mmm-yoso – Page 317

Mariscos Monday – On the hood of your car edition: Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos and Mariscos El Prieto

April 4, 2011 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

After a fairly mediocre meal at Fish Mart; I decided to check out a couple of other places. It's not often that I'm this far South, so I intended to make the best of it.

The first stop was one Masa Assassin mentioned to me when I ran into him at Tacos El Poblano a couple of years back. (Where are you MA? We miss you….) He mentioned that he was going to check out a truck he'd heard about off of Iris, near Beyer. A couple of days later he posted on Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos. I'd been wanting to check the place out for a while, so this day was a good as any for a visit to:

Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos Truck:

Located at the far end of a parking lot close to the Iris Avenue Trolley stop, this place was doing some pretty good business when I arrived. I placed my order, and was handed a fairly large (12oz) cup of consomme…….

This one had a strong shrimp flavor; and indeed when I arrived at the bottom of the cup, there were quite a few shrimp shells.

I'd gone with what MA had on his visit; a Shrimp and Fish Taco.

When MA had visited; he indicated the use of lettuce on these tacos as sort of a signature. Somewhere down the line, they've gone ahead and reverted to the standard cabbage.

The fish in the Fish Taco was fairly small and the batter very soggy.

Not much of anything on this one. Which is too bad, since the crema used had a nice flavor. It seemed lighter than other versions.

The shrimp taco by comparison was huge, with four large (for a taco) battered "globs". The shrimp were pretty good sized, but the batter was really thick. After the initial crunch it was too bready(for my taste) on the way to the shrimp.

The lady taking the orders was very nice, and things ran in a very organized manner. I'm not sure I'd return, but this wasn't bad by any means.

Tacos El Paisa Y Mariscos
3170 Iris Ave.
San Diego, CA 92154

I then jumped back into my car and headed up North, exiting on Main Street. I had my sights on a truck that had been recommended to me by several people. I'd missed the truck on several occasions, but today I knew I'd be getting there on time. Located on Main Street, just due West of 3rd Avenue, right past the strawberry field is the :

Mariscos El Prieto Truck:

You know right away that this place must be doing major business. Have you ever seen designated parking spaces for a taco truck?

Having already consumed five tacos; there wasn't going to be a gobernador or anything else that big in my future. I went with two fish tacos, a bargain at $1 a piece. Of course things started out with some consomme.

This was the regular 6pz cup. The consomme was served at the required tongue scorching temperature. This one had a strong celery-peppercorn flavor.

When I ordered, the woman manning the counter asked me my name, which she wrote down on the order slip. So there I was waiting for my tacos, when I heard "hey"…."Hey"…."HEY". I realized that the guy behind the pick-up window was calling me. Perhaps they had a hard time spelling my name, and the woman just decided to write down H-E-Y as my name? Actually, I thought I as back in Philly waiting for a pork sandwich for a second!

My tacos looked almost perfect in proportion….fish the perfect length for the tortilla.

The textures were excellent; the batter shiny and crisp. The fish was perhaps a bit dry; kind of reminding me of Mariscos German's tacos de pescado…. but this batter was just perfect. Everything, the pico de gallo, the crema, which wasn't too heavy handed in the mayo department, and even the few slices of onion sang in harmony. Very nice; I'd have this again in an instant.

As to whether this is better than what is served at the Mariscos El Pescador truck, which is 25 cents more, and tends to have to much crema on it. Right now, at this moment, I'd say MEL's fish is better, but man this was fried perfectly….. I guess I'll have to save that comparison for another day.

Mariscos El Prieto Truck
3031 Main St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

A Gooey Sunday Post: Tan Ky Mi Gia (Mira Mesa) and the “New” Mandarin Canton

April 3, 2011 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

This past week, for some reason, the Missus was craving something "gooey over fried noodles"…. something that happens every couple of years. I'm not quite sure brings it on…. but it does happen. We were in the Mira Mesa area so we stopped by:

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia is no longer

Which I've posted on quite a few times. The Missus went with the Pan Fried Egg Noodles with Seafood.

