Harbison Ave
National City, CA 91950

Open Tues-Thurs 5pm – Midnight
Fri-Sat 4pm – Midnight

We’ll be back…and I think I’ll do a post on our next visit…..

Did someone say Sisig????

Hamachi Kama

March 24, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Seafood

Whew, today we started our "spring cleaning" and I'm bushed. On days like this, the last thing I want to do is whole bunch of cooking….so I decided to make some Hamachi Kama(Yellowtail "collar"), the portion of the fish that surrounds the front fins near the fish of the face. It is also one of the most prized items in various sushi bars and Izakaya. In fact, many times it is not even on the menu, and reserved for "regulars", or only served on request.

There's lots of rich, juicy, meat around those bones…….and the crisp, salty skin, is delici-yoso!!!

I happened to have some Hamachi Kama I bought a week ago in the freezer, and have always heard that there's nothing to making them. So after thawing in the frig, I just made them!

I can't give you a recipe, because it's just Da' Kama and Alaea, the unprocessed seas salt that is mixed with red clay which enriches it with ferrous oxide. The Hawaiians used to reserve it for important feasts and ceremonies, and the salt was said to hold special medicinal properties. Alaea has a mellower salty taste, with a touch of sweetness.

After rinsing and drying the Kama, I seasoned generously with Alaea(no' scared, okay!), and used the toaster oven to first bake for about 8 minutes, than I toasted them for a few cycles.

The result was a surprise…it was very good, very moist, rich in oil, not overly fishy, and even the Missus thought it was good. And the Kama had only set me back about 3 bucks at Marukai! I had heard that there was nothing to it, and there was………Too bad the only sake I had in the house was pretty lousy.

Well, not too thrilling, but the rest of the evening means some Ibuprofen, and rest…my aching back!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new restaurant! Kampai!

Yoso-Silly: Places I’ve Never Been

March 22, 2007 mmm-yoso Chains

I think by now most of you realize I’ve got a terminal case of food photo syndrome….. I pretty much take my little ultra compact everywhere, and sometimes end up taking photos of some really silly things. Recently, I had an interesting conversation with a friend, and of course the subject of food came up…along with the little statement: "Where haven’t you eaten?" After a short pause, I realized that there were a ton of places that I have never had a meal in, let alone even set foot in; very popular restaurants; very popular chain restaurants. that I have had no desire to visit……unless you can change my mind!

Soooo, utilizing a bit of role-reversal. I’m going to list three very popular chain restaurants that I’ve never visited….all of them are pretty close to where we live. You can tell me if I’m missing something, and let me know what I should order should I decide to take your advice!

Coco’s Bakery Restaurant

Believe it or not, I have never, ever been inside of a Coco’s, or even Coco’s sister restaurant Carrows. I really don’t know why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the word Coco, is one letter removed from a rather, ahem, unsavory word "_o_o" fill in the blanks……

So am I missing something by not eating at Coco’s, Carrows, or Baker’s Square?

Del Taco

This Del Taco is right up the street from our house, and we used to live pretty close to the Del Taco in City of Industry, but I’ve never had anything from Del Taco. It could be because you can find a Taco Shop on almost every corner in San Diego. In fact there’s a ton of very mediocre Taco Shops in San Diego…so why should I even want to eat mediocre fast-food Mexican when I can get really lousy Taco Shop fare on any corner? Or am I wrong…..am I missing something?

You tell me!

Yoshinoya

This one may be a surprise to some, but I’ve never eaten at Yoshinoya! We even had one within walking distance on Colima Road in Rowland Heights(if I dared to walk in Rowland Heights), and still I haven’t really had an urge to check Yoshinoya out. After all, I think I can make my own really lousy Teriyaki if I wanted to. In this case, I may be missing something, but won’t know unless you can tell me!

Every once in a while I’ll get an email telling me that I eat at places that people walk by all the time, but would never think of entering….in this case I’ve passed by these places many, many times, but have never even thought of entering through those restaurant doors. So how did you enjoy this little piece of role reversal?

Here’s a bonus one from LA, this one is in the SGV, but there was also a location in Whittier we used to drive past all the time.

Now to be perfectly honest, I’ve been tempted…maybe just because I wanted to consider myself Norms-mal just once in my life!

Thanks for putting up with my silliness! Let me know if I’m missing anything, and should that be the case, what I am missing! I thought I’d just do a silly little post, just in case you all were tired of (me) eating out all the time.

