Recently, the Missus wanted Her Cheesecake fix from Her favorite place. So, I drove on down to National City. Upon arriving at the normally chaotic Bay Plaza off Plaza Boulevard I was shocked at how much parking was available. Then I quickly noticed that both Big Lots and Joann Fabrics had closed down!
Since I made the drive down; I decided to grab some lunch. Of course Golden Chopsticks was calling to me, or even Porky's Lechon.
But then I saw this place.
Looked fairly new. I don't recall seeing it before? So, I decided to check it out.
Hmmm….though the name made it seem like a Vietnamese Restaurant; there's a poster of Pad Thai in the window.
The interior is quite lovely and bright.
And even though there was a short wait to be seen and seated; the young lady working was so sweet.
And even though the set-up looked fairly routine…..
But the menu is a whole 'nother story. Yes there's pho….but there's also Birria, Ceviche, the afore mentioned Pad Thai, "Shaken" Saltado (I'm assuming something like Bo Luc Lac), Mushroom Rice, and even a version of Kare Kare? So, I decided to order something "fusiony" and something more in line with Vietnamese cuisine…….like some pho.
As for that Anthony Bourdain Pho; well, I'd heard of a place in Irvine, that makes a bowl of pho inspired by Anthony Bourdain…and it seems like this is a copy? Sup Noodle Bar also makes a version of Lomo Saltado…so I'm thinking….. Anyway, I wasn't ordering that. I'm still haunted by the Missus coincidentally ordering what Bourdain ate for his last meal at Wistub de la Petite Venise in Colmar and hearing about folks wanting to see where he committed suicide in Kaysersberg when we visited the Alsace in the winter of 2018.
For my "fusiony" dish; I decided on trying the Spicy Birria Dumplings ($14).
Which came with some consomme.
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.
The birria was mild in terms of complex beefy-smoky-spicy tones (in spite of being warned that it was "spicy" by the nice young lady), it was stringy and chewy. Just not good eats.
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?
I also ordered the Combo Pho ($17.25), which was noted to be the "Chef Choice" on the menu. First out was the rather sparse plate of sprouts, basil, lime, and jalapeno.
I anticipated a rather small portion of these; but the basil was also starting to turn black as well.
As for the pho…..
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.
There was an abundance of protein; with the pleasantly crunchy tripe taking first prize and the slightly beefy and somewhat tender flank taking a close second.
The noodles were severely overcooked and in a large mushy mass at the bottom of the bowl.
A fairly mediocre bowl of pho….though perhaps my good friend Xiāngjiāo, who dined here the day after this visit said about the pho; "well it's edible….."
And so, in this day and age with the high prices, if it was just a mediocre meal; I would have let it pass and not done another visit. But this was less than that and I felt bad. So, with the Missus in need of another cheesecake, I headed back down to Bay Plaza. And yes, I decided to do another visit.
This time; I wanted to try the wings; and the nice young lady working this lunch time recommended the Kare Curry.
So, I got things started with the Fried Chicken Wings ($13); I picked the Salt and Pepper version.
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.
The flats were tender and moist; but because of the large size; the drummettes were tough and dry.
On another note; the wings were coated with a lacquer style, crisp batter. Two of the pieces were crisp and light; one had all the coating falling off, and as you notice in the comparison shot below; two of the pieces were not fried enough and the batter was soft and soggy. Still, this was the best item I had during my two visits.
The nice young lady recommended that I get the pork belly with the Kare Curry ($21), which arrived with a bowl of rice.
Looking at the dish; something Xiāngjiāo said quickly came to mind. She had visited with her family and ordered a variety of dishes. She noted that none of the dishes ordered even vaguely resembled the photos in the menu. I actually took a look at the menu and that typical "photos are for reference only" was not to be seen. Anyway, this difference was quite obvious with the Kare Curry.
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 rice was on the dry side, but fine.
The bok choy and the green beans were decently stir fried; but the eggplant was undercooked for my taste.
And finally, the pork belly…sigh. The slices of pork belly were fried before putting in the dish and even though the pork flavor came thru nicely were tough and rubbery.