Something that I'd never had here before. The noodles not covered in the gooey "sauce" were very crumbly, and dare I say…. dusty. The light complexioned sauce was very tasty, perhaps edging on the salty side. That's about all I know since the Missus scarfed just about everything except the squid (not bad) and the fish balls (meh).

I noticed something interesting about the flavor of that sauce. It tasted a lot like the pork based "soup" that comes with many of the noodle dishes. I'm thinking they use this broth along with corn starch to create that stir-fry sauce. On this night, the broth was pretty salty as well….. but I wasn't complaining since I felt a cold coming on, and something with a good dose of salt (and MSG?) was welcome.

Needing a good dose of flavor, I went with the Beef Sate Noodle – Dry.

Not as spicy as other versions, the beef was pretty tender, the sauce a good flavor, so this hit the spot as well.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126

For some reason, that dose of gooey-ness didn't cure the Missus. While driving South on the 805, I asked the Missus if we should drop by Mandarin Canton. I hadn't been back since before the unfortunate, and I still think unsolved murder of the restaurant owner in 2009. That's why Mandarin Canton never made it into our Salt and Pepper Wing challenge. The Missus had returned after the restaurant reopened, and thought the food had serious short-comings, which She blamed on "replaced oil syndrome" – where the well seasoned frying oil had actually been replaced, and all the flavoring is gone; and just never bothered to go back. We have nothing against ABCDE ('Ab-cee-dee' = American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) food, but it has to be done well. I found this to be a pretty hard thing to find here in San Diego. Anyway, as we walked to the restaurant off Telegraph Canyon Road, I noticed the sign now said:

The New Mandarin Canton Restaurant:

Perhaps trying to shake off the ghosts of the heinous crime. The menu looks new; but the same old dishes still occupy their place on the menu. In serious need of "gooey over fried noodles" the Missus ordered the Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles ($8.25), a well represented South Bay – Chinoy type dish that is well represented by places like Royal Mandarin and Golden Chopsticks.

This didn't deliver. The noodles were okay for this type of dish, but the sauce just had no flavor whatsoever. I did notice that the chicken in this dish was better than before. I'd always recommend that other than the wings, folks should stay away from anything with stir-fried chicken in it.

To digress, there's that ultimate sign of an ABCDE joint, stuff which I've gone over before. You get the fried won ton wrappers with the neon sweet-sour sauce. Also, no chopsticks; you have to ask for them.

Of course I had to have the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.75):

I thought these were much better than before. The batter had been lightened up, and the wings were nicely crisp. The ever present crystals of MSG were of course present….. this had that nice "crack-like" addictiveness to it. You'll need to eat these when hot; due to the light batter, they don't keep real well.

The Missus favorite here, and probably the most expensive item on the menu is the Salt and Pepper Shrimp without shell at $12.75:

Like the chicken wings, these have been lightened up a bit as well. Compare this with how the dish used to look. The batter is more light and crisp, fairly close to lacquer-like. The shrimp had a nice flavor as well. The Missus thinks this dish is much better than before.

In the end, this was a nice guilty-pleasure meal. I find most of the items on the menu borderline terrible, but you can't go wrong with the fried stuff, and they do a decent job with shrimp. Also, if you are one of those people who believe they are allergic to MSG, be careful, this place will put you on life support. After paying the bill, after the Missus had already headed out to the car; the really nice lady serving us told me "Xièxiè", to which I replied one of the only words I know in Mandarin "bukeqi"… she laughed and started talking to me in Mandarin! Whoa….. I told her that my wife is Chinese, I'm Japanese….. she laughed and said, "oh, I thought you were Chinese, and you're wife is Filipino!" Happens all the time!

New Mandarin Canton Chinese Restaurant
543 Telegraph Canyon Road
Chula Vista, CA 91910

Saturday Stuffs: Lao New Year Festival, Yes Ed Hoai Hue Restaurant is still open.

