As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
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!
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!
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
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. â 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
It’s kind of funny. I recently made some revisits to places I’ve takeout from quite a few times. And while getting this post done; I noticed that I had actually done a post on these two places together once before! There must have been something triggering this, huh?
Anyway, here goes……
Ngon Ngon to Go:
Once a regular stop for me…well, it had been a while. I dropped by to place a takeout order and noticed something “interesting”. My usual, the Bo Luc Lac ($16), no longer included rice! There’s a version with fried rice, which is not what I wanted, but if I wanted white rice, there would be an additional charge of $2.
Well, I just sucked it up and got some white rice with my bo luc lac. I ordered and went and did a bit of shopping, returning for my takeout.
That side of rice was fine, if a bit on the harder, drier side.
There was a generous amount of salad which was fine. I’d had experiences with browning lettuce and stuff before, but this was fine.
My issue was with the beef. Take a look at the color.
The beef had not been marinated/sauced appropriately in my opinion. It lacked the savorysalty-sweetness that I associate with this dish. The beef was also super tough and chewy. Just not fun to eat.
With the weird upcharge and the lack quality and execution. I guess, after all these years and visits, I’m closing the chapter on this one.
Ngon Ngon To Go 10550 Camino Ruiz San Diego, CA 92126
Chaba Thai:
Or as the Missus calls it; that “Chubby Thai place”. It had been a while and the Missus was wondering about the Krapow Gai. I would usually get that along with the Khao Kluk Kapi with Honey Pork, but on my last visit, it was mediocre, so I went with another item I’ve ordered from Chaba, the Tod Mun, the fried fish cakes.
So, I placed my order, ran to do some shopping at Zion and picked up our dinner.
First off, the rice that came with the Krapow Gai was terrible. You can see the brown, overcooked spots. It was really dry and hard.
The Tod Mun was strange. It was really hard and overly chewy…I mean quite tough.
The usual mild herbaceousness usually of the addition of lime leaf was missing. This was super bland. Even the typical fish sauce based dip was not helpful.
The Krapow Gai had it’s own set of issues. And no it wasn’t for lack of pidan.
As you can see on the photo below, where I put the dish into a container, there’s a good amount of century egg in this dish.
Rather, the ground chicken was very chewy and dry. I had ordered this spicy, but it was not. The seasoning was off as this was so bland. In fact we used the dipping sauce for the Tod Mun and all the fried basil from that dish as well to try to add flavor. I usually expect a salty-savory-mild sweetness in this dish, which was totally AWOL.
This was a very unsatisfying meal. I’d like you to take a look at the photos of these exact two dishes from our takeout visit in 2020 and compare.
This was quite disappointing. I guess we’re writing this one off as well. I’m not sure if “FOY” Si O still reads the blog, but maybe he has a recommendation?
Chaba Thai Kitchen 8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92111
The recent record heat had the Missus craving Thai food, something that doesn’t usually happen until the late spring. She was looking for a specific style, Issan to be exact, and of course we could have headed up to The Original Sab E Lee, which we do need to revisit, but did not want to drive very far. Of course some Lao food would have been great, but our last experience at Spicy Lao Kitchen, after what appears to be some changes was not very good. And then thinking about TOSeL…the “original – original” which opened where Yorimichi now is. Before expanding to locations eastward and northward; with the Linda Vista locale moving across the street to the mall which used to be Toan Ky Restaurant…sigh…guess I’ve been doing this too long? Anyway, we had visited Zab Linda which replaced TOSeL when they first opened, but had only done takeout visits, due to you remember, right? It had always been my intention to return, but things just keeps moving along…… In that roundabout way, Zab Linda came back into focus, and I thought we should revisit to catch up on things. And catch up we did! While not on the level of meals we’d had during the prime of TOSeL, we enjoyed several of the dishes and ended up doing three visits.
Funny thing, I had never gone beyond that high front counter and seen the dining room. The two lovely folks working were quite nice as well.
Since we did three visits and have reordered several dishes during our visits; I’m just going to go from our favorites downward in this post. So here goes….. One more note; we got everything Medium Spicy.
Nam Khao Tod ($15). This was by far our favorite item on the menu. We had it three times. The first time, there wasn’t even crispy bits of rice and a lack of the light flavor of coconut, but the after that, it’s been quite good.
This version has a large amount of sour sausage, which makes for a nice textural contrast to the crisp, crusted rice. Good amount of cilantro, decent sour tones, only thing missing thin threads of pork skin. But we did enjoy it.
Duck Larb ($21.95). We enjoyed the refreshing sour tones, with decent spice on a hot day.
The slices were on the chewier side, but there was a nice portion of it, and it was quite savory-“ducky” in flavor as well. Very good enrobed in cabbage! And even better the next day as the favors got more intense.
Of course we enjoy Naked Shrimp (Goong Nam Pla), though we are cautious about ordering raw “stuffs” and waited until our last visit to order it. We were advised to get the “sauce” on the side and we soon figured out why.
While the Shrimp wasn’t quite as good as the version we had during our first couple of visits to Spicy Lao, it was much better than what we had there on our last visit. The shrimp was on the firmer side; with no off flavors. The slices of pungent garlic was a nice touch as was the slices of bitter melon, which was quite interesting in terms of that numbing bitterness, in combination with the sauce.
Ah yes, the sauce….man, this was spicy, even at medium heat this had me wiping sweat from my brow in no time! The young lady gave us good advice. When I mentioned this to her, she said that she always gets the sauce on the side with this dish. This was definitely Essan in spice level
The Sai Oua ($15), the house made Essan style sausage was very different from what we’d had here before.
That dipping sauce was awesome by the way….savory-sour-spicy-herbaceous. There was a decent amount of herbs in the sausage, which was quite tender, maybe overly so, as it was almost mushy. It came with a huge portion of sticky rice as well. Sovereign still makes our favorite version in San Diego.
The Missus enjoys the Spicy Basil Pork with Century Egg ($21).
The fried basil is a nice touch as it adds the fragrant, sweet-anise flavor to the dish along with some crispness. It’s savory-umami, with an ammonia like finish pidan that makes the dish.
As I will note a bit further down.
The Pad Ped Moo Krob ($21) was a mixed bag.
The Missus enjoyed the egg, some of the slices of fried pork belly was crisp initially, ending with a nice gooey interior, which we loved, other slices were really chewy.
The red curry was a bit too sweet for our taste, but perhaps it was because we were having the potent Goong Nam Pla with this? Also, this dish didn’t keep well as leftovers.
The Nahm Tok ($18.95) was also a mixed bag.
A decent amount of roasted rice powder, not as spicy as we thought it would be, and could have used more sour tones. The beef was on the chewier side as well.
The Missus was wondering how the Spicy Basil Pork ($16.95) would be with out the other stuffs.
The pork was really chewy…and where was the basil? On the bland side and not enough savory or spicy tones. Pass…..
Of course we had to try the Som Tum Lao ($15.95). I have never had a Lao style Papaya Salad with so saturated in sauce.
The crunch was gone and there was so much fermented fish/crab in this that it was super funky….so much so, that the Missus could only eat one spoonful! I did ok, but this was not as good as other version we’ve had locally….even those with fermented crab are superior to this as a whole.
Overall, we enjoyed our visits and am glad that we decided to return to Zab Linda after all these years. The food seems to have changed (see the difference in the Sai Oua from our previous post) for the better. Even though we need to get back up to the Original Sab E Lee, it’s good to have another option that’s not a far drive for us.
Zab Linda 6952 Linda Vista Rd. San Diego, CA 92111 Hours: Mon â Thurs 11am â 330pm, 430pm â 9pm Fri – Sun 11am â 9pm
With the recent warmer weather; the Missus has been craving some Thai food. Since we needed to make a Nijiya run on that day; I suggested revisiting Koon Thai. Our last three visits had been for takeout, all of which had been during Covid. Looking at my posts, it had been over 8 years since we’d actually dined in at Koon! Crazy how time flies!
We arrived right at the 11am opening time and were seated.
Looking over the menu; we went with three dishes, one we had seen on posters on the window, one an item we’ve been ordering for years, and the third was what the Missus was craving, which was the Larb (Chicken – $11.95).
Based on recent dining; we were quite surprised at the prices here! We ordered the larb medium spicy, which was too mild. The ground chicken was overly chewy, though there was roasted rice powder and good amount of cilantro. It definitely needed more heat to balance out the sour-acidity.
The one dish we’ve been ordering over the last several years is the Khao Karr Moo, which is also nicely priced at $15.95.
There was much less of the braised pork leg, with several chewy pieces. During the last few times I’ve gotten this, I’ve noticed that the amount of pickled greens has gone down…..such was the case today as well. On a positive note; the boiled egg was adequately done.
The rice was fine; though the sauce was overly sweet, throwing off that savory-sweet-herbaceousness that is key to this dish.
Since the other two dishes were quite inexpensive, we thought we’d order something a bit more “fancy” and went with the Basil Duck ($29.95). This would end up being our favorite dish of the day!
The duck had been seasoned and fried nicely; crisp skin, moist flesh, with that savory-gamy flavor. There were actually two legs included in this. The sauce which contained a good amount of green beans, onions, and carrots was a bit thin; but the flavor, herbaceous-savory tones and a hint of sweetness and anise went really well with the duck.
It also came with a large bowl of rice.
Overall, we didn’t think this was an expensive meal, though we were only impressed with the most expensive dish. We noticed the customers who came in after us and what they ordered…cream cheese won tons….a ton of pad thai…green salads…fried rice…interesting! The woman serving us was very nice and even helped me pack our leftovers to go.
For some reason, the dishes seemed quite mild to us. I think we’ll need to start re-exploring options with regard to Thai Restaurants. We’ve been kinda lazy as Koon’s location is very convenient for us.
Koon Thai Kitchen 3860 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Mon – Thurs 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm Friday 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 10pm Saturday 11am – 4pm, 5pm – 10pm Sunday 11am – 4pm, 5pm – 9pm
In my search for dog friendly Asian Restaurants in San Diego, I came across White Elephant Asian Kitchen in Hillcrest. Looking at the location, well, it brought back memories….not all of them good of Amarin Thai Restaurant, which was here for like 20 years? We ate at Amarin way back in the early 2000’s and even did a post on the Mira Mesa location way back in 2005! Still, when in the area, we preferred Bai Yook, which closed around 2013. How’s that for old timer memories?
Anyway, I noticed White Elephant was dog friendly and I hoped that the place wasn’t stereotypical Thai based on the location…so JJ and I headed over.
We arrived right past opening time and I peeked into the restaurant to get us an outside table.
The woman working was very serious, though that would change a bit later. JJ did well, since the area was nicely shaded.
The menu cracked me up as most of the dishes were “translated” into English…..
Along with the menu, an “anti-fly” device was also brought to the table.
I asked the woman if the “Crispy Rice Salad” was Nem Khao and the Waterfall Beef was actually Nam Tok and things immediately got friendlier. I got both dishes at a “7” on the spice scale.
The Nem Khao was a non-starter, there was no crisp, crunchy rice and it was really weak in spice.
The sausage lacked the sour tones of a good Thai/Lao sausage and no strips of pork skin either. The dish as a whole lacked that sour-spicy-herbaceousness and textural contrast of a good Nem Khao.
I was starting to understand that this was truly Ameri-Thai when my Nam Tok arrived.
Again, hardly any spice and really lacking in the toasted rice powder, fish sauce, and lemongrass flavors. It was in fact pretty mild overall, perhaps edging on too sweet. The one positive note was that the beef was quite tender and there was a decent amount of cilantro. As you can see by the amount of mixed greens; this was more of a salad, than Neua Nam Tok.
The woman was quite nice and came to ask me what I thought. So, feeling that she was really sincere, I told her. She smiled and said, “yes, I understand” and nodded in the direction of the other folks in the place. She then told me “please come again and say you want real Thai spicy, and I think you’ll enjoy it more.”
So, I decided to return one more time.
The really nice woman wasn’t working, but I decided to try my luck. Not being super hungry, I just ordered the Crispy Duck Salad, spice level 10, also indicating that I’d like it “Thai spicy”.
I didn’t know how I’d take to having pineapple in this; but it went fairly well with the dish, adding tart-acidic-sweetness. I liked the crunchy chunks of battered duck, good flavor and texture. While this was indeed more spicy that what I’d had on my previous visit, it was still lacking in bright-pungent-savory tones as a whole.
Oh well, JJ still enjoyed the shade.
In spite of being heavily Ameri-Thai, I’m glad we were able to try things out. I understand that places must appeal to their customer base and location. And of course, one never knows unless you try, right?
White Elephant Asian Kitchen 3843 Richmond St. San Diego, CA 92103 Current Hours: Mon – Thurs 1130am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm Friday 1130am – 3pm, 430pm – 930pm Saturday 12pm – 930pm Sunday 12pm -9pm
A few months past, I was driving down Linda Vista Road and noticed that Taco Bomb had closed and was being replaced by a Thai Restaurant named Tid Din. While doing a search, I found the place’s website here it stated:
And looking over the menu….even though it listed mainly English names; it stated Spicy Larb, Grilled Marinated Beef – I’m thinking Nam Tok, sticky rice, etc…. Needless to say; I was a bit excited about the place. I mentioned it to Adam who is one of JJ’s favorite “Uncles” at BHT who lives close by in Linda Vista. And wouldn’t you know, last week he texted me and said the place had opened!
So, when I had a moment, I headed on over.
I’m guessing word hasn’t gotten out yet, since I was able to get parking in the small parking lot. And I walked on in.
The young lady working was so sweet and friendly. I then looked up at the menu…….
And thought “what the heck”?
Make it a burrito? Edamame? No larb, no sticky rice…. This looked like a pseudo food court, fast foodish menu. With four different mains. Still, it said “On the grill” which had things like a good Mu Ping on my mind. It seemed weird that a “rice bowl” was an additional $5.50, but a side of Jasmine Rice was $3. I decided on two proteins; the grilled pork ($9) and grilled sliced beef ($12), with a side of Jasmine Rice ($3), medium spicy; with Tamarind and Thai Chili Fish Sauce.
It was a nice day and I had a seat on the patio until my name was called.
The nice young lady actually brought out my package…..I had gotten it packed to go since I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish things. A fork and napkins had also been packed.
I opened things up….and was disappointed.
The meat hardly had any caramelization.
The portion of rice was generous and while a bit on the harder-chewy side was fine except for one thing I noticed right off. Take a look.
There were several “streaks” of what looked like drippings or sauce or…..skid marks???? I removed all those areas.
Also of note; I ordered the meat medium spicy; but these were not. I can forgive that; since it’s a soft opening.
The beef was simply stir fried.
The beef was the typical 10up – 12up, typically used for bulgogi and such. It wasn’t marinated enough and quite bland and on the chewier side.
It lacked hints of sweetness or herbaceous, savory pungency and was basically like something drenched in soy sauce. Just salty.
While the pork was drier and chewier; it at least had some porkiness.
Still, like the beef, the overall flavor was one-dimensional. But I did prefer this to the beef as it did seem to be grilled. But it was definitely not Mu Ping.
The sauces were “interesting” as well. The Thai Chili Fish Sauce was just that….straight up fish sauce with some chilies. The proteins were salty enough.
The tamarind sauce tasted like a bottled brand…..but at least had some fruity sweetness which helped things along.
To say I was disappointed….well yes…I fully didn’t expect Pok Pok, but just decent Thai street food and got what to me, was low level shopping mall food court stuff. A bummer, because that young lady was so nice. Still, with USD near by, this place might do well….you know; like “Thai-potle”? You can now get your Thai chicken burrito and all that.
I’m hoping that the menu and food improves. And with folks like “FOYs” Denver and Junichi nearby; I’m sure they’ll keep me in the loop!
Tid Din 6725 Linda Vista Rd. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Daily 11am – 8pm
Sometimes there are benefits to having a not so great meal at a favorite restaurant. Once you have a favorite; it's easy to stop exploring and go to your old favorite. Lao cuisine has been a favorite of ours ever since we had a chance to visit Laos. But recently, after what seems to be some major changes, it seems that the food at Spicy Lao Kitchen had changed, and not for the better. We had a very disappointing meal; every dish was a mere shadow of its former self. Sigh….. Well, it was time to start checking out other options.
There was one place I'd had on my "list" for a while. I'd had So Saap on that list when they were located in Chollas View; but never made it out there. They moved into the location that was formerly Ban Lao, which I had noticed in passing back in 2023. Side note……you remember when this place was Que Huong?
And So (pun intended) it was obviously time for us to check the place out. We arrived right after 11am and the place was empty. The young lady waved us to a table.
We were the only customers dining in during our entire meal; though there was a steady flow of takeout orders. I'm guessing So Saap is a favorite "to-go" place for folks. We were handed menus, which had all the usual suspects with regards to Lao dishes and some quite fusiony dishes, Laab Poke Tuna anyone? Sorry, not for us!
We actually ordered quite a bit of food.
The Lemongrass Fried Chicken ($12.99) seemed interesting.
Which came with a side of sticky rice; which was actually more hard and dry than "sticky". The dish consisted of two whole "wings" and another odd piece. The chicken was nicely fried, more crunchy than crisp, and very moist. The flavor seemed to be a bite "off" though. There was a hint of lemongrass and garlic; but it seemed to need a bit "more" savory-salty tones, and came thru as being on the bland side, an adjective that one really doesn't associate with Lao cuisine.
Of course we had to order the Nam Khao ($16.99).
This was an interesting dish; the Missus loved the generous portion of peanuts as it really added to every bite. As did the mint and the old fried, dried chilies (ouch!!!). This was an decent version; though not close to being our favorite. There weren't enough crisp-crunchy rice and the also it fell short in the fermented sour-sausage department as well. Still, nice herbaceous tones, though it seemed to be missing the "touch" of coconut that we enjoy in our nem khao.
Still, not a bad version.
Needless to say, we also got the Lao Sausage (spicy version – $13.99).
The filling of the sausage was so tasty; great garlic-makrut leaves (that's what they're now calling kaffir lime)-herbaceousness. The Jeow (dipping sauce) had a nice kick, without being overly tomato forward. The sausage was decently spiced as well. The only issue as you can see was that the casing was totally incinerated. Bummer; because this one could have been our favorite of the meal.
As it was; the Nam Tok ($17.99) took first place.
Loved the flavors in this one; good, balanced lime, adequate amount of roasted rice powder to add a nutty edge, loved the mint and cilantro as well. The beef was nicely prepped and while toothsome; it wasn't tough. A very nice version of "Waterfall Beef". A vibrant, savory, and refreshing dish when wrapped in lettuce. A keeper for sure.
This was a nice visit; the prices weren't too high and we decided to return a week later for lunch again.
Again the place was empty when we arrived; but this time several rather large parties arrived during our meal….to go along with the steady flow of takeout orders.
The same nice young lady was working and we again ordered more than we could finish.
I'm not sure why; but the Missus ordered the Pad See Eew with Tofu ($14.99).
Pad See Eew in a Lao Restaurant? Well, on the good side, the tofu and the noodles were nicely done. The flat noodles still had a nice bit of al dente pull to it. But overall, this dish was way too sweet.
We asked the young lady about the difference between the Seen Savanh (Heavenly Jerky), versus the Seen Lad (Fried Beef Jerky) and she recommended the Heavenly Jerky ($13.99).
This was another winner! The beef was thinly sliced, making it easier to eat, a nice balance of chewy to tender. A hint of sweetness, good savory tones, hints of gingery-pungent tones as well.
I saw Fried Pork Bell on the menu and asked if it was Moo Tod, the young lady seemed surprised and said yes, it was. So we also ordered that ($13.99).
A very straight-forward fried pork dish. Cut a bit too think for my liking, though still fairly crisp. Lightly seasoned; the acidic-spiced dipping sauce came in real handy.
And yes, we had to get the Lao Sausage again. This time, it was cooked perfectly.
Even better than on the previous visit. We'll be ordering this on every visit.
And yes, even though it's a bit out of the way, we'll be returning to So Saap. So perhaps there's silver lining to our terrible meal at Spicy Lao. As it got us back to exploring other options for Lao food in San Diego……
Which came with a side of sticky rice; which was actually more hard and dry than "sticky". The dish consisted of two whole "wings" and another odd piece. The chicken was nicely fried, more crunchy than crisp, and very moist. The flavor seemed to be a bite "off" though. There was a hint of lemongrass and garlic; but it seemed to need a bit "more" savory-salty tones, and came thru as being on the bland side, an adjective that one really doesn't associate with Lao cuisine.
