On a recent shopping visit to Nijiya, I decided to give Mignon Pho another try. I've never been a fan of the pho and the last time I did takeout, the banh mi wasn't very impressive, to date, the only item that I had enjoyed from Mignon Pho were the lemongrass fries, though I didn't think it would hold up well as takeout. I really like the folks working here and decided to try something else from the menu.
The place had one table going when I arrived. The young lady working was quite cheerful and I looked over the menu. I came to the "rice plate" portion of the menu and realized I hadn't ever tried any of those dishes. So, I figured I'd go for the gusto and have the rice plate with "Bi, Cha, Thit, Dau Hu Ky" (shredded pork skin, grilled pork, steamed meat loaf, and fried bean curd). Which, in the typical Mignon Pho "not to offend" was called ahem, "Yummy in my Tummy" ($15.75) on the menu. I placed my order, did my shopping and returned. After a five minute wait I was food to go. The young man bringing me my order even apologized for having me wait a few minutes!
Man, this was quite a hefty container which I unpacked when I got home.
Well, if you're keeping score this is how it went. I really prefer this dish with com tam, broken rice which lends a nice texture and fragrance to the dish. This one used Jasmine rice which would have been perfectly fine if it wasn't so dry and hard, like it hadn't been cooked long enough.
The Bi, shredded pork skin was missing rice powder which adds a nice nuttiness and was also really dry….speaking of dry, the grilled pork, if a bit on the salty side and in need to sweetness at least had flavor but was super dry and tough.
The "Cha" was on the dry side and really mild in flavor. The best overall item was the fried tofu, which was crisp light and moist, but was also in need of more flavor. The nuoc mam cham was super watered down and overly sweet.
So, it's back to the drawing board I guess. Like I said before, I really like the folks working here and really wish I could find something I like.
Mignon Pho + Seafood
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111