Pho – Page 16 – mmm-yoso

Green Papaya Vietnamese Pho & Grill

August 5, 2007 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Green Papaya is closed and has been renamed.

A couple of weeks ago FOY(Friend of Yoso) and Uber Food Blogger Captain Jack, told me about a new Vietnamese Restaurant in Pacific Beach. He mentioned the name of the place was Green Papaya. So that week, I drove down to PB to check out the restaurant.

The interior of the restaurant was very nice, clean, well lit, and tastefully appointed. The restaurant was totally empty when I entered, and after waiting a few minutes, I walked into the kitchen, and surprised a pleasant young man who led me to a seat and dropped off a menu.

With a name like Green Papaya, I had hopes that the menu would contain a few different and interesting dishes. But even though the "namesake" Papaya Salad (Goi Du Du) was on the menu, most of the dishes were standard Pho, Bun, Mi, etc. In addition the prices reflected the "Pacific Beach premium".

After looking over the menu, I just went with the usual. I started with Cha Gio(Egg Rolls – $5.50). The Cha Gio arrived within a minute! On the positive side, at least the "appetizer sin" where appetizers arrive after the main course wouldn't happen here.

On the bad side, when these arrived in a minute, the first thought that went through my head was, "these gotta be reheated". And eating these did nothing to dissuade me. As you can see, one of the Cha Gio is burnt and two of them were soft and greasy.

The Nuoc Mam Cham is described as "a light fish sauce." And they sure weren't kidding, it was a bit under flavored and more on the sweet side. So if you're not into fish sauce, this might be for you.

I also went for the Pho Dac Biet Extra Large (Special Combination – $6.75):

The garnishes were the usual suspects, and were very fresh. I had expected this Pho to be very mild, and generic….boy was I wrong. Though the broth was very low in oil content and light, the strong flavors of anise and clove came through. The noodles were the usual clump on the bottom of the bowl, okay in texture, though the portion size was a bit skimpy for an "xlg" bowl.

The 5 slices of rare steak were very dry and tough and there was but a scant strip of tripe.

In keeping with the clientele there was only one piece of brisket, and a small piece of tendon. It's too bad, because the brisket had excellent flavor, and the tendon was a buttery soft. If I were to ever eat here again, I'd go with something with mostly tendon and brisket.

Overall, the service was very nice, as is the decor, but I prefer the Pho and Cha Gio at Pho Sao Bien up the street. I did ask what the specialty of the house was, and the young man answered with the question, "you don't like our Pho?" He recommended the Bun (Vermicelli dishes), but the thought of the watered down Nuoc Cham…….

Green Papaya Vietnamese Pho & Grill
1820 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-9pm
858-273-1664

Pho Saigon Star-Pho to go, Pho to eat in, and other good stuff!

May 28, 2007 Cathy Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. mmm-yoso is the name of the blog. Today, Cathy is blogging, Kirk is doing something else, most likely eating and photographing the food; it’s what we do.

Hi. Cathy is back… so, one day a few weeks ago when it was raining, The Mister called me and was going to be leaving work earlier than I had expected and I hadn’t even thought about dinner yet. "Bring something home" I told him…figuring, since it was a Tuesday, he’d get one (or three) of the $1.99 Tuesday only specials from KFC. {There is a poster, on one window only of your local KFC- look for it.} {It is an exceptionally good deal-2 pieces with one side and a biscuit}{which is why we usually get three meals} {sorry, digressing} Instead, he brought home pho!

Now, you must understand,we never had actually done pho as a take out item before. We have seen many people walking in and picking up at just about every place we were, noting how much toppings we could see were given in the bags (a lot of bean sprouts)…but still, we always just ate in.

In late March we saw a coupon online at Get 1 free dot com and we were going to meet there for dinner, but Pho Saigon Star wasn’t open yet. However, that night when The Mister went, it was open- and joy of joys-they had fried shrimp tofu as a side order on the menu.

Pretty much the only places that have fried shrimp tofu are Convoy Noodle House and Pho Pasteur Anh Hong (the place with tablecloths in the mall with K Sandwiches). I got it once with Bun and was hooked. It is just a shrimp paste inside of tofu skin that is fried. Crunchy/crispy and the shrimp paste tastes like shrimp mixed with some sugar and fish sauce… it is just something I crave.

Oh, and as a side (or "appetizer" as I like to call it) it’s only $3.

Oh, here is the menu, along with a photo of Tip Top’s paw as she waited for a precise moment to walk over it. For some reason, the website does not have prices. OH-THE NEATEST PART…look closely (click onto any photo and it will enlarge) or, go to the website- The menu is written in Vietnamese, English AND Spanish. I have never seen it this way, but it is neat. Therefore the fried shrimp tofu is, in Vietnamese: them chao tom hoac tau hu ky and in Spanish: adicional tofu de camarones.

So, anyhow, The Mister brought home Pho Tai (raw steak)(filete raro). (Small $ $5.50). Thinly sliced raw steak that cooks in the pho broth. The broth was rich, slightly oily, and not too overly anise-y/5 Spice-y. It was still very hot, to the point that when the meat was dropped in, a nice boiling effect came up from the soup. We live about 7 miles from this place, with quite a few lights between here and there. As you can see, the accompaniments of basil, jalapeños, one lime wedge and sprouts was plenty. The noodles were under the raw meat in the take out box. This was a *lot* of food. The large bowl is only 50¢ more and easily could feed two people.

We got an order of the fried spring rolls (cha ngo)(taquitos fritos de puerco) ($5.50) which also came with a fair amount of accompaniments-there could have been more mint- There was enough sauce though. Some chili is in the sauce, so there is a kick to it. The filling is quite a meaty ground pork as well as having daikon and carrot in it. The ‘to go’ packaging was perfect- they cut off a corner of the Styrofoam box, so that the thin egg roll skins stayed crispy.

Then, my meal- Bun. How I so crave Bun sometimes. Inside a restaurant, it is served in a large bowl with the lettuce/cabbage/basil/mint ‘salad’ on the bottom, noodles over it, then the toppings, shredded carrots, cucumbers, peanuts and whatever topping (I have had it with the fried shrimp tofu, at Ahn…#123D I think) this time, BBQ pork (thit nuong)(fideos de arroz con puerco de la barbacoa),

($5.99). It came in this Styrofoam take out box, and I had to dump it into a mixing bowl (as we had to do with the pho also) so as to get all the flavors mixed in…the noodles are under all of that BBQ’d pork which was *excellent* in flavor and cooking. The salad as nice and crisp and flavorful with the herbs in it.

So, the other day, we were hungry. It seems to happen a lot. I thought we should try Pho Saigon Star again and eat in. We were the *only* White people. This is always a good sign. This restaurant is located where Friars Road turns into Mission Gorge, near Kaiser Hospital, in the curved strip mall with the Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Petco, Coco’s, Rubio’s, Einsteins, Carl’s Jr. You know where. You’ve seen it.

Very nice, clean interior. Very friendly young men waiting on the tables. Very much family owned and run. everyone seemed to know everyone. … and there I was, White Girl with Camera. Oh well, they never asked me what the heck I was doing. It seemed that whenever they came around to fill up water, each person did ask us if we had any questions and were willing to give us information.

We decided to try the papaya salad with shrimp and pork ($5.99) It came with the sauce on the side. Unusual, but we saw the table next to us get it that way also. The sauce had a good amount of chilis in it, and we put the sauce over the portion we had placed onto our plates and it tasted great. I saw a lady at the table next to us adding sugar to the sauce. I thought it was fine. I tasted the papaya, shrimp and pork without any sauce and each ingredient had a good, fresh flavor on its own.

When The Mister was picking up that one day, he saw someone having curry and he had wanted to try it. He got rice with chicken curry (com cari ga)(arroz con curry de pollo) ($5.99). You could get it with noodles or French bread also, same price. The curry was sweet, with coconut milk and not very hot (spicy hot I mean). It had an excellent flavor, the chicken pieces were dark meat; flavorful. There were potatoes and hot onions and cilantro served with it. The sauce was not overly thick. it was good, tasty, but not like a Japanese curry sauce, which is thicker. You needed to put the rice into the curry to eat it.

I decided to try Sir Fry crispy noodles, with everything ($7.50) (mi xao gio thap cam) (never mind Spanish). You can get crispy egg noodles, soft egg noodles, pan fried noodles or rice… with beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, broccoli, celery, bok choy, carrots, mushrooms, onions, cilantro…and a nice brown sauce. Great flavors- and a *lot* of food.

But, we got dessert anyhow: the three colored one: pudding/sweet bean/green agar with coconut milk and ice ($3)

Nice and fresh. We were asked if we wanted it with our meal or as dessert. We asked to wait and the nice Young Man brought it out when he saw we were finishing up everything else. The pudding (yellow part) was wonderfully flavored, the beans were not mushy and had good flavor, the green agar strips were..chewy…and the coconut milk was *so* nice. It was a perfect ending.

Oh- the tea. It is $1.50 per pot. It is Jasmine. It is loose tea with a tea ball inside the pot. It is great.

..and, the weird thing. The ‘muzak’ was in Asian style- those echoing stringed instruments. But there were only 3 songs that kept repeating and one of them was *definitely* "Numb" by Linkin Park. Every subtle note of it. I kind of found that strange….just an observation.

