Neua Nam Tok

After having Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao for breakfast, the Missus thought having Nam Tok for lunch would be the perfect thing. And it was…..

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Like the Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao, this recipe was based on the one in Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook. And just like the previous recipe, I made some adjustments for our taste; replacing the white sugar (we still used a bit) with palm sugar, using Thai Chilies instead of just ground chilies, since we had some growing in the yard. I also replaced the shallots with thinly sliced red onion.

The Missus really loved this. I'm thinking that there were several factors involved; first, we used grassfed wagyu skirt….'nuff said. Second, the recipe in the book mentions the use of 1 tablespoon of beef stock. What did was pour all the beef drippings into the "dressing". Third, I grilled over hardwood charcoal.

I believed this was going to turn out well, but the Missus shocked me when She said "this is better than Sab E Lee….."

The recipe format might seem a bit disjointed, but I thought I'd present it in the order I did things….

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Neua Nam Tok:

Salad Prep:
1/4 cup small mint leaves
1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic sliced thinly lengthwise

Steak Prep:
1 Tb lemongrass thinly sliced
4-5 black peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1 Thai chili
3 tsp soy sauce
1/2 lb skirt steak

– Combine lemongrass, black peppercorns, garlic, and chili in a mortar and pound to a paste
– Scrape to a bowl, combine with soy sauce, and work into the steak.
– Marinate for an hour
– Grill the steak
– While steak is resting put together the dressing

The sauce/dressing:
3 Tb lime juice
3-4 Tb fish Sauce
2 tsp palm sugar
1 tsp white sugar
4-5 Thai Chilies thinly sliced
1 tsp ground chilies
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
Beef Drippings

– Combine the first six ingredients and briefly heat to dissolve the sugar
– Remove from heat and add in onion and beef drippings

Putting it together:
2 tsp toasted rice powder
lettuce or cabbage

– Slice beef thinly on a bias against the grain place on a plate and sprinkle on half the rice powder
– Top with the dressing and sprinkle on the rest of the rice powder

Eat!

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I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with this cookbook……

Rhodes Town (Greece): Indigo

We'd been enjoying our time in Rhodes Town, ut had yet to experience what I'd call a good, solid meal. For dinner we decided to head past the Hora, now quiet after the tourists and day trippers had left and head out to the area called the "New Market".

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Since things had been fairly plus/minus in he Old Town, we decided to try our luck out here. The New Agora seemed a bit touristy, full of fast food and tourist fare. But a little bistro-ish ouzerie named Indigo caught our eye.

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06072012 2068We found the super bright and loud colors a bit gaudy…and yet charming in its own way. It was so somewhat tacky that it looked quaint and interesting.

The prices weren't bad and this place just looked so different from the others that we had to stop here.

We started with a favorite of the Missus; the Fava Skordalia.

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The flavor was right on, nice and beany, perfect amount of salt and seasoning. The texture however, was kind of weird and glue-like.

The Missus went with what seemed like a simple roasted eggplant salad. It turned out to be quite a bit more than that.

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This was one of the more memorable dishes we had on the trip. We loved the contrasting textures, the soft roasted eggplant, with the crisp fried filo dough and crunch greens. The addition of the crisp fried "noodles" would have usually thrown us off, but in this case it worked fine. The salty feta, offset with the acid in the dressing and tomatoes.

I ordered the grilled calamari.

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I loved the vegetables which were nicely seasoned and had a good combination of tangy-sweet-salty flavors. The calamari had a nice grilled flavor, but was on the tough side.

Overall, this was decent meal, perhaps the best we'd had on Rhodes to date.

Indigo
New Market 105
Rhodes Town, Greece

As we walked back to our room, we couldn't help but be impressed with the imposing and grand walls of the "Old Town" at sunset.

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And yet, I was still in the dark with regards to the food here……

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Recently Consumed

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought it was time.

It's nice to be spending at least a little time in the kitchen the last couple of days. I got some cold smoked scallops from Catalina and put this together….it was quite easy.

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Most of my meals over the last couple of weeks have kinda looked like this though…..

