In my revisit post for Ju Feng Yuan, I mentioned my current favorite popcorn chicken was from Soup du Jour. Now, I honestly thought I had posted on the place. But as I looked to create a link for the post, I discovered I had not! WTH??? So, I set out to correct that mistake. And went searching for photos and than did a couple of revisits.
I came across the place after returning from Taiwan in 2023. I was looking for some Taiwanese food and along with the usual, not-so-good suspects, Soup du Jour appeared. So, I decided to head on over. Soup du Jour was a very odd name and the location is in the Corsair Apartment complex on Aero Drive.
Looks familiar? Well, this was the former location of Carve Modern Deli & Beer on Aero Drive. Way back when, my office was located on Aero Drive, this place would have been in walking distance!
Parking is fairly limited and the restaurant’s interior looks basically the same, if a bit more packed with “stuffs”.
Anyway, when I first started visiting, I tried a whole of items from the very “diverse” menu. This is what it looked like back then.
Everything from Rotiserie Chicken to Congee to Ribeye Steak to Youtiao to ????
And I tried a whole bunch of stuff that, well…to put it honestly I didn’t care for. Like the Lu Rou Fan….the photo of which I couldn’t find! But here’s a few other one and dones….
The Daikon Soup….
The Asian “Meatball” Soup.
I was going to basically give up, but decided to do one more visit….because the owner, whose name was Claire was so nice!
And she was from Chiayi, one of our favorite little cities in Taiwan. We chatted about Taiwan while waiting for my food to go, so I finally asked her for some recommendations and she told me to try the Street Chicken, which she said was Taiwan style Popcorn Chicken and the Honey Glazed Spareribs, both of which were winnahs!
These are photos from several takeout meals I ordered that were supposed to be part of that non-existent post.
Loved the legit fried basil…which seemed to be missing in this box; but was actually underneath the chicken.
And the spareibs, were nice, looked tough, but quite moist with a touch of sweetness, smokiness, and Asian touches in flavor.
Though I’ve never been able to resign myself to those roasted veggies……
And so, I thought I did my post???? I did do some additional visits; the Missus also enjoys the chicken and ribs.
And then we got JJ. I recalled that Soup du Jour had a nice patio area, so I took JJ over for lunch!
By this time, I noticed that the menu had changed and also instead of Claire, a young guy and lady were running the place. The menu had also expanded.
And I saw Jiaozi on the menu, plus I’d always wanted to try the Salt & Pepper Wings ($14) to go with my Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($13.99).
The jiaozi was a non-starter; the wrapper was really think and very chewy. The sauce had a weird sweetness to it.
The filling was a coarse cut; something I prefer to overly minced fillings, but this was also a bit on the chewy side; though the flavor, porky-sesame wasn’t too bad if a bit mild.
As for the chicken wings; the were seven in an order. I had them put it into a take out box for me in case I couldn’t finish.
Like the jiaozi; this didn’t quite hit the spot. I like a nice garlic topping, but this was burnt and bitter. The batter was uneven and soggy. Decent saltiness with a hint of pepper and spice, but nothing special.
The flesh was fine, a bit overcooked. All in all, this could have come from Panda Express…..
And then I did the JFY post and realized I missed the boat on doing a SdJ one! Unless maybe I did actually do a post…..which took place in another dimension? Anyway, the Missus was wanting the Street Chicken, which was now $15. So I did a takeout order.
This travels well. The batter is more on the crunchy side. The Missus is especially fond of the white pepper tones, five spice, saltiness, and that fried basil. It heats up well in the air fryer too.
Pretty moist, decent toothsomeness, also hints of other pungent spices, with a very mild hint of sweetness. It is by far our favorite version in San Diego. You hear that Bopomofo? Though I still need to check some other places. Let me know if you have a recommendation!
Deciding that I needed to at least try those Honey Glazed Spareribs again, I drove over for lunch with JJ.
Now priced at $17.50, you also add brown rice for 50 cents more; which is what I did. Good nuttiness from the brown rice which wasn’t overly chewy.
I’m still not the biggest fan of the roasted veggies that come with this as it just seems out of place.
Still, I was here for the ribs, which were moist, falling off the bone, and had a nice sweet-savory flavor, with a hint of smokiness.
The Missus actually enjoys these as leftovers. She enjoys the flavor and prefers it much firmer. It was good to know that it was still a dish we enjoyed.
Though I did not see Claire on this visit either; so I asked the young lady working and was told that Claire had sold the business to them a while back! Bummer; I hope she’s doing well! I always enjoyed chatting with her. I was happy to note that the dishes we enjoyed were still good.
And so, I was finally ready for a post, right? Well, I was until I saw this sign posted.
Well, I guess I needed to make one more visit…..
I’m guessing the new ownership are adding items to the menu. It’s good to see that.
The Hainan Chicken Rice was just $13.99.
I ignored the sweet-soy dressing and stayed with what I’m used to with this dish.
First off; I did not like the rice which was super dry and hard.
In spite of the color; it lacked that rich chicken flavor I expect in the rice with this dish.
The chicken itself was not bad. Quite moist, but very mild in poultry-ness.
The typical sauce, lacked scallions, had a bit too much garlic for my taste, and was starting to discolor.
I also think it needed a bit more oil for texture.
Not a terrible Hainan Chicken Rice, especially for the price, but I know I can get much better here.
Still, I know I’ll be returning when the Missus wants Her fix…..
So here you go…..finally got this done. Soup du Jour….what’s in a name???
Soup du Jour
8583 Aero Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday
This was really not to my liking. The crust of the pizza was rubbery and soggy, the edges quite chewy. I don't think it had been baked long enough. It did look nice and I thought the amount of cheese was good, but in spite of the curry, I thought this a bit bland overall. The curry itself was quite thick and had some spice; but for some reason the flavor just seemed to vanish in the entire package.
Well, I wasn't too inspired by the whitish color. Was not a fan of the way too soft coating which lacked crispness, something that I like in my karaage.
As for the Sisig slice……well, this was fairly bland, even with the slices of serrano chilies; it really lacked the tangy-sour-porky flavors that make 
The katsu was really crisp, perfectly fried….I think I'm going to ask Rob the next time I see him, what kind of panko he uses. The chicken was moist, nicely seasoned without being overly salty, though I think it could be a bit more tender. 
There was a good amount of decently cooked rice. I could have done without the "wasabi aioli" and the overly sweet unagi sauce. I guess I just wanted some good shoyu poke? The fish danced close to the edge of being over-sauced, but avoided falling off that cliff. I did enjoy the creaminess of the avocado and the mild sour-spice of the cucumber.
 
 First off, I actually thought the basic “wagyu” (heavy on the quotes) beef, while rather scarce was cut thinner, thus seemingly more tender. I liked the thin slices of oyster mushroom, which added a nice sweet-earthiness to the plate. To me, that egg is a must.
 
 Which smelled heavenly. It came with a bowl of broth that had decent cilantro – white pepper tones, but was quite salty. And the dipping sauce, which did have a bit of spice was not my favorite as I prefer the Hainanese style white, ginger-garlic, pungent style sauce.
 
 As for the chicken; well it was deboned, making it easy to eat, while being very moist and tender. It was a bit on the milder side in terms of flavor though. Again, if I had that ginger-garlic based sauce, I’d have been really happy. I ended up making sure I had some “chicken soul stealing” rice and chicken in each bite.
This came with two poached eggs….I would have preferred sunny side up with nice crisp edges; but the eggs were fine, with the yolks still runny.
Well, this was a miss in my book. The "dumplings" seemed like fried frozen chicken gyoza you'd get at the market. Cardboardish wrappers, salty – chewy filling.
To me; the best part of this dish was the consomme, not because it had the complex, beefy-savory tones of a good consomme; but because it at least had some decent flavor. Though, it really tasted like "San Diego sweet" pho broth with some birria and beef flavoring. Perhaps this is what the "Birria Pho" on the menu tastes like?
The broth had an abundance of cilantro and scallions which was good. It was very clear, though not seriously defatted. It did lack a definite beefiness and the anise tones I enjoy. As is typical of much of the pho in San Diego, it had that somewhat sweet background to it, in addition to being a bit too salty.
This was comprised of five pieces; two huge drumettes, and three "flats". The seasoning was quite good, some spice, perhaps a bit too much MSG, but I enjoyed it.
Not to belabor the statement; but the color is totally different! As for the dish itself? Well, the sauce/stew was super thick; way too thick, lacking in the nice smooth creaminess of kare kare. Coconut milk had been added and this was overly sweet for my taste. Think of getting a jar of peanut butter and throwing in some coconut milk…..this lacked a satisfying savoriness for me.
