Revisits: Pho Ca Dao (El Cajon Blvd) and Homestyle Hawaiian

Just a quick post on a couple of revisits for Friday:

Pho Ca Dao – El Cajon Blvd:

I don't know what's up with the Missus…. but summer has finally truly broken here in San Diego… and She wants Pho! Go figure. We were in the El Cajon area, and decided to stop by Pho Ca Dao. Nowadays with locations in both Mira Mesa and Rancho Bernardo, you really have to specify. One thing I've noticed about the other locations of Pho Ca Dao…… the broth seems to have less "oil", and is not as rich.

PhoCaDaoRev01 

PhoCaDaoRev02I've posted on this place a couple of times before so I'll keep it short and sweet. On this day, the broth was on the "scummy" side, which is a no-no for Pho. The flavor was decent. What Pho Ca Dao does best, at least for me, is tendon. And on this day it was as good as always.

PhoCaDaoRev03 
The noodles, in the standard clump-in-a-bowl was fine.

I tend to visit whenever I'm in a tendon mood…… ;o)

Pho Ca Dao
5223 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Homestyle Hawaiian:

I hadn't been back to see Mo at Homestyle Hawaiian in over six months! So I decided to see how he was doing, and ordered a combo plate – Chicken Katsu and Korean Chicken.

HomestyleHiinRev01
Geeez, I'd forgotten how huge his plate lunches are. The katsu sauce here is ketchup based, and though not quite like Grace's, it does bring back memories of home.

Even though Mo gave me extra sauce for the Korean Chicken, it didn't quite taste the way it used to.

HomestyleHiinRev02
It was still good, but milder in flavor…. perhaps it hadn't marinated long enough. Still, you sure get your money's worth here. Much like Tita's, I've never been able to polish off a plate solo. Luckily, on this day I split it with my coworker. This was more rice than I saw on my entire trip to China!  

Mo is still nice as always, though I wish he'd give the place a good scrub down. I do understand that he does it all, takes orders, cooks, and serves the food, so I tend to cut him a bit more slack.

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Happy Aloha Friday to everyone: