Category: Thai Restaurants

Cake de Partie

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

“FOY” Franklin emailed me asking what I thought of the wings at Cake de Partie. To be perfectly honest, I’ve taken the Missus there so She could have some of the desserts, but unlike Cathy, who did a post on the place back in 2021, I’d never tried any of the savory food there. So recently, I decided to head on over and get some lunch.

I do think the parking situation there has changed? There’s a free 25 minute parking for some of the other businesses in the buildings, but otherwise it’s pay parking. I ended up parking on Brinell Street and walking over. Even though it was right after opening the place filled up quickly.

Sidling up to the counter, I looked over the posted menu.

Even though the Zapp wings interested me; I decided to just try the Original Chicken Wings ($10). And since man, or at least this man can’t live on wings alone, I decided on the BBQ Pork Bowl ($13), which Cathy seemed to like on her visit.

I then took my number and had a seat on one of the smaller tables…..the place was getting busy, so I didn’t want to take up more space than I needed.

First to arrive was the BBQ Pork Bowl. The portion size was much larger than what Cathy had when she visited.

The rice was moist and tender. My favorite item was actually the salad, which had a slightly sweet, but not overly sugary strawberry vinaigrette. It was quite refreshing.

The pork was interesting as I was wondering if it was going to be like Moo Ping? This was basically marinated and stir fried slices of pork, which came with a dipping sauce like Jim Jaew, but was more on the salty side.

On the order board, it is said that it’s “Honey BBQ Pork”…which was really interesting since this was super salty and really could have used some sweetness and pungency to cut all that sodium. It really seemed like a very homestyle marinated sliced pork.

The pork was on the chewier side of the scale and some caramelization might have created a more interesting texture and developed the flavors a bit more. Still, for thirteen bucks these days….well, I don’t think I should have expected anything more.

When my wings arrived, I had to crack up. Can you figure out why?

Well, look at all those pin feathers! Basically, these chickens were having some new feathers come out. Not very picturesque and they are totally edible, but of course it does sometimes look “interesting”. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to floss my teeth after eating these, right? The batter on these was just a light dusting, which I kind of prefer as when done well, it’s really nice and crisp. Though it didn’t hold up real well and started getting soggy rather quickly.

Not a fan of the sweet chili sauce as it was way too sweet and sticky.

As mentioned earlier, the wings were initially crisp, with a very simple seasoning; which like the pork edged on the very salty side.

Lots of dark spotting, these had probably been frozen for a while. No off flavors, adequately moist and tender. Like the pork, just a very simple prep and straight forward flavor.

Overall, pretty much straight forward, almost fast-casual meal. There’s much better wings to be found within a mile of Cake de Partie. Prices are not bad and perhaps one day I might return to try the Zapp Wings….maybe….

Cake De Partie
4685 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sunday, Wed, Thurs 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
Closed on Monday and Tuesday

So, there you go Franklin! Thanks for getting me out of my usual doldrums and having me try some new things!

So Saap Revisited

Lao Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

After having the leftovers from Kin Saep, the Missus wanted to revisit So Saap. Hard to believe it’s been over a year since we last visited!

We easily found parking on the street….that parking lot is a horror show and with all the guys hanging out having coffee at the Starbucks parking spots are hard to come by at times.

The restaurant was deserted when we arrived, but soon started to fill up. The older woman working was so sweet in a “auntie” kind of way. We ordered two of our favorites from previous visits and tried one new dish.

Things started off with the Lao Sausage (Spicy).

Man, this was even better than we recalled. The casing was crisp, lots of herbs, decent spice, but the most interesting things was how very tender the filling was…in fact, we actually saw globules of fat in the sausage!

While the beef was on the chewy side, we enjoyed the nutty flavor of the roasted rice powder, good amount of lime, nice beefiness, though it could have been more spicy.

Still, we enjoyed it.

We decided to try the Hat Yai Fried Chicken on this visit. In addition to the sticky rice, it came with a super lip melting and spicy, though kind of thin curry soup. And also had Thai Roti, thin and nicely griddled, yeasty, with some crispness.

The chicken was simply fried, the exterior pretty crisp. The seasoning was on the milder side, the flesh very moist and tender. Great fowl-ly flavor. Overall a pretty nice dish.

We enjoyed this meal and made sure to finish the chicken and had one sausage and the rest of the nam tok for dinner……where it had become pretty darn spicy!

Since Spicy Lao Kitchen had gone downhill, So Saap seems to be one of our top choices these days and this meal didn’t disappoint!

So Saap
4134 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 1030am – 11pm
Sat – Sun 1030am – Midnight

Kin Saep (Chollas View)

Lao Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

For some reason, warm weather always has me craving Lao/Thai food….along with the other usual suspects. On one recent hot summer day, I decided to check out a place I’d had on my “list” for a while; Kin Saep. One thing that drew me here was the location….4710 Market Street. Folks who’ve been reading this blog forever will recognize the exterior.

Yep, this used to be Asia Cafe, which I first posted on back in April of 2006! Asia Cafe was the place where I developed my love of Lao Cuisine…which culminated in our wonderful visit to Luang Prabang! Eventually time passes and Asia Cafe changed ownership…Cathy even did a post back in 2017. Asia Cafe then closed and became So Saap, which eventually moved to University, in what used to be Ban Lao and before that Que Huong. Man, I’ve been doing this blogging thing for too long!

Ok, returning to real time, I arrived a few minutes after the 11am opening time and the parking lot was empty…….something that really wasn’t common here in the days of Asia Cafe. The open sign lit up and I walked on in.

For some reason, this tiny restaurant seemed even smaller than before? The nice woman brought me menus, then turned on the music videos while her son watched his own personal tablet.

Looking over the prices, I was shocked at how inexpensive things seemed. I ordered three items off the menu…all predictable dishes for me these days.

First to arrive was the Peppered BBQ Pork ($10.95)…which was pork neck.

While I expected chewiness, this was really bland…whatever marinade they used was quite weak. No caramelization….so not my definition of “BBQ”. That Jeow Som was spicy enough for my taste, it had a bracing sourness, but lacked a savory-umami component.

Of course I got the Lao Sausage ($10.95).

This was pretty good. I enjoyed the “tight” casing, giving things a bit of snap. The filling was adequately moist and tender, with good savory tones, though I like a hint of sour and a more herbaceous flavor.

I had ordered the spicy version of the sausage, but this wasn’t spicy in the least. Still, this was not bad.

And of course, I got the Nem Khao Tod ($14.95). First to arrive was a plate with a huge amount of lettuce!

And then the Nem Khao.

I ordered this medium spicy…but should have gone for more! I liked the amount of sour sausage and herbs in the nem khao.

But there was one short coming. I think you can see it clearly.

Yep….there were no crispy-crunchy bites of rice in this! What the heck? It could have been a winnah!

I took leftovers home and when I heated the nem khao it got really mushy. And when I looked at the receipt I saw that the woman had ordered my sausage “mild”.

But check out those prices! Did I just go back in time to the days before Covid? The owner is very sweet and I enjoy supporting these mom-and-pop places. If we lived closed I’d do a revisit. But unlike the food prices….we’re still in those days of crazy gas prices….so maybe one day. After having my leftovers; the Missus wanted to head back to So Saap….so I guess we’ll be there soon.

Kin Saep
4710 Market St.
San Diego, CA 92102
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 730pm

Khao Mun Gai from Kin Len – Thai Street Eats

Dog Friendly, Thai Restaurants

In the comments section of my post on craving and getting some Khao Mun Gai from Me Sen, “FOY” ST mentioned that his sister enjoys the Khao Mun Gai from Kin Len. Which I found interesting since I don’t recall seeing Kau Mun Gai on the menu there. But since ST is of Thai heritage….well, I just needed to do a revisit since it’s been a while. Plus, they have a covered patio so I could bring JJ. Looking at the hours I noticed that they are open to 1am on some evenings……I guess they’re looking for that post “North Park night” population, huh?

So, we found parking fairly close by and walked on over to Kin Len. I peeked in and the nice young man told me to sit wherever I wanted, so I took the covered corner table. He soon came out and brought me a menu and water for both JJ and I. When he saw me giving JJ ice cubes; he was so nice and proactive and brought JJ an entire cup of ice just for him!

So JJ was immediately on “team Kin Len”!

Looking at the menu I realized why I hadn’t noticed the Khao Mun Gai here before.

While many of the dishes feature the Thai name for the dishes….Khao Soi, Pad See-Ew…..many dishes feature English names and the KHao Mun Gai here is “Sous-vide Chicken & Rice”. Which is what I ordered ($17.95).

Soon enough my plate arrived.

Man, those pieces of chicken were gigantic! Of course, the first thing I went for was….the rice! It was on the hard side and not quite as rich and “chicken-ny” as I like.

The bowl of soup that came with the dish was quite large; scalding hot….nice chicken flavor, strong white pepper tones.

Not overly salty….I enjoyed it.

As for the boneless chicken; in terms of texture it was tender, though not falling apart, which I liked. Mild chicken flavor….more moist and tender than the version at Me Sen. The sauce was a lot stronger in terms of sour-tangy fermented soy bean paste, though not as spicy as I enjoy.

I do enjoy hints of ginger and slight herbaceous tones, but this was pretty much straight forward. And yes, those pieces of chicken were quite wide and thick.

Overall, a decent version….though I’m pretty much into the rice and so for that I’ll stick with Me Sen, which is like $4 cheaper as well. Still, this was not bad and service was very friendly and nice…so perhaps we’ll return (if we can find parking) to try some other dishes. It gives us another option to Soi 30th in the area for Thai food..

Kin Len – Thai Street Eats
3934 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Sunday 12pm – 9pm
Mon – Wed 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Thursday 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 1am
Fri – Sat 12pm – 1am

The Pad Thai Stand Revisited

Dog Friendly, Thai Restaurants

Recently, on the way home from one of JJ’s “excursions”, I was feeling a bit hungry. We were passing Carnival Market on Ashford Street when I suddenly remembered the Pad Thai Stand, which I hadn’t been to in a while…..like 5 years! Since they have a covered patio, I thought that JJ could relax while I had some lunch.

As I walked in; I quickly noticed that the place is looking a bit run down.

The woman working actually came out from the counter to take my order. Based on my previous visits, I got the Boran (old style) Pad Thai with Tofu ($15) Medium Heat. My order took about 20 minutes….which was strange considering I was the only customer…..I quickly noticed that they don’t do the noodles over high heat here…..more on that later.

It was a rather large portion.

The chunks of tofu was fine; my favorite item in this version of Pad Thai are the pork rinds. The egg was chopped into pieces and overcooked for my taste. Enjoyed the crunch of the bean sprouts.

I liked the spice; it was hot enough to get my sweat glands going. A bit on the sweeter side for my taste, a bit lacking in in savory tones……which was one of the reasons I got the Boran. Usually the more traditional version has much more umami-savory tones than other versions.

The most “interesting” thing were the noodles; which were super chewy and rubbery. In fact, I took a good amount of the Pad Thai home with me. When I went to heat it up it was all stuck together in a giant clump. I needed to keep heating and mixing to try to get the noodles separated. Then I remembered….I saw the young man cooking the dish over a rather low heat. This would often cause the noodles to clump together.

Kind of a bummer, though JJ enjoyed hanging out.

The Pad Thai Stand
3520 Ashford St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Sunday – Thurs 11am – 2pm, 4pm – 11pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 2pm, 4pm – Midnight

Me Sen Revisited

Thai Restaurants

In the comments of my post on Arbor Sushi & Grill Express, “FOY” Loren asked if there are any decent Grocery Store Food Stalls in San Diego. Junichi answered with an excellent example; Santouka. But, I also had an example of what I thought was a pretty good Super Market Food Stall; which was also located within 99 Ranch Market; though the Clairemont location. I had thought the food at Me Sen which had taken the place of the banh mi shop Sau Voi Deli was decent. I thought the Khao Mun Gai was pretty good….and I found myself at 99 Ranch Market at around 10am……and Me Sen, which has gotten a bit of “influencer visits” was open. I thought I’d drop by to see if that’s had any effect on the food.

It was quite chill when I got there, though it filled up fast. I ordered the Khao Mun Gai and sat at a table.

Soon enough, my order arrived.

It was pretty much the same as on my previous visit. The soup was white pepper forward, piping hot, though not particularly “fowl-ly”, it was as salty as on my previous visit.

The chicken was pleasantly toothsome and very moist. I kind of appreciate that it’s been deboned as it makes it easy to eat. The flavor is quite mild though. As with my previous visit; my favorite part of the dish was the rice, which had so much savory-chicken flavor. Like I said before it like the broth used for the rice “had stolen the soul of that chicken”. Man, that rice is so good.

This time around, I appreciated the Khao Mun Gai sauce, which had a nice “kick” to it, along with savory tones….though I’m thinking that it could use a bit more fermented bean paste and pungency. Still, it did add a lot of flavor to the chicken.

Overall, a decent meal. Which I’d be happy to repeat again in the near future.

Me Sen Thai Noodle Shop
7300 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm

So, my good “FOYs”, what are your stand by Grocery Store Food Stalls in San Diego? I’m excited to read all the responses!

K Bakery Replacing Sage French Cake, Kanna Thai Kitchen Replacing Di Chan, Ma’s House has Closed, and the sign for Tang Huo Kung Fu Spicy Hot Pot is up

Bakery, Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Just a couple of things I saw during my shopping trips.

K Bakery Replacing Sage French Cake:

Saw this during one of my shopping excursions to Nijiya last week.

So, I did some digging and it seems that Sage’s owner has decided to retire. Man, it seemed like Sage had been there forever! Though I believe it was a one man operation and he worked really hard. Hope he has a great retirement!

3860 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Kanna Thai Kitchen Replacing Di Chan:

Remember that I noticed that Di Chan had closed last month? Well, driving past the strip mall I noticed a sign posted.

I decided to take a look and it seems that Kanna Thai Kitchen will be taking over that spot.

5535 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

While checking that location out, I noticed all signage for Ma’s House was gone, so I walked over.

Ma’s House has closed:

The windows were covered, but one corner was open and all the furnishings are gone.

5537 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

And the sign for Tang Huo Kung Fu Spicy Hot Pot is up:

I guess we haven’t hit critical mass for Hot Pot in the Convoy area yet?

I believe that Tang Hou is a chain. I know they have locations in LA.

It just seems that only chains can afford to operate on Convoy these days!

4344 Convoy St,
San Diego, CA 92111

Friday Findings – Potato Powder Love Noodle, Di-Chan Thai, and Makai Sushi Closes

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Poke, Thai Restaurants

Man, there seem to be so many places closing recently….all the rising costs and such. I saw these three in just the last week….

Potato Powder Love Noodle Being Re[;aced by Arbor Sushi & Grill:

It seems that the food court at the 99 Ranch Market in Balboa has become a revolving door. There was Dao Xiang Noodle, which replaced Mama Lin’s, which replaced Saigon 5. Dao Xiang that didn’t last a year and was replaced by Wang La Ya in February. Back in August of last year Potato Powder Love Noodle, another chain with locations in the SGV, replaced the rather long running Shann Xi Magic Kitchen.

Imagine my surprise when I took a peek at the food court and noticed that the place is gone!

Sheesh…another place that didn’t last a year. I only made that one visit and was meaning to return…but I guess not now! I think it’s kind of how things might go with regards to chains?

So, it’ll be interesting to see how a sushi and “grill” does in this space.

5950 Balboa Ave (In the 99 Ranch Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111

Makai Sushi Being Replaced by La Rotonde:

Now this one was another surprise which I saw when driving down 5th Avenue.

I know I was really intrigued as to why a fellow from Kauai would open a poke/sushi place here. During my visit the really friendly owner, Matt, who is from Poipu explained that the place kind of found him. I’m guessing that it was perhaps almost a spur of the moment kind of decision? So perhaps I shouldn’t have bee overly surprised at this?

I did a little searching and found that Matt is currently back on Kauai…..hmmm……I’m wondering if he’ll return?

3968 5th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103

Di-Chan Thai Closes:

Now, both of the previously noted closures were short timers. This one however, is for one of those businesses that has been around seemingly forever. On Tuesday, I went over to Leilani’s Attic to get some “stuffs”. Man, that strip mall….Madison Place has gone thru some major renovations and the businesses looked empty. I did notice that Ma’s House was still open. But Di-Chan Thai seemed closed so I drove on over.

And I quickly saw the sign on the door, “after 25 years we’ll miss you all”.

Whoa….though I’ve never been a huge fan of Di-Chan; I know quite a few folks who enjoyed eating there, so this is kind of a sad one!

5535 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Time’s seem to be hard on businesses right now…..I think I need to head to some of my favorites to give them support!

Yuk Dae Jang and Zab Linda Revisited

Korean Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Two recent revisits the Missus wanted.

Yuk Dae Jang:

Out of the blue; the Missus requested Yuk Dae Jang. So, we headed over for an early dinner. I was quite surprised when She didn’t want what we usually order; the Premium Bossam.

She said she wanted to try something different. And so we got the Prime Beef Bulgogi with Glass Noodle ($33.99).

The panchan was pretty much like it was on our last visit; the Missus enjoys the buchu muchim (chive panchan). The baechu kimchi is still on the milder, less fermented side of the scale for us.

As for the Bulgogi dish. Well, you can kinda tell by the color, right?

The marinade was on the weaker side; not enough sweet-savory tones. The menu says this is Prime beef, but it was pretty chewy. The glass noodles were overcooked and mushy as well.

Lesson learned; stick with our favorites here.

Yuk Dae Jang
7307 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Zab Linda Vista:

Well, the Missus enjoyed our visit back in March, so She wanted to return. Like Yuk Dae Jan, She wanted to try some other items on the menu.

She went with the noodle dish we order to see how simple dishes are executed; Pad See Eew. She ordered this version with duck. This was actually pretty good. We were asked for a spice level; something not very common when ordering Pad See Eew. We said medium spice and it did have a nice kick to it.

Nice savory to sweet balance for our tastes. The only complaint was that the noodles were on the mushier side. The duck was quite meaty and flavorful though.

Then She ordered a surprise dish. One that we seldom order unless the restaurant….usually Lao has proven to be a winnah! Mok Pa. We are quite picky with regards to mok pa….I mean, I learned how to make it at the Tamarind Cooking School in Luang Prabang and make a version at home as well.

This was was pretty good; the fish had a slight muddiness, but was very moist and buttery.

Good amount of dill, nice herbaceous tones, light savory touches.

Could have used more fish sauce, though we could make out the the earthy-smokiness that the banana leaves lent to the dish. We’d gladly have it again!

We were quite happy with this meal. It’ll be interesting to see what the Missus tried next time!

Zab Linda
6952 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Road Trip – Dumpling 85, South Lake Brewing Company (Lake Tahoe), Van Sickle Rim Trail (Stateline NV), and My Thai Revisited (Lake Tahoe)

Beer, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants, Travel

Leaving Avila Beach, it was almost a seven hour drive to South Lake Tahoe. We had enjoyed our time in Tahoma during a previous road trip, but there weren’t dog friendly places to stay or eat in the area, so we thought we’d stay in South Lake Tahoe. I had wanted to book The Landing for our entire 5 night stay, but I wasn’t able to get accommodations there until Sunday. So, for the Friday – Saturday night stay, I got us a room in Forest Suites Resort, which was basically across the street from the very touristy Heavenly Village. We arrived and checked in…our room was on like the third floor.

Since it was almost five pm, we decided to head on out and find somewhere to eat. I recalled seeing a Chinese restaurant when doing my research…and by this time, the Missus wanted some Asian food already. We walked thru Heavenly Village.

And up Lake Tahoe Boulevard and saw Dumpling 85 in the Chateau at the Village Shopping Center.

We crossed the street and noted that they were pup friendly. They led us to a table and the Missus placed our order.

We saw the XLB and jiaozi on the way in and they didn’t look real good. We had breakfast at Avila Lighthouse Suites and heated up the leftover Beef Bourguignon so we just got the Stir Fried Green Beans and the Pork Baozi.

The Stir Fried Green Beans were undercooked and underseasoned.

Super hard and in need of more savory components. Almost raw…..

The Pork Baozi was strange. The “bun” portion had almost a chalky texture, really weird, that gave way to a soggy doughiness. The bottoms were almost like crackers!

The filling was fine, if on the chewy side. At least it was porky.

Dumpling 85
4125 Lake Tahoe Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

The Missus went back to the room, while I took JJ to the corner of Heavenly Village Way and the South Lake Brewing Company Libation Lounge.

They had outdoor seating, so I walked in, ordered myself a Pilsner and had a seat outside.

I picked up my beer when ready and enjoyed the crisp, clean Pilsner.

South Lake Brewing Co. – The Libation Lodge Restaurant & Brewery
4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Suite 26
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

After which we walked along Heavenly Village Way which led us back to our accommodations. I could see the Heavenly Mountain Gondola passing right over our hotel.

We slept well.

The Forest Suites Resort has a free breakfast, which is nice. We just ran over and got some yogurt and stuff, before walking to our morning destination.

One great thing about where we stayed is that basically across the street is the entrance to Van Sickle Bi-State Park. We just walked along the road, crossing the border into Nevada.

A bit further up the road was the Van Sickle Rim Trail. A nice, almost 7 mile hike, with a 1,000 foot elevation gain. And of course, JJ handled it much better than I did.

Nice views…..

And even a waterfall along the way.

It was nice to have access to a trail in walking distance from our accommodations.

Returning to our room, we decided on a return visit to My Thai which was a ten minute drive away. We had been pleasantly surprised when we had dined here back in 2023. We weren’t sure if they were dog friendly and thought we could do takeout. The host was really funny, he said we could bring JJ, but there was a “two bark” rule in place! Lol! There was an Australian Shepherd having lunch with his family there as well.

We ordered our two favorite dishes from our precious visit. The Lao Style Papaya Salad, which we got medium spicy. Just as before, this was quite legit, from the salted crab to the funky fermented flavors.

All balanced out by the acidic tones and tomatoes. The shredded papaya was crisp and refreshing. I enjoyed the chicharrons as well.

We also got the Basil Duck.

Which was a bit sweeter than on our last visit, but still nice anise-savory tones. The duck was chewy, but flavorful. There was much more “meat” this time as on our previous visit it was mostly skin and fat.

It seemed like they used an onigiri mold to plate the rice, don’t you think?

The rice was on the drier side, but fragrant.

All in all, a nice lunch.

My Thai Cuisine
2108 Lake Tahoe Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

And after lunch…well, it was nap time of course!