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But being really busy doesn't mean you can't put together something together quickly that you enjoy…..

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I've never been a big fan of Soboro, basically a crumbled ground beef dish. I grew up eating something like this and I just never took to it. The Missus on the other hand, loves it. She's been requesting it a bit over the last couple of weeks.

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I'm not quite sure why She likes this so much, but at least it gave me something…along with the salmon I smoked weekly, to make ahead of time so She has something to eat while I'm busy at work.

I played around with making a bourbon-maple sugar glaze for my last smoke session before things got crazy. I made smoked some pork belly…..I should have cured it a bit longer.

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I thought the chicken came out nice, but the Missus said it just wasn't smokey enough for Her.

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Anyway, I hope you're all having a great weekend….a long one for some of us!

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Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao and a visit to Minh Huong Market

I finally had some time off this past weekend. It has been a busy and stressful couple of weeks and it ain't over by any stretch of the imagination. Things are starting normalize as I finally got a chance to enjoy a couple of cookbooks that arrived during that period which I hadn't had the chance to open. So during the weekend, the one I opened first was Andy Ricker's Pok Pok. I've eaten at Pok Pok in PDX a couple of times and really enjoyed the food, which really did remind me of what came out of all those wonderful street stands in Thailand.

 A couple of recipes jumped out at me and I decided to start with an easy one for breakfast the next day, the Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao.

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Free range ground chicken, organic eggs, and greens and peppers from our garden.

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One of the main ingredients in this dish is the kaphrao…."Hot" Basil, also known as Holy Basil. So early Sundya morning I headed off to Minh Huong Market and got some Holy Basil.

The recipes are quite precise; even though I deviated to our tastes, I appreciated the gram based measurements.

I've taken to measuring things fairly well nowadays and I basically changed a couple of things to fit our tastes and what we had in our pantry. More garlic, more fish sauce, more chilies, which didn't over-power the dish at all. The long beans looked terrible so we decided not to buy any. In terms of timing; in the book, the chef cooks his eggs first and places them on the side while doing the rest of the dish, making this a basic one-wok process. I prepped and completed the stir-fry portion up to the point of adding the hot basil, then started on the eggs….I also added some coconut oil for cooking as well. Once the eggs were almost done, I put the wok back on the flame, heated and added the basil to finish.

This turned out real well though the Missus told me She prefers regular Thai Basil in this…….

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Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao

12 ounces ground chicken
3 Tb Fish Sauce
2 Tb Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tsp white sugar
3 Tb grated garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
6 Thai Chilies sliced
2 Red Serrano Chilies thinly sliced
3 dried chilies crumbled
2 Cups loosely packed Hot (Holy) Basil
2 Tb grapeseed oil

3 Eggs
2 Tb grapeseed oil
1 Tb coconut oil

– Combine fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix to dissolve the sugar
– Heat the wok over high heat. When the oil is smoking remove it from heat, add the garlic and stir quickly.
– When the garlic starts to brown slightly, place back on the heat and add the onions and fresh chilies. Stir until fragrant.
– Add the chicken and stir fry, breaking up the ground chicken.
– When the chicken is almost done, add the fish sauce mixture and dried chilies, and combine well
– After about 30 seconds add the dark soy sauce – 1Tb first, until the color is right.
– Stir fry until the liquid has been completely absorbed by the meat.
– Start eggs in grapeseed and coconut oil
– When eggs are almost done as desired, put wok back on heat and mix in hot basil

Serve up with Jasmine Rice…..makes about 2-3 servings

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Every once in a while I'll get an email asking where to get items like Holy Basil or Cha Om.

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My usual recommendation is that they check out Minh Huong Supermarket.

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Even if you're not looking for anything in particular and are in the general vicinity, drop by…..

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You'll see some items you won't find in your local neighborhood Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean market. On this day we saw some young women with Thanaka, the distinctive Burmese cosmetic paste applied to their faces. Something I'd never seen in San Diego.

Minh Huong Supermarket
4029 Euclid Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

 

 

Noodling Around: Mien Trung, Pho Lucky, Santouka, and Ramen Yamadaya

I believe I've mentioned that over the last couple of years, rice has been replaced as my starch of choice by noodles. Never has it been more apparent than over the last two hectic, busy weeks at work. Sheeesh….and like I've also said before, I don't think this blog would still be in existence were it not for Cathy and Ed from Yuma. Who always come to the rescue.

Anyway, long days, meant more than my fair share of long strips of dough. Here's a round-up.

Mien Trung:

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There's nothing like a spicy, sweat inducing,  end to the day….and soup is good too! Mien Trung just does Bun Bo Hue right for me; spicy, salty, sour, is the formula. The soup is always hot which welcomes the shredded veggies and herbs. When the broth does edge toward salty, a touch of lime tames the sodium.

The Missus still enjoys the Bun Rieu, though She take umbrage to Mien Trung's switching of the noodles for the Bun Rieu to the wrong style.

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Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Lucky:

I wanted a real bowl of Pho Bo Kho after the lack luster version at Spotted Cow, even though I had to wait a couple of weeks.

Pho Bo Kho Noodling 01

Pho Bo Kho Noodling 02This bowl had twice the meat, twice the flavor, and was cheaper than the food court equivalent.

Oh, and there was a fire sale on tendon on this day….must have been a "Lucky" one for me.

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Santouka Ramen:

Santouka Noodling 01

Santouka Noodling 02A cold snap means that the Missus is looking forward to ramen. Her favorite is still Santouka's Shio Toroniku Ramen with Egg, not cheap, but totally comfort food. This one with Chasu Gohan added.

Ramen's popularity has spawned one good thing….folks understand ramen now. I hardy hear all that whining about how ramen is so expensive compared to pho. Well, I still hear it sometimes, perhaps I've just gotten better at ignoring it.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

I gotta ask….what happened here?

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Yamadaya Noodling 02We ordered the Kotteri (extra rich) Tonkotsu and got this, watery and bland. A far cry from what I had just a couple of weeks ago. This was rather insipid and barely past lukewarm in temperature.

The chasu has improved and the kakuni pork was pretty good too. But the main reason we choose Yamadaya is for the broth.

This was disappointing……

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Getting our goat at Chon Ju Jip and Grandma’s Tofu & BBQ

When the weather started turning a bit a couple of weeks ago, the Missus was quite happy….it's getting to be that time of the year again, ramen, stews, and hot pots galore. Her favorite time of the years for eating. One evening She was in the mood for Heukyumso Jungol, Korean Black Goat Stew. The last couple of times we've had that dish, it had been at Grandma's Tofu and BBQ, this time I thought we should check out Chon Ju Jip since it had been a while since we last visited.

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The place is looking a tad worse for wear and looking over the menu we noticed that many of the dishes don't have English translations, just Korean and Romanized Korean names. In this case the dish was Romanized as Huk Yum So Jun Gol – $29.99, the same price as Grandma's. The women working here are pretty much all business and the place seems even more "old school" then I remember, with our server picking and cleaning bean sprouts between serving customers.

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The panchan where is served in the Korean style, along with your food. They ranged from ok to below average….I'm not sure if my tastes have changed a whole lot, but some of this was really salty.

We were given some "sauce" on the side…the typical sesame oil based sauce and kochujung was accompanied with a smear of wasabi. This was a new one for us.

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Goat Chon Ju Jip 05This was a hearty, very rustic version of  Heukyumso Jungol. It was stick-to-your-ribs thick and full of vegetables and quite a bit of goat. The goat was very gamey and some of it on the tough side…..but no one would ever call this bland. This was a bit saltier than the version at Grandma's, where we've gotten into the (appropriate) habit of adding sea salt to our dishes.

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As with Grandma's, there was enough left over to form another meal the next day. This was so thick that it formed a pretty solid block. I added more water, kochujungGoat Chon Ju Jip 07, sesame oil, salt, and all the other stuff (tofu, greens, enoki mushrooms, kurobuta sausage, etc…) to build another meal for us.

Chon Ju Jip is kind of hidden away on Convoy….so we always forget about the place. I'm sure we'll check them out again soon.

