mmm-yoso – Page 403

The Bun Bo Hue Dossier – Thien Thanh

August 22, 2006 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** Update Thien Thanh has since closed, you can find that post here.

In stark contrast to the hottest July I can remember, we’re having a pretty mild August. So in spite of the bad case of conjunctivitis(since resolved), and a nasty respiratory virus that needs to run its course(I sound like I’m trying out for a Barry White tribute band), soup’s on the menu.

Recently we made another trip to Thien Thanh. While the Missus stuck with Her usual Bun Cha Gio(Cold Noodles w/Egg Rolls), I decided to try out Ed from Yuma’s favorite bowl of Bun Bo Hue.

Though most items on the menu are more expensive than other Vietnamese restaurants in the area, there are several things which set Thien Thanh apart. One of which is how very bright and clean the restaurant is.

Another are the really fresh herbs and garnishes that are provided. So fresh, that they seem to have been picked right before your bowl of soup hits the table.

On this day, it seemed like the garnish plate was a bit on the skimpy side. But I understood why when my bowl of Bun Bo Hue hit the table (Large – $6.50):

A good amount of Rau Ram(Vietnamese Coriander), and Basil had already been torn up and sprinkled on top of the Bun Bo Hue. So with just a touch of Tiet To(Purple Perilla), and some mint, I went at it. The broth was quite interesting, spicy, yet the usual "fishy"(fermented shrimp paste) element was muted. I also noticed that the broth was on the sour side; I had the Missus confirm that there was a very distinct lime-citrus component(think Tom Yum) to the Bun Bo Hue. The noodles were the standard spaghetti-like vermicelli, provided in abundance.

Along with the standard Pig’s Feet and thick cut Beef, were a few slices of Gio Lua(Lean Pork Sausage). The fat on the beef were really tough, and the beef was dry. On the positive side, the pork hock had some flavorful meat on it, and not only the inner-tube like layer of skin.

Overall, I thought this was a very filling, decent bowl of Bun Bo Hue. Not the best I’ve had but pretty good.

Thien Thanh has quite an interesting menu. In the near future I’m hoping to make my way through the Bun Cha Hanoi(can you imagine how good those veggies will be!), Curry Lamb, Bun Mang Vit, and the Bun Mam. I don’t know, anyone interested in seeing posts about those? Or would you like me just to move on????

Thien Thanh Vietnamese Restaurant
4658 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Sun-Thurs 8am-9pm
Fri-Sat 8am-10pm

Silver Ark – Revisited

August 20, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum

*** Silver Ark has closed and is now Siam Nara Restauant

We first visited Silver Ark several weeks past, and arrived at the end of Dim Sum service, since I thought the service was quite good, and the food showed some promise; I used the photos from that visit as the "Guess the Dim Sum" post. So in order to see if the promise was fulfilled we arrived at 11am on a recent weekend morning.

The smaller than it looks dining area was about two-thirds full.

Because of space and staff limitations, there are only two carts circulating through the dining area at any given moment, though the Servers will take orders for specific dishes.

We started with the dish we found so promising on our previous visit. The porridge with pork and preserved egg:

And what we had thought about the really great bowl of Jook we had on our last visit was true. Though there was a very generous amount of preserved egg, and strips of pork, rather than ground pork, the porridge was not as rich and full of flavor. I guess having it simmer for several hours really made the difference. It was still pretty good.

The Wu Gok(Deep Fried Taro Balls):

These had way too much taro, and not enough pork, which threw the flavor off. Just okay.

Shrimp and Scallop Dumpling:

By far the best Dim Sum dish of the day. Lot's of shrimp flavor. The only downside was that the wrappers were too thick making the skin tough and dry.

The Stuffed Bean Curd Skin:

These were overcooked, the bean curd skin were tough, and almost crunchy in places. Terrible.

Shrimp and Chive Har Gow:

We both enjoyed the good chive flavor, and the shrimp was pretty good. These dumplings suffered from the same ailment as the Shrimp and Scallop dumpling, the wrappers were too thick and dry.

We had also ordered Cheong Fun with Dried Shrimp, and as our meal was ending it arrived.