April 2, 2011 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, Vietnamese Restaurants

Lao New Year Festival:

Good FOY, TammyC mentioned a couple of them to me, but due to my schedule I'm not able to attend. Another frequent reader Andrea asked me if I could mention the Lao American Coalition's Lao New Year Festival at the Buddhist Temple on Market Street on April 16th and 17th, as well as a Lao New Year gala at the Jacob Center. You can find more information here. Good luck Andrea!

Yes Ed, Hoai Hue Restaurant is still open:

I managed to grab a bite with Ed from Yuma on one of his all too infrequent visits. He mentioned that he believed that Hoai Hue Restaurant had closed, since he couldn't find the place. He ended up eating at Danang instead…. not a bad alternative. I asked Ed if he was looking for the old location. But he assured me that he was looking for the new location. So I drove by today….and Hoai Hue is still the Ed!

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

And I'm sure the place will be waiting for you on your next visit!

mmm-yoso! Shows some skin!

March 31, 2011 mmm-yoso Guatemalan Food, Hanoi, Peru, yoso-silly

You really didn't think, what I think you thought, right? That paints a pretty scary picture in my mind's eye……

Right after my post on Tri-Village, I received an email from "Dave" who asked me about…. well, basically skin, and where I've had the best dishes. The wording was quite interesting, and really cracked me up. So I thought I'd do this post as a companion to the mmm-yoso raw! post. Just for some fun…… After all, there are few things better than fried animal skin. What's interesting is that some of our favorite skin dishes aren't from anywhere here in the US. Even this one, from a future post…..

Wouldn't make the list…..

And in spite of what most folks think; this stuff:

From our banquet in Beijing was plain awesome…. but still didn't make my top three.

So without further ado, in no real order:

Fried Chicken Skin from Pollo Pinulito in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala:

Man, you gotta hand to the country that is home to Pollo Campero; they sure know how to fry chicken. And this little shop in the village of Santiago, on the shores of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala made some very good fried chicken skin.

I could smell the seasonings from outside the place. When we entered, that chicken skin, just out of the fryer was calling to me.

I actually carried that bag of chicken skin by boat from Santiago to San Pedro, and then on the next boat to Lomas de Tzununa, then up 400 steps from the muelle to our room. Was it worth it?

You bet……..

Hats off to the deep fried chicken skin in Thailand, but this had it beat by a mile.

Whenever the Missus and I talk about fried foods; this chicken skin from a humble little restaurant in Santiago Atitlan gives us "chicken skin".

Deep fried snake skin from Le Mat Village outside of Hanoi:

Even beyond the whole chugging down the cobra's beating heart…..

And drinking the snake bile and blood shots bit…….

One of the highlights of our Nine courses of snake in Le Mat was the deep fried snake skin, which we dipped in a really complex Nuoc Mam:

I'm not quite sure about meeting the snakes though. I think I'll pass on that next time, though that snake ruou was fantastic!

Cuy skin from dinner in Cusco:

I've probably mentioned our Cuy dinner in Cusco maybe a thousand times. But it is without a doubt, one of the most memorable meals we've ever had. And that skin on the Cuy, simply seasoned with olive oil, huacatay, and salt, was better than any lechon I've ever had.

And while we felt a bit uncomfortable meeting our dinner's siblings. It really didn't stop use from nibbling on those delicious crunchy toes and feet of the Cuy.

I know, I know…. I've shown waaaay too much skin today! But I hope you enjoyed the post. I hope I answered your question Dave!

Thanks for reading!

