Thai Restaurants – Page 12

Supannee House of Thai

August 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

After our brunch at Fathom Bistro, Candice asked me if I had enough left in the tank to try a Thai restaurant in the area called Supannee. Apparently, the restaurant has it's own "garden/farms" from which it gets many of the herbs/vegetables it serves and it also is supposed to make a killer Thai sausage. So even if I didn't have room, i would have made some!

When thinking of Thai food, Point Loma just isn't the first place that comes to mind, so I was fascinated. The location is a little corner strip mall a block or so from Point Loma Boulevard.

The interior of the restaurant is a bit larger than it looks from the outside. It's simple, but clean….I did find that sound travels quite far.

The menu reflected what Candice told me about the place. It's using local products when it can and frankly, the prices kind of reflect this.

In addition to the regular menu, a sheet of specials was also presented. Loved the local caught fish and the grass fed beef options.

Of course we started things off with the House Made Thai Sausage ($9.50). This dish really delivered.

The sausage was obviusly deep fried. The cut of the meat in the sausage was perfect, not too coarse and not mushy. The flavors of kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass came through nicely, as did a touch of heat. It tasted fine when eaten by itself; but once combined with some thinly sliced thai chilies, ginger, and wrapped in a fresh and crisp lettuce leaf it became delicious. The slight sour of the sausage, cut by the heat of the chili and the ginger; though honesty, I think galangal would have added a nice woody-fruity spice, but also a more cooling component than the ginger. Nevertheless, this was quite good.

We also got the Larb Grass Fed Beef ($12) at heat level 10.

This was an interesting dish. First, I think we got "gringo'd" because this was maybe a 6 or 7 in terms of heat. It was also a bit off balance in terms of flavor being a bit too sweet. The beef as expected was nice and chewy. The rice powder seemed loss here because of the sweetness of the dish as well. I took the leftovers home and it tasted better a couple of hours later.

The final thing we ordered is what I usually order to check the chef's stir-fry skill, Pad Se Eew (with beef $11).

I'm sure that Supanee has to defer to an "Ameri-Thai" customer base and has made concessions. So I ignored the "Calabrese broccoli". The flavoring, usually a simple dark soy, soy sauce, and a sweet component was quite off. This was pretty bland. The noodles were on the mushy side and it lacked "wok hey", the wonderful flavor of the wok.

I brought the leftovers home. The Missus took one look at the Pad See Eew and refused to eat it. She liked the texture of the grass fed beef, even though the flavor was a bit off. She loved the Thai Sausage. So a week or so later we returned to Supanee for dinner.

And of course started things off with the Thai Sausage ($9.50).

This delivered as it did last time. I believe its our favorite version in San Diego.

We also ordered the Grass Fed Beef Larb again.

This was again ordered at heat level 10 and this time it tasted like a "10". The flavors were nicely balanced this time around as well. All the components, the fresh crisp lettuce, the toasted rice powder, the cilantro, played their role well. In spite of the heat, you could make out all the flavors. I think we'll dial it down a bit next time!

On the top of the specials menu is a White Seabass, a wonderful fish, sauteed in a Garlic Chili Sauce, which we ordered.

First the good. This was bursting with flavor, a complex herbaceous-sweet-salty-spicy. The Thai eggplant (grown in their garden) in the dish was sauteed to perfection….I would be happy with a plate full of that. The dish just sparkled in terms of flavors and colors. The one problem was that the White Seabass was just cooked to death….dry as shoe leather. A real bummer, because it has a nice flavor and texture when done correctly. At $20, that's kind of a serious misstep. Bummer, this could have been an excellent dish.

I think we'll be back for the sausage and larb, but am not sure about having anything else. That sausage, even at almost $10 is worth it to us.

Supannee House of Thai
2907 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106

Hours
Mon – Thurs 11-3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday     11-3pm, 5pm – 930pm
Saturday    12-930pm
Sunday      12-900pm

Giving Chaba Thai a couple of lunchtime tries

July 21, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

Back in June (sheesh, we're almost to August already!), I mentioned that a new Thai Restaurant called Chaba Thai was taking the spot of Gyro N' Kabob Cafe, which in turn took the place of Aria Kabob. The place opened up pretty quickly a couple of weeks ago and since my office is close by, I decided to check them out for lunch.

The place has been given a mild face lift; brightened up a bit, paint job, stool, basic tables and banquet chairs, nothing fancy, but much brighter than the former places that occupied this spot. Overall, very fast casual in appearance.

The young ladies working here seemed quite friendly and after business. I was taking a look at the photos of the various dishes posted on the glass and was quickly shown a menu.

Unfortunately, the lunch menu consisted of typical, you choose the protein and preparation which is the standard for Thai restaurants in San Diego.

I'm sure folks that frequent Thai joints have their "baseline" dishes. One of mine is the deceivingly simple Pad See Ew, a simple stir fried rice noodle dish that is a lot harder to execute than one thinks. For me Pad See Ew determines the cook's skill with the wok and temperature. Achieving the balance of not overcooking the rice noodles and generating "wok hey" with the right proportion of sweet and salty shows experience and aptitude.

So I went with the Pad See Ew with Shrimp. Things started out kind of plus/minus. The salad with lunch is decent, a over-sweet "Thai-inspired" dressing, but the vegetables were fresh. That soup with coconut milk and cabbage was just plain insipid. I've been finding that this soup with lunch thing has lead to having some pretty nasty bowls recently, stuff I just have spoonful and can't finish.

Now for $7.95, I didn't expect anything like, say, Sab E Lee or Siam Nara. This is what I got…..

I really don't know what to say….but let me try. With regards to the shrimp, I didn't mind 41-50, which I kind of like in stir-fries, but these were overcooked and rubbery. Too long over not enough heat. There was also a bit of grittiness to them and a flavor that was edging on "off". Standard issue "Calabrese broccoli" was used instead of Chinese broccoli. The noodles were mushy and cooked without enough heat for too long (see the pattern). There wasn't enough savory, nor enough sweet, basically nothing but greasy, mushy, noodles.

This came with chicken wings that had very little flavor and a doughy batter, giving it a real greasy texture. The cream cheese won tons……..I won't even delve into that.

This was just kind of sad. I go into meals hoping and wishing for the best and it's always depressing to deal with nice folks who serve food that just seem to miss the mark.

Because of that, I decided to have another lunch at Chaba. Funny thing, I never bothered to turn over the lunch menu here. On that side of the menu is a different world of dishes; grilled pork neck, Thai jerky, and what I ended up ordering, the "Thai E-Sarn Sausage"….Issan Sausage ($5.95).

So this was the roundish "Sai Krok" I've encountered before. What really threw me off was the Japanese Benishoga – pickled ginger that was served with the dish. C'mon…really? I also prefer some cabbage rather than a single leaf of lettuce, but I've had it this way before. The sausage was too mushy for my taste, without enough sour-fermented flavor. It also seemed to be mostly rice. Sadly, this was the best item I've had here……

In a moment of indecision, I also ordered the "Combo Set" ($8.95), which featured BBQ Chicken and not apparent to me until after I ordered, BBQ Shrimp.

In all honesty, that insipid soup was better on this visit. This made me feel that perhaps things were going to be better this time around.

"Not so fast El Guapo!"

What I got was kind of strange and disturbing….the "BBQ Chicken" looked pan seared and like something I'd make at home. It had very little flavor. I love good Kai Yaang, so this was depressing.

The shrimp I was terrified of was cooked decently, but had little flavor.

The fried rice was actually not bad, but also needed a flavor injection.

It was kind of weird in a way. I felt like I was taken back to Thai restaurant food in the 80's, where restaurants were afraid of serving true, traditional flavors. Even in terms of "Ameri-Thai" this was a step backwards.

Contrary to what you might think, I take no joy in doing this post. Everytime I do a post that is less than positive, I get a couple of emails that suggest I do only "positive reviews". The problem with that being; I don't do "reviews", this is my little space where I post my opinions on what I/we ate. Secondly, I do wish the world was "butterflies and puppy dog tails", but it's not. Then there's those that usually start by marginalizing me, or calling me a name, then tell me something along the lines of, "if you have nothing good to say, you should say nothing at all." These folks I ask to start by setting the example first. Even more interesting, I'll get an email on a post like this one, telling me I know nothing about "REAL THAI FOOD LIKE IN THAILAND"……funny thing was; we'd just returned from Thailand…..go figure.

This is a place where I hoped that the food measured up to the warm service and sadly did not. I'm hoping things improve.

Chaba Thai Kitchen
8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

COMC: Beating the Heat Edition – Places you know (if you’ve been reading long enough…)

June 28, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants, yoso-silly

**** Sadly, all of these places have closed

Man it's been a hot one. And I read that's it's going to be even hotter this weekend. Here's some "Clearing Out the Memory Card" stuff. If you've read long enough, you'll know where these places are…..

Have a great Friday!

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

And I guess I'm having "pork withdrawals" after consuming all that swine in Portugal…..

Kayaba
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119 – In the Mitsuwa Marketplace
San Diego, CA 92111

Keep cool everyone!

Saturday Stuffs: La Playita and BBQ Chicken Close, Chaba Thai Kitchen replaces Gyro n’ Kabob Cafe, and Isa.Bella replaces Bollweevil

June 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Pizza, Thai Restaurants

Sheeesh, have I been gone that long? So many upcoming openings and even recent openings (more on that in future posts) and a couple of closings. So here's a quick round-up.

La Playita closes:

I'm kinda sad about this one. Cathy emailed me when I was away telling me that La Playita had taken down their website. So naturally I dropped by and found them closed.

Man, I was looking forward to a nice, refreshing, Vuelve a la Vida when summer got into full swing.

5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

BBQ Chicken Closes:

I was never really impressed with B(est of the) B(est) Q(uality) in San Diego. Even after they started opening for lunch.

The version of K(orean)F(ried)C(hicken) served here wasn't my cup of tea, and I'm not really the type to be happy just "to finally have something" in San Diego.

I do believe I saw what was perhaps a KFC joint in the new location of Zion Market?

4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Chaba Thai replaces Gyro n Kabob Cafe:

I went for a Lamb Gyro and found that Gyro N Kabob Cafe had closed. It's to be replaced by a Thai Restaurant called Chaba.

Like I've said before, we can always use a new Thai restaurant, but really don't need yet another Ameri-Thai restaurant in the area……so we'll see. Though some of the folks I work with loved the "Thai Burrito" from Dusit….yuck….

8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Bollweevil in Bay Park being replaced by isa.bella artisan pizzeria & beer garden:

Yep, it's all lower case….how hip and modern!

I'll readily admit to thinking that this is a Bay Park money grab.

So I asked a friend of mine who is really on top of the brewpub scene. The response was "just jumping on the craft beer and brewpub train". I'm hoping I'm wrong….so we'll see.

4015 Avati Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

So that's it. Hope you're having a great weekend!

J&T Thai Street Food

May 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants

On one of my trips to Ballast Point on Linda Vista a couple of months ago, I noticed this little restaurant had opened.

The name conjured up memories of the cornucopia of street food we encountered in Thailand, the breath and depth of which was impressive…….wonderful whiffs of fried goodies wafting down streets and alleyways in Thailand.

We already have The Original Sab E Lee feeding us Issan style food…..could this be the place for true Bangkok style street-food.

Even though I try not to let first impressions set the tone, the interior screams of "fast-casual"……in fact, I started calling this place Thai-Chipotle.

The place is going for that somewhat slick and modern vibe, using "Thai Street Food" to make the Veggie Pad Thai and Grilled Salmon Salad sound exotic and different.

Still, there were some items on the menu outside the restaurant that seemed interesting.

The Pork Leg Stew Rice, which I'm assuming was Khao Kha Moo looked like a must try, until I entered the restaurant and found that it was no longer on the menu….the one inside the place.

Still the steamed chicken rice ($7), sounded much like Hainan Chicken Rice which is called khao man kai in Thailand, so I thought I'd give that a try. Admittedly, I was thrown off when the chipper young lady asked me if I wanted my chicken with or without skin.

Upfront I'll say this was way better than the version at Noble Chef, the chicken tender, the rice not dried out. On the other hand, the flavor was on the mild side, almost a caricature of sorts that had me wanting something like what I had in Chiang Mai. The flavor was a bit too watered down and gabacho for me. The sauce was basically a sweet chili sauce with garlic, a bit too sweet for me. The tones that ginger adds to this dish was missing as well.

The good thing about these type of places is that you don't spend a mint on your meal. This means that you, like I can give it another go a few weeks later. This time I was famished and started with the Chicken Wings, not a bargain at $3 for three wings…..they gotta fix the sign outside, it says four wings.

The wings were served with the same pseudo garlic-sweet chili sauce that was served with the chicken on my previous visit. Gladly, the wings didn't need the sauce. I thought these were quite good. The wings were moist, the skin crunchy, with a nice balanced seasoning, salty-peppery, with a touch of heat. Not cheap, about the same price as wings from Kyochon and not quite there in terms of execution and taste. Still, not bad.

I wish this carried over onto my Duck Noodle Soup ($7).

This was one of those dishes that could be represented with the phrase, "the good, the bad, the ugly…."

The good, well, the decent was the pretty generous portion of duck, which was tender if not particularly memorable in terms of flavor.

The bad was the broth, which was an insipid combination of watery faint five spice and sugar flavors. Everything else was null and void.

The ugly were the noodles which were mushy and overcooked.

Well, at least it was steaming hot, right?

In terms of prices, this place is not bad. In the context of gringo/student Thai Food, ditto. Is it for me….well, other than those wings, probably not. I usually don't go to Chipotle when I'm craving Mexican Food, but I don't hold it against those who do.

J&T Thai Street Food
5259 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92110

Clearing Out the Memory Card (COMC): Revisits to Golden City, Buga, and The Original Sab E Lee (Linda Vista)

March 31, 2013 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

I haven’t done one of these in a while. Here’s a trifecta of places I’ve posted on many, many, times. So I thought you’d like something with mostly just photos.

Golden City:

**** Golden City has closed

I actually hadn’t been back to Golden City in a while. But recently, I actually had lunch there twice in two weeks! The first time with my good buddy “YZ” and the second with my long time FOY (Friend of Yoso) The Zompus……aka MrZ.

Anyway, here are the food photos:

I know, it’s the same old thing….so once in a while, I’ll order something different, like the Jellyfish Head with XO Sauce.

Which could have used a bit more XO Sauce. The Jellyfish texture was very nice though.

I guess this is where I bid Aloha to MrZ, his lovely wfie, Paparratt (aka MrsZ), and their little “Woolet” (Little Z of course). MrZ has gotten a big promotion and is off to Seattle. Congrats and best wishes, I’ll miss you guys!

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Buga:

It’s been pretty warm here for the last couple of weeks……so ramen is out of the question with the Missus. She was craving Yukkwe Bi Bim Bop, so the first place that came to mind was Buga.

Of course I got the Bi Bim Naengmyun.

Of course, being open for dinner at 4 in the afternoon also works in their favor. From the placard in the window, it seems that the place is undergoing a change of ownership….so we’ll see how that plays out.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

The Original Sab E Lee (Linda Vista):

**** This location of TOSEL has closed

For some reason I crave TOSEL whenever it gets warmer. We visited twice in the last two weeks.

Over the last two visits we’ve found that the quality of beef used in the Koy Nua seems to have been upgraded. It’s much more tender now.

Funny story, the first time the Missus had this, She noticed the spots on the plate, thinking it was blood and was kind of grossed out. Still, we enjoyed the beef. On our second visit, I noticed that the orange spots were actually decorations on the plate!

For some reason, the Missus has taken to the Tod Mun Pla – the fried fishcake. I think it’s the sauce.

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go, three places I’ve posted on many times….at least there are a couple of new dishes, right?

I hope everyone has had a great Easter weekend!

COMC: Never made the cut edition

February 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs, Korean Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Just C(learing)O(ut the)M(emory)C(ard) time again. Here are a bunch of dishes that never quite made the cut for one reason or another.

Along with not making the cut for a post, these were rather "undelicious" if there is such a word.

Anyway, here goes……

This Banh Xeo looked plastic……

And pretty much tasted it……

Since folks already know I'm not a fan….I don't feel like rubbing it in.

Even one of our favorite Korean Restaurants is not immune. This Kimchi Pajun was greasy, soggy, and tasted off.

So is our favorite Thai place…. This Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice was indeed spicy; more like 10 then the 5 I ordered.

It was like the rice had just been passed quickly through oil….though the shrimp were very nice.

They called these "Italian Ribs".

They were as tough as they looked……

This Combination Egg Noodle Soup cost eight bucks………and was quite bad.

Even beyond looking like stuff was just thrown into the soup, the broth was lukewarm and the noodles strangely mushy.

Meet a $7 TJ Hot Dog.

So much stuff!

This Bo Luc Lac, was Beef no luck….tough and really salty.

Well…..that's it…..not much, I know.

I hope everyone had a great week!

I think it's time for a "guilty pleasure" run.

The Original Sab E Lee – Rancho Penasquitos

February 5, 2013 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Where does time go? In some ways, it seems like it was just yesterday that Sab E Lee opened in Linda Vista. But that was almost five years ago. I knew after our first meal that the place was a "keeper", a Thai restaurant that wasn't afraid to give you a taste of Issan, the fresh, bright flavors, and burning spice. I still recall the pleasure of having my first Koi Soi in six or so years, on the day Koby finally was able to source the beef he wanted. I recall taking Josh Silberman, former writer for City Beat, along with my good buddy Candice (then writer for City Beat) and getting the Koi Soi at heat level "10"…..watching Josh turn red, then purple, sweat pouring down his face which seemed to be swelling, him telling me, "it hurts….but I just can't stop!" Such good times. After the late Naomi Wise wrote, "At Last True Thai", the place literally blew up…..you had to choose your times well at the tiny five table joint. Still, it couldn't have happened to a group of nicer folks. Of course time does keep on moving on, Koby sold his share of the Linda Vista location to the folks running the place to open Sab E Lee in Santee, then in turn selling his share of that place to move on to destination unknown. Before you knew it, Jay, a fixture at the Linda Vista location had moved back to Thailand. Good things the cooks were still in place. Since then, it seems that the young folks running the front of house changed from time to time and it became basically a place for take-out. Other than seeing and chatting with the cooks, I really lost my connection with the now slightly renamed Original Sab E Lee. So I was caught off guard when "KevinK" mentioned that a location of the Original Sab E Lee was opening in Rancho Penasquitos which I just had to check out. I was told the projected grand opening, but had a packed schedule. I thought that having a group of us get together would be nice; especially since our good friends TFD and MrC live up in San Marcos and always make a point of coming to see us. It would only be fair to meet them halfway.

Instead of going forward, you may want to read any number of posts from San Diego Food Bloggers, who have eaten there. The menu is basically the same as the location on Linda Vista. This restaurant seat about 50 and was pretty packed by the time we left.

Several of the folks running the front of house recognized me when I came by….what was even more funny was when Maylee came out……you see we were pretty much all regulars at TOSEL, but had rarely eaten together. She was shocked and pleasantly surprised that we all knew each other.

As for the food….well, I was honored to be given the job of doing most of the ordering. TFD wanted Seafood Tom Yum and I knew that while MrC could handle "Lao spicy", which on the scale of 1-10 is a 12; MrQ has been known to order a heat level of "1", which wasn't going to fly. Still I ordered items at a mixed heat level. Actually, you could read any number of my former posts on the Linda Vista location as well.

We got a couple of orders of Issan Sausage to start:

A nice standby, not made inhouse, but I love the slightly fermented sour flavor.

The Grilled Duck Larb at heat level 5 was very well done on this day.

Though well spiced, the flavor of the duck came through quite well. This is one of those dishes that reminds me of Thailand….the textures; melt-in-your mouth is not meant for a dish like larb, it has to have texture.

The Salted Fish Fried Rice, the strong and heady fragrance, belies a wonderfully savory flavor.

This was very good.

The Pad See Eew with Shrimp displayed the wok hey that I experienced on my very first visit to Sab E Lee way back when.

The carb dishes were leading the way it seems…..

The Seafood Tom Yum, at a spice level 5 seemed like the most spiciest dish of the day.

MrQ did us proud as he handled the Koi Neua at a heat level 7.

We always count on Candice to provide the liquid refreshment…..which goes great with this dish. Spicy, nutty, with the wonderful raw beef texture…add in the the flavor of the herbs and you've got a nice dish.

Just for memories sake, I ordered the Naked Shrimp, though only at heat level 8. This was the dish that MrC had us order at "Lao spicy" which caused first degree burns around our lips once. We weren't going there this time.

This raw shrimp dish was a bit drier than what I recalled, lacking in the galangal and other herbs and citrus which elevate the heat. I did enjoy the slices of bittermelon as a nice tannic counter-point to the chilies.

Compared to what I've had at TOSEL on previous visits, the Catfish Larb was quite mild in flavor. Perhaps ordering it at a heat level 5 affected things.

As things were winding down, we were treated to a nice surprise from the kitchen……

A sampling of ice cream and sticky rice with mango from the kitchen, gratis…….such a nice gesture.

Service was as good as can be expected for a new restaurant. The front of house was friendly and accommodating. The real winners on this day was the duck larb and the salted fish fried rice….actually, since the food was pretty much what we expected from TOSEL, I'd say that we were the real winners. Though we often think of Rancho Penasquitos as being a universe away from us, it's only about 12 miles. The Missus and I will probably drop by again one day soon.

The Original Sab-E-Lee
13223-2 Black Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA 92129

Las Vegas: Lotus of Siam Four (12) Years Later

February 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Las Vegas, Nevada, Thai Restaurants, Travel

Perhaps I should have titled this post, "LOS Twelve Years Later" because that's how long we've been coming to Lotus of Siam. No trip to Vegas would be complete without a visit to the rather worn strip mall on East Sahara Avenue…….according to my friends, "where cabs don't mind dropping you off, but don't like picking you up." Based on our last meal here almost four years ago, our expectations were high.

We had wondered how time had changed LOS and the answer was easy enough to find. First, Bill Chutima, who owns and runs LOS along with his wife and chef Saipin Chutima is quite the oenophile. There's now a rather large collection of wine on display as you enter. An even bigger difference is that the space next door has been taken over, doubling the size of the restaurant. Even with double the space, hordes of people are still waiting in line at LOS……at least from what we saw on this evening. At least two mini-vans dropped off groups of folks to eat…….all this on a Thursday. Good thing we were on our way out the door when they arrived.

We're always torn when eating at LOS. We want to try out new dishes, but also stick with our favorites from previous visits. Usually, sticking with favorites wins out.

Our main server on this night was the wonderful and warm Mai. Friendly without being overbearing, he enjoyed discussing food, especially Thai food both in the US and Thailand with us. He was a great ambassador for LOS.

The Missus wanted something light and refreshing to start. So we ordered the Soft Shell Crab Salad ($18.95).

Whomever fried this deserves a raise…..the crab was excellent, light and ethereal, with just the perfect crunch. I'm not a big fan of fruits in salads, but here, the green apple did a nice job of adding an additional layer of tartness, without interfering with the overall balance of the dish. In other words, the soul of the dish was unmistakably Thai. It was a great start to our meal…..

Unfortunately, those heights were never quite reached again. Of course we ordered the Koi Soy ($13.95). I just had to have it. LOS was the first place I'd ever had this wonderful raw beef "salad" back in 2002 and it is my benchmark for the dish.

We knew something was off when the dish arrived…..there seemed to be a lot less roasted rice powder, which added great texture and a mild nuttiness to the dish. Some of the pieces of the beef were quite hard and chewy, something I had never experienced with the Koi Neua at LOS. There was a ton of cilantro, but I couldn't taste kaffir lime leaf. You can just compare this with the what we had four years ago below….. This is still good, but not nearly as wonderful as what we've had during previous visits.

Another signature dish at LOS is a Crispy Duck with Chili Mint Leaves ($20.95).

This didn't measure up well either. While the duck was wonderfully fried, there seemed to be a paucity of sauce, which also tasted off, the balance of salt and sweet just didn't seem right. It also looked pretty sloppy with sauce dripping off the side of the plate. Again, this was not a bad dish, the frying was carried out to perfection, it just wasn't as good as before.

Again, another photo from the files.

I mentioned that the restaurant on the other side of LOS had closed down to Mai and joked that the next time we're back they'll have taken over that space as well. His answer was quite interesting. We were told that they now typically do about 400 covers on a good weeknight and sometimes up to 450-500 during the weekend. The restaurant space had been expanded, but the kitchen had not. I began wondering if LOS had not become a victim of its own success?

Didn't have much time to contemplate this as our next two dishes arrived. We had been missing Lanna style Thai. Not so much the Khao Soi, but more of the "dips" which we call "Nam Prik" type dishes. So we ordered first the Nam Prik Hed (Spicy Mushroom Dip – $9.95):

This was another dish that was fine, but didn't hit the same heights as what we've had here before. This was much too sour and the mushrooms too chewy. Sad really, since we really enjoyed it last time – see the photo on the right.

The Nam Prik Noom (Green Chili Dip – $9.95) was good, even though we ordered everything at a heat level '7', this one really brought it to the table.

Loved having this with sticky rice or with some of the light pork rinds. Smokey, with a pernicious burn, I'm thinking my heat tolerance has gone down over the last couple of years.

As I repeated many times, this wasn't a bad meal by any stretch of the imagination. It is indeed better than anything in San Diego. And while newer or first time visitors may think this is fantastic, the bar had been set on our many visits over the years. We know how good the food can, and had been…..and this wasn't it. Remember, Jonathan Gold, back when he used to post on Chowhound, called this the best Thai Restaurant in North America. The Missus was more disappointed than I was. We had just plain wonderful service, so I'm hoping that this was just an "off" night. Now I'll have to try and convince the Missus of that.

Lotus of Siam
953 E. Sahara Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702)735-3033

Midweek Meanderings: Coming Soon – The Original Sab E Lee in Rancho Penasquitos, Baraka Market and Restaurant, and yes we’re stalking North Park Produce in Clairemont

December 19, 2012 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Thai Restaurants

The Original Sab E Lee Opening in Rancho Penasquitos:

On December 11th, "KevinK" commented about Sab E Lee opening in PQ on this post. So the very next day I dropped by The Original Sab E Lee and asked…..and was told that yes, they were opening, probably within two weeks. I asked for an address….and cracked up when they couldn't remember it! All they told me was that it was in a strip mall near Twin Trails Drive. So of course we drove up there this past weekend to find out exactly where…… it's here:

Right next to Penasquitos Pets…. I was told that the menu will be the same as TOSEL, the restaurant will be much larger, about 50 seats. No need to worry, TOSEL on Ulric is not going anywhere.

13223 Black Mountain Rd.
San Diego, CA 92129

Baraka Market and Restaurant:

We drove by the long empty space that used to house United Oriental Food Market on El Cajon Boulevard and saw some activity and even a sign.

I believe "baraka" means blessed or something along those lines in Arabic…..not quite sure. But we'll have to just wait and see what's up.

It's great to finally have something in that spot.

5349 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

And yes, we're stalking North Park Produce in Clairemont:

We stopped by the NPP in Poway, since we'd never been there (a later post). The really friendly woman behind the deli counter told me that NPP was opening on the 16th….last Sunday. But Sunday came and no dice. We've been waiting since we first noticed the sign in September for this place to open. We were at the North Park location of NPP and they told us "in ten days……"

We've been checking the place out every time we drive by….which is pretty much daily. Sheesh….I'm starting to feel like I'm stalking the place.

4220 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117