This was a very strange dish. I don't know what the reason was for pan-frying the Cheong Fun was. Perhaps it was sitting around? But pan frying the Cheong Fun ruined the dish, the noodle had a crust, and the interior had melted and were molten. Pan frying had also changed the flavor, and not for the good. In addition a little dish of Hoisin was provided instead of the usual sweet soy. I dunno, but this ain't what I ordered.

Still the price was right. All this came out to $20. Not bad.

Here's a little postscipt. We were in the area again recently and dropped by for a recent late afternoon "snack".

We started with the Thousand Year Egg and Fish Fillet w/Cilantro soup($9.99):

The broth was was quite good and rich, though the soup was short on preserved egg, and the fish fillet were on the tough side. It felt like the fish was a bit on the older side.

With some apprehension I ordered a Half Roast Duck($9.99). I say some apprehension, because I had seen the ducks hanging in the take out area, and they looked a bit on the dry-scrawny side.

What we got was a quite generous serving of roast duck. And the first thing the Missus did was check under the duck. Restaurants sometimes use beans to "prop-up" the slices of duck, to make the serving look larger. Well no beans here. The duck was meaty and tender, and the skin a perfect crunchy lacquer. The meat was a bit short on flavor. But a dip into the "duck juice" on the plate(not the horrible sweet-sour duck sauce provided) corrected the flavor short coming. By no means the best roast duck I've ever had, but pretty good. I'd have it again.

In the end, our initial impression stands. Silver Ark, is a notch below the better Hong Kong style restaurants in San Diego. Still not a bad choice.

Silver Ark
8993 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Chinese Kitchen (Chi Tu Thanh Nha Hang) Part Deux…..

August 18, 2006 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

As I mentioned in my brief first part of my posts on Chinese Kitchen; I had finally found the restaurant after being given some general instructions…."On University, East of College" and a phone number.

Now had I not paid attention to the various dishes posted on the store front window, there is no way I'd have entered the little restaurant.

After checking out the very extensive listing of Chinese "take-out" dishes, I noticed the small menu on the South Wall.

And there it was, Bun Mang Vit. Mang is Bamboo Shoot, and Vit is Duck, so basically a Bamboo & Duck Noodle Soup. I walked up to the window (aka the hole-in-the-wall) and placed my order with the Young Man manning the window. After I ordered he started asking me questions in Vietnamese. At which point I had to say, "ummm, sorry, I don't speak Vietnamese." And He started laughing. Apparently I'd pronounced the dish well enough for Him to think I was Vietnamese. He was also quite shocked, first wondering how I found the restaurant(I told Him someone had recommended the place), and second if I knew what I was ordering. At which point I asked Him about some other items on the "other" Vietnamese menu with no prices.

I mentioned that I enjoyed Bun Mam and Bun Rieu. He told me that those items were only available for "catering" or large orders. Since I had nowhere to go, I had a seat at one of the 4 small tables in the restaurant.

And soon enough my Bun Mang Vit($5) arrived. First, the herbs, vegetables, and the sliced duck:

Included on this plate were shredded banana blossom, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and even Rau Ram(Vietnamese Coriander) which I don't recall seeing at too many other restaurants in San Diego. The sliced duck was very good, surprisingly good, soft and tender, and when dipped into the accompanying sauce, sort of a sweeter Nuoc Mam Cham with minced garlic and ginger, the duck was heavenly. I mentioned this to the Young Man who said, they get their poultry "very fresh"(I'll just leave it at that), and prepare the duck. Thus it is never frozen.

At this point my bowl of soup arrived.

It was brought out by the Young Man's Mother, who I'm assuming is the "Chef". She sat the bowl down, and started to explain to me what should be eaten with what, which I found to be very kind and sweet, She wanted me to get the maximum enjoyment out of the soup. And I'm sure She is very proud of what comes out of Her kitchen, as any cook would be.

The soup was a very light poultry broth, low in oil, and quite plain, cubes of blood were also provided(not my favorite thing in the world, but I didn't know they were included), The standard "Bun" vermicelli, and shredded pieces of reconstituted bamboo shoot, that added a "woodsy" flavor to the broth, and provided a crunchy counterpoint to the noodles. All in all quite a filling and satisfying meal.

