mmm-yoso – Page 25

mmm-yoso Makes 20 a.k.a. Post #5527

May 26, 2025 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Well, I didn't know that they made our Blog's 20th anniversary a National Holiday! I'm just kidding, happy Memorial Day everyone!

And yes, today our little blog turns 20! Little did I know when I pressed "Publish Now" on our first post on May 26th 2005, that I'd still be doing post 20 years later! Hard to believe at times that it's 5527 post in 7305 days……

So much has happened over the last 20 years….I have been told that Blogging is dead for almost a decade now; but I guess I'm just a bit stubborn. When we started, MySpace was making waves by having more pageviews than Google! And that "four lettered website" had just been established in 2004 as well as Facebook.

I just wanted to do this post to thank all of you for visiting, reading, commenting, the wonderful emails, and recommendations. Without you all…well, I don't think we'd still be doing this. And of course, with co-authors Cathy, Vicky, and the late Ed from Yuma (we miss you so much Ed!), I don't think this blog would still be in existence.

I've always thought of our little blog as a food/travel diary of sorts…it ain't fancy writing, but I still look back on my travel posts, and wistfully smile at those places that I enjoyed dining at that are gone. Over the years I've had the honor of sharing my meals and our travels to 37 countries (well, I'm behind on Ecuador and Australia)….the only reason I know that is being asked how many countries I'd been to while grabbing a cold one a couple of months back. The guy who asked me that was shocked that I didn't know that number. I guess it's some kind of badge of honor or something these days? Ok, well, let's get back to the post, shall we?

As for what the future holds, well who knows? Ever since Typepad was purchased a few years ago and stopped offering new sign-ups functionality has deteriorated. It sometimes takes me 8-12 tries to get a photo to post. I've lost content when saving posts and had to depend on the last "restore content". I know I'll need to move to a WordPress platform, but the biggest issue has been not wanting to lose our 5,000 + posts. I know that the actual posts can be migrated; but the issue for me are the photos. So, perhaps I'll find a solution down the road.

Until then, JJ and I would like to raise our "glass" and thank you all for dropping by! And if you'd like to tell me when you started reading our little blog…well, that might be fun!

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Cheers everyone!

And it'll be back to business tomorrow for sure!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – Shugrue’s Restaurant & Bar (Lake Havasu City)

May 24, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

We needed a place to stop for an evening on the way back from Winslow. Heading back to the Phoenix area or even heading back to Flagstaff or even Sedona might have worked. But having JJ along made a 7+ hour drive seem a bit too long. We had never been to Lake Havasu City and there was one thing I did want to see after watching a BBC documentary a few years back.

So, we made the drive to Lake Havasu City. We were staying on an area called "the Island" and since we'd be only spending the evening thought it would be nice to have a view of what I had wanted to see here; the London Bridge. So, I booked a dog friendly room at the Heat Hotel, which had a patio and a view of the Bridge.

And yes, this is really the "London Bridge". It was built in the 1830's and had become unable to handle the traffic in the city by the early 1960's. Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu City (which was founded in 1964). I enjoyed this historic documentary on it.

And having recently been to London made it even more significant to us.

We got to the hotel a bit early and our room wasn't ready; so we took JJ for a short walk along the London Bridge Beach area.

It was a bit warm, but JJ did fine.

I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City; so it was interesting to see all the "snowbirds"….like I felt like a really young!

We checked into our room and then decided to find a place to get some dinner. As I mentioned earlier; unlike what I'd usually do, I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City…….we were just going to chill and not worry about things.

When it came for dinner; I looked for a pooch friendly place and we decided not to stray too far. We basically went across the street.

It seems that all the restaurants are owned by the same company. But here we were…and I (at least) was tired, so I walked into Shugrue's and the very nice young lady greeted me. I asked if we could have the outdoor table, which was right at the entrance of the restaurant. The folks here were quite welcoming and they did love JJ. And the view from our table was not bad at all!

We started with some nice brews…..

