Revisits – Hola Paris and T.P. Banh Bao 3

You know, I will often complain about the lack of decent, diverse eating establishments here in San Diego. But then I'll look at my photos and realize while I believe there could be so much more to offer, I should be thankful for what we have here.

Case in point, having to catch up with things and recover from my jet lag, I made the two following breakfast stops this weekend. Yesterday, it was a savory crepe from Hola Paris in Old Town and for strange reason I was craving the "FBB" (fried banh bao) from T.P. Banh Bao 3. You really can't get more diverse than that, right?

Hola Paris:

**** Hola Paris has closed

On my way back from my typical Saturday morning "rounds", I decided to stop by the Old Town Urban Market to see what was going on since Tuetano moved out. Walking past Hola Paris, the owner Benjamin saw me.

He came out to say hello and mentioned that it had been a while since he last saw me! It's quite nice that he remembers me. He also mentioned that they've added a couple more options with regards to savory crepes. I guess he also remembers that I don't have much of a sweet tooth as well!

After chatting a bit, I decided to order one of the savory crepes and went with the Milo.

Soon enough it arrived.

Well, this was quite good. I loved how the salty-savory Prosciutto and the earthy-milky-nutty Brie balances out the sweetness of the crepe. The tomatoes added a nice acidity and I wish there was more of that. 

This was deceptively filling and rich. I enjoyed it and am glad I have a "go-to" here. I really enjoy chatting with Benjamin and will try to stop by more often.

Hola Paris
2548 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 9am – 4pm
Wednesday                   9am – 2pm
Sat – Sun                       9am – 6pm

T.P. Banh Bao 3:

While completing some shopping, I was strangely craving something……fried. Of course we didn't get any Asian food in Ecuador, but I'm not sure what brought on this sudden craving for a fried bao? Perhaps it's because it had been over three years since my last visit? Anyway, I decided to head on over. 

I really didn't want to wait for them to fry up the version with the salted egg, so I just got two of the pork, sausage, and egg which they had in the display case. The woman working was a hoot. She placed several napkins in the bag telling me "just in case you can't resist and have to eat them while driving!" Lol!

I was able to resist temptation and waited until I got home to enjoy these brown orbs of artery clogging deliciousness. 

The fried bao was still crunchy after the drive back home! There's an interesting combination of sweet-savory-porky-salty crunchiness with these. Oh, I could only finish one before needing a "timeout". I'll have the other one a bit later on.

This was a nice guilty pleasure. I'll probably wait awhile before having these again, since like "FOY" ChrisR mentioned to me in an email "I loved them, but I feel like they subtract weeks from my life expectancy."

T.P. Banh Bao 3
11271 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri  8am – 7pm
Sat – Sun   730am – 6pm

So I guess I need to stop whining about the lack of choices in San Diego, right?

We'd like to wish a most wonderful Mother's Day to all Mom's out there!