As you can tell by some of my recent posts, the Missus has really been in the mood for Thai food. Usually, when the weather warms up, we switch from all those noodle soups to Thai and Lao food. Speaking of Lao food….well, recently the Missus was in the mood for some. I had been looking forward to Spicy Lao Kitchen opening, but the place hasn't opened yet. I really didn't feel like driving up to City Heights even though there are two places there just to do takeout. So, I decided to see what was going on with Mekong Cuisine Thai and Lao, after all, it had been quite a while since I last visited.
I ended up ordering 4 dishes and then went for a walk. I returned in 15 minutes and my food was ready after another 5 minute wait.
Here's what we had starting with the item we enjoyed the most.
We enjoyed the Nam Khao Tod ($20) the most.
It's better than what I'd had here in the past. Nice and crunchy bits without being too hard; good sour tones, ginger and herbs to brighten things out. Not as much coconut as before, which was kind of sad. It came with a generous amount of lettuce and the portion size was quite large.
Sai Oua ($17), the Lao Sausage had a firm, snappy casing and the filling was fairly tender.
One the sausages was incinerated and quite bitter. The filling had decent herbaceous tones and this came with a large portion of sticky rice. I do wish there was more ginger and peanuts with the dish. Not quite on the same level as the versions we enjoy the most, but a solid #3-4 pick.
I also ordered the Tum Mak Hoong – Thum Maak Hoong Lao ($15) on the menu.
I ordered this at a heat level 4 (on the scale of 1-5) and it was adequately spicy. Though I'd return with friends a week later and we ordered heat level 5 and it wasn't as spicy as this. Of course you can instantly see this is missing the salted crab and the tomatoes are just wedges that haven't been poroperly "briused" in the "kruk". This was slightly funky, not a savory as we enjoy and the liquid was kind of watery.
We also ordered the Yum Nuea ($18) which was a disappointment.
Look at all that sauce….really watered down. I ordered this at a heat level 4 as well, but it was not spicy at all. The beef was overcooked, I mean, I'm used to lean and chewier cuts of beef in this dish, but this was really tough. It just looked like this was thrown together and dumped in the container.
Still, the Nam Khao and Sai Oua are keepers here. I'm hoping that Spicy Lao will open soon though.
Mekong Cuisine Lao and Thai
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 330pm, 5pm – 9pm
Like before, the sandwich uses a yeasty Telera roll. The pork was more seasoned than I recall, the pork was quite chewy, which is in line with 
I would also vote to have more camote, as it makes little impact on the sandwich.