Road Trip: Tri-Village Northern Chinese Cuisine – Irvine (Orange County)

March 29, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Orange County, Road Trip

**** Tri Village has closed

After returning from Beijing, the Missus was craving some Beijing Kao Ya (北京烤鸭), aka Peking Duck. Unfortunately, we decided on a visit to Duck House, which was a big disappointment. The Missus had pretty much given up on getting a decent to good Peking Duck…. until She saw this post by Super-OC Food Blogger, and writer for the OC Weekly, Elmomonster. At that point in time, She just couldn't wait to visit Tri-Village. In fact, I took a day off so we could get some duck, and the Missus called ahead and ordered the Beijing Kao Ya. When we arrived at the mall on Jeffrey Road, and saw the restaurant, along with a Kohl's….across the I-5 from the plaza with 99 Ranch Market and such…. the Missus didn't quite know what to think.

She didn't feel much more confident after looking through the menu, and talking to the staff, and finding out that in spite of the name, like Duck House, this is a Taiwanese run kitchen. Great for Taiwanese food, but maybe not for Northern Chinese…… or Beijing Kao Ya.

The restaurant itself is pretty tiny, but very clean. The staff here is very nice and friendly.

On this day, most of the customers were speaking Mandarin; it was to the point that the two couples we saw eating sweet and sour chicken and chow mein really stood out. We then went with one of our favorite moves; we walked slowly to the restroom to check out what the other tables were eating……. and still wasn't convinced; many of the dishes, especially the Dan Bing looked really greasy….

Still the really nice woman brought out a serving tray, set it beside our table. The young man brought out the duck for us to inspect. It seemed a bit light in color, but it did glisten and looked decent. At least they brought out the duck for us. Due to the tight spaces, I really didn't expect a tableside carving…. they might've ended up skewering a patron…. not a good move if you want return customers.

Within a few minutes our carved duck made it's way across the tight dining area and to our table.

Along with the Dan Bing….. which looked a bit dry…..

But turned out to be pretty good, not quite as thin as Beijing, but these displayed a decent chew to them, and wasn't dry in the least.

One of the women stopped what she was doing and came to start assembling our duck. But seeing how busy she was, we told her that we'd be just fine doing this ourselves.

I picked a piece of skin and had a taste, and was surprised. The piece I'd picked had that light crisp richness and almost melted into fatty goodness on my tongue. And the best pieces were exactly that. The skin wasn't quite as flavorful as what we had in Beijing, neither was the meat; but it was miles above what we had a Duck House. And much better than any version we had in San Diego by far.

The sauce served with the duck seemed to be bottled stuff; but we weren't complaining in the least.

The Missus, still traumatized by the awful bean sprouts and duck meat dish at Duck House, decided to spend the extra $6.99 and get lettuce cups……. a big mistake.

Apparently, there wasn't a whole lot of meat left, and the chef decided to add some filler…… deep fried won ton skins! Say what? This was really bland; the Missus dumped almost the whole container of sauce on this in order to eat it. Maybe this time we should have stayed with the bean sprout stir-fry?

We had also ordered the bone soup, another $6.99. It looked really nice when it arrived, looking like a nice soup.

With mushrooms, napa cabbage, and bean thread this was pretty good. The Missus was disappointed that they didn't use frozen tofu for the soup; a real Northern Chinese thing, but we still enjoyed it. Since it came out rather quickly, we knew that the full potential of the soup hadn't been reached. Still, it had a mild wildness to it…. but instead of spending the extra seven bucks, maybe you'll do what the Missus does.

Overall, we really enjoyed the duck, and will be back. The price for the duck, a standard two ways (no soup) is $34.99. We really enjoyed the service, which was friendly, and efficient.

Tri-Village Northern Chinese Cuisine
14121 Jeffrey Road
Irvine, CA 92620

Mariscos Monday: Fish Mart – San Ysidro

March 28, 2011 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

Recently, one of my co-workers, "K" mentioned a mariscos place in San Ysidro that her husband really enjoys….they especially like the fish tacos there, which are priced at just 99 cents. A couple of weeks later, I found myself in the area, so I made sure to stop by Fish Mart, located right off Dairy Mart Road.

The place looks very bright and clean, and the young man manning the front of house was quite nice. From the posters and such, it seems like this place specializes in Pescado Zarandeado – whole grilled fish, but since I was solo, I thought I'd go with just some tacos.

Right after placing my order, a basket of chips and a mild salsa was delivered to my table. Fairly thick, but crisp this was a nice way to kill time and relax until my tacos arrived.

The first to arrive was the Tacos de Pescado (fish taco – 99 cents). It looked quite impressive, look at all that crema, pico de gallo, guacamole….. but where's the fish?

It's really hard to complain about a fish taco that costs a buck……. this was quite substantial, but the fish was kinda puny. I will say that when I pulled some of it out to have a taste, it was fine, crisp, light, mild tasting. But under the cabbage avalanche…… Still two of these would probably go pretty far with regards to filling you up.

After that taco, I expected my other two tacos, the Marlyn ($2.25) and Gobernador ($3) where going to be pretty hefty….. well, I was wrong.

These were pretty small, just compare to some other examples of the same type of tacos. These looked positively wimpy.

The better of the two was the Tacos de Marlyn – the smoked fish.

While waiting for my tacos, I asked the young man where his family was from; and was told Sinaloa, so I expected this to be much better than it was. Very mild, very underwhelming…..

The Gobernador was more skimpy……

Not much to say, other than it was also a bit greasy…….. the photo speaks for itself.

I was certain that I was missing out on something here, so I glanced over at the other two tables with customers… and they were all eating fish tacos! Perhaps Fish Mart has some wonderful specialty…. I'll let you tell me if this place is worth another visit…..

Fish Mart
2036 Dairy Mart Road
San Ysidro, CA 92173

Revisits: Alforon, Spicy House, Sultan Kebab, and Pho Hiep and Grill

March 27, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Lebanese Restaurants, Pho, Turkish Food

Just a couple of revisits for a slow moving Sunday……

Alforon:

Man, during my last couple of visits, business sure was slammin'. It's good to see this little mom-and-pop joint. On this visit, I just had a Chicken Tawook ($5.75), which arrived looking just plain delish.

And some garlic paste and pickles to go of course!

Alforon
5965 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

My previous posts on Alforon can be found here and here.

Spicy House:

A friend and I dropped by Spicy House for lunch recently.

We had the Pork Intestines with Preserved Vegetable. This was pretty good.

Except the slices of preserved vegetable were really cut too large. Decent flavoring, the intestines had a nice musty-funky flavor without going over the top.

We also had the Crispy Fried Eel with Peppers.

Unfortunately, this dish was a mere shadow of what I had before. Too salty, soggy, and very greasy. It seems that Spicy House has hit a plateau.

Spicy House
3860 Convoy Street #105
San Diego, CA 92111

My previous posts on Spicy House can be found here and here.

Sultan Kebab and Baklava:

I guess I've posted enough on Sultan already. But this is the Missus's latest favorite. We've been eating here quite often recently. So I'll just go with photos.

Sultan Kebab & Baklava
131 Jamacha Road
El Cajon, CA 92019

Pho Hiep and Grill – Linda Vista:

We never really had fog where I grew up, so it still has some fascination to me. On a recent foggy morning…..

I'm not sure when spring is going to start this year……. it's been pretty chilly. So, a bowl of Pho just seemed to be the perfect thing. I headed over to Pho Hiep and Grill for a bowl.

Maybe it was too early in the morning? The broth on this day was lighter than any I've had here before. The flavors just seemed diluted. The meat were fine, but I left somewhat unsatisfied……

Pho Hiep & Grill
6947 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Nanjing: The Snack Banquet

March 23, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Nanjing, Travel

We arrived in Nanjing after a relatively short two hour bus ride from Suzhou. I'd been told that "100 kilometers or two hours away from anywhere in China, in any province, the food will be different." It had been a two hour bus ride from Hangzhou to Suzhou, and the cuisine was quite different. Now, in Nanjing the capital of China during six dynasties, and along with Beijing, Xi'an (our next destination), and Luoyang, one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, I was curious to see if the cuisine would differ so much. It would be interesting to see since we were still within Jiangsu Province. We caught a cab from the bus station to our hotel, during which time the Missus struck up a conversation with the cab driver. Finding out he was born and raised in Nanjing, the first business at hand would be questions about what to eat. I had a couple things in mind, but still really didn't know too much about Nanjing style food. The cab driver went through a couple of things, made a recommendation of a place to eat, and more importantly, where not to eat and why.