And, as we will often do these days, we just went with appetizers.

For some reason, I just decided to order the Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts ($16), which had a "sweet maple glaze". It just didn't seem like something we'd like, but this was our favorite dish of the night.

I'm usually not a fan of sweet stuffs as a main or appetizer; but we enjoyed the smoky-sweet-nutty flavors along with the salty-crunchiness, with the pineapple which actually did a nice job as a palate "cleanser".

I don't know why, but I enjoy fried pickles. But this version ($12) was not a favorite of ours.

There's a ratio of breading to pickle that I think is optimal, which balances out the sour to texture. This was just huge spears which were not evenly breaded.

The Flatbread ($15) was also not a favorite.

A bit too soggy-doughy and too sweet for our taste. We could have used more Portobello Mushroom and less Balsamic Glaze.

Still, the folks Serving were so nice….especially to JJ.

Shugrue's Restaurant & Bar
1425 N McCulloch Blvd.
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

And after dinner we took a walk across the bridge.

Where we got a nice view of our hotel.

Our walk on the other side of the bridge was interesting as it seemed to be party central……well, over 60 party central……think Gaslamp for seniors….

After getting back to our room and settling in….well, it was time for JJ's nightly "walk".

And there just happened to be an outdoor bar along the way! How convenient! I got a gin and tonic nightcap overlooking the bridge….

And had a chance to chat with the bartender. I really hadn't done a whole lot of research before choosing Lake Havasu City. I found out it's a haven for snowbirds and seniors and then party central for college students during weekends and spring break which was coming up. I guess we lucked out visiting during the middle of the week in March before Spring Break.

Lake Havasu City was a interesting stop on the way back home. Not sure we'll return; but we got to see the London Bridge!

Saigon Corner Revisited

May 22, 2025 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

During one of my previous visits to Saigon Corner, I had noticed some outdoor tables were available. I asked the very nice young lady if we could bring our dog and dine outside? Her reply, "oh yes, he would be most welcomed!" I thought the food was pretty good and mentioned this to the Missus. Plus, I wanted to try the Oxtail Soup which they were out of on my two previous, so we headed on over. The place opens quite early; 9am, so we headed on over and arrived before 10, so we would not have to worry about the place being too busy on a Sunday.

Sadly, they were still out of Oxtail, so I'd have to find something else. On an interesting note; we noticed that some of the prices have actually been lowered! That's quite surprising in this day and age.

Saigon Corner Rev 01

For some reason, the Missus decided that She wanted the Banh Cuon instead of what She'd usually get…the Com Tam. I just couldn't resist the price drop so I order that.

There was also something the Missus was interested under the Coffee drinks.

Saigon Corner Rev 02

Salted Cheese Coffee!!!! Which She ordered.

Saigon Corner Rev 03

Really thick, a bit too sweet-milky for me….though it did have a hint of salt. Not my kind of thing, but the Missus enjoyed it.

The Missus's Banh Cuon, which She got with Grilled Pork ($16.25).

Saigon Corner Rev 04

The banh cuon was fairly light and pliable, though and filled with cloud ear and a bit of pork. Not quite in the same league as Thien Huong, but fine. The pork had been chopped, nicely marinated, good savory-fish sauce-sweet tones, though a bit on the chewy side. Tasted good though. The shrimp rolls – Tom Hoa Tien was nice and crisp, a bit lighter than what we've had before, the shrimp not overcooked and pretty good. The sweet potato fries were kind of a strange addition, but fine. We liked Nuoc Mam Cham, as it was savory-pungent and not too sweet or watered down.

My Com Tam ($15.95), which was a dollar cheaper than when the menu was printed.

Saigon Corner Rev 05

The broken rice was legit, fragrant, nicely cooked. Same pork as the banh cuon, though a whole pork chop in this dish. The Bi were lovely "rubber bands", though we would have enjoyed a bit more nutty roasted rice powder. The Missus enjoyed the "cha", nicely flavored, savory, moist, with good savory notes. I liked this version of the nuoc mam cham, which had garlic in it. It gave everything a nice pungent "kick".

