A couple of months ago, I was having a particularly terrible bowl of Pho in the Kearny Mesa area. Thinking I'd try to be especially witty, I texted "aw-pho", sorry, it was a bad pun exacerbated by bad soup, to a bunch of my friends. Which started a terrible round of bad phopuns lasting almost two days….I think it ended when I texted something using "pho-lam-bouyant", yikes! The one sane person in all of this, "Yummy Yummy" set me off on a mission with one profound statement, "yes,it's sad that there's no good pho in Kearny Mesa." Really…..really??!!?? Then I stopped and thought about it…..perhaps she was right. I had to find out for myself. So I ended up going to seven different pho shops in the next two weeks….sorry, at the end, I just couldn't see myself going to Quoc Te….I was "pho-ride"…my apologies for that one!
After all of this, I had to think about how to do a post……I mean really, there was the possibility of maybe 2,000 words (I'm alread past 170). So pardon me if I just kind of blaze through these, ok? Plus, I'm still suffering from P(ost) T(raumatic) M(SG)D(disorder).
Pho T Cali:
**** Pho T Cali has closed
This is the place that got me posting "aw-pho".
Broth that looked, and sort of tasted like dishwater…..salty dishwater, with very little beef flavor, and not much else. Mushy overcooked noodles. Though the cuts in this, flank and brisket especially were decent, but I had to send out a search party for my tendon. Oh, let's add insult to injury, the scallions in the broth were turning brown as well.
Actually, this is almost exactly the same as my last bowl here, so this can't really be a fluke, right?
Formula in the perfunctory service. Sad….
Pho T Cali
7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
Pho Mignon + Grill:
I gotta say, the service here is nice….perhaps not efficient, but very nice. Still, I haven't had much luck here. It's kind of bad when the best item you've had from a shop with Pho in it's name are the french fries. I've struck out twice on the filet pho, so I went with the "trolley bowl", which according to the menu is "flank, well done steak, tripe, tendon, and meatballs".
Man, there's something about this broth that I find strange, beyond how it's totally defatted. This time around it had a burnt shallot flavor with a "tinny" finish.
The noodles were fine, the proteins mediocre, except for the tendon which was pretty good, and I still haven't figured out why the ngo om with pho? I'm missing something here.
Sorry, I just couldn't do the broth at all……I hate to waste, but this just doesn't agree with me.
I love the idea of craft brews…..the service is sometimes a bit scatter-brained, but always nice. But man, I just don't like that pho.
Mignon Pho + Grill
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Pho Cali & Grill:
**** Pho Cali and Grill is now Pho Duyen Mai
Man, it's been a while since I've been here.
This would have been totally MOR (middle of the road) pho, if not for the super salty broth…..super salty, as in there wasn't enough lime to cut the salt. And the meat being on the dry and tough side.
The noodles were clumped, but fine….but man, this was salty.
Pho Cali and Grill
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123
Pho Fusion:
Man, here's another place I haven't been to in a while.
This really looked like a lighter version of Pho Mignon….I really didn't have high hopes for it. The broth had a very mild beef flavor and was pretty weak overall. The noodles were done well and I gotta say, this was the best tendon I had while doing this. The rest of the assorted protein wasn't too bad, though the flank cuts are on the dry and tough side.
I also should say that the service I received was very good. My water refilled twice and when I looked at the rather skimpy amount of herbs and bean sprouts, the young man told me, "please let me know if you want more, we'd be happy too…."
Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
Phuong Trang:
What to say about the poster child for MOR (Middle of the Road) Pho, other then man, has it really been three years since I had Pho here?
This place has usually been consistent, though on this visit the broth was rather cloudy. The broth is rather light on the beef, but at least you can make out hints of anise-onion-clove. Noodles were fine.
The meat was meh…….flank tough, tripe soapy tasting and scant in quantity, tendon tough and not much of it….you get the picture.
The older gentleman who always used to make me laugh wasn't here. In his place was a very friendly young man……..who I thought was quite charming….until he brought me a fork for my pho? Lets call it what it is….a "pho-pa"….
Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Pho Convoy Noodle House:
**** Convoy Noodle House has closed
This used to be a dependable stop, but I was sorely disappointed on my last visit. I wondered, was that a fluke? So I had the same thing, #2, well done steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, and tripe.
And while the broth had recovered a bit…..slight beef flavor, mild anise, still a mere shadow of what I recalled; the meat, especially the already chewy flank….was almost inedible and without flavor.
The noodles were fine….but I still remembered the pho being much better here. I'm not sure what happened.
Pho Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Viet Bakery and Pho:
*** Viet Bakery and Pho has closed
Based on my previous visits, I really wasn't looking forward to having pho here. But since the place had "pho" in its name (though probably based on pho ga), I thought it only proper to grab a bowl here. The shop had undergone a major overhaul with regards to looks since my last visit. It looks less like a bakery and more like a proper restaurant.
There really fussy menu has been replaced with something perhaps a bit too spartan, but perhaps that's the right fit. And i'm sure you can get any combination of items you really want. I went with the "Pho Viet", with rare beef, brisket, and meat balls.
I really don't like having preconceptions when having a meal at a restaurant, but based on history, perhaps I expected the worst. This was actually not bad….not good, but not bad. The broth was on the cloudy side, but had a decent beef flavor. It was light with regards to the anise-clove component, but at least wasn't too salty.
The meat, being the rare steak or the brisket didn't appeal to me, being tough and dry. The meatballs tasted exactly the same as what Mignon Pho served. The noodles were a bit overcooked for my taste.
Still, this was much better than anticipated.
Viet Bakery & Pho
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
So there it is…….. and after having all these bowls of pho, I can only conclude that "YY" is pretty much correct. And after thinking about it; whenever I think about having a nice bowl of pho, places in Kearny Mesa never come to mind.
What do you think?