We arrived at the hotel, settled in, rested my foot which was starting to look pretty bad for about a half hour, then set out on foot to the major shopping area around the Confucian Temple and Qinhuai river….. bustling and busy…..

The Missus hit the brakes right alongside one of the snack stands……

Pointed at one of the mounds…….

And told me, "we gotta get this!"

It was my first experience with Gua Wei Can Dou (Strange Flavor Broad Beans – 怪味蚕豆).

One bite, and I was hooked! We stopped by here two more times during the trip. This version was the best I had.

Near the Qinhua River, we found the place the cab driver had recommended.

Walked through the doors and entered the restaurant upstairs…..

And was seated at one of the long tables in the dining area….

So what was this place?

Well, I heard that Nanjing was famous for its snacks; and this was a restaurant specializing in "Snack Banquets". There were several multi-course banquets available ranging in price from relatively inexpensive (by US standards) to very expensive (also by US standards). We just went with the most simple banquet.

And then it started……. plates started arriving at a pretty incredible speed.

And they just kept coming…..

And coming…..

Much of it was rather unremarkable……

For instance, on this plate, the only item I enjoyed was the Nanjing Salted Duck, one of a handful of Nanjing specialities I knew of.

On the other hand, I found that I didn't care for another Nanjing specialty, Duck Blood soup.

Man, this was pretty hardcore; next to the "Everything Soup" from Huguosi Snack Bar in Beijing, this was probably the most difficult item I'd had to date. Strong offal flavor; very metallic, not my cup of tea.

Most of the other soups were pretty routine in flavor.

More dishes…..

It was fairly apparent that everything has to be prepared ahead of time…….

And some of it rather haphazardly, check out the stray rice on the wrapper of the zongzi…..

All the dumplings, bao, and like were served cold……

My favorite item, was this…….

Though I'm not a big fan of pork sung, I loved the texture of this….. that's when the Missus told me, "oh, it says they make this with duck lard"…. duh…..

The rest of the meal.

In the end, this was more about the experience then the food. We'd find the same thing again a bit later on during or trip.

We left the restaurant, with almost a half day ahead of us. But by that time; my foot was really killing, and as I hobbled back to the hotel, I knew it had to be addressed……

Stay tuned!

Waldos (formerly Woodies)

March 22, 2011 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs

*** Waldo's has closed

A couple of weeks back, I drove past the hot dog stand I've known as Woodies since we've been in the area, a good eight years or so, and was surprised to find it was now called "Waldos"… as in where's Waldo? Or who's Waldo? Or even why Waldo? Sign…. I guess there'll be no more "you want a woodie" jokes from me anymore…..

I stopped to check it out, and went to where the counter used to be, and found it had been closed off! Finally following the sign, I walked into the place….they'd moved the operation indoors, which made sense during the more chilly winters…..

I smelled an interesting story, so I quizzed the very friendly young man behind the counter… the smiles were a bit different from many of the folks I've found working (god help me, I almost wrote wanking) at Woodies over the years. I asked the young man what happened with Woodies? He told me that, the previous owner received a couple of letters from another shop called Woodies, I believe Connecticut, or something like that… and under the pressure of possible legal action, a name change occurred. The owner changed the name, then decided to sell the place. I was also told the food is still the same…. the dogs were still all beef, natural casing dogs. Since I was here, and it had been a while since I'd had a dog in San Diego, I decided to have a couple. For those used to Costco Dogs and the like, these are much different, smaller but with a good snap. This dog is based on the thin Coney Island dog ( and please don't mention Pink's or SoCal Nathan's, ok? Carney's was pretty good I recall), though it's not quite there with regards to flavor. On the bad, if you're hungry and go for two dogs, it'll cost you over six bucks….having recently returned from Chicago, I could probably get three dogs and some fries for this price.