Chon Ju Jip
4373 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

A couple of nights later, we decided to check out the  Heokyumso Jeongol at Grandma's….for comparison sake……

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First off; we thought the panchan here was much better….nothing amazing, but just better overall. As for the  Heokyumso Jeongol. Well, this version has less meat, but it much more tender, there's more "skin" which I just love.

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While not being more thick and hearty, this has a bit more heat, but lacks a bit of the complexity in terms of savory and acidity that the version at Chon  Ju Jip has….we always end up dumping the baechu kimchi into the broth to add a more savory tone. Of course adding your own salt is a must as well. The version at Grandma's is lighter, and there's more "soup"…..which also ends up being a second meal for us.

Strangely, the base flavors are the same, but when you get down to it, the two versions are quite different. Ironically, what Chon Ju Jip serves seems more like something Grandma would make, while Grandma's is much more refined, but also more subtle and refined.

Grandma's Tofu & BBQ
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

As for which we prefer….well….I think I'll need to research this a few more times!

 

The bluefin tuna, “try to make something good for a change” challenge.

It seems like a pretty easy question….poke or some sashimi, right? But what if you're given a challenge, to make "something good for a change"?

I was faced with that on a recent evening…..granted, I've been really busy with work recently, so I really wanted something special for the Missus.

So I came up with this.

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Bluefin three ways……

10202013 014The cut of bluefin was very fresh, though not particularly outstanding. The perfect 20 minute challenge for me.

Here's the play-by-play…..

I decided on doing a very quick, hot smoke, so I got my trusty stovetop smoker going. I didn't want this to be a hot dish, but also wanted a fairly aggressive smoke flavor without cooking the fish. So I used mesquite and instead of starting high then turning low, I just turned the flame up high, seasoned the block of tuna with Maldon Smoked Salt and fresh ground pepper, covered the smoker briefly and when a good amount developed, placed the fish in the smoker, replaced thecover, and just let her rip!

I went into the garden to pick the veggies and herbs, washing then drying them on paper towels. Seven minutes had passed. I removed the tuna from the smoker, placed it on a plate and putting it in the freezer to quickly cool. I wanted to maintain the firmness of the fish.

At this point I decided on making three different items; for the first, I chopped the uneven part of the block, mixing it with some pretty good Maui onion and minced avocado……I then added a few drops of my roasted ghost pepper hot sauce and stuffed the avocado. Something I used to do when I helped a friend of mine cater a few dinners many years ago. A couple of slices of red serrano, sliced scallions, minced cilantro, and a touch of mint from the yard finished things. The Missus loved this combination of meaty-smoky-pungent-creamy-crunchy-mildly spicy. I was amazed that the ghost pepper hot sauce added just enough heat with a wonderful flowery fragrance.

10202013 011The second item were just slices of the smoked tuna on lettuce from the yard. This I paired with some blanched, then grated garlic, grated ginger, yuzu kosho, and wasabi. I was so proud of the Missus, She never touched that wasabi from a tube. She loved placing tiny dabs of the salty, mildly spicy yuzu kosho on the smoky fish, never feeling a need to add soy sauce.

The third item was a play on a caprese, with tuna replacing the standard mozzarella. I placed the cuts of fish between slices of cherry tomato and basil, drizzling on some 0.3% acidity extra virgin olive oil. I also seeded a cherry tomato and filled it with olive oil creating a "shot" homage to our visit to Peza Union, where the tasting of each olive oil was presented in cups like a shot! The Missus enjoyed this the least.

This was only half of everything as there was a imrror plate also created. The Missus really enjoyed this…..which turned out pretty well. One of the most interesting responses I got from the Missus was when I had Her eat a slice of the Maui Onion with a touch of smoked salt…….I love good Maui onion with just some Hawaiian salt…this was the way I ate it growing up and the Missus enjoyed this as well.

The funny thing was….I was also finishing up Her main courses for dinner at the same time…….perhaps that's a future post…..