Pho Thanh Restaurant

March 21, 2007 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Pho Tay Do has closed, this location is now Pho DaKao and Grill

*** This location of Pho Thanh is now Pho Tay Do.

Waaaaay back in November, "NancyP" recommended the just opened Pho Thanh (it used to be Phuong Trang II), so it's about time I did a post. Sorry for taking so long, Nancy! And it might have been a bit longer if not for a conversation I had with the nice lady at the Dry Cleaners…yeah, I guess I'll talk to anybody about food.

The Dry Cleaner Lady recommended a few dishes at Pho Thanh, as well as the Pho. Both recommendations mentioned the very clean, and somewhat "stylish"(I'm quoting here) interior.

First thing we noticed were that the prices were a bit higher than what I'm used to, but on both visits the service was very nice…….

The Missus was in the mood for Banh Mi Bo Kho(Beef Stew – $5.95):

In fact, the Missus had the Beef Stew on both of our visits to Pho Thanh…which illustrated a very important point when it comes to these type of restaurants, the inconsistency, not in a bad way…but in a "life is like a box of chocolates" kind of way. On the first visit, the beef stew was full of very tender lean beef, which made the Missus quite happy, in spite of the rather mild(in a Bo Kho way) broth. On the second visit, there was a very large quantity of fat, gristle, and what made me happy, tendon! But of course this was the Missus's dish, and it seemed that the stew was on the thin side and very mild in flavor, lacking the flavor of the herbs and seasonings that we have become used to with Bo Kho. This stew was also lighter in oil content, and the portion size was on the large. To high lite both the serving size and the service, we were asked if we wanted, and got extra Banh Mi(baguette) with our stew. At no charge!

And, in what was a bite of a change(for Bo Kho), we were given a plate of "garnish" with every bowl. Overall, not the best Bo Kho we've had flavor-wise, but it sure had a lot of meat…….

The DCL (Dry Cleaners Lady) said her friend enjoys the Bun Mang Vit here, so that's what I ordered on my first visit(Bamboo and Duck Noodle Soup – $6.50):

First off, I enjoyed the way the duck meat was served, sliced and separate from the soup, covering a large pile of shredded cabbage, peanuts, and cilantro, along with a little bowl garlic nuoc mam cham. The duck was moist, and had good flavor. That is not to say that there was no duck flavor in the soup:

The neck and bony parts of the duck could be found in the broth. Also, unlike many bowls of Bun Mang Vit, the bamboo had been rehydrated, and was very tender. Still, I thought the broth to be on the weak side, and the portion of bamboo to be on the skimpy side. Still, I think it's my second favorite bowl of Bun Mang Vit so far…I still enjoy the more "rustic" version at Chinese Kitchen more. If you don't enjoy the strong flavor of bamboo, you may like this version of Bun Mang Vit.

Of course, I had to do Nancy justice and try the Pho. So on our second visit, I had the Pho Dac Biet(House Special – $6), quaintly called the "Super Bowl":

The bowl that arrived was quite large, and the garnishes had the largest amount of bean sprouts that I could recall. So let's get down to business here…. I thought the rare steak was cut too thick making it tough, and there was a severe lack of meat, other than a few meat balls, and one or two pieces of flank,(and no tripe!!!) in comparison to the huge amount of noodles in the soup.

The broth was very neutral, with no anise, cinnamon, clove or other seasoning standing out. In spite of the large amount of green onions, cilantro, and onions in the broth it was still fairly mild. If you enjoy a huge bowl of neutral, low oil broth, and a ton of noodles, this is your bowl. In fact, if you like to add "stuff" to your Pho, this is the place. On both visits we noticed groups of young people having Pho, and we watched them pour the Hoisin, Sriracha, and other "stuff" into their Pho like it was going out of style! One guy must've dumped half a squeeze bottle of Hoisin into his bowl of Pho…

And in case you think that there wasn't supposed to be any tripe in this bowl of Pho:

I will say that we had some really nice, efficient, and friendly service. Everyone was so very nice. If you're looking to have a bowl of Pho, or Bun Mang Vit, or HieuTieu, in a nice clean restaurant with friendly service, this might be your place…. maybe……

Pho Thanh
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Thanks for the recommendation Nancy! Sorry for taking so long!

Road Trip: A & J Restaurant – Irvine(OC)

March 19, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Orange County, Road Trip

Don't you just hate it when you drive 80 miles to your destination, and find that the restaurant is unable to serve you because of a water pipe break? Well, it's no one's fault, just one of those things….but here we were in Irvine, trying to think of a plan B. The only place that came to mind was A & J, right off the Jeffrey Road offramp.

I thought it was going to be my lucky day when I immediately found a parking stall in the packed to the gills mall.

When we got to A & J, I knew my luck had run out…there was a wait, which lasted about 20 minutes…

When our number was called we were hustled to our table, and a paper "order sheet" was flung on the table…I guess we weren't that far from San Gabriel after all! The Missus was looking over the sheet, and the Server came by again, and impatiently asked the Missus if she understood Chinese…while the Missus was reading the Chinese order sheet. By this time we'd been waiting for a while, and really didn't feel very hungry any longer, so we just ordered a few things.

We started with the Si Xi Kaufu(aka Szu Hsien Kaw Fu – Four Happiness Wheat Gluten – $1.95)

Unlike a few people we know, we don't mind the spongy texture of wheat gluten, which has the ability to absorb flavor, well, like a sponge. The four items included lily buds, soy beans, tofu, and carrots. We both thought this was fairly good, nice sweet-soy flavor. But I don't think it was much better than this stuff:

The Jiang Niu Rou($3.75):

This wasn't quite as dry as it looked, but fell far short in flavor…except for the over-powering flavor of sesame oil that was drizzled on it.

Deciding to share a noodle soup, we got the combination Beef and Tendon Noodles Soup($5.75):

First the good, the tendon was perfect, soft, and full of flavor. The Beef was okay, soft, but with a bit less flavor. We opted for the thin noodles(you have a choice of the thin or thin noodles), which were pretty good, with a decent pull, and slight chewiness. Where this bowl fell really short was the soup, it was super oily. Now if you've read other posts of mine, you know that I like a decent amount of oil in my broth, but this layer of oil must've been a half inch deep. You can see the sheen of oil covering the noodles in this photo:

The broth lacked depth with only the bit of spiciness, and almost no beef flavor. We finished the meat, tendon, and noodles, and left all of the broth.

I dunno about this place…..check out the crowd as we left.

While writing this, I kept wondering what ChubbyPanda thought about the Beef Noodle Soup at A & J. I didn't recall seeing a post. So I did a quick google search, and found a mention of the NRM at A & J on another post, which you can read here. To quote; "I've eaten niu rou mian at every Chinese place in Irvine that serves it. I know whereof I speak. The only contenders that are close are A&J across the street, their's is too oily and thick…." Good ol' CP got it right….though I didn't think it was that thick. So remember to trust your inner Panda!

A & J Restaurant
14805 Jeffrey Rd Ste D
Irvine, CA 92618

Quoc Te 2 International Restaurant

March 18, 2007 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Quoc Te 2 has closed

You know, I haven't had anything for my "One Trick Pony's" category in a while…but then again, I hadn't been back to Quoc Te in a while.

Over the years, I've been to Quoc Te more than a few times, and have tried more than a few items on the menu. In what became a disturbing trend, I've found that the food has gotten steadily worse over the years, to the point that the Missus has given up on eating here. I'm not sure that I'm the only one who notices this. But then again, check out the cavernous dining room at 12 noon on a recent Thursday.

There is basically only one item I order here(though I've been told the fried rice is pretty good):

I order the Banh Cuon Dac Biet($5.95), which is quite a lot of food for the price.

On a bed of steamed rice flour rolls(think Cheong Fun, but more delicate) and bean sprouts, resides shredded pork(always on the dry side), Gio Lua(lean pork sausage), two slices of a sour sausage, four slices of a mung bean and shrimp cake(also usually very dry), topped with fried shallots.

It is a good amount of food….after all the Dac Biet(special) contains a little bit of everything that the other Banh Cuon dishes have.

There are up to six(I've had a few as 4, and as many as 6 – don't ask me why) rice flour rolls, on this day there were 3 types(I've had some different versions on occasion), one type with cloud ear fungus and ground pork, another with shredded pork, and the last with shredded dried shrimp.

I just realized this has sort of read like an inventory of sorts…but it's kind of how I approach this dish whenever I order it…."hmmmm, let's see what we got today…."

I pour Nuoc Mam Cham(Fish sauce based dipping sauce) all of it and devour the whole thing. It doesn't strike me as anything amazing or out of this world, but is very filling and refreshing on a hot day. Come to think of it, I've never had Banh Cuon that has knocked my socks off, but maybe "Friends of mmm-yoso" Beach or Billy can recommend somewhere, or even my good Blogger Buddy Wandering Chopsticks.