Overall, a nice meal. Plus we could bring JJ. It's good to have another option in the area. Now, if they'd only have that oxtail in stock!

Saigon Corner Rev 00

Saigon Corner
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 9am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday

Luscious Dumplings (Eastlake) a Soft Opening Visit

May 20, 2025 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

A few days ago; I got word that Luscious Dumplings, a well regarded jiaozi shop, now located in Monrovia, which holds Michelin Bib Gourmand status had just opened in Eastlake. Yep, Eastlake! Initially, I decided to wait a few weeks….but then having had some great jiaozi at the original shop in San Gabriel (which eventually moved to Monrovia)…and you know me and jiaozi, right? I just decided to check the place out and see if it was worthy of a visit from the Missus, who, hailing from QingDao where everyone in the family makes jiaozi (yes, even the Missus does) is even more picky about it than I am.

So, I took the 35 minute drive onto Telegraph Canyon Road, past places I hadn't been to in years, and then where Telegraph Canyon become Otay Lakes, to a large strip mall that I'd never been to; the Village Walk at Eastlake.

Luscious Dumplings 01

Finding the place was easy….they sure make a big deal out of the Michelin recognition, huh?

The restaurant is spartan. You order on the device at the counter……I understand it's card only.

Luscious Dumplings 02

Luscious Dumplings 03

And then they'll bring your order to you or text you to pick-up your takeout order.

The guy at the counter seems a bit gruff and unfriendly; but he turned out to be a very nice guy.

Luscious Dumplings 04

All the standard accoutrements are available. Along with disposable sauce bowls and utensils.

The prices gave me a bit of a pause, the Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage Jiaozi was $14, as were the Pork XLB. After a short wait, my Jiaozi were delivered.

Luscious Dumplings 05 Luscious Dumplings 06 You notice the color of the fillings that you can see thru the wrappers? Well, I'm thinking there was some opening jitters here as I ordered the Cabbage, Shrimp, and Pork, but I basically got 4 of those and four Pork, Shrimp, and Chive! Which I would have ordered if I could have gotten four of each!

The wrappers were on the thicker end of the scale, but quite fluffy, with just the right amount of pull. The chive filling was full of, well chive, almost pungent-garlicky tones. I could make out more of the shrimp flavor in these as well. The fillings, while not as light and fluffy as the one's we had at the original location, was moist and juicy. These were quite good; I'm sure the Missus would be asking for some pounded garlic with these. Perhaps my favorite in San Diego right now. Though I'm not quite sure about how I feel having 8 jiaozi for $14!

Speaking of juicy, the Pork XLB were indeed that.

Luscious Dumplings 07 Luscious Dumplings 08 The wrappers were quite delicate, almost too delicate as I punctured three of the XLB while picking them up with the chopsticks. There was so much light-porky, not salty "soup" in these.

The amount of filling was on the lighter side, though it was decently porky and so moist.

I'm thinking that the lack of saltiness might have thrown another customer off, who was complaining that the soup had no flavor and that he knew XLB because he is from LA! Ohhh-kay…..

I think these XLB might be my favorite overall in San Diego right now; while not even close to what we had at the original location of DTF on Xinyi Road, it's much better than what I've had on my Luscious Dumplings 09 first and subsequent visits to the SD location.

And while they do play up the Michelin thing a bit too much for me; I found the service to be nice. I showed the gentleman the photo that I had on my phone of the original location in San Gabriel and he smiled and asked me to wait. He went and called the owner who came over, looked at the photo and laughed. It's his Mom's shop!

I do wish this shop was closer to where we live as it's going to be a bit of a trek getting the Missus there; but I do want Her to try the jiaozi out here.

