Pho – Page 11 – mmm-yoso

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen

October 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Spotted Cow has closed

I first heard about this place on Eater and was a bit puzzled. I thought having a Pho stand in Zion Marketplace would be an interesting venture. It was the "marketing" and concept that I thought was kind of interesting. This place wanted to make "the pho experience more customizable"…..hmmm, have you ever seen the different combinations of protein, etc, at your friendly neighborhood pho restaurant? Like all 30+ of them…..and then you have nuoc beo (rendered beef tallow), gia chin (blanched bean sprouts), etc….. Pardon me, if I don't understand….is there some innovative "concept" here? It looks like an assembly line process, something which isn't too unfamiliar having seen the kitchen areas of a couple of Pho places. On the interesting side, the "chef" Jimmy Trinh went to the CIA…on the somewhat discouraging side the "heritage" of this place is not one of my favorite pho shops.

Still it's bright, the folks on my first visit, soon after that announcement on Eater were really nice. I was kind of confused at the set-up. There's the steam/hot table and the cold station where you can pick what you want for your soup, then a large gap, then what looks like another station with the cashier at the end. The gap seems like a "dead zone", what goes on here? On this visit I ordered one of the four soup offerings….pho of course ($5.99) and moved to the middle area because I really didn't know if I should stop here or move to the register. The really nice young lady took my tray all the way to the register where I paid and made my way to the table.

The broth was very light and defatted, lacking in richness. Beef flavor was lacking, though I could make out onion and a touch of anise. It was also on the salty side, thank goodness for the lime. This isn't among my favorite bowls. The broth was also on the lukwarm side as well.

The rare steak looked nice, but was cut too thick making for a dry and tough experience. I'm not sure if it was how the meat was kept in cooled sixth-sized food pans, but I found them really lacking in flavor. The one surprise was the tendon which was pretty good.

The noodles were decent, but since it was in a clump some of it was on the cold side.

I basically cooled my heels, until I read Kirbie's post and decided to return, after all this place is really close to work. But no pho pho me this time.

I decided to try the Pho Bo Kho. The young man working the front was really enthusiastic and friendly. I noticed something a bit different this time around. My noodles were dropped into hot water and the bowl rinsed in hot water as well. I'm thinking this step was missed on my previous visit….after all, it was just after they had started business. I walked on over to the register to pay. In a move I found somewhat awkward, this time around my tray was left in the "dead zone" for me to pick up and drag to the register. This wasn't much of a problem however since the guy working the register was too busy counting his money than to acknowledge my existence. I kept thinking if I was "at Pho Hoa Huong, I'd be eating by now". Finally, after checking his drawer, walking away to talk to someone, he returned and was ready to have me pay. When he actually spoke to me he seemed a really nice young man, it was getting to this point that was rather painful for me. What ever happened to "I'll be with you in a minute"? Come to think of it though, would I expect that at, say, Pho Cow Cali, or at your neighborhood Pho shop in Hanoi?

In many ways this was much better than the straight up pho bo. While not even in the same league as the version at Pho Lucky, this had some mild richness. The beef flavor was still faint and overall the broth was still a bit thin for me. I like a nice hearty soup. The carrots were a bit too undercooked for me and the beef was still tasteless.

The dunking of the already cooked noodles made them too mushy for my taste. The heating of the bowl ensured a nice hot broth though.

I also hated the plastic spoons which were not at all suited for soup slurping……I've seen disposable Japanese style soup spoons, though the cost might be a bit too high?

It had me wondering……where this ranked in the Kearny Mesa Pho universe? I will say that this was totally not what I expected, even in a fast-casual concept, from CIA Alums who've "logged stints in Michelin starred kitchens". Though after eating at Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food nothing should surprise me, right?

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92111

On a clear day, you can see…… Pho-Ever

October 14, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Pho cryin' out loud…….

So here I was again, up around the Oceanside area. My first instinct was to drop by Guahan again. But since this was going to be before 11am, I had my sights on another place I'd been wanting to check out. Unfortunately, that place was packed…..at 1015 no less! So I had to settle for a plan B. Pho is always a viable back-up and there was a place fairly close by that I'd been told about but had never really been motivated to try. I think it was due to a mental block…….created by the name of the place.