Still, like that surf and turf challenge, I lived to cook another day……

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen

**** Spotted Cow has closed

I first heard about this place on Eater and was a bit puzzled. I thought having a Pho stand in Zion Marketplace would be an interesting venture. It was the "marketing" and concept that I thought was kind of interesting. This place wanted to make "the pho experience more customizable"…..hmmm, have you ever seen the different combinations of protein, etc, at your friendly neighborhood pho restaurant? Like all 30+ of them…..and then you have nuoc beo (rendered beef tallow), gia chin (blanched bean sprouts), etc….. Pardon me, if I don't understand….is there some innovative "concept" here? It looks like an assembly line process, something which isn't too unfamiliar having seen the kitchen areas of a couple of Pho places. On the interesting side, the "chef" Jimmy Trinh went to the CIA…on the somewhat discouraging side the "heritage" of this place is not one of my favorite pho shops.

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Still it's bright, the folks on my first visit, soon after that announcement on Eater were really nice. I was kind of confused at the set-up. There's the steam/hot table and the cold station where you can pick what you want for your soup, then a large gap, then what looks like another station with the cashier at the end. The gap seems like a "dead zone", what goes on here? On this visit I ordered one of the four soup offerings….pho of course ($5.99) and moved to the middle area because I really didn't know if I should stop here or move to the register. The really nice young lady took my tray all the way to the register where I paid and made my way to the table.

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Spotted Cow 03The broth was very light and defatted, lacking in richness. Beef flavor was lacking, though I could make out onion and a touch of anise. It was also on the salty side, thank goodness for the lime. This isn't among my favorite bowls. The broth was also on the lukwarm side as well.

The rare steak looked nice, but was cut too thick making for a dry and tough experience. I'm not sure if it was how the meat was kept in cooled sixth-sized food pans, but I found them really lacking in flavor. The one surprise was the tendon which was pretty good.

The noodles were decent, but since it was in a clump some of it was on the cold side.

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I basically cooled my heels, until I read Kirbie's post and decided to return, after all this place is really close to work. But no pho pho me this time.

I decided to try the Pho Bo Kho. The young man working the front was really enthusiastic and friendly. I noticed something a bit different this time around. My noodles were dropped into hot water and the bowl rinsed in hot water as well. I'm thinking this step was missed on my previous visit….after all, it was just after they had started business. I walked on over to the register to pay. In a move I found somewhat awkward, this time around my tray was left in the "dead zone" for me to pick up and drag to the register. This wasn't much of a problem however since the guy working the register was too busy counting his money than to acknowledge my existence. I kept thinking if I was "at Pho Hoa Huong, I'd be eating by now". Finally, after checking his drawer, walking away to talk to someone, he returned and was ready to have me pay. When he actually spoke to me he seemed a really nice young man, it was getting to this point that was rather painful for me. What ever happened to "I'll be with you in a minute"? Come to think of it though, would I expect that at, say, Pho Cow Cali, or at your neighborhood Pho shop in Hanoi?

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Spotted Cow 06In many ways this was much better than the straight up pho bo. While not even in the same league as the version at Pho Lucky, this had some mild richness. The beef flavor was still faint and overall the broth was still a bit thin for me. I like a nice hearty soup. The carrots were a bit too undercooked for me and the beef was still tasteless.

The dunking of the already cooked noodles made them too mushy for my taste. The heating of the bowl ensured a nice hot broth though.

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I also hated the plastic spoons which were not at all suited for soup slurping……I've seen disposable Japanese style soup spoons, though the cost might be a bit too high?

It had me wondering……where this ranked in the Kearny Mesa Pho universe? I will say that this was totally not what I expected, even in a fast-casual concept, from CIA Alums who've "logged stints in Michelin starred kitchens". Though after eating at Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food nothing should surprise me, right?

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92111

What’s going on with El Charco?

**** El Charco has closed

I don't always have the best timing…..more than few times I've sat on photos of meals, only to have places close, burn down, change owners before I even have a chance to do a post. Heck, I even did a post on one of these places. The Missus and I had gone to El Charco, the shop that opened in the place of Birrieria's la Guadalajara twice right after they opened. I decided to wait on doing a post until I went a few more times…..you know me, I often will wait until a few visits before doing a post. Anyway, guess what I saw on my last attempted visit.