Until then, I'll just drop by Quoc Te whenever I want some Banh Cuon. Quoc Te has two locations, here's Annie's post on the University Avenue location, from Her Blog Green Beans in Writing. To the right is a photo of the listed "specials" in Vietnamese, I'm including a photo of the Chinese version below.

Quoc Te 2 International Restaurant
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

A Bunch of Revisits and Updates: Ba Ren ,Golden City, Shanghai City, and Emerald

March 17, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I've posted on all of these places before, so I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum.

Ba Ren:

*** Ba Ren has closed

I think it was Joseph who asked if there was anything new at Ba Ren. And yes, there's a new seasonal placard.

We tried a few dishes recently – this is the top item on the placard - Dry Cooked Short Ribs($15.99):

Cross cut beef short ribs are used in this dish.

Lot's of flavor, heat from dried chilies and a good amount of Sichuan Peppercorns. The short ribs could be a bit more tender, but the juices created from this low oil style of cooking were really good. Good contrasting textures from the mung bean sprouts and chinese celery.

Twice Cooked Beef – the last item on the placard($9.99):

In this case it's brisket. A bit too salty for me.

A dish called something like Fish Filet with Mountain Peppers – second to the last item on the placard($10.99):

The pickled green chilies in the dish are known as "Mountain Chilies" (ye shan jiao).

Man was this dish hot, and the vinegar in the dish made it even hotter. As usual the fish was prepared perfectly, soft, yet keeping shape.

Here's something from the regular menu that I don't recall posting on before, mainly because it's so rich I can only bring myself to eating it about once a year. It's also one of Ed from Yuma's favorites. It's innocuously called Sichuan Pot Roast ($13.99) on the menu, and it is indeed served in an earthen pot.

It's a pork shank slow cooked, along with a Lions Head meatball, boiled egg, and Lily Buds. The "soup" is very rich and hearty, not spicy at all.

Links to all my posts on Ba Ren can be found here, here, here, and here. I was initially going to do this as my 500th post, but that occasion just came and went in a flash.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Speaking of pork fat….ummm, we were speaking of pork fat weren't we? We were having lunch at Golden City recently, and had ordered the usual suspects….when the Missus decided to order another item from the lunch specials…something like Steamed Pork with Minced Preserved Vegetable ($6.95 – lunch special price). And when we arrived we were a bit shocked.

First off this was quite a bit off food…..and I don't think the Missus thought it was pork belly! Better for me, I say….. Minced preserved vegetable in a think brown "gravy", the pork belly was tender, but very mild in flavor.

All my other Golden City Posts can be found here, here, and here.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Open Daily 11am – Midnight

Shanghai City Updates:

*** Update: Shanghai City is no more.

We recently had another one of our regular breakfasts at Shanghai City and quickly noticed something…..all the prices had been raised. It's reflected on the updated placard.

So now everything is $5.95, I guess it was inevitable, the Niu Rou Mein was a great weekend bargain at $4.95.

On this day the Missus had her Eel Noodle Soup.

But I decided to try a few other items. I ordered the Beef Roll – Niu Rou Chuan ($5.95).

For the price I expected a bit more. The bread was very flaky and oily, and there were but two slivers of mildly flavored beef in the roll.

Pass.

"Alex" commented on a previous Shanghai City post that the Shanghai Chao Nian Gao is worth a try, so I ordered it.

The flavors were quite good, nice soy with a sweet edge. I still think that Shanghai City over cooks it's rice cakes a bit.

My previous posts on Shanghai City can be found here and here.

Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111

Finally, here's a few photos from a recent visit to Emerald. For Dim Sum…..

The most interesting item was this:

I'm pretty sure that the chicken and shrimp in this "roll" was wrapped with Bamboo Pith Fungus (zhu sun)…..especially after tasting it. The Missus, who loves Bamboo Pith Fungus, loved this.

As usual, the items ran the gamut from the mediocre:

to pretty good:

I was glad that nothing suffered from sticky wrapper syndrome, where everything gets stuck. But for some reason it seemed that some of the wrappers were on the really thick side today.

Still, it sure hit the spot.

My previous posts on Emerald can be found here and here.

Emerald Seafood Restaurant
3709 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope I didn't bore you all too much. We've got some new stuff coming right up.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!