I went with the Old Fashion Dog ($2.85):

The bun didn't seem steamed as it was cold, the dog had a decent snap, but lacked the beefiness of, say a good Vienna Beef dog. Decent overall….

I'd noticed that there were some other new items on the menu, especially something called the Atomic Dog ($3.15). This one was topped with a Chipotle Habanero Salsa.

The roll was again cold, the sauce was spicy, but not super spicy…mostly front of tongue heat that went away pretty quickly. It covered up whatever flavor the hot dog had. In my opinion, the the hot sauce really didn't add anything to the dog.

The Missus likes the chili from here, but for me it's more like a chili flavored gravy, then a decent chili dog chili. I'm guessing we'll be back here next time She has a craving, just to see if it still measures up (or down).

The dogs that Waldos serves up is pretty good, decent snap, but the flavor seems to be missing something. Still, it's a bit better than most alternatives in the area…. but all that comes at a price…..

Waldo's Chili Dogs
4250 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Farm Market and Sandwiches

March 21, 2011 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Markets & Grocers, Sandwiches

**** Farm Market & Sandwiches has closed

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Bale on Linda Vista was gone (again) , and in its place was Farm Sandwiches and Market. With a name like that, I almost expected a little mercado making tortas on the side. A bit confused I decided to drop by a couple of days later……

And noticed that not much had changed, except the name. The shop still made Banh Mi and the market side, though looking a bit worn was still trucking along.

Even the sandwich sign looked the same, as were the prices……. for some reason, I couldn't recollect seeing Bo Dao Phong (a peanut butter sandwich) on the menu before! (no kim chi peanut butter banh mi, though).

Since I was here, I decided to order a couple of sandwiches. This might have been my most unfortunate decision of the week. The guy in front of me started snickering when I placed my order. When I asked him what was up, he shook his head and told me he had ordered a dozen sandwiches, and was still waiting for them 25 minutes later. There was one woman who also placed an order for two sandwiches right before me. She was smart enough to leave and returned for her sandwiches later. The poor guy waited another 25 minutes for his sandwiches! Then it was my turn to be the poor guy……

Pacing the floor, I noticed how worn down this place is looking.

Half open containers, partially cut fruit, the place looked quite disheveled. Meanwhile, I looked and noticed that there were three people working on making sandwiches. The woman returned for her sandwiches, and still had to wait ten minutes. It really looked like the folks making the sandwiches were walking under-water…… another ten minutes, and my sandwiches were ready. Forty-five minutes for two sandwiches……

Carrying the bag to the car, I noticed how heavy these sandwiches were.

I started with the Dac Biet (House special combination – $3.50) first.

The bread (from Le Chef….. standing around so long, you couldn't help but pick up on things) for both sandwiches was severely under-toasted. Thus the always pleasing flaky-crusty texture was missing. The sandwich was stuffed with generous amounts of a very bland Cha Lua (defatted pork sausage) and a tough and bland BBQ Pork. The pickles were really cut thick and didn't have much flavor either. I won't even go into the very old and thick cilantro stems…..

I thought I would fair better with the Nem Chua ($3) Banh Mi. Nem Chua, a naturally fermented pork based sausage, is one of my favorite things.

In spite of having all of the sort-comings my other sandwich had, this was a tad better. There was quite a large portion of Nem Chua in the Banh Mi. Still, it was a lot milder than the sour-tangy-salty notes I love in my sour sausage.

I must admit, the folks looked to be trying real hard, but really seemed like they were not up to the task. I don't think I'll be rushing back for Banh Mi from here.

Farm Market and Sandwiches
6959 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA