Phở Gà Go at Crab Hut Mira Mesa

Sometimes I just wait too long to post. Case in point would be Phở Gà Go, which is Crab Hut’s kinda pop-up. I say kinda because it made quite a stir doing just take out back at the end of last year. You’d put your order in online, choosing a pick up time…..between Sunday and Tuesday. On Sundays, the pick up was between noon and 3pm. On Monday and Tuesday from 4pm to 7pm at Crab Hut Mira Mesa. So, not having had decent Pho Ga in San Diego, I was interested and eventually I did place an order. The pick up time for weekdays was a bit of a hassle with regards to traffic and such…but what the heck.

Everything was packed nicely and you just zipped in and picked up your order. Of course I chose the dark meat chicken. The herbs were fresh…there was ngo gai.

The broth was nice and rich, with strong chicken tones……kinda like what your mom would make….if you were born into a Vietnamese Household. Look at the golden color.

Not overly salty, the chicken toothsome, I enjoyed the Banh Pho, which were of the wider variety….it did a better job of getting coated by the rich broth.

It’s definitely the best Pho Ga I can recall getting in San Diego (and no, I don’t care for Cow Cali’s MSG laden version)……which I’d pretty much given up on decades ago.

So, I was going to do a post after doing another take out visit….but I must have taken too long….getting slow in my old age I guess? ;o)

By the time the weather had cooled off, Pho Ga Go was now doing dine in…between 10am and 2pm during weekdays. The time suited me even better, so I decided to grab an early lunch on a Friday. As a bonus, this location of Crab Hut has a patio….so guess who could come along?

The drill is interesting….you walk in and order at the host stand and pay….it’s credit card only right now. The menu is a lot larger than what I recalled online.

And then had a seat on the patio.

As with takeout, the basil, ngo gai, and bean sprouts were quite fresh. It was interesting to note how quiet things were. In fact, one of the security guards driving his buggy drove by and stopped…asking me if they were now open for lunch! I guess he hadn’t noticed?

The Pho Ga came out steaming hot; but looked a bit different.

It was much lighter in color, lacking that yellow tone that I’d had previously. Though it was still nice and rich. In fact, this had nice aromatic/spice tones; anise, clove, coriander, ginger…….even stronger than takeout!

I actually enjoyed it more. Though I did make one mistake….the broth really didn’t need the basil nor lime, which masked a lot of the flavor of the spices to me….I had just wanted to see what the effect would be. Lesson learned; rookie mistake.

Same type of Banh Pho, decent cooked.

Though the noodles seemed to be chopped into shorter strands? Well, no slurping for me, I guess?

This time around; the poultry was a bit more toothsome, but actually had an even stronger savory-chicken flavor.

I found this quite comforting. And I guess I now have a place to get my Pho Ga fix.

I hope they continue making pho ga and perhaps even expand their hours a bit. Especially when winter comes around.

Phở Gà Go at Crab Hut Mira Mesa
8280 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 10am – 2pm
Closed Weekends