A few days later I found myself in the area, and decided to grab something to take home. This time I decided on the Mien Mang Vit($5). The same large amount of veggies, and sliced duck were provided, along with the Mien(Bean Thread) in a separate container.

Here's a closer look at the Rau Ram(at the top of the photo) in case you've never seen Rau Ram before.

The soup was kept in a separate container, which I poured into a bowl when I got home, and placed in the microwave for 1 minute to heat up.

And while I inhaled the duck along with sauce(provided in a little container on the side), I placed the veggies and herbs in the broth. And ended up with this.

I thought that this time around, the broth was a bit darker, and richer in flavor. Also, because the dried bamboo shoot had further time to "steep" in the broth during the drive home, the broth had attained a more "Earthy" flavor. I enjoyed the Mien more than the Bun, though I thought the duck was not quite as good as on my previous visit.

Overall, an interesting Family Run Hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese/Chinese joint. I've been told the American-Chinese fast-food isn't bad, but I've got my eye on the Banh Canh Tom Cua for my next visit.

Some notes: Unless you're really familiar with the neighborhood, you'd probably want to visit during daylight hours. People have the bad habit of driving on the sidewalk here, I've seen it during both my visits. The restaurant may seem a bit on the shabby side, but they got an 'A' DOH rating. There is parking on the front of the restaurant, along with a few stalls on the side of the restaurant.

Chinese Kitchen
6160 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

619-286-8778

Open 10am – 10pm Daily(Or later…..as the Young Man said, "If we're busy we'll stay open as late as we need to")

Chinese Kitchen Part 1 – ?????

August 16, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Over the last year, I’ve gotten many really good recommendations. And a recent recommendation came from the Guys at Sandwich Emporium. The problem was no one could remember the name of the restaurant, so they called their Mom(when in doubt, call Mom). Just so happened, She didn’t remember the name of the restaurant either, but She had a phone number, and also the street, and some general directions. And so I ended up on University Avenue, in the gritty and slightly run down area East of College Avenue. And there was only one place that even matched the description. It was called Chinese Kitchen???? Say What!

As I parked and walked into the tiny shop, the menu gave me pause.

It was a listing of every single Cantonese Fast-Food dish ever created. A scary combination of Chop Suey, Chow Mein, and Kung Pao Chicken!

I had not come to this tiny hole-in-the-wall, and there is a literal hole-the-wall, for Chinese Fast Food.

So even though the Chinese Food was really inexpensive, darned cheap actually, would I find what I came for?

Stay tuned………..

Kim’s Korean BBQ

August 14, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Kim's has closed

Located in the Jumbo Strip mall, at the corner of Plaza Boulevard and Highland Avenue, next to a Hometown Buffet and Chuck E Cheese in National City….yep, National City, is Kim's Restaurant. A Korean BBQ in the most unlikely of all places.

I'd been in the area several times, but always thought the doorway to the restaurant seemed a bit uninviting.

But today, I took a walk down the dark hallway lined with a few doors, and past a "private" BBQ room, to the front desk, and met with a slightly surprised look. Perhaps I looked like a refugee from Chuck E Cheese's next door. After the surprised look faded, a smile appeared, and I was guided to a table, and brought a menu. The interior of the restaurant is fairly large, and really contrasted with the slightly run down exterior.

As I read through the menu, full of the usual suspects, BiBimBap, Dofu Jigae, and various meat both marinated and unmarinated for BBQ, I was told that a minimum of 2 orders of meat was required in order to use table top cooking. I really didn't feel like smelling like a piece of grilled meat myself, so I had no problem with not cooking my own. I placed my order, and proceeded to get hooked on the Korean Soap Opera playing on the plasma television.

I know it's cheesy, silly, and predictable, but I kept watching the show.

Soon enough my panchan arrived, 8 little dishes all told, along with a plate of sliced romaine, and thinly sliced radish.

The panchan was consistently unremarkable, and nothing stood out. The Baechu(Napa Cabbage), and Oi(Cucumber) Kimchi were very mild, and one dimensional, lacking any any sweet, slightly sour, fishy, or spicy flavor that would make it memorable. The same for the pieces of Gochu Pajun(green onion pancake), Namul(Ban Sprouts), Sliced Mushroom, etc. If I had to select one that was the best, it would be the spinach with garlic.