Pho Saigon Star 10450 Friars Road , Suite E San Diego 92120 (619)640-2985 Open 7 days 9 a.m.- 9 pm. website

“Dude, Like Where’s All the Asian Food….”

May 15, 2007 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

So sayeth an email I received yesterday. You gotta love those emails…… Funny thing is, the writer of the email is correct; just by coincidence it does seem that Cathy and I have done a little role-reversal! I've been doing burgers and tacos, and Cathy has been doing Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino food! How odd……

I'd just like to say, that the Missus and I are still eating up a storm, and I've got the photographic evidence to prove it. These are all revisits, so I won't bore you…I'll keep the writing to a minimum. So let's get started, shall we.

Dim Sum at China Max:

I've done posts on the Dim Sum at China Max before, just like to say, that on this visit the Dim Sum was not quite as good. As noted before, Dim Sum here is served "menu style".

The filling for the Sharkfin Dumplings was on the tough side, and the sides of the wrappers were soft and mushy, probably due to improper steaming.

The Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Dumplings were probably the best items we had.

The contrast between the crunchy fried portion and the chewy pull of the remainder of the wrapper was excellent.

The filling of Shrimp Dumplings were fine, but the wrapper was tough and dry.

The Dried Shrimp Cheong Fun tasted a bit "off", and overly fishy, like the dried shrimp wasn't prepared properly.

We ended with simple Soy Sauce Noodles, one of my childhood favorites.

No complaints about this…so simple, but so good…..

My previous posts on China Max can be found here, here, and here. I'm pretty sure that this is just a little blip on the radar screen.

I'd also like to dedicate this post to Captain Jack, for only reasons he knows…..

China Max
4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Palabok from Tita's Kitchenette:

This Missus had a craving for some Pancit Palabok, those wonderful seafood flavored noodles. Tita's Kitchenette makes Her favorite version, so I picked some up on a recent morning.

I'm not quite sure what happened, but these tasted really "flat", lacking any flavor. I dunno, any ideas?

Tita's Kitchenette
2720 East Plaza Boulevard
National City, CA 91950

Pho Dac Biet and Hu Tieu from Lucky Pho:

Every once in a while I need to recheck and verify…so when we were in the Mira Mesa area recently, I decided to grab a bowl of Pho from Lucky Pho. And I was again reminded of why I really enjoy the Pho here.

It's mostly about the broth, which is to my taste with hints of different herbs and seasonings. The Missus, not a big fan of Pho even had a taste, and said it was pretty good.

She ordered the Seafood Hu Tieu(Rice Noodles)

Nothing to write home about, really……..

My previous post on Lucky Pho can be found here. Along with a Pho retrospective.

Lucky Pho' in Lucky Seafood Supermarket
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

A Quick Meal at Luong Hai Ky:

**** This location of LHK has closed

On this visit, I had the Missus in tow. I wanted Her to try the Won Ton and Dumpling Soup.

She enjoyed the broth, and agreed with me, that there was a hint of seafood flavor in it, though it's always been denied when I ask.

I tried out the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, and really didn't think much of it.

Nice bit of spice, but very weak in flavor overall. I rather have the version at Tan Ky Mi Gia. Still, as with most of these Vietnamese-Chinese Noodle Soup restaurants, the prices are very reasonable.

Here's my previous post on Luong Hai Ky.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

You Gotta Love Filipino Parties!

A few months back we attended a party at a friend's house. It was a combination Birthday(two of us) and House Warming, Karaoke party. You can imagine the fun.

Here are some photos I took.

We brought a combination tray from Da' Kitchen half Teriyaki Chicken, half Korean Chicken.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are required at these types of parties. Though this one was not from Royal Mandarin, Golden Chopsticks, or Mandarin Canton. Of course any Salt and Pepper chicken wing aficionado could tell you this by just looking at those wings.

Where is it from….stay tuned!!!

Of course you need Lumpia:

The Missus's favorite, Filipino style Empanadas. She enjoys these the best. She ate at least 5 of them….

And you must have Pancit Bihon.

There was much more food, but about that time it was my turn to sing my really, really, bad version of Love Potion Number 9. And after that, I totally forgot to take any more photos…..but you get the picture, right?

Last, but not least:

Here's something that will warm the coldest pork lover's heart:

What is it? It's a dish called Golden City Roast Pork($10.95), and it's made with Pork Belly. How can you resist?

I think I already have too many posts on Golden City, so I'll stop here.

So to answer your question Eric; "Dude, all that Asian food is like in my stomach!" LOL!

One final item(I promise). We'll be off on vacation for a few days, trying to complete our aborted vacation, I hope we make it this time. I may pop in, for a bit, but otherwise mmm-yoso is in the fine hands of our favorite "Chee-Fee" eater, Cathy. See you in a week or so!

Pho Thanh Restaurant

March 21, 2007 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Pho Tay Do has closed, this location is now Pho DaKao and Grill

*** This location of Pho Thanh is now Pho Tay Do.

Waaaaay back in November, "NancyP" recommended the just opened Pho Thanh (it used to be Phuong Trang II), so it's about time I did a post. Sorry for taking so long, Nancy! And it might have been a bit longer if not for a conversation I had with the nice lady at the Dry Cleaners…yeah, I guess I'll talk to anybody about food.

The Dry Cleaner Lady recommended a few dishes at Pho Thanh, as well as the Pho. Both recommendations mentioned the very clean, and somewhat "stylish"(I'm quoting here) interior.

First thing we noticed were that the prices were a bit higher than what I'm used to, but on both visits the service was very nice…….

The Missus was in the mood for Banh Mi Bo Kho(Beef Stew – $5.95):

In fact, the Missus had the Beef Stew on both of our visits to Pho Thanh…which illustrated a very important point when it comes to these type of restaurants, the inconsistency, not in a bad way…but in a "life is like a box of chocolates" kind of way. On the first visit, the beef stew was full of very tender lean beef, which made the Missus quite happy, in spite of the rather mild(in a Bo Kho way) broth. On the second visit, there was a very large quantity of fat, gristle, and what made me happy, tendon! But of course this was the Missus's dish, and it seemed that the stew was on the thin side and very mild in flavor, lacking the flavor of the herbs and seasonings that we have become used to with Bo Kho. This stew was also lighter in oil content, and the portion size was on the large. To high lite both the serving size and the service, we were asked if we wanted, and got extra Banh Mi(baguette) with our stew. At no charge!

And, in what was a bite of a change(for Bo Kho), we were given a plate of "garnish" with every bowl. Overall, not the best Bo Kho we've had flavor-wise, but it sure had a lot of meat…….

The DCL (Dry Cleaners Lady) said her friend enjoys the Bun Mang Vit here, so that's what I ordered on my first visit(Bamboo and Duck Noodle Soup – $6.50):

First off, I enjoyed the way the duck meat was served, sliced and separate from the soup, covering a large pile of shredded cabbage, peanuts, and cilantro, along with a little bowl garlic nuoc mam cham. The duck was moist, and had good flavor. That is not to say that there was no duck flavor in the soup:

The neck and bony parts of the duck could be found in the broth. Also, unlike many bowls of Bun Mang Vit, the bamboo had been rehydrated, and was very tender. Still, I thought the broth to be on the weak side, and the portion of bamboo to be on the skimpy side. Still, I think it's my second favorite bowl of Bun Mang Vit so far…I still enjoy the more "rustic" version at Chinese Kitchen more. If you don't enjoy the strong flavor of bamboo, you may like this version of Bun Mang Vit.

Of course, I had to do Nancy justice and try the Pho. So on our second visit, I had the Pho Dac Biet(House Special – $6), quaintly called the "Super Bowl":

The bowl that arrived was quite large, and the garnishes had the largest amount of bean sprouts that I could recall. So let's get down to business here…. I thought the rare steak was cut too thick making it tough, and there was a severe lack of meat, other than a few meat balls, and one or two pieces of flank,(and no tripe!!!) in comparison to the huge amount of noodles in the soup.

The broth was very neutral, with no anise, cinnamon, clove or other seasoning standing out. In spite of the large amount of green onions, cilantro, and onions in the broth it was still fairly mild. If you enjoy a huge bowl of neutral, low oil broth, and a ton of noodles, this is your bowl. In fact, if you like to add "stuff" to your Pho, this is the place. On both visits we noticed groups of young people having Pho, and we watched them pour the Hoisin, Sriracha, and other "stuff" into their Pho like it was going out of style! One guy must've dumped half a squeeze bottle of Hoisin into his bowl of Pho…

And in case you think that there wasn't supposed to be any tripe in this bowl of Pho:

I will say that we had some really nice, efficient, and friendly service. Everyone was so very nice. If you're looking to have a bowl of Pho, or Bun Mang Vit, or HieuTieu, in a nice clean restaurant with friendly service, this might be your place…. maybe……

Pho Thanh
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Thanks for the recommendation Nancy! Sorry for taking so long!

Pho Van

December 27, 2006 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

If you drive on El Cajon Boulevard, you must have passed Pho Van many times, and if you’re like me, I’m sure you’ve wondered, "Hmmm, Pho Van I wonder how good the Pho is there…." And have just driven off down the road. After all Pho Van is located a few blocks away from the main "strip" of Vietnamese markets, restaurants, and businesses on El Cajon Boulevard.

But, if you’re like me…I think my buddy, Diet Chili Cheese Fries recently called me a "Pho Whore"(Check out the comments), though I prefer "Pho Bo Ho", you will actually make an effort to stop and check out the Pho. Pho Van is located in a pretty quiet location, and though it seems that parking may be at premium, there is a small parking lot down the alley, to the rear of the restaurant.

The interior is not quite as small as you think, but the decor screams generic Pho kitchen.

I entered and found my own seat, and almost immediately a menu was slapped onto the table, and the Server stood there, poised, pencil in hand, tapping his foot, and I hadn’t even opened my menu yet….but being an experienced Pho-nephile, I knew how to handle the situation, so it was going to be really easy. I opened the menu…….. and couldn’t find any Pho! What the Pho??? Now with a pair of eyes staring unwaveringly upon me, I was thoroughly discombobulated, I had to order something, and got the……

Bun Bo Hue($4.50), what else?

The garnishes were on the skimpy side, though it did include Tiet To(Purple Perilla) and Mint. I found the amount of shredded cabbage and bean sprouts to be pretty small.

The Bun Bo Hue arrived piping hot, but it wasn’t much good. The broth was nice and spicy, but very flat, and other than the heat, didn’t have much flavor. The pork hock had some tender meat, but the meat tasted a bit "off", the Gio Lua (Lean pork sausage) was fine, but any thick cut beef was a rare find indeed.

The noodles were overcooked and mushy.

I had also ordered some Cha Gio($4.25 for 4), and in keeping with the meal, they arrived when I was almost done with my Bun Bo Hue:

I could’ve gotten 2 for $2.50, but what I should have done was get 0 for $0.00. I really didn’t care for these, it seemed to be mostly filler, and the wrapper was too thick, having been folded over several times. What do you think?

So much for feeding the Pho obsession….as I paid for my meal, I grabbed a menu, and there it was, Pho…..I was given a menu that was missing the first page, the page with the Pho on it!

So being the Pho-natic that I am, I paid another visit to Pho Van, and this time ordered the Pho Dac Biet Xe Lua (Special – Extra Large Bowl, $5.00).

The garnishes arrived first, and though there was only one sprig of Basil, the garnishes included Ngo Gai, which was very fresh. I found the various meat to be on the very tough and fatty side, and the amount of Tripe to be minuscule. The noodles were in a clump in the bottom of the bowl and was very mushy. At first glance I thought that the broth would be pretty good, the color was good, and the oil content looked to be adequate. But the broth turned out to be way too salty, I couldn’t even finish half of the broth.

Bummer, I’m always on the look-out for a good bowl of Pho, especially with the recent cooler weather.

So what can I say about Pho Van? Well, the prices are very reasonable and the service is very fast, though cool and detached, no different from any number of restaurants. Since everyone else I saw eating at Pho Van was getting Pho or another noodle soup, I really see no reason to return.

Pho Van Restaurant
4233 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92105

Oh, and this post is dedicated to Diet Chili Cheese Fries……one of my favorite lines is from a movie that is a favorite of ours…"Eat the Pho!"

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant

November 13, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** An updated post can be found here.

Right at the outskirts of Pacific Beach is Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant. You really can't miss the sign.

Though if you drive a bit too fast you'll zoom right past the restaurant and the small 8 stall parking lot. I'd been told that the Owner of Pho Sao Bien is the son of the Owner of Pho Hoa Huong. But whereas Pho Hoa is all business and bustle, Pho Sao Bien has a more peaceful and laid back "vibe".

The interior of the restaurant is bright and clean, and taking a page from those Asian restaurants with a customer wall, Pho Sao Bien has it's own "Wall of Fame".

This being Pacific Beach, I expected the prices to be a bit higher, but was still a bit taken aback by the prices, most everything was over $5.65. Still this is PB, not Mira Mesa where paying over six bucks for a bowl of mediocre Pho would be hard to understand, when you could get good Pho for under five bucks right down the street.

The one item I was told that I "must" have here were the Cha Gio (Egg Rolls – $6.25). Yep, it's Egg Rolls for over six bucks…these had better be good. What I got were 6 huuuge Cha Gio, that needed to be steroid tested:

These large Cha Gio were wrapped with the thin type of rice paper that bubbles up and gets very crunchy when fried, but due to the amount of filling they start getting soft pretty quickly…so fried lip be damned, it's full speed ahead with these. The Cha Gio filling didn't have very much filler, and I could only finish two of these. This reminded me of something that would be made when suffering from "dumpling fatigue", that happens when the Missus gets tired of making Jiaozhi after making 3 dozen or so, the dumplings start getting more and more filling…The Missus's Mother still can't figure out how She manages to get so much filling into a dumpling!

The Nuoc Mam Cham was mildly sweet, and overall this wasn't a bad dish. Is it worth over six bucks…I dunno, but this could be a meal on it's own.

During that time my garnishes arrived for my Pho:

Pretty skimpy, I ended asking for more basil and bean sprouts.

As for my Pho, I had ordered the Pho Dac Biet("Special" – X-Large – $6.50):

Since there was a connection between Pho Sao Bien and Pho Hoa, I expected a very dark and beefy broth. So much for expectations…the broth was medium dark in color, with a mild amount of oil. The flavoring pulled more toward a clove and anise flavor, not bad overall. The noodles were not the usual clump in the bottom, but loose, and of the thinner variety. There was a good amount of rare steak, which was soft and tender. There was just a scant amount of tripe and brisket, 1 piece of tendon, and 1 piece of flank, not much overall, I'm guessing in keeping with the clientele in PB.

In spite of the price, would I eat here again? Well considering that the nearest Pho is at least 6 miles away…..who knows? And if I'm craving for jumbo Cha Gio, or the Missus wants some Bun Cha Gio with Cha Gio suffering from Elephantiasis….you get the picture.

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant
1958 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant: Fastest Pho in the West?

September 27, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant, otherwise known as Pho Hoa Linda Vista, or just plain Pho Hoa, is known for two things in my book.

Pho Hoa has some of the darkest Pho broth I’ve seen in San Diego, and some of the fastest service I’ve encountered. It is possible to to get out of Pho Hoa in less than half an hour, if you keep up your side of the bargain…then again, it’s almost as if they can’t wait to get rid of you.

Pho Hoa, is slightly hidden, behind Yum Yum Donuts, and Le’s Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese restaurant on Linda Vista avenue. But that hasn’t stopped Pho Hoa from being very popular.

A typical lunch goes like this. I walk to the door, one of the Servers(all male, all looking like they’ve had severals cups of high octane) points to a table. As I arrive at the table, a menu is dropped, and one of the Servers is standing there looking at me, pencil at ready. And I haven’t even picked up the menu yet…… Feeling the pressure, I open the menu and blurt out "number one", mainly because it’s usually the Pho Dac Biet($5.20). As I do this one of the Servers walks double-time to the kitchen, while the Dude with the pad walks to the counter and drops off the order at the cash register.

In a blink my water arrives at the table. Within a few seconds my garnishes arrive, at light speed.

A bit on the stingy side, but with Ngo Gai(Saw leaf), one sprig of Basil, lime, bean sprouts, and some Jalapeno slices.

Within 2 minutes my Pho arrives.

Todays broth is merely a light brown, I’ve had it when the broth looked almost like Niu Rou Mein(Chinese Beef Noodle Soup) broth. The broth is usually on the very cloudy side, I’ve been told that a muddy broth is a no-no, but the broth at Pho Hoa has always been pretty good. Dark Pho broth does not necessitate a richer soup, as it’s charred green onions, onions, and ginger that will impart much of the color to the Pho broth. Todays broth was mildly beefy, a bit too salty, and without any real distinctive anise or clove flavor. That’s not to say the broth was bad, I usually find it satisfying, because the large amount of green onions and the basil impart alot of flavor to the broth.

The meat at Pho Hoa is usually pretty good, and today the rare beef and tripe were very good.

The tendon was a bit hard, and the brisket had nice flavor, but the fat was too tough. Still not bad, it’s hard enough to get decent rare beef.

One other item I notice about Pho Hoa, since everything is put together so quickly, is that the noodles are really hard when the Pho arrives, but gets soggy very quickly. I’m not quite sure if anyone who has eaten there has noticed this.

Still, I’m quite sure that I got out of there in under 30 minutes.

Sooooo, recently, in need of some amusement, and in my own typical weird fashion, I decided to make my lunch at Pho Hoa a sporting event of sorts. I call it the "how fast can you have lunch at Pho Hoa" event. My objective, to have lunch at Pho Hoa in under 30 minutes from the time I enter the restaurant, to the time I leave, without causing myself any gastric or other related distress…and of course without making a mess of Myself.

I set my stopwatch as I stepped to the door front, and was waved in. I walked to my table as if flames were licking at my butt(9 seconds). The menu was placed on the table, but instead of taking time to actually open my menu and order, I just blurted a number out. I don’t even remember what it was(10 seconds), and zip the Dude was gone. A minute later(actually 30 seconds) my water arrived, and 90 seconds later my hot tea. 3 minutes later I found out what I had ordered, Com Tam(broken rice) with Charbroiled Pork($5.20):

This is when I decided to slow down a bit, and try to enjoy my food. The portion size was quite good. The dish came with a bowl of very well flavored broth and Nuoc Mam Cham, the usual dipping sauce. On the good side, the Com Tam was steaming hot and sufficiently moist; too many times I’ve had hard and dry broken rice. The meat was also moist, and though very tender, it was still devoid of the tough inedible connective tissue we call "sugi" in Hawaii, named after nylon fishing line. I did find the meat to be rather bland, and though the Nuoc Mam did help, I still didn’t think it had a whole lot of flavor. I think I’ll stick with the Pho’.

As I stood and walked to counter to pay, the rather stoic Gentleman who I think is the Owner, looked at me and said; "aaah, you eat fast", and I felt like I had just won the Gold Medal at the Pho Hoa Games…….Total time 20 minutes, 35 seconds!

Seriously, the Pho at Pho Hoa will appeal to those who enjoy a darker, medium oil, balanced broth. The meat can be wildly inconsistent, but on this visit was good. The service is fast, but you may feel rushed. When in doubt, there’s always number 1……….

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

Open Daily 7am – 8pm

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

Before I Pho’-get: The Pho’ Retrospective – Phuong Trang, Convoy Noodle House, Pho Hoa Hiep, Pho Ca Dao (ECB), Pho Cali, Pho Viet Cali, Lucky Pho

May 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** For updated content on Pho' you can check out our Pho category.

As promised, here's my Pho' retrospective. But first I made a stop at Phuong Trang:

*** An updated post on the Pho at Phuong Trang can be found here.

Why Phuong Trang? I know I've already done a post on Phuong Trang, but I consider the Pho' there to be the most "middle of the road" Pho'. Not too dark, not to much oil, no strong clove, anise, or cinnamon flavor. That's not to say I don't like it, I've eaten there on many occasions, and don't mind it at all. The Pho' is very accessible, and when someone who's never had Pho' asks me where to go, I sometimes recommend Phuong Trang for that reason as well.

Today's bowl is the Extra Large Combination($5.25). The rare steak is always a good bet here, and the brisket is usually pretty good. Today there was a shortage of tripe, and the beef flank was mostly inedible fat. I also find that Phuong Trang always provides a good amount of Basil, Bean Sprouts, and Jalapenos, at least for my taste. Though I've noticed that quantities have gotten smaller; also no Ngo Gai is provided. The noodles are usually just the right texture. So there you go, your perfect, consistent, middle of the road Pho'.

I've come to understand that Pho' preferences vary wildly from individual to individual. Even more then Banh Mi. Some like a lighter broth, some darker, some enjoy a good quantity of oil, while others are just plain grossed out by it. Some even want the soup brought at a scalding hot temperature, but another said that if the broth is too hot, you won't be able to eat it, and the noodles will get too soft. I won't even get into the various cuts of meat! You get the point, right?

So I'll just list the bowls, and tack on a short impression, and maybe some notes….. All bowls are of the "combination"(Dac Biet).

September 11, 2005 – Convoy Noodle House

*** An updated post on the Pho at Convoy Noodle House can be found here.

*** Convoy Noodle House has closed

Impressions: A darker-full bodied, broth, stronger clove flavor. Meats are routine and are sometimes inconsistent. Skimpy garnishes, no Ngo Gai.

Notes: One of my regular stops, I like the broth, and usually a good quantity of meat.

Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

January 16, 2006 – Pho Hoa Hiep

Impressions: Lighter broth, the flavor of the cilantro, green onions, and garnishes(including Ngo Gai) come through. Love the tendon here, also usually a very generous amount of tripe. Didn't care for the rare steak. Noodles were the normal clump.

Notes: On a subsequent visit, the soup was exactly the same, so looks like a very consistent bowl.

Pho Hoa Hiep
6947 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

February 5, 2006 – Pho Ca Dao (El Cajon Boulevard Location)

Impressions: Broth a shade richer then Pho Hoa Hiep. Lot's of green onions and cilantro for flavor, which was very balanced. Tendon at Pho Ca Dao, is my favorite, generous amount of brisket, though a bit too fatty. Rare steak was on the tough and dry side. Quantity of garnish on the small side.

Notes: Though I usually have the Bun Bo Hue here, I think the Pho' is pretty good.

Pho Ca Dao
5223 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

March 1, 2006 – Pho' Cali

*** Pho Cali has closed

Impressions: If you're in Mission Valley and must have a bowl of Pho', this is your only choice. Broth had medium oil content, slight anise flavor in medium-light broth. On my visit, the noodles were a cold clump in the bottom of the bowl. Very skimpy on the garnishes, and I didn't care for the meat, rare steak and tendon was tough. The broth is okay, though.

Pho' Cali
1400 Camino De La Reina #105
San Diego, CA 92018

March 19, 2006 – Pho Viet Cali

*** Pho Viet Cali has closed

Impressions: The Dac Biet was pretty expensive, $6.15. Terribly stingy on the garnishes. Light, unremarkable broth. In addition to all the "usual" cuts of beef, this bowl had meatballs. Overall, lot's of meat, generic broth, a bit pricier.

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

March 28, 2006 – Lucky Pho'

Impressions: Darker broth, with a hint of anise and clove. Oil content varies; on this trip it was low, on another slightly higher. Noodles are routine, but good. The meats are not the best, and are on the inconsistent side, some days the tendon is very tough, likewise with the brisket, etc. Adequate garnishes, with Ngo Gai.

Notes: This broth is to my taste, and that is the main reason I return. The meat at Pho Ca Dao and Pho Hoa Hiep are better.

Lucky Pho' in Lucky Seafood Supermarket
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

May 10, 2006 – Bolsaa Vietnamese Restaurant

*** Bolsaa has since closed

Impressions: The garnishes are adequate. Broth on the light side, with low oil content. I found the rare steak to be good, but the rest of the meats were on the tough and dry side. Noodles were fine, not mushy and not too chewy.

Notes: On this visit, the broth was very salty; though I've been informed that it was probably a "glitch".

Bolsaa Vietnamese Cuisine
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Well there it is, and those in San Diego probably have noticed that many of the popular Pho' establishments, such as Pho Hoa Huang, Pho Van, Pho Hoa Cali, Pho T Cali, and so on, have not been "represented". All in due time. And maybe I'll have enough bowls of Bun Bo Hue soon to do a retrospective on that as well.

Until then; like DietChiliCheeseFries always says – "Eat the Pho!!!!"

Bolsaa Vietnamese Restaurant

May 10, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Update, Bolsaa has since closed. And is now the Crab Hut.

Yep, you read that right; it’s Bolsaa with 2 "aa’s" at the end. Not to be confused with Bolsa on Mira Mesa Boulevard, though I’ve been told that there is a connection. This Bolsaa is located in a strip mall along with several other restaurants on Convoy St.

About a year and a half ago, I had a decent bowl of Pho’ Ga (Chicken Rice Noodle Soup) at Bolsaa, and then had forgotten all about the place. Recently, on a trip to Balboa Tofu House I saw the Bolsaa sign and made a mental note to revisit Bolsaa. And so here I was……

The interior of Bolsaa is alot larger then the tiny storefront would indicate, and is quite clean. There’s also the requisite bar area, that almost all Vietnamese Restaurants seem to have for the express purpose of hiding the cash register.

The restaurant also never seems to be full, no matter what time of day I’ve visited.

On this trip I ordered the typical Pho’ Bo(Beef Noodles Soup) Combination(Rare Steak, Brisket, Flank, Tendon, and Tripe) Extra Large($5.75), compared to the Combination Large($5.25), or just the Combination ($4.75), for some reason I see some humor in this, though I can’t quite understand why. As is the norm, the garnishes arrived first:

I thought the amount of Basil was perfect for my tastes, though the bean sprouts were lacking. What to do about the lemon wedge??????

The large bowl of Pho’ arrived steaming hot to the table.

The rare steak was perfect, thinly sliced, and soft. The rest of the meat items didn’t fare so well, most were dry and tough, and the amount of tripe was negligible. The noodles weren’t in a solid clump on the bottom and were about as good as they could possibly be, not mushy, and not too chewy. The broth was on the light side, and very generic. The oil level was low, and the only very distinctive trait I could really get a handle on was how "salty" it was. It got to the point where I finished the noodles, but couldn’t bring myself to finish up the broth. Who knows, could be a glitch, but man was it salty.

On a recent morning I did manage to make another visit to Bolsaa, and this time decided on a change of pace and ordered the Chicken with Lemon Grass and Hot Pepper($6.95). The dish was delivered on two plates, first, a really "healthy"(or depending how you view carbs, unhealthy) portion of rice:

Then the good size portion of chicken:

The dark meat chicken had been cut into cubes then stir fried with onions. The sauce had a slight sweet-soy/fish sauce taste. There was almost no spiciness or heat, and the dish was on the oily side (even for me….). I honestly felt that I could do better at home. Pass on this one…..

I’ll probably visit Bolsaa again in the (maybe not so near) future. Though I’ll probably have the Pho’ Ga, or check out the Pho’ Bo, just to see if the bowl I had was a glitch.

Some Notes: I’ve been to Bolsaa four times over the years, and it’s always been a pretty quiet, not too crowded restaurant. With current construction in the mall, the parking spaces are always being reconfigured, and during certain hours parking is at a premium. The menu at Bolsaa in not as large as other Vietnamese restaurants; of course it’s all relative if you consider 120+ items to be a smaller selection. So at least Vietnamese Menu Paralysis won’t take over!

Bolsaa Vietnamese Cuisine
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Open Daily 9am – 10pm

If I can get my "act" together, I’ll probably do my Pho’ Retrospective post some time next week.