I first tasted Vietnamese Beef Sate Noodle Soup a couple of years back. And for the last couple of years, anytime I've been feeling a bit congested, or under the weather, I'm looking to get some Beef Sate Noodle Soup. Funny thing about BSNS (yes, I'm too lazy to type the whole thing out); almost every "Mi" (Chinese-Vietnamese Egg Noodle) joint serves it. But, as you'll soon see, each one is unique. In most places, it's just the house soup dressed up with Sate. But next time you're at the Vietnamese Market, check out the variety of Sate sauces, and read the labels. There's only a few items that are the same across the board, chilies, shallots, and oil……. some of the sauces look like they use a good amount of oil. And though peanuts come to mind, not all of this type of sate sauce utilizes them. At it's best, the sate adds deep savory-salty-spicy tones to the noodle soup. At it's worse….. well, I've never had a bad bowl of sate soup, though the other items, especially the beef falls short. Well, enough of that, let's get our soup on……
Minh Ky – Best Bang for the Buck:
Actually, the Beef Satay Egg Noodle "dry" ("Kho") is really good, and you can check out Gastronomer's post, but the BSNS ain't bad either. For me it's a great tonic when I feel a bit under the weather.
To me, it's a great bang for the buck…. the price is not the cheapest at $5.50, but it has a ton of egg noodles, which seems almost unending at times. The beef is usually fairly tender, the portion generous, and usually arrives rare ready to cook and soak up the broth. The sate here is not particularly spicy, but it is rich, perhaps a bit oily, but it does grab you, causing the inevitable utterance; "aaahhhh….."
Let's just say it all together; "aaaahhh….."
Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115
Previous posts including Minh Ky can be found here, here, and here.
Welcome to Funkytown – Cam Ky and Hao Vi:
**** Both Cam Ky and Hao Vi have closed
If there was any doubt that BSNS ranges wildly from place to place, I'm sure the versions at Cam Ky and Hao Vi, both appearing very Chaozhou would be good examples. I found it interesting that one of the women at Hao Vi didn't speak Vietnamese, and seemed to talk to her coworkers in a Chinese dialect. One of the women who used to work at Cam Ky spoke Cantonese and Mandarin.
My bowl of BSNS looked very different here. It didn't "smell like turpentine" but looked kinda like India Ink (extra points if you can guess the reference).
Actually, the texture was like motor oil, perhaps of a lower viscosity, but this was almost like a gravy. It was very low on the oil end, and didn't have a whole lot of hard, gritty bits. The spice level was a low medium, and the flavor tending toward a porky, garlic-shallot.
The beef was the toughest of all the soups sampled, but the tomatoes were pretty ripe and did add a nice tangy flavor. There was a nice portion of egg noodles, which were severely over-cooked.
Cam Ky Chinese BBQ
4141 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105
My previous post on Cam Ky can be found here.
Meanwhile, the broth of version at Hao Vi, while being very thick, is also the spiciest, but also very interesting in flavor, with hints of clove and cinnamon.
This was super thick, just as before the gravy like "soup" rested on top of the noodles. A quick shift of the noodles with a chopstick, and there's almost a "gloop" as the soup proceeded to overtake the noodles. No tomatoes in this bowl, but for some reason I didn't miss it. The egg noodles were cooked perfectly, though this was the smallest bowl overall.
Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
Tan Ky Mi Gia times two…. Mira Mesa and El Cajon Boulevard:
**** Both locations of Tan Ky Mi Gia have closed
The BSNS at Tan Ky Mi Gia in Mira Mesa used to be my favorite.
But the last two times I've had the BSNS it seemed to be missing something. I just can't put my finger on it. So let's call it missing that "je nais sais quoi".
I think the beef here is the most tender, though I once got a bowl with beef that tasted off. When I mentioned that to the folks here, they were quick to replace the bowl.
On this visit, I found it strange that the tomatoes were missing….the acid from the tomatoes help to cut the oil. I'm pretty sure this version of sate uses nuts, as there's a hint of nuttiness… though it could just be a figment of my nuttiness.
The one thing the Missus and I find amusing about Tan Ky Mi Gia, are all the photos everywhere. It seems that everytime we visit there are more photos posted on the windows, and even on the walls…..
Just like that movie star with body dysmorphic disorder who thinks that just one more tattoo will make her/him look more attractive, it seems that the folks who run the place believe that maybe, just that one more photo will make folks order more.
Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126
Other posts featuring Tan Ky Mi Gia in Mira Mesa can be found here (check out the windows), here, and here.
By far the BSNS I enjoyed the least was from Tan Ky Mi Gia on El Cajon Boulevard. It also was the cheapest at $5. I noticed that the place is looking a bit worn nowadays, with tables sticky enough to be found in the SGV.
The flavor of the broth was rather weak for BSNS, and it felt a bit greasy.
The beef was rather tough, though the egg noodles were cooked perfectly. Roma tomatoes in this bowl.
Tan Ky Mi Gia
5237 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Previous posts that include Tan Ky Mi Gia can be found here, here, and when it was called Hing Ky, here.
I hope you enjoyed with noodle soup-pa-palooza. I'm sure I missed a few places, so fill me in on those.