I had ordered the "full order" of Bulgogi($16.95). There is a "smaller" order of Bulgogi for $10.95 on the menu as well. And soon enough a large sizzling plate of Bulgogi was brought to my table. Along with the usual metal bowl of rice, and a small bowl of watered down Miso Soup(!).

Once the Bulgogi had settled, it was time to get to work with the greens and sliced radish.

Never having read the "manual" on eating in this manner; I was once shown the correct way to eat, by placing a small piece(s) of Bulgogi on my plate, place some of the greens on top, cover with the slice of radish, and ta-da!!!!

You got yourself some "insta-dumpling" action going on. I enjoyed the slightly pickled flavor of the crisp radish, the greens were drenched in a dressing that was way too sour, and covered with chili powder, the Bulgogi was very soft and tender, though coming up short in the flavor department. Still the Bulgogi was light years better than the version at another restaurant that I had eaten recently. After eating about 6 of these, I started on just the Bulgogi and Rice, and in the end had quite a bit to take home. Overall the Bulgogi and the Panchan were nothing to write home about, and gave me no reason to make the a trip out to National City in the future. If in the neighborhood during lunch, I may give one of those $5.99 lunch specials a try.

But then again, they must show that Korean Soap Opera every night, right??? Hmmmm……not that I'm hooked mind you; just an interested spectator.

The prices at Kim's BBQ, is about par with most Korean BBQ's. Galbi runs about $19-21, and most items range from $10.99 to $20. I thought the plates of panchan were on the small side, but there were 8 different types. The portion of Bulgogi was more than satisfactory. The service was adequate, and once the Young Lady realized that I wasn't a wayward Hometown Buffet customer she was very nice. I'd say the food is several notches below Seoul BBQ in flavor, but just as tender. And I don't think there are too many other Korean restaurants in the area. If you know of one, please let me know!

Kim's Restaurant
1141 Highland Ave
National City, CA 91950

Bud’s Louisiana Food Shoppe

August 13, 2006 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

*** Bud's has moved and is now Bud's Louisiana Cafe

Located on busy Kettner Boulevard, right next to that Little Italy landmark the Waterfront Bar(I'll save that for another day) resides Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe.

I've been to Bud's several times in the past, but recently, it occurred to me that the Missus had never eaten at Bud's, so we had to make sure to correct that oversight.

Bud's is a tiny, well lit, and clean little restaurant, and serves up some really good Cajun and Creole food.

We arrived right at 5pm and were seated immediately. I knew exactly what I wanted to start out with. The Jalapeno Cornbread Muffin(.50/ea):

Don't know what it is, well…..that's incorrect, I know exactly what I enjoy about these muffins; they aren't too sweet, have a nice, but not too overpowering butter flavor with whole kernels of sweet corn in them. Also, I love the added "zing" provided by the minced pieces of Jalapeno, that give the muffins a bit of an "edge". The Missus thought that he muffins weren't "grainy" enough, and too "oily", but I bought four more to go.

We started out with what I usually order when I'm at Bud's; the Fried Oyster Po' Boy($8.95). We split the sandwich and thought of it as our appetizer. Here's my half:

In what was a very astute strategic move by the kitchen crew, the Missus's half had twice the amount of oysters than mine. We both enjoyed the crunchy, gritty cornmeal coating, and the briney, oceany(fresh), oysters. The Jalapeno "Tartar" Sauce, was closer to a mildly spicy aioli, which balanced out the flavor of the Oysters instead of over-powering the Po' Boy.

The Missus ordered "A Taste of New Orleans"($15.95), which is a Catfish Filet over a bed of Crawfish Etoufee, and some rice:

One taste, and you'll know what makes this rich, velvety Etoufee work; it's the sweet Crawfish meat, nice balanced seasonings, neither too spicy, nor too meek, and most of all butta'! All started with a dark roux. Rich, yet so good. The Catfish was coated with a cornmeal batter, and was nice and moist, without a hint of muddiness.