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Which I found kind of strange since they've been open less than a year….I hope they truly are closed for a remodel……though peeking through the glass revealed that everything looks the same.

Anyway, here's a very abbreviated post.

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The place created some nice buzz, since Paco Perez, the owner of the very successfuEl Charco 03l and popular Aqui es Texcoco was a partner in this venture with the owners of a small chain of taco shops in Mexico City.

Many of the items we tried were on the salty side. Our favorite item by far was the Al Pastor, which hit all the right salty-sweet-porky notes for us. It was right up our alley.

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The other tacos we tried ranged from good…the Missus loved the chorizo….and the huitlacoche quesadilla was not bad.

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The Villemelon was a salty mess…the chiccharon brought nothing to the taco. The chuleta ahumada; smoked pork chops was also way too salty, being almost bitter.

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The Missus really did like the tortilla soup, though…..

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The Chicharron de Queso looks quite dramatic and we enjoyed it at first. After a while, it became too much of a good thing.

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The Alambres is also quite a bit….the Missus hardly put a dent in the one She ordered with Chorizo and Pastor.

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We do hope they renovate and reopen as the place displayed some promise to us…….

El Charco Mexico City Style Tacos
1310 Third Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

On a clear day, you can see…… Pho-Ever

Pho cryin' out loud…….

So here I was again, up around the Oceanside area. My first instinct was to drop by Guahan again. But since this was going to be before 11am, I had my sights on another place I'd been wanting to check out. Unfortunately, that place was packed…..at 1015 no less! So I had to settle for a plan B. Pho is always a viable back-up and there was a place fairly close by that I'd been told about but had never really been motivated to try. I think it was due to a mental block…….created by the name of the place.

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Pho-real….it's called Pho-Ever and while it doesn't even come close with as does the "mother lode" with regards to names of pho shops, it was really hard for me to take this one seriously. I a serious two-fer', the restaurant next door is called "Thai One On"….. really. Just add in another restaurant name and you have a conversation "Pho-Ever"? "Yes! Pingo", now let's "___-____ Thai One On".

Still, here I was in Vista, it was a clear day, and like Barbera Streisand sang, "I could see Pho-Ever".

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I walked into the place, which seemed like a nice neighborhood Pho shop, there was a family seated up front, and the flat screen was set to some children's show for the kids,  a nice touch. The folks working here knew everyone who came in except myself, all regulars it seemed, though none were Asian, it was still a nice sign.

As for what to order? I just went with good 'ol #1, the Dac Biet, the house special….extra large bowl ($7.25).

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Pho ever 04The bowl arrived…..well not as hot as I'd preferred, but ok. The broth was cloudy, though it had fairly good hue. The flavor was very mild, mostly salty, very light on the beefiness, and was very "pho not to offend". Nothing really stood out, no onions, beef, nothing really…..

The herb….it should probably be singular and not plural, well, 'nuff said. The bean sprouts were very fresh. I really didn't need the lime because at least this wasn't an MSG bomb.

The noodles, and there was a good quantity of them was fine, perhaps a bit softer than I like, but still not bad.

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Pho ever 07As for the protein, well as you can see, it was pretty sparse. The place says it only uses "filet"…..beef tenderloin, which is nice, but where's the supposed "rare steak" (Tai)? If you're serving "filet", I would like having it "rare" as stated. All the "well done" steak was fine. The flank was extra chewy, but that's nothing new, the lack of beef flavor in that cut and the brisket was. The tendon was fine, if a bit harder than I'd prefer. The tripe was nice, but also pretty sparse.

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The folks here were nice and I enjoyed the neighborhood vibe. This seemed pretty much middle of the road, nothing wrong with that.

Pho what it's worth; I preferred the Pho I had at Pho Lena and Mr Pho. I know, I still haven't made it to Pho Lucky, Yummy Pho, or Pho San Marcos…..I haven't pho-gotten about it. Ok, that's it, no more pho-puns for a while…..

Pho-Ever
485 S Melrose Dr
Vista, CA 92081