There wasn't too much we missed in the way of food while in China. We did miss Ba Ren, which I'll explain in a later post, but as a whole, there was nothing we really craved until back on Oahu….. which is about when we started mentioning Sab E Lee (now called The Original Sab E Lee), and Sab E Lee 2 (aka just plain Sab E Lee, or Sab E Lee Santee).
The Original Sab E Lee:
**** This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed
Unfortunately, for folks looking for some really great new stuff….. we've been here so many times that we tend to stick with our favorites. One of mine, is the Spicy Raw Beef Salad, aka Koi Soi or Koi Nua. Since Kobe sold the place off, some of the newer folks will ask me how spicy I want things, which is usually an '8' or '9' on the heat scale. One strange thing, not eating here in 6 weeks or so must've thrown off my tolerance. Man did this get me sweating…..
The Missus's favorite is the Salted Fish Fried Rice.
I was once asked by someone to describe the smell of the salted preserved fish…… the only thing that came to mind was having the person imagine what "fish cheese" would smell like. A briney, pungent, savory scent, which really gets our (maybe not you) stomach rumbling. Along with the scent of wok'd rice, it may not be appropriate for work, but it sure tastes darn good, if perhaps on the salty side.
Ok, I said mostly photos……
The Grilled Duck Larb:
The Bamboo Shoot Salad:
The Issan Sausage:
All of which I've covered in many posts from back in August of 2008 until now. You can find all the links on our "rotation" page.
Here's something that I haven't posted on before; the Beef Tendon Soup.
This is one of those cases where citrus enhances the heat, pegging it up a few notches. The soup is chocked full of tendon and meat cuts, with some tripe and other offal thrown in for good measure. I'd recommending sharing this with a few people as it can get rather tedious eating the whole darn bowl yourself. A small bowl or two is just perfect.
The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111
Sab E Lee 2:
I gotta say, even though we don't get 'round these parts very often, Kobe always treats us like friends. Many of the dishes are closer to Bangkok style Thai, but the Issan dishes still pack enough of a punch.
So here are the photos, starting with the Plaa Shrimp, a quickly seared shrimp salad, with a familiar, bracing, yet refreshing fish sauce based dressing. Just as good as the first time we had it.
Here's the Spicy Raw Beef salad for comparison.
Even at a '9' level, not nearly as spicy as the Linda Vista location. Much more roasted rice powder is used, adding a nice level of nuttiness. I believe this dish has gotten better over time. So which do I enjoy more…. it like asking me to pick my favorite "mutt"…. Sammy or Frankie…. I love them both, but differently.
Speaking of better over time….. on this visit, the Garlic Rice was positively addicting.
The Thai Basil is more finely chopped, which means the flavor is spread throughout the rice. More pepper is used, and even more garlic……
Sab E Lee has consolidated the Pinecone Fish (seen here) and the Three Flavor Fish (seen here), into one dish featuring both sauces on the side, which I think was an excellent decision.
Light and crunchy panko crusted exterior, gives way to moist and tender white meat. It has been perfectly fried every time we've had this style of fish at SEL. This was the dish the Missus was missing. We really need to get out here more often!
Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071
Our previous posts on SEL2 can be found here and here. And some chicken here.