Pho-real….it's called Pho-Ever and while it doesn't even come close with as does the "mother lode" with regards to names of pho shops, it was really hard for me to take this one seriously. I a serious two-fer', the restaurant next door is called "Thai One On"….. really. Just add in another restaurant name and you have a conversation "Pho-Ever"? "Yes! Pingo", now let's "___-____ Thai One On".

Still, here I was in Vista, it was a clear day, and like Barbera Streisand sang, "I could see Pho-Ever".

I walked into the place, which seemed like a nice neighborhood Pho shop, there was a family seated up front, and the flat screen was set to some children's show for the kids, a nice touch. The folks working here knew everyone who came in except myself, all regulars it seemed, though none were Asian, it was still a nice sign.

As for what to order? I just went with good 'ol #1, the Dac Biet, the house special….extra large bowl ($7.25).

The bowl arrived…..well not as hot as I'd preferred, but ok. The broth was cloudy, though it had fairly good hue. The flavor was very mild, mostly salty, very light on the beefiness, and was very "pho not to offend". Nothing really stood out, no onions, beef, nothing really…..

The herb….it should probably be singular and not plural, well, 'nuff said. The bean sprouts were very fresh. I really didn't need the lime because at least this wasn't an MSG bomb.

The noodles, and there was a good quantity of them was fine, perhaps a bit softer than I like, but still not bad.

As for the protein, well as you can see, it was pretty sparse. The place says it only uses "filet"…..beef tenderloin, which is nice, but where's the supposed "rare steak" (Tai)? If you're serving "filet", I would like having it "rare" as stated. All the "well done" steak was fine. The flank was extra chewy, but that's nothing new, the lack of beef flavor in that cut and the brisket was. The tendon was fine, if a bit harder than I'd prefer. The tripe was nice, but also pretty sparse.

The folks here were nice and I enjoyed the neighborhood vibe. This seemed pretty much middle of the road, nothing wrong with that.

Pho what it's worth; I preferred the Pho I had at Pho Lena and Mr Pho. I know, I still haven't made it to Pho Lucky, Yummy Pho, or Pho San Marcos…..I haven't pho-gotten about it. Ok, that's it, no more pho-puns for a while…..

Pho-Ever
485 S Melrose Dr
Vista, CA 92081

Pho Hoa Huong revisited

October 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

During part of my usual weekend shopping "mission" my stomach started rumbling. It was just past 8am and my next "targets", namely Nijiya nad Marukai wouldn't be opening for a while. I hadn't been to Pho Hoa Huong in about three years so it was about time for a revisit.

Things seemed a bit different this time around….the young lady placed my menu on the table with a smile….no "dealing out" of the menu and hovering over you like in Hanoi. In the past the menu was just a formality, they either expected you to know what to order, or be a student of Evelyn Wood (how's that for showing my age).

Was this the new softer and kinder Pho Hoa? Well, I'll tell you this much, they're probably still the fastest pho in the West. Not five minutes after ordering, my plate of herbs and garnishes was on the table as well as good ol' #4.

The broth is still on the dark side here, but very clear, slightly beefy, and a bit on the "sweet" side. Not as sweet as Pho Fifth Avenue, but definitely up there. It also had a bit too much MSG on this visit as my feet started to swell pretty quickly.

The noodles were right, dead on perfect for me…..

In terms of protein; the tendon was really hard and tough, there was trace tripe, the flank was almost crunchy, but with good flavor, and the brisket was nice and tender, but flavorless.

A decent bowl.

I did notice something a bit interesting…a lot of "older" gentlemen with "wives" at least 20 years or more younger. I later asked my friend "YY" about this and she told me it was kind of a trend nowadays……

Anyway, I was out of the place in less than 20 minutes….still too early for my next stops….still the fastest pho…if not in the West, at least in San Diego.

Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant
6921 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Feeling Lucky? Revisits to Lucky’s Golden Phenix and Pho Lucky

August 3, 2013 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I didn't even notice the connection until I sat down and tried to decide what to write about tonight. As you can probably tell, by all my grammatical errors I do things "stream of consciousness" style. Most of the time, I have no idea what keys I'm gonna hit on the keyboard. The photos of my meals drive the blog post…..and apparently this one is no different! So here goes….

Breakfast at Lucky's:

**** Sadly Lucky Wong passed away at the end of 2024

There's nothing really outstanding about the food at Lucky's. SYSCO sausages, rehydrated hashbrowns…..though he does know how to get the eggs right for me.

The key ingredient, other than the really low prices….everything under five bucks, is Lucky himself. If this were a play, it would be a one man show…..on most days, Lucky does it all himself, serving, cooking, busing, all the while leaving us pearls of wisdom, some of which I've noted in my previous posts on the place. Yet, if you visit enough times, you'll start to notice the humble person behind all of this. You'll also start noticing other things……my buddy Candice noticed that Lucky has a thing about waste…..leave one piece of toast uneaten and he'll make sure you finish it, or take it home with you. Very telling…. As the Chinese Philosopher Cheng Chan-Pao said, "Know you that your bowl of rice each grain from hardship comes?"

Lucky's Breakfast (Golden Phenix)
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Pho Lucky:

I just recovered from a rather prolonged bout with laryngitis…I felt fine in the mornings, except for some major hoarseness, which kind of wore me down by the end of the day. All I really wanted was something salty, soup, and noodles. There were just so many times I could have ramen…..so one evening, the Missus told me She was craving Pho. It's strange, the Missus was never a big fan of Pho….but something changed this past year.

So we headed up to Pho Lucky and the Missus got Her bowl.

I was a bit torn, would it be Pho or my favorite Banh Mi Bo Kho. I really wanted the tendon, anise, and tomato tones of the beef stew, but I wanted noodles. The solution, Pho Bo Kho……

I'd always kind of avoided this because I thought it would be kind of a halfway, non-committal kind of dish. Which it was in a way….but on this evening, it was just what I wanted and needed.

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

So whaddya know. I got "Lucky" twice in a row!

Pho Fifth Avenue revisited

July 16, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I know, we've been having a bit of a heat wave, what the heck am I doing having pho? Yeah, I guess I've gone around the bend in my old age. Actually, I was recently in the Hillcrest area for a meeting that ended at 1030. I was hungry and having not been back to Pho Fifth Avenue since February of last year, I was kind of curious to see how the place was doing……..

The place served up what I considered to be a decent bowl of pho….and yet I wondered, had they "jumped the shark" or was the pho here still pretty good?

I decided to take my chances on the hope that there would be an open parking space nearby. I lucked out and got one right outside the shop. This must be a good omen, right?

The pho for me here is the filet mignon version. It's not cheap at $9.95 for a small and $11.95 for a large. The other protein offerings seem to favor the gringo's….lot's of meaty cuts and not so much tendon and tripe.

The herbs and bean sprouts were kind of scarce, I asked for some additional basil to bump up the anise flavor in the broth and was gladly given more. The broth had a nice hue and was low-oil. As I previously noted, to me the soup tends to be on the sweet side, though unlike other versions elsewhere, there is a beefy component to it.

You must get the beef on the side for this and the broth must be at the right temperature to lightly, barely cook the meat. Check and check on this visit.

Even the noodles were prepared well, nice chew without being overcooked.

I hate to beat that ol' dead horse, but even the pho in Hillcrest is better than what I've had in Kearny Mesa? There's something just wrong about that.

Pho Fifth Avenue
3807 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Noodling Around: Revisits to Pho Tay Do, Santouka, Minh Ky, and having something that’s “just wrong” at Pho Cow Cali

June 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Somewhere at about the half-way point during our trips, the Missus always asks me, "are you missing anything?" And usually, it's noodles. Strangely, on our last vacation we ate so well that I only started missing noodles, at the end of our trip……yes, I realize we were in Rome and all, but it was Asian noodles, in any form….

Anyway, here's a short collection of revisits…..

Pho Tay Do:

**** Pho Tay Do has closed

I first posted on Pho Tay Do back in 2010, Cathy followed up a year later. For some reason my mind just blanks out places in this strip mall; I'm not sure why.

I actually hadn't been back here in over a year and was wondering what the state of the Bun Mang Vit – The Duck and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup was.

There were a couple of tables occupied when I arrived, but the interior was pretty dark. I guess they're trying to keep the energy bill down.

I ordered the Bun Mang Vit which arrived in the blink of an eye.

I don't know how business is, nor how the current state of the economy or anything else is affecting this place, but in terms of what I had it seems to have fallen.

The broth wasn't hot and had very little flavor. There was hardly eny of the earthy reconstituted dried bamboo and maybe 2/3 of the noodles of the bowl I last had here. The portion of dipping sauce was smaller and though it still has a nice hint of ginger, it too tastes watered down.

The slices of duck are smaller and very dry. Even though the place never provided an abundance of herbs in their greens, this was just about all cabbage……

This was pretty sorry overall and a mere shadow of what I'd had in previous visits. Sad…..

Pho Tay Do
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Santouka (for the zillionth time):

Yeah, I know…I won't even post the links. A couple of weeks back, I took my coworker, "YZ" to Yamadaya, I was interested in what She thought.

On this visit, the pork cheek was spot on, tender and full of flavor. The noodles were done perfectly as well. Hard combination to beat.

So when I quizzed Her, the opinion was pretty much the same as ours. Pork and noodles Santouka, broth Yamadaya. So I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for, right?

The Missus asked me if the perfect ramen existed? I could only shrug my shoulders……

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Minh Ky:

Yes, Beef Sate Noodle – Dry, again:

Needless to say….it delivered as expected.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Cow Cali:

Before we left on our trip, the Missus was strangely craving Pho….something that rarely happens as I'm the Pho eater in the family. The craving lasted for a couple of weeks and there's just so many times you can go to Pho Lucky. The Missus can be a rather hard nut though…..once She finds something She likes it's hard to convince Her to try something else. I did explain to Her that Pho Cow Cali's protein was better and that they had Filet Mignon Pho!

Which was just fine for Her….however, once She saw this on the menu:

She determined that I just had to have the Com Tam Dac Biet….without com tam (broken rice). And so it came to pass that I had mine with brown rice.

First, let me explain that I'm not a fan of brown rice. Then to add insult to injury, they charge you $1 more. Of course they probably don't sell too much brown rice, so this took forever……it was also very low quality. The Bi was good, the pork chop and cha ok, the brown rice, just wrong. Nuff said….I tried it once.

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Pho Weather: The Pho Shop and Pho Point Loma

May 6, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Ok, so it's in the 90's for a couple of days, then we get the wind and the rain…yikes. Well, at least it makes for some good pho weather. So here are a couple of places I hadn't posted on before.

The Pho Shop:

A couple of weeks ago AlanH sent me an email wondering about The Pho Shop. I guess he'd read through my pho posts and had noticed that I had never been there. He also mentioned that he was curious about the place because Trey Foshee had mentioned that it was his pho shop. There is of course a difference between "favorite" and best, etc, etc, etc. With all due respect, while I really do enjoy his work at George's at the Cove, when it comes to recommendations for pho, his is not the first name that comes to mind.

Still, in order to do my "pho-diligence", I put it on my list of places to try and with the sudden vturn of the weather, pho seemed like a good thing so I headed down Sports Arena and found the shop on the other side of the massive "Phil's nation".

The place is bright and clean offering local brews on tap.

The young man who served me was very nice, there's no hovering over you waiting for you to order. Unfortunately, the first thing that came to mind was Mignon Pho + Grill, a place that's does everything nice except most of the food. There were an interesting number of warning signs, stuff like, here it's not nuoc mam cham, here they call it "fish vinaigrette"…..

I don't know why they left out the "sauce" portion…it really reads as carrot & fish vinaigrette.

So I just had to get me some of that, right?

I was pleasantly surprised at the the sight of my Cha Gio……they're using the right type of rice paper here. It was fried perfectly, with a wonderful crunch.

That's pretty much where it ends. The nuoc mam cham was terribly watered (and dumbed down) to the point that it had some spice, but barely any savory fish sauce or sweet tones. Blech.

The eggrolls themselves was mostly filler with almost no flavor at all.

Nice first impression, no follow-thru. And not particularly good for $3.95.

This left me wondering what the Pho Dac Biet($6.75) was going to be like.

Actually, this was a decent bowl of pho. It wouldn't be on my top 5 list, but if it was in Clairemont it might be on the top of the heap.

Since my FOY (friend of yoso) Jenne always kids me about being, so, well, picky is the right word I guess, let's start with the good. I thought the meat prep was good…even that which I usually get down on, the slices of rare "Tai", which is the usual eye of round was decent. It might be worthwhile to get that on the side. The flank cuts were the best, just tender enough without falling apart, with a nice beefy flavor.