Well, what to say….perhaps to paraphrase Xiāngjiāo, "well, it's edible…" But after spending nearly $90 for two lunches, well…..at least the service was very nice and friendly. And I am actually glad to have given the place two tries.
Chào XO
1420 E Plaza Blvd.
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Thurs – Tues 11am – 8pm
Closed on Wednesday
This was quite the bowl! There was shimeji mushroom, quail eggs, fish balls (not my favorite thing), some ground pork, a couple of slices of char siu-ish pork, fairly tender shrimp (not deveined), and two, really tasty fried crab.
The skin hadn't been fried crisp and were rubbery. The "tomyum" was a a packaged powder that was overly salty. The wings were moist and tender, but the drumettes really dry and tough.
I like the folks working here, there is quite a variety of dishes on the menu so I will definitely return. They have some Com Tom dishes so I'll probably drag the Missus along. They have outdoor tables, so maybe JJ might join us. I know my friend "CY" said we'll grab lunch here in a couple of weeks. With Saigon Corner and 
The wings weren't overly sticky as before, though it was still more sweet, than savory and I really couldn't make out any garlic. The wings were again much more moist and tender than the drumettes which were on the tough and dry side. 
These were those jumbo sized wings; the batter was really thick and more hard-crunchy than crispy. The seasoning was a good amount of salt and black pepper. The wings were moist, especially the flats, and looked to be of good quality. As whole, just way too much batter for me, but decent wings. It threw the entire proportion off and I really needed that cabbage with dressing and the mul kimchi, which hovered on the sweeter side of things to reset my palate.
The batter for this seemed a bit different; it was thinner, more lacquered, but still on the crunchy end of the spectrum. The menu says "aromatic and slightly spicy", I'd go with barely spicy and teeth rattling sweet and sticky. The wings were, as before moist and tender, but this was too much for me. I ended up needing the cabbage a mul kimchi to recover! Also, I had to request extra napkins, because of that sticky sauce. Perhaps they'll stock some wipes in the future?
My goodness; this consisted of six slices of akami maguro! Fresh, nice texture, no off flavors, refreshing. The young lady asked me if I wanted some wasabi and grated ginger and I answered with an affirmative. This just added another layer of enjoyment. The maguro was seared nicely; the fried onions adding a nice sweet-pungent-crispness; there could have been more ponzu, but this was quite good.
I also loved that the wing tips were attached; I just love gnawing on them, even though the sticky-sweet sauce got all over my hands. The batter was on the crunchy side, almost lacquered, and it held up for the entre meal. The meat was moist, had no off colors or flavors. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste though, but still, well worth the price.
The wings came with a rather large order of Mul Kimchi, crisp, not overly sweet, a good palate cleanser for fry-o-lated foods.
The batter was somewhat crunchy, but it really got soggy quickly. The seasoning seemed quite mild, but I had a raging thirst after eating 6 of these wings. I took the remaining wings home and even tried to revive in the air fryer, but that didn’t work too well. I’m thinking that if I tried this again it would have to be with some kind of sauce; but based on experience with other KFC chains of this ilk, I’m going to assume it’s going to be too sweet and heck, it already gets soggy-mushy too quickly anyway.
As you can see, the chicken took up only two-thirds of the sandwich surface area, so there were "fowl-less" bites and with all that bread and mayo, it was hard making heads or tails of the flavors. So even though that label said "please enjoy it as soon as served" there was no way I could finish this. I put half in the fridge at work and took it home. During dinner that evening, I brought out the remainder of the sandwich and the Missus and I took out the piece of chicken. Even though the batter had sloughed off, it seemed like the chicken thigh meat was nicely seasoned and fairly tender. 
The wings were on the larger end of the spectrum and were lightly seasoned. The sauce was much too sweet for me. 
So yes, this was scalding hot. Did I notice a difference? Well, 6 wings were now $9.99 and it seemed to have much more black pepper and was even saltier than I recalled. Also, the coating got soggy quite quickly. Not sure if it was just my imagination, but it seemed that way. The wings were of decent quality, it was moist, but again really high on the sodium scale for me.