The only thing that threw the Missus, was the "Converted" Rice, which I explained to Her is perfectly normal for the region.

I have always enjoyed the Gumbo at Bud's, and strangely enough, the Red Beans and Rice. I'm not a big fan of Red Beans and Rice, but the slightly smokey-sweet-rich flavor of Bud's version is my favorite. Since I had not had the Cajun Jambalaya at Bud's, but didn't want to give up my Gumbo, nor the Red Beans and Rice, I ordered the Cupa-Cupa-Cupa($11.95):

After tasting the Jambalaya, I told myself that I should have ordered the Fried Shrimp Po' Boy($7.95), with a cup of Red Beans and Rice($1.50) and a cup of Gumbo($4.95). The flavor of the Jambalaya was underwhelming, the rice dry, the bell peppers and celery undercooked. Even dumping several spoons of hot sauce on the Jambalaya really didn't help.

But as disappointed as I was with the Jambalaya, the rich smokey, and slightly spicy Gumbo, and the Red Beans and Rice came through to save the day.

In spite of the parking battleground that is Little Italy, Bud's is worth a try. The portions may seem on the small end, but the food is deceivingly rich. The food is also not overly spicy, but Hot sauce is provided should you need it; we believe you won't. Service has always been excellent and friendly, without being cloying. You can always get the food to go as well, but the fried stuff won't hold up for very long, so you might as well just have a seat, and have (More then) a few muffins.

Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe
2034 Kettner Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92101

Hours – Tues-Sat Lunch 11am-3pm
Dinner 5pm-9pm

Sorry….

August 11, 2006 mmm-yoso Blog

I’m having intermittent "Internet Issues" so my comments and posts have been delayed a bit. Thanks for your patience!

Guess the Restaurant…..it’s Zarlito’s

August 9, 2006 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants

The Missus hasn’t been feeling real well, and all those cravings have kicked in, so we went out and had a bunch of food, and a took a bunch of photos. Since I received a few Emails asking for another "guess it" contest, I thought I’d do it again.

So here goes. In this case you can either guess the restaurant or name the 7 dishes – I’ll name the eighth for you. If you name both the restaurant and the dishes I’ll send you an Espresso drink coupon from Peet’s. But remember, take the chance and you’ve got to get both correct. Or you can either name all 8 dishes, or the restaurant, and I’ll send you a cup of Peet’s. First seven correct Email answers win!

Personally, I think this one is too easy.

Here are the dishes

1: Kare Kare($6.50) – We both found the Kare Kare broth to be very mild, and somewhat underwhelming. There were 4 large pieces of oxtail, which were soft and flavorful, along with the eggplant. In what we found was a recurring theme, Zarlitos goes for the "meat-lover" in all of us, to make up for flavor short comings.

2: Nilagang Baka($6.50).

The broth was very light and mild in flavor. The Missus corrected the flavor with a healthy dose of Bagoong Alamang(shrimp paste). As with the Kare Kare, there was meat in abundance, though the beef was on the dry and tough side.

3: Sinigang Sinampalukan(Chicken, not Baboy – $6.50). Though not "sour" enough for the Missus, She still enjoyed the broth. This version was made with Chicken Drumettes and Wings, quite a few of them(I ate them all), and I really thought they tasted pretty good.

4: Pancit Palabok($6.20). Really bad, bland, oily, with under cooked noodles.

5: Whole Crispy Pata($15.00)

Personally, I though this Crispy Pata(boiled in seasonings, than deep fried Pork Leg) was superior to the version at Villa Manila. The skin of the Pata had a perfect crunch, with the wonderful pork flavor coming through. I could have done with more "gelatin", but man it was good. The Missus thought the flavoring of the meat was weak. My response? "Meat? What meat?"(I could only eat about 4 bites before Pata-guilt took over) Frankie loved the remains of the Pata, and even took it to bed with Him……

6: Lechon Kawali($6.50) Nice portion size, but the lechon had been sitting for a while and had lost much of the crunch. Though not very oily, we both thought the flavor to be on the weak side. Still quite a bit of lechon, here.

7: Daing Bangus($6.50). The Missus loves a good boneless Daing, and enjoyed this large piece.

8: Here’s the "freebie"…he-he-he, it’s Rice, of course!

At Zarlitos, you pretty much get what you pay for. Most dishes are under $7(taxes already added in), and there’s quite a bit of meat in most of the soups. Of course, there’s that Pata……

Of course the restaurant is in San Diego.

I’ll return with the prices of the dishes, as well as our impressions tomorrow.

As usual 1 winner per IP address. This one is easy, don’t give away the answers. You can either gamble and try to name all 7 dishes(you don’t have to be "perfect") and the restaurant. Or just name either the 7 dishes OR the restaurant.

The restaurant is…….

Yes, Zarlitos Family Restaurant in National City.

Zarlitos Family Restaurant
505 East 8th St.
National City, CA 91950

Congrats to Ed who guessed Zarlitos correctly, and Denny who got all the dishes, especially the Sinigang Sinampalukan.

168 Restaurant

August 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

*** 168 Restaurant has closed

168 Restaurant, located in the shadow of the 99 Ranch Market sign, is a popular and inexpensive Taiwanese restaurant in the area.

The bare bones atmosphere, and "sticky" tables, along with the faint smell of vinegar in the air take me back to many of the Chinese "coffee shops" in the San Gabriel Valley. 168 specializes in homestyle Chinese and Taiwanese "grub" at very reasonable prices. Forget about atmosphere though, it doesn't exist at 168. We also ate with our "elbows up" and off of the sticky-tacky tables.

Many of the people during our visits were eating Fried Rice, Noodle Soup, or some other noodle dish.

We decided to try some menu items that we hadn't ordered before. Starting with the Smoked Chicken($3.75):

I really enjoyed this cold chicken dish, it had a mild smokey flavor, the meat had a slightly "cured" texture, and though it teetered on the edge of being too salty it was very satisfying on this very hot day.

Pan Fried Egg with Dried Radish($4.25):

This homestyle omelet had strips of dried radish in it. It is really nothing different from what I make at home. The eggs were very salty, though the radish added a nice crunch to the dish

Glutinous Rice in Bowl($3.25):

I enjoyed the gooey glutinous rice that surrounded a "filling" of chunks of pork and dried radish. Here's a look:

Slightly sweet, slightly salty, with a sauce with hints of……well, as the Missus put's it, "It's Five-Spice, okay, F-I-V-E Spice. None of this hints of anise stuff, it tastes like five spice". Okay??? This was not bad, I'd have it again.

I really don't know why I ordered the Xiao Long Bao($5.75), big mistake:

Really big mistake, the wrappers were a bit freezer burnt, and only two or three of the dumplings actually had "soup" in them.

A few weeks later, we found ourselves at 168 again. And in keeping with our previous meal, we decided to try items we'd never had here before.

Since we enjoyed the cold Smoked Chicken on our previous visit, we ordered the Wined Chicken($3.75):

The chicken tasted much better than it looked. The flavor of the chicken was neither too strong, nor totally bland like the version at Mei Long Village. The texture of the chicken was slightly dense and cured, with a slight salty-winey flavor. Not as strong in flavor as the version at Shanghai City, but still quite good.

Of course some Stinky Tofu(Cho Dofu – $5.25):

The Missus has a basic "rule" when it comes to Cho Dofu. If I can smell it, than eat it, it's probably not good. The usual foul, what I call a dark-deep-damp-acrid odor of decomposition was very tame and mild. In addition, the sauce was very mild and weak. I had 3 pieces of the Cho Dofu, which really tasted like fried tofu, with a slight acrid odor. So this brined than fermented tofu dish was not very good.

Goose Meat w/Bean Thread($5.25):

A light clear poultry based broth, had a nice quantity of slightly chewy bean thread. The broth was mild, and the julienned ginger added a very nice clean flavor to what would be a fairly weak soup. The "Goose Meat" tasted strangely like Duck Leg, it just wasn't as rich and gamey as goose is. We thought this was just okay.

Oyster w/"Thin Noodles" Soup($4.75):

This thickened soup was a strange mish-mash of conflicting flavors, and the lack of decent quality ingredients didn't help it in the least. I really like the slightly gooey soup, it had a nice assertive vinegar and white pepper flavor. The Missus thought it was too sour. I really enjoyed the chewy brown wheat based thin Taiwanese style noodles. There were 2 items that ruined the dish. First, the Oysters tasted very bad, like they had been starting to "break-down" with a fishy-bitter flavor. I fished all of them out of the bowl, no sense in spending the night sleeping the bathroom, if you know what I mean. The bamboo shoots had a metallic-sour flavor to them. I'm pretty sure that the bamboo shoots were old, and that when they were removed from the can, the shoots were not drained or rinsed. Too bad, I thought this soup had potential.

The menu at 168 is quite extensive, with everything from Squid Potage and 3 Cup Chicken(posted on he wall) to Fried Rice and Kung Pao Chicken. What 168 does best are Chinese Coffee shop and snack dishes. And those are still a "mixed bag" and quite inconsistent. The service is basic Chinese restaurant in style and quality, you usually need to ask for anything you need. Of course being open till almost midnight is a big plus.

168 Restaurant
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Open 11am-1130pm Daily

Pho T Cali

August 6, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** An updated post on Pho T Cali can be found here.

*** Pho T Cali has closed

One thing I really enjoy about doing this food blog are the emails, most of the emails I receive are very nice, kind, fun, interesting, and sometimes quite entertaining. Of course I get my share of Spam, Shills, and other unsavory Emails; but I'd say 90% of them are at least fun. A recent email surely belonged in the "entertaining" category. Someone named "Pho-grrrl" sent me an email, that was really a single run-on sentence…."Hey, you have to eat at Pho T Cali, it's the best! Pho T Cali rocks!!! They make the best Pho, SO YOU HAVE TO GO THERE SOON! Pho T Cali ROCKS, woo-hoo!" For some reason, I started laughing, I was feeling a bit under the weather, but this email still cracked me up. I knew right away that this wasn't a "shill" message. I mean, I've only seen 1 Woman working at Pho T Cali, who I really wouldn't think of being a Grrrl, nor could I imagine Her using the term "rocks", nor ending a sentence with "woo-hoo".

But, since Pho-grrrl brightened my day, and since I was feeling a bit under the weather, and a bowl of Pho would be a nice tonic, I drove over to Pho T Cali.

Pho T Cali was formerly known as Pho Hoa Cali, and as far as I could tell the menu and staff are basically the same. The food had changed slightly, and the prices had gone up a bit since the change. I've always found the food at Pho T Cali to be quite middle of the road, in fact, I had considered doing Pho T Cali instead of Phuong Trang for my retrospective, as the example of MOR(Middle of the Road) Pho. Being MOR has it's benefits, Pho T Cali is very popular with a wide range of people.

Today I chose the Pho Dac Biet Xe Lua(Special – Extra Large bowl – $5.50). The garnishes are the basic basil-bean sprouts-jalapeno-lime quartet.

The very large bowl of Pho arrived soon after:

In keeping with the MOR theme, the broth was on the lighter side, with a very mild beef flavor, though a tad on the salty side. There was no outstanding flavor element, and the oil level was low. That is not to say it was bland, the green onions, onions, and all of the garnishes(including the jalapenos) gave the broth life. The portion of thinly sliced rare beef was pretty good, not tough at all, but a bit on the dry side. The brisket and flank were very tasty, though a bit on the fatty side. In keeping with safe theme, the portion of tripe was really small, and tendon was nearly non-existent.

There was a humongous clump of noodles at the bottom of the bowl.

The noodles weren't cooked enough and were tough, but they are usually fine. Overall, the Pho was as expected.

Don't get me wrong, Pho T Cali has the formula down, decent food, good prices, and is fairly consistent. When people ask me about trying Pho for the first time, I sometimes recommend Pho T Cali. The service is efficient, and the "appetizer sin", where the Pho, or other main course arrives before the Cha Gio or Goi Cuon has never happened to me here. Most of the dishes(except for the Bun Bo Hue, which is lousy), are done fairly well. Here's to you Pho-grrrl. Woo-Hoo! Or maybe Hoo-Woo…….

Pho T Cali
7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Hours – Sun-Thurs 830am-9pm
Fri-Sat 830am-930pm