Nice amount of tripe, which was tasteless, but had a good crunch…..there were only a few tiny pieces of tendon though.

The noodles were on the overcooked-mushy side. The broth had a mild onion-sweetness to it, not as pronounced as the version at Pho Fifth Avenue, which I think is a bit better than this, having a bit more beefy "umph" and fat.

So while the pho here is not in the class of Lucky, Cow Cali, Pho Hoa, even Pho Hiep or Ca Dao, it's not bad. The place does more of a "pho not to offend" version, but it wasn't bad. Friendly service, clean, well lit, lots of parking…..if all that is more important than getting a top notch bowl of pho, then this is your place. Or heck, if you're a sriracha and hoisin "pho-natic" then it really doesn't matter anyway, does it?

The Pho Shop
3760 Sports Arena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Mon-Fri 11am – 10pm
Sat 10am – 10pm
Sun 10am – 9pm

Pho Point Loma:

I'd been meaning to try Pho Point Loma for a while but had really put the place on the back-burner after Dennis told me about having a pretty mediocre bowl of pho there. Still, I was on my way home from my usual Sunday visit to the San Diego Farmer's Market and I decided to stop by for an early lunch.

While clean and bright in its own right, this seemed like a more traditional pho shop to me….all business and rather spartan looking. What that POS system is doing as you walk in the front door, I'll never know.

After looking over at the bowls of pho on other tables I made my decision to go with a "small" #3 - well-done steak, flank, brisket, tripe, and tendon ($5.95).

The broth here reminded me of Pho T Cali and not in a good way. It was salty, but lacked much of anything else.

The tendon was decently tender as was brisket, which really lacked flavor. The flank was tough and the well done steak was both tough and dry.

The noodles, found in the usual clump on the bottom of the bowl was prepped well.

But that's not enough to have me return for the pho.

Pho Point Loma & Grill Restaurant
2788 Midway Dr
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Open Daily 930am – 930pm

Pho Ca Dao Santee

February 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

It was fairly cold and rainy a couple of weekends ago and I found myself in Santee. It was still too early for Sab E Lee 2, but I was kind of hungry. So I decided on heading down the street a bit. I had never been to Pho Ca Dao in Santee, so I thought "why not"? Though I didn't make that decision without some hesitation since my recent luck, with pho hasn't been that great. Still, there wasn't much else that I really wanted in the area at 9 in the morning.

The place was a lot larger than it looked from the outside and the fragrance….or should I say the pho-ray-grance of soup hung in the air. Nice,bright and clean. The young lady who showed me to my table was very nice as well.

I decided on the eternal #4….everything but rare steak.

Though there was but a single sprig of basil, there was Ngo Gai (Culantro), and the young lady told me if I wanted more basil.

The broth was pretty neutral, slightly beefy, not as much anise and clove hints as I had experienced at the other locations. Still, it was not bad.

The noodles were fine…typical clump and all.

What was really surprising for me was the amount of tripe….well prepped tripe, crunchy, without soapy or foul flavor. The tendon was good, though not quite as tender as the ECB location.

All in all, I thought this place better then the Mira Mesa location. Even more surprising…..I thought this was better than any Pho I've recently had on Convoy. Kind of sad actually……

Pho Ca Dao
9535 Mission Gorge Rd
Santee, CA 92071
Mon-Thu, Sun 9am-9pm
Fri-Sat 9am-9:30 pm

Revisits to Da Nang Food to Go and Pho Viet Cali almost seven years later….

February 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

It's quite easy to fall into a routine, going back to those places that have proven to be "tried and true" or convenient. This year, I'm trying to make it a point to revisit some of those places that had kind of slipped from my mind for one reason or another. Here are two places that I last visited in….are you ready? 2006……man, I've put a whole lot of miles on the odometer since then. What were you doing in 2006?

Da Nang Food to Go:

**** Da Nang Food to Go has closed

It's easy for this place to just kind of slip your mind. Located in a teeny spot next to a 7-11 and a jewelry store on El Cajon Boulevard, it's one of those blink and you'll be past it kind of places. Add to that the fact that there now only seem to be five parking stalls(down from 7) now available…….

The place looks just about the same as our visit back in 2006. Same wood siding, same tables, same chairs…..