Luscious Dumplings 10

They are getting set for their grand opening shortly. If this place was on Convoy, there would be lines out the door……

Luscious Dumplings
872 Eastlake Pkwy Suite 413
Chula Vista, CA 91914
Current Hours
Daily 11am – 9pm

Luscious Dumplings 00

Circling Back to Song Hak

May 19, 2025 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

A few weeks back, I did a "circling back" post on Tanuki. I'd been meaning to return after doing an abbreviated post back during the pandemic. Well, there was one other restaurant on that post that we'd been meaning to return to. Song Hak. And just to really set that reminder, "Sami" of the wonderful blog Things I Tried did a post on the place a while back.

The Missus was wanting a Dolsot Bi Bim Bap and really wanted something different from Her usual choice, so this was a great opportunity. We decided to head on over for lunch, because like many of the places on Convoy, that parking lot is horrible. And now that all the street parking is gone, well that just makes things more difficult.

On weekends, Song Hak opens right before 11am, which is when we arrived, encountering no issue with parking in the lot.

Song Hak Rev 01

The woman working was so nice…..very kind, warm, very much an "Imo"… Auntie. Because the Missus was getting the dolsot, we wouldn't be doing BBQ, so no Gopchang for us. Though we still get a kick remembering when that young girl ate the Gopchang and said to her dad: "Did I just eat POOP…..it really looked like POOP!"

I went thru the lunch specials and the woman steered me to the LA Kalbi lunch. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of LA Kalbi, the cross-cut ribs. I prefer the more traditional So-Kalbi, even when making Kalbi at home. But, I decided to take her word for it.

The panchan arrived.

Song Hak Rev 02

Not too impressive, except for the baechu kimchi which had a nice slight fermented sourness to it.

Song Hak Rev 01b

Song Hak Rev 03

I must say; the Kalbi was quite good. A thicker cut than what I'm used to, but surprisingly tender, beefy, though the marinade was a bit on the sweeter side. The Missus sampled some and enjoyed it! It was a good recommendation. The rice was decent as well.

The Sundubu was not very good however.

Song Hak Rev 04

Thin, salty, lacking in savory tones…..not a favorite.

As for the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap…..

Song Hak Rev 05

Man, this was quite hefty. The Missus enjoyed the bulgogi, which did skew to the sweeter side of things….but of course that egg with crisp edges. She (we) waited as the rice crust developed and also poured the juice from the kimchi onto the bowl. The namul added some nutty and textural contrast. This might just be the Missus's current favorite Dolsot Bi Bimbap…….

Which is kind of a dilemma….because I want to return and get the gopchang and similar dishes again……

Still, the woman working was so nice; we enjoyed our meal, so I'm thinking we'll return again soon.

Song Hak Rev 00

And maybe get some, ahem, "poop shoot"…….looking forward to having some gopchang here…..

Song Hak Korean BBQ
4681 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 11pm
Friday 1130am – Midnight
Sat – Sun 1050am – 1130pm

Revisits to A-Chau and Avian Sandwiches

May 18, 2025 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

My revisits to the more "modern Banh Mi" at Banh Mi Express and Paris Sandwiches had me wondering how some of the more "traditional" banh mi shop were doing. So, it was time for a couple of revisits.

A-Chau:

Well, I decided to head on up to the place where I did my first post on Banh Mi in June of 2005! My how time flies! On this day I lucked out and the slightly psycho parking lot was only half full. It was just after 8am on a Sunday morning so Minh Ky wasn't open yet.

A Chau Rev 01

It's pretty much "all business" here. You walk in, order, pay, get your sandwich and get the heck out of Dodge.

A Chau Rev 02

The Banh Mi Pate Cha here now runs you $7.25. It was $5.50 on my last visit and the end of 2021. OF course I had to get some Cha Gio as well.

A Chau Rev 03

I had been a bit critical of A-Chau over the last few years because the place seemed to have slipped a bit over the years.

This version was actually pretty good.

A Chau Rev 04

The exterior was crusty, the bread was light and yeasty. There was that "unicorn" of banh mi ingredients, a slice of cucumber present. The pickled veggies were thinly sliced and though there could have been a bit more, it was crisp and sour.

A Chau Rev 06

The ingredients was nicely distributed thru out the whole sandwich; the amount of funky pate was excellent, the cha lua nice and toothsome. Perhaps a bit too much mayo, but I think that's splitting hairs. There didn't seem to be a lot of jalapeno; but what those thin slices were pretty darn spicy.

Pretty good banh mi!

But while the banh mi seems to be "back"…the Cha Gio still seemed to be "stuck in a rut".

A Chau Rev 05
A Chau Rev 07

While it was improved on my last visit, this was much like what I had back in 2018. While still nicely "stuffed" it is still lacking in crispness, very chewy, the filling cold and lacking in a good pork flavor.

Oh well, at least the Banh Mi is back on my "list" here. I need to return more often.

A Chau Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 7am – 4pm
Fri – Sun 7am – 5pm

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water:

In my post on Banh Mi Express, "FOY" ST asked if I'd be doing Avian Sandwiches. Well, considering that Avian is one of the closer Banh Mi shops to me, of course I was. In fact, Avian was one of the most recent Banh Mi shops I posted on before this last spate of visits.

I will say, that this small shop can get kinda crazy, with all the old timers drinking coffee outside, the endless stream of folks playing the lottery or filling up water.

Avian Rev 01

The interior can get positively claustrophobic.

Avian Rev 02

Like now you can get some body wash, shampoo, and conditioner with your Cane Juice, Alkaline Water, Lottery Tickets, and Banh Mi if so desired.

Avian Rev 03

My drill here is to order my sandwich and find some crevice or corner to squeeze into until my number is called.

Like on my last visit; I got the Banh Mi Nem Nuong, which is now $8.95. It was $7.95 last May.

Avian Rev 04 Avian Rev 05 The bread was crusty, though on the drier end of the scale. It had a good amount of pickled veggies; crisp, sour, and refreshing. Huge slices of jalapeno, some of which was spicy, some not…time for some "chili roulette"? Nice, thick slice of cucumber.

Two thick slices of nem nuong, savory-sour, with a mild sweetness. A bit too much mayo, but acceptable. Good amount of fresh cilantro. All evenly distributed.

Avian Rev 06

A good banh mi…probably why it's one of my first choices for banh mi these days. In spite of the almost nine dollar price!

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am – 7pm

So, my "Banh Mi Brethren" ("BMBs"), where have you been getting your Banh Mi these days!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Road Trip – A Return to La Posada and the Turquoise Room (Winslow) and the Painted Desert Rim Trail (Petrified Forest National Park)

May 16, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

After Scottsdale, our next stop was at a very familiar place. Yep, we were back in Winslow, Arizona, staying at the La Posada Hotel yet again.

Of course, this time we had, "you know who" in tow.

The place was much busier than we recalled; which I'm thinking is a good thing.

There are several dog friendly rooms in the hotel. As I've mentioned before, the room are named after various celebrities who have stayed at the La Posada. On this visit we had the Diane Keaton room.

It was quite large and spacious.

In spite of the place being rather busy; we were able to check in early. And once settled in; you know where the Missus needed to take JJ, right?

Yep…..

It was time for JJ to "Stand on that corner". Along with various other photo ops in Winslow and around the La Posada.

As for dinner. Well, when I made our hotel reservations, I was told that we could dine in the lobby right outside of the Turquoise Room. So, I made reservations and we had a table right in front of the bar area in the lobby. There was another table having drinks and later two more parties, both with pooches dined in the lobby as well.

I've already done several posts on meals at the Turquoise Room, that I'll just post some photos. It was as good as before.

And JJ seemed to enjoy himself as well.

After dinner; the Missus had to go back out again for more photo-ops…..

Before settling in for the night.

In the morning, we got some coffee in the lobby and of course guess where the Missus had to go to before checking out?

Sheesh…I basically did have to tell Her to "Take it Easy"…pun intended…..

After checking out; we headed east on the I-40 to the Petrified Forest National Park. I had read that the Park is one of the most dog friendly. We decided to first heading to the North side and the Painted Desert Inn area and get a bit acquainted with the park by taking the short Painted Desert Rim Trail.

The views were stunning.

And at first JJ was really curious…..

But soon, it seems the sun started getting to him….I'm saying the sunlight, because, well, it wasn't hot at all…..

He started to try to find shade under small little bushes and leaves…..so dramatic.

We kept trying to give him water….but he wasn't thirsty. Was this the same pooch who had just done a 5 mile walk with us in Santa Barbara a month before? We've kind of decided that "J" does not like too much sun….mister photo-phobia…..

So we cut things short and headed back to Winslow to grab an early lunch back at the Turquoise Room.

The Missus really likes that Lamb Pozole. And as you can tell; I like the salads here…..I know…me with a salad? Still, the Turquoise Room is pretty much a must stop for us when we're in the area.

Turquoise Room (in the La Posada Hotel)
303 E 2nd St.
Winslow, AZ 86047

From here we headed west on the I-40, stopping to put in gas in Kingman. Man, check out the price of a gallon of gas here!

Before making it to our next stop……

Fish With You Revisited

May 15, 2025 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

We had enjoyed our meals at Fish With You and the Missus wanted to return before the weather gets too hot. We ended up making two more visits in the last couple of weeks.

Fish With You Rev 06

Here's what we had.

We tried the Pickled Pepper Fish Skin ($6.95).

Fish With You Rev 01

Fishy and way too sour….like eating rubber bands. Not a favorite.

The Missus wanted to try the Green Peppercorn and Suan Cai Fish…with snakehead, of course (Regular Portion $17.95).

Fish With You Rev 02a

If you want something not as sour as the Signature Suan Cai and Fish; this might be the way to go. It's also less spicy; but the green peppercorns provides a citrusy-numbingness. The tofu is really nice in this dish as well.

I was curious about the version of Shui Zhu Niu Rou ($19.95), the "Water Boiled Beef" a classic Sichuan dish. I know, after having the "Golden Beef Soup" on on one of our previous visits, I had mentioned staying away from the beef dishes here, but curiosity got the better of me.

Fish With You Rev 04

While this was better then the other beef dish we tried, the meat was again a letdown. This time it was a thick cut, very chewy, lacking in velveting that is essential for this type of dish. The broth was decently spicy-savory-smoky, with a hint of ma-la. In fact, I used the leftover broth for tofu and soy bean sprouts, with an addition of some doubianjang. It's just that beef needed some tenderization. So, I guess I'm back to saying no to beef dishes here.

They make a big deal about serving Wuchang Rice from China, but we've never been impressed. It is often mushy and not very fragrant. Still, a key point is that they do not charge for a bowl of rice for each main course ordered. Quite a change from other Chinese restaurants these days.

Fish With You Rev 03

Of course, on both visits we got the Signature Suancai & Fish (regular size – $17.95).

Fish With You Rev 05

Love the sourness from the Suan Cai and the pleasant spiciness of the chilies. Snakehead does well in this dish. We also like the crunchy, slightly slippery celtuce in the dish. The level of sodium is not very high.

The folks working here are so nice as are the prices. So, it looks like Fish With You has made the "rotation"; at least for now. Not sure about when the weather starts heating up though.

Fish With You
3904 Convoy St. #101
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1130am – 10pm

Midweek Meanderings – MAKE Cafe on the Move and Na Tart Coming to Clairemont.

May 14, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Middle Eastern Restaurants/Cuisine

Just a quick post for a very pleasant Wednesday.

Make Cafe on the Move?

So, I was doing a post on the last of the trio of places where we had Shakshuka with JJ. It was a shop we saw walking back to our car after having breakfast with JJ at Flora named Make Cafe. We walked over and took a look at the menu, which was quite interesting. When I got back home, I did a quick online search and found out that MAKE stands for "Merging Agriculture, Kitchens and Employment" and MAKE Projects " is a hyperlocal farm, cafe, and social enterprise that empowers refugee and immigrant women through food, agriculture, and community." The Cafe provides refugee women with job training and experience. You can read a wonderful article from San Diego Magazine here that also highlight's the programs founder Anchi Mei.

Anyway, we paid a visit to the cafe which was only open 4 days a week for brunch.

Make Cafe 01

Make Cafe 02

Loved the diversity of the menu and the food was quite good. The service was warm and friendly.

Anyway, as I was prepping this post early last week, I noticed that the Google had them listed as Temporarily Closed. So, I did some checking and yes, it seems that MAKE is on the move; from the location at 2920 University to Felton Street according to their website.

Here's what we had.

Make Cafe 03

Make Cafe 04

According to their website; they hope to reopen in late 2025. I'm all for places like this…and yes, I've gone ahead and donated a bit.

Hope they are able to reopen by their projected date.

Na Tart Coming to Clairemont:

**** You can find a post on Na Tart here.

Did some quick shopping at the Aldi on Balboa, when I noticed this coming soon sign in the storefront next to Pho Hut & Grill.

So, again I took to Google and it seems that this Egg Tart specialist based in Flushing, NYC is opening this shop in San Diego! I believe they are supposed to open in July!

I'm thinking this parking lot just got a bit tighter!

5252 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Pho G-Beef (Rancho Penasquitos)

May 13, 2025 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Back in the beginning of April, "FOY" Dereck sent me an email regarding a pho shop that had recently opened in Rancho Penasquitos. The part of the email which really caught my attention read:

"I don't want to make any promises, but it was the best pho I have had in a while. The broth was beefy and not defatted. I didn't taste much sweet if any, not much anise, and a little salty, but still it was great."

Hmmm, pho broth not "San Diego sweet"? Ok, sold! I decided to go ahead and make the 20+ mile drive to check the place out; located in the corner of the busy Rancho Penasquitos Towne Center.

Pho G Beef 01

Pho G Beef 02

The place is very well lit and clean. The young folks working were welcoming and friendly.

Pho G Beef 03

I went ahead and just ordered a "medium" G-Beef Special ($15.50).

Pho G Beef 03a

I was not impressed with the sprouts and basil.

Pho G Beef 04

It was a fairly small portion and some of the basil had turned color and were getting slimy.

Pho G Beef 05

And soon my bowl arrived.

Pho G Beef 06 Pho G Beef 07 I quickly noticed that the soup was quite dark and seriously defatted. It did lack the richness; but like Dereck had mentioned, while short on anise tones, though you could actually taste the cilantro, it did not have that pervasive "sweetness" that most of the pho in San Diego has. It was also fairly beefy in flavor. Taking a closer look at the soup, I noticed quite a preponderance of small pieces of beef in it. It also wasn't overly salty. This was pretty good.

I then started checking out the proteins, when I noticed something….no tripe, lots of beefy brisket, but no flank; the "Rare steak"….well, there was overcooked thinly sliced beef. As for the "tendon", there seem to be shreds of chewy, what seemed to be neck tendon. Perhaps there was some mix-up? I was the only customer in the place….. Since I'd had the soup, put the sprouts in, tasted the noodles, I just decided to go with the flow here.

Pho G Beef 08

The noodles were decently prepped and had a good "stretch" to them.

Overall, a nicely flavored broth, not sure what happened with the proteins, kinda lacking in QC with the blackening basil. I'm thinking that I'll need to return in a couple of months….even though it's a bit of a drive, to see how things are.

Pho G Beef 10

Dereck, this place definitely seems to have some potential! Thanks for the recommendation!

Pho G Beef 00

Pho G Beef
13297 Black Mountain Rd. Suite 6
San Diego, CA 92129
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 1030am – 830pm
Fri – Sat 1030am – 9pm