A few months past, I was driving down Linda Vista Road and noticed that Taco Bomb had closed and was being replaced by a Thai Restaurant named Tid Din. While doing a search, I found the place’s website here it stated:
And looking over the menu….even though it listed mainly English names; it stated Spicy Larb, Grilled Marinated Beef – I’m thinking Nam Tok, sticky rice, etc…. Needless to say; I was a bit excited about the place. I mentioned it to Adam who is one of JJ’s favorite “Uncles” at BHT who lives close by in Linda Vista. And wouldn’t you know, last week he texted me and said the place had opened!
So, when I had a moment, I headed on over.
I’m guessing word hasn’t gotten out yet, since I was able to get parking in the small parking lot. And I walked on in.
The young lady working was so sweet and friendly. I then looked up at the menu…….
And thought “what the heck”?
Make it a burrito? Edamame? No larb, no sticky rice…. This looked like a pseudo food court, fast foodish menu. With four different mains. Still, it said “On the grill” which had things like a good Mu Ping on my mind. It seemed weird that a “rice bowl” was an additional $5.50, but a side of Jasmine Rice was $3. I decided on two proteins; the grilled pork ($9) and grilled sliced beef ($12), with a side of Jasmine Rice ($3), medium spicy; with Tamarind and Thai Chili Fish Sauce.
It was a nice day and I had a seat on the patio until my name was called.
The nice young lady actually brought out my package…..I had gotten it packed to go since I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish things. A fork and napkins had also been packed.
I opened things up….and was disappointed.
The meat hardly had any caramelization.
The portion of rice was generous and while a bit on the harder-chewy side was fine except for one thing I noticed right off. Take a look.
There were several “streaks” of what looked like drippings or sauce or…..skid marks???? I removed all those areas.
Also of note; I ordered the meat medium spicy; but these were not. I can forgive that; since it’s a soft opening.
The beef was simply stir fried.
The beef was the typical 10up – 12up, typically used for bulgogi and such. It wasn’t marinated enough and quite bland and on the chewier side.
It lacked hints of sweetness or herbaceous, savory pungency and was basically like something drenched in soy sauce. Just salty.
While the pork was drier and chewier; it at least had some porkiness.
Still, like the beef, the overall flavor was one-dimensional. But I did prefer this to the beef as it did seem to be grilled. But it was definitely not Mu Ping.
The sauces were “interesting” as well. The Thai Chili Fish Sauce was just that….straight up fish sauce with some chilies. The proteins were salty enough.
The tamarind sauce tasted like a bottled brand…..but at least had some fruity sweetness which helped things along.
To say I was disappointed….well yes…I fully didn’t expect Pok Pok, but just decent Thai street food and got what to me, was low level shopping mall food court stuff. A bummer, because that young lady was so nice. Still, with USD near by, this place might do well….you know; like “Thai-potle”? You can now get your Thai chicken burrito and all that.
I’m hoping that the menu and food improves. And with folks like “FOYs” Denver and Junichi nearby; I’m sure they’ll keep me in the loop!
Tid Din
6725 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm
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.
 The portion of rice was quite large there was corn and edamame scattered about the hot plate. The beef, supposedly four ounces was topped with a small scoop of butter, which I thought wasn’t necessary.
This was interesting. The katsu had been sliced lengthwise and were as long as my fork. Rather unwieldy to eat.
The katsu sauce was very "local", being ketchup based, tangy and perhaps on the sweeter side of the scale. The mac salad was quite "local" tasting as well, having a touch of vinegar and some shredded carrots. The macaroni was nicely cooked, but unevenly coated. This was probably my favorite item on the plate.
One big minus was no mac salad, which I kinda liked on my previous visit. One big plus; they have Tabasco! Tabasco sauce has been the condiment I've used for loco mocos since small kid time!
 
 The bread was very crusty…it was indeed quite fresh, though it didn’t hold up real well because there was a bit too much mayo. The menu said the banh mi has pate in it; but I could not find, nor taste any. There was a good amount of pork, in chunks, fairly chewy, but decently savory-sweet-salty.
 I had noticed that it was toasted, which was a clue that the folks here weren’t using Shokupan, the classic Japanese Milk Bread; a must for a egg salad sando, which this was definitely not. I missed the light, fluffy texture and the slight sweetness that the proper bread brings to the sando.
This was a bit different than what we'd had before. The baechu kimchi didn't taster fermented this time around; though the Eomuk Bokkeum, the fishcake panchan had a bit of spice and sour tones and was much better. The heukmi bap was on the mushy side.
The cayenne did bring some decent heat to the dish, but I also did the "typical" loco moco move…..I added a touch of Tabasco; the acidity-spice bumped things up even more. Old "loco" habits die hard I guess?
The hamburger patty was quite lean and chewy, but the beefiness did come thru and completed the dish well.