Menu prices seem to have gone up about a buck….not bad really.

The food is based on Central Vietnamese specialities; Bun Bo Hue, Banh Beo, Banh Bot Loc, that kind of thing. Feeling kind of hungry I started with some Banh Bot Loc ($4); which I thought were pretty good all those years ago.

These were huge by Banh Bot Loc standards and the tapioca flour based wrappers were way too gummy for my taste. There was a nice piece of shrimp inside, but these dumplings were just too much wrapper.

Of course I had to try the Bun Bo Hue ($5.95), which arrived appropriately steaming hot.

Strange, but I noticed that the usual pork hock was MIA in this bowl. The noodles were pleasantly slippery and firm, and the herbs, sprouts, and vegetables were fresh, though it was mostly bean sprouts, lettuce, and cabbage.

The soup seemed a bit odd to me; it was very sweet and lacking in spice. The thick cut meats were in attendance, but there was nary a piece of tendon to be found…… I wonder if they "gringo-ized" this? I still enjoyed the Gio Lua here, the nice peppery flavor and meatyness makes it one of my favorite versions.

I do want to try other items on the menu, if I can remember to return. Funny thing, I mentioned this place to MrQ…..even though he grew up near by, he hadn't a clue this place existed. Da Nang Food to Go is funny in that way I guess.

Da Nang Food to Go (aka Quan an Da Nang)
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Viet Cali:

*** Pho Viet Cali has closed

Here's another place that I visited back in 2006. I really didn't care for the Pho, but I was on the West side of Mira Mesa Boulevard, so I thought why not?

Like Quan an Da Nang, this place looks just like it did in March of 2006.

Pho Viet Cali has remained in my memory because it was the first place where I saw Pho for over six bucks….a threshold that's long been passed by most places. So now a $6.95 bowl of pho doesn't faze me.

I got the #4 – Well Done Steak, Flank, Brisket, Tendon, and Tripe.

Man, other than the noodles….and the soup being hot, this was pretty bad. The soup was on the unpleasant side, bitter, and quickly gave me the MS heebie-geebies…..I've got a decent tolerance of the stuff, but this was too much. I recall the bowls having a good amount of meat, but things have apparently changed.

I guess the tripe and tendon were out sick on this day and the flank had that stale "ice-box" flavor that made it inedible.

Instead of going through this in excruciating detail….I think I'll stop here. I'm sure you get the picture, right?

Pho Viet Cali
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd. #113
San Diego, CA 92121

I'm hoping for better luck next time……

Pho-raging around Kearny Mesa: Pho T Cali, Pho Mignon and Grill, Pho Cali, Pho Fusion, Phuong Trang, Pho Convoy Noodle House, and Viet Bakery and Pho

January 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of months ago, I was having a particularly terrible bowl of Pho in the Kearny Mesa area. Thinking I'd try to be especially witty, I texted "aw-pho", sorry, it was a bad pun exacerbated by bad soup, to a bunch of my friends. Which started a terrible round of bad phopuns lasting almost two days….I think it ended when I texted something using "pho-lam-bouyant", yikes! The one sane person in all of this, "Yummy Yummy" set me off on a mission with one profound statement, "yes,it's sad that there's no good pho in Kearny Mesa." Really…..really??!!?? Then I stopped and thought about it…..perhaps she was right. I had to find out for myself. So I ended up going to seven different pho shops in the next two weeks….sorry, at the end, I just couldn't see myself going to Quoc Te….I was "pho-ride"…my apologies for that one!

After all of this, I had to think about how to do a post……I mean really, there was the possibility of maybe 2,000 words (I'm alread past 170). So pardon me if I just kind of blaze through these, ok? Plus, I'm still suffering from P(ost) T(raumatic) M(SG)D(disorder).

Pho T Cali:

**** Pho T Cali has closed

This is the place that got me posting "aw-pho".

Broth that looked, and sort of tasted like dishwater…..salty dishwater, with very little beef flavor, and not much else. Mushy overcooked noodles. Though the cuts in this, flank and brisket especially were decent, but I had to send out a search party for my tendon. Oh, let's add insult to injury, the scallions in the broth were turning brown as well.

Actually, this is almost exactly the same as my last bowl here, so this can't really be a fluke, right?

Formula in the perfunctory service. Sad….

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

Pho Mignon + Grill:

I gotta say, the service here is nice….perhaps not efficient, but very nice. Still, I haven't had much luck here. It's kind of bad when the best item you've had from a shop with Pho in it's name are the french fries. I've struck out twice on the filet pho, so I went with the "trolley bowl", which according to the menu is "flank, well done steak, tripe, tendon, and meatballs".

Man, there's something about this broth that I find strange, beyond how it's totally defatted. This time around it had a burnt shallot flavor with a "tinny" finish.

The noodles were fine, the proteins mediocre, except for the tendon which was pretty good, and I still haven't figured out why the ngo om with pho? I'm missing something here.

Sorry, I just couldn't do the broth at all……I hate to waste, but this just doesn't agree with me.

I love the idea of craft brews…..the service is sometimes a bit scatter-brained, but always nice. But man, I just don't like that pho.

Mignon Pho + Grill
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Cali & Grill:

**** Pho Cali and Grill is now Pho Duyen Mai

Man, it's been a while since I've been here.

This would have been totally MOR (middle of the road) pho, if not for the super salty broth…..super salty, as in there wasn't enough lime to cut the salt. And the meat being on the dry and tough side.

The noodles were clumped, but fine….but man, this was salty.

Pho Cali and Grill
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Pho Fusion:

Man, here's another place I haven't been to in a while.

This really looked like a lighter version of Pho Mignon….I really didn't have high hopes for it. The broth had a very mild beef flavor and was pretty weak overall. The noodles were done well and I gotta say, this was the best tendon I had while doing this. The rest of the assorted protein wasn't too bad, though the flank cuts are on the dry and tough side.

I also should say that the service I received was very good. My water refilled twice and when I looked at the rather skimpy amount of herbs and bean sprouts, the young man told me, "please let me know if you want more, we'd be happy too…."

Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Phuong Trang:

What to say about the poster child for MOR (Middle of the Road) Pho, other then man, has it really been three years since I had Pho here?

This place has usually been consistent, though on this visit the broth was rather cloudy. The broth is rather light on the beef, but at least you can make out hints of anise-onion-clove. Noodles were fine.

The meat was meh…….flank tough, tripe soapy tasting and scant in quantity, tendon tough and not much of it….you get the picture.

The older gentleman who always used to make me laugh wasn't here. In his place was a very friendly young man……..who I thought was quite charming….until he brought me a fork for my pho? Lets call it what it is….a "pho-pa"….

Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Convoy Noodle House:

**** Convoy Noodle House has closed

This used to be a dependable stop, but I was sorely disappointed on my last visit. I wondered, was that a fluke? So I had the same thing, #2, well done steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, and tripe.

And while the broth had recovered a bit…..slight beef flavor, mild anise, still a mere shadow of what I recalled; the meat, especially the already chewy flank….was almost inedible and without flavor.

The noodles were fine….but I still remembered the pho being much better here. I'm not sure what happened.

Pho Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Viet Bakery and Pho:

*** Viet Bakery and Pho has closed

Based on my previous visits, I really wasn't looking forward to having pho here. But since the place had "pho" in its name (though probably based on pho ga), I thought it only proper to grab a bowl here. The shop had undergone a major overhaul with regards to looks since my last visit. It looks less like a bakery and more like a proper restaurant.

There really fussy menu has been replaced with something perhaps a bit too spartan, but perhaps that's the right fit. And i'm sure you can get any combination of items you really want. I went with the "Pho Viet", with rare beef, brisket, and meat balls.

I really don't like having preconceptions when having a meal at a restaurant, but based on history, perhaps I expected the worst. This was actually not bad….not good, but not bad. The broth was on the cloudy side, but had a decent beef flavor. It was light with regards to the anise-clove component, but at least wasn't too salty.

The meat, being the rare steak or the brisket didn't appeal to me, being tough and dry. The meatballs tasted exactly the same as what Mignon Pho served. The noodles were a bit overcooked for my taste.

Still, this was much better than anticipated.

Viet Bakery & Pho
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So there it is…….. and after having all these bowls of pho, I can only conclude that "YY" is pretty much correct. And after thinking about it; whenever I think about having a nice bowl of pho, places in Kearny Mesa never come to mind.

What do you think?