Thai Restaurants – Page 13

Koon Thai Kitchen

October 17, 2011 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Man, am I behind or what…… I recall posting about the "coming soon" sign way back in May. Since that time Kirbie's even done a post on Koon Thai. I might not have even given the place a thought if not for PedMa's comments about the place. Eventually I visited, but just kinda waited on doing a post…… I'm not sure why, perhaps it was just laziness. The restaurant itself is located in the former spot of Curry House in the same mall as Sage Cake, Nijiya, Spicy House, and Okan.

I think they did a good job on the color scheme, though it is perhaps a bit too dark. I really like the mural of what else? The Koon Tree, also known as the Golden Shower Tree, the National Flower of Thailand.

I find the tables also to be a bit too small for family style eating….though I guess this encourages me to eat less.

When it's all said and done, there have three dishes at Koon that we enjoy. Unfortunately, my #1 favorite is found on the specials menu, and I've been told that it's not a permanent fixture; the Khao Kha Moo (spelled Khao Karr Moo on the menu – $7.99):

A staple of street vendors and food courts in Thailand, this Chinese influenced dish or stewed pork leg in soy sauce brings me back to Thailand….jumping off a water taxi and being carried away by the intoxicating smell of pork……

I've had this four times at Koon, and on three of them the dish has been spot on…moist, melt in your mouth tender, sweet porkiness, savory soy sauce……just delici-yoso. On my most recent visit, it was a bit dry and the flavor wasn't quite as deep. In case you need a second opinion, I took my friends Peter and Angela (and JohnL) to Koon. Since they tried this dish they've been back four times! I think Pete's worried that they may not have it on the menu any longer so he's getting his shots in while he can.

On one of my visits I asked the very nice Server, by the name of Mam where the cooks came from. Of course she replied "Thailand". After I asked whereabouts in Thailand, Issan, Lanna, Bangkok…she told me Issan, so I immediately ordered the Nam Kao Tod ($9.95), a bonafide favorite of mine. The first time I ordered this dish I requested "Thai Spicy" (that would be a 10) and the really nice young man by the name of Kef (not sure about spelling) seemed a bit worried for me…he came back twice to ask me if I was sure I wanted it that spicy. Eventually, he relented and the dish arrived…..it was about a six or seven on the Thai scale. Kef thoughtfully came back to see if I'd gone into cardiac arrest a couple of times during my meal.

Now just about everytime I see this Lao/Thai dish on the menu (and even at places like Asia Cafe where I don't) I end up ordering it. I've had it at LOS, Sang Dao, and Vientiane Restaurant in Garden Grove. Heck, I've even had in Vientiane as in the capital of Laos. This version was a bit different from what I'm used to. It's very wet, like a Larb, the prevailing flavors are the sour if lime and galangal. It is quite different, but not bad…I still love the crunch of the deep fried rice, though the strong flavors don't allow for much else to come through.

The Missus's favorite dish here is the Pla Sahm Rod ($12).

While not as good as the version at Sab E Lee in Santee, the fish is usually fried to crunchy perfection. The sauce is a bit too heavy in the tamarind department, making it a bit too far on the puckery-sour scale for our tastes. But for $12, this is a good value.

As for the rest of what I've tried:

The duck noodle soup ($6.95), was a bit weak in the anise-cassia flavor department, but had some decent heat.

The noodles were done wonderfully, but the duck was bland and mealy, and the portion size was quite small.

The duck in this dish should have warned me off the Spicy Duck Salad ($9.95), which wasn't very spicy (ordered at an eight), nor did it have much duck flavor.

The Stewed Pork Feet ($6.99) another item from the specials menu had a nice slight sweet soy sauce flavor, but the pigs feet weren't cook to the nice, tender, gelatinous texture I enjoy.

The Moo Ping (grilled pork) wasn't anything to write home about either, though the dipping sauce was nice, if a tad too sweet.

I'd have preferred the pork have more flavor and the sauce less so. The sticky rice that accompanied the dish (which is strange since this is an appetizer, how would four people, or even two share the sticky rice) was overcooked.

The Kra Pao Moo Krob (on the menu as Ka Pao Moo Krob – $9) had all of those familiar Thai flavors; the basil, sweetness, a savory fish sauce…..

The heat was nice, but on the mild side. The pork is more chewy, like a crunchy jerky, not an unpleasant texture for me. This was a decent dish, though my eating buddies, especially John didn't think too much of it.

The worse dish I had at Koon, was one that I usually use to determine the stir-fry skills of a cook. It is the deceivingly simple Pad See Ew.

This was, by far, the worst dish I had at Koon Thai. Not only was it terribly bland, but the noodles were unevenly cooked. It actually looked much more grey than the photo indicates.

Overall, other than experiencing some really bad and rude service during one visit (sorry if we interrupted your social hour young lady), service has been friendly and accommodating. This seems to be one of those places that does a couple of dishes pretty well, which is not a bad thing at all.

Koon Thai Kitchen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Asian Star in Yuma: The Rest of the Story

June 21, 2011 ed fromyuma Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

mmm-yoso is a food blog usually written by Kirk, sometimes written by Cathy, but today written by ed (from Yuma).

Except for chain restaurants, I am usually willing to try any dining establishment at least once. But I do have a certain skepticism about restaurants that try to do too many things. I've never been tempted, for example, to stop into the Mexican Greek restaurant I see somewhere on the east side of San Diego County. Places that promise "oriental" or "Asian" food always make me want to ask if the chef is from somewhere close to the capital of Asia. In any case, that's my excuse for not going to Asian Star the first month or two that it was open. Better late than never.

I've already posted about the Chinese food at the restaurant, so this post is going to look at the other stuff available, such as this lunch sized order of pad thai ($6.55):

Overall, pretty boring. The sauce reminiscent of a sweet and sour sauce. The noodles and chicken also nothing special. Not nearly as good as the same dish at Highway 95 Café.

On the other hand, the Thai basil chicken is okay (dinner, $8.95):

Mildly spicy, the dish has a true Thai basil flavor. The vegetables add crunch and variety. I would happily order it again.

And recently for lunch, I tried the Thai curried chicken ($5.95):

It is really good. For one thing, look at all the chicken. This isn't curried vegetables with chicken; the focus is on the numerous tender slices of chicken. At the same time, strips of onion add flavor and crunch. Just enough peapods, carrots, and mushrooms in the background. The curry sauce is excellent – balanced spicy creamy flavors. And just enough sauce to flavor the entire dish without becoming soupy or goupy.

The Japanese food here can also be quite good. My favorite cup of soup is the miso(free with lunch special):

The broth usually has a good flavor with some depth and I am always impressed by the number of tofu cubes, seaweed pieces, and green onions slices. I have been served much worse in San Diego.

The baby squid salad ($3.95) looks nothing like I thought it would:

Though the mini mollusks have little flavor in themselves, their slightly chewy texture is nice and the tangy sauce is also pleasant. It just gives me a good feeling that I can order something this weird in Yuma.

On another occasion, we ordered poki ($7.95) and were served this:

The cynic in me noticed that a huge plate was being used to present the amount of poki that a Hawaiian would put in a small bowl. And a lot of daikon and slivered cucumber for the amount of tuna. But once I started eating, my cynicism melted away. The tuna was absolutely fresh. This was not the sashimi from three or four days earlier that had been marinating in the refrigerator. The ponzu sauce was nicely balanced. Tina and I loved the appetizer down to the last thin thread of radish.

Fresh raw fish is also my favorite part of the sashimi bento boxes ($7.95):

While the California roll is decent, many of the other items in the box are pretty ordinary. I really do not like the lettuce with the flavorless gloppy dressing. The deep-fried shu mai are meh and the eggroll contributes little beyond crunch.

But the sashimi itself has been good every time:

On this occasion, the salmon and tuna were perfectly adequate, and the tilapia was very fresh. By the standards of Yuma, Arizona, this was good raw fish, particularly for a bento box.

On another occasion, the same bento box came with only tuna and salmon as sashimi:

I was impressed. The sake was rich and flavorful, and the tuna tasted like decent sushi bar maguro.

On another visit, I decided to put Asian Star to a real test. Without looking at the raw fish case, I ordered some random items from the sushi menu. The few times that I have ordered sushi by the piece at other restaurants in Yuma – from fancy fine dining locations to Japanese chain restaurants – the results have been pretty disastrous.

However, at Asian Star the squid and eel were perfectly fine ($3.95 for each pair):

The unagi wasn't drenched in sticky sauce, and the ika was tender and mild. I had also ordered mackerel ($3.50) and hamachi ($3.95). We were served these:

The mackerel was quite good; better than I expected. The pale pinkfleshed fish was also very tasty, perfectly fresh and clean flavored. It was not, however, hamachi – at least not like any hamachi I had ever eaten before. Instead, it looked and tasted like light tuna (shiro maguro). My guess is that the sushi chef simply made a substitution without telling anyone. I suppose I could've gotten upset, but the fish was quite good, and it was being served to me in Yuma.

The shrimp tempura ($12.95) is also worth ordering:

It is not greasy and the portion is adequate. On the other hand, notice that the shrimp have a different coating, more like a panko, from the vegetables. Overall, though, a pleasant enough dish.

Similarly, the seafood yaki udon ($12.95) is okay as well:

The broth is very light in flavor, but the noodles are perfectly cooked and wonderfully juicy. The soup also contains shrimp, fish, and bay scallops, along with the noodles, fake crab, and poached egg.

And to my surprise, they even have togarashi seasoning:

This udon is very far from the best I've ever had, but it is the best I've had in Yuma.

The menu specials also include something called "Amazing Veal Chops, Korean Style" ($15.95). That puzzled me because I have never seen veal listed on any Asian menu before. Usually, veal dishes are native to countries with a strong dairy tradition – like Holland, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. Not Korea. So I had to order it, of course:

This is dang good. The chop is large enough to be a beefsteak, more substantial than any vealchop I've ever seen in a local supermarket. Although this picture does not show it, it is cooked to a perfect medium rare – with a nice pinkish interior. The Korean barbecue sauce and the sliced peppers and onions add flavor. I can't imagine a steak loving carnivore not enjoying it. And in Yuma, most families include at least one steak loving carnivore.

Overall, I understand why Asian Star has become a very popular restaurant in Yuma. The prices are fair. The chefs tackle a wide range of Asian dishes and don't embarrass themselves. Some things, in fact, are quite good. Many are the best you can find locally. If you're in San Diego, don't hop in the car and drive over for this food. But if you are living in Yuma, like me, this is a restaurant you will enjoy.

Asian Star Oriental Cuisine, 276 W. 32nd St, Suite 1, Yuma AZ 85364, 928-317-9888, Open daily 11 am – 9:30 pm

Oishii- the other Thai restaurant in Santee

May 15, 2011 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome (back) to the blog called mmm-yoso!!!. Sometimes Kirk relates a story about His food adventures. Sometimes ed(from Yuma) composes a short story about his food adventures. Today, Cathy is putting a pen to paper, so to speak, and sharing another meal.

Hi. I've written about Oishii two other times . Oishii is right down the street from my home and equidistant (for me) to Sab E Lee, the other Thai restaurant in Santee. Oiishi is a bit different in that it serves Japanese as well as Thai food.

Occupying a small space, Oishii has been in this same location since 2003. Some of the interior decor is a holdover from when the space was named Victoria's and had its own eclectic menu as well as decor. I have noticed bamboo here and there, trying to bring an Asian look to the restaurant.

Ignore the menu; Oishii is not open on Sunday. Hot tea is $1 per person. There is a sushi bar, which I have never posted about. It is a very good sushi bar.
On this visit, we ordered the mixed tempura ($6.50). Two shrimp, onion, bell pepper, sweet potato, zucchini all perfectly fried and not greasy.
The Mister ordered the Green Curry ($7.95) cooked with chicken, bamboo shots, bell peppers, basil and coconut milk. A sort of comfort food and always good.
I chose the Yum Talay ($12). A salad of chilled mixed seafood with lime juice, chili, cucumber and cilantro…with a bit of lettuce underneath it all. It was made to the proper heat level I requested (3/5) and I could taste all the ingredients.

Oiishi serves a good selection of Thai curries and noodle dishes as well as really good Japanese and sushi. I am so glad I have a choice out here in East County.

Oishii Japanese and Thai 10251 Mast Boulevard, Santee, CA 92071 (619)596-4872 Website

Siam Nara – a first look(s)

March 15, 2011 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

Soon after all the great comments on this post, the Missus and I headed up to Siam Nara, one of the three restaurants owned by Suree Suksudecha of Amarin Thai. Or perhaps as I heard a customer on his cellphone trying to give his friend instructions calling the place, "sayonara"……

The interior of the restaurant is nicely done, lot's of gold, but not terribl y over stated. The menu is fairly large, and had many items that tempted us. The staff is very nice in the gentle, understated way of many Thai I know. From the napkins to the china, to presentation, you can tell that Siam Nara is trying for a more upscale experience, without being stuffy. Of course, having a young staff means sometimes humorous little things happen….. it seems that I could never get my glass of water refilled without some of it, or at least an ice cube or two falling to the table. And yet, the effort was there…. and we appreciated that.

Of all the items we ate during our meals; we enjoyed the seemingly most simple item, the Pla Yum Mameung ($14):

I'm not a big fan of tilapia, but it's mostly due to my upbringing where you'd see tilapia in drainage canals, and such. I recall fellow blogger RONW calling tilapia the mahimahi of the Ala Wai Canal, or something like that. In fact, as recently as 2005, I still had problems with eating the stuff. Chef Alan Wong actually covers the stigma of tilapia in his new cookbook The Blue Tomato. Anyway, I'm glad we tried this dish. The tilapia was perfectly fried, light, clean tasting, crunchy. The papaya salad, while nothing really special, and not spicy in the least (they never asked) was the perfect tart, sour, salty foil for the dish.

In second place would be the Pla Pad Cha ($12), which looked like something we would have gotten right off the boat dock at Tha Chang, right down to the baby green peppercorn.

The overall flavor was surprisingly mild….. I was expecting something worthy of Yai Restaurant. The tilapia in this case tasted a bit on the muddy side.

The Crystal Noodles, a fancy way of saying Pad Woon Sen with Shrimp ($9.99) was pretty good.

This came served over a heating element…you gotta watch that, this started burning after a while. Lot's of black pepper on this, something that I've gotten used too with Thai food, the serve it that way in Thailand as well. The glass noodles were fine, gladly they were not over-cooked, but there was nothing that stood out. The Missus mentioned that even though it seemed that this restaurant was trying to be a bit more fancy than most, they didn't bother to devein the shrimp……

I just had to try a curry, since I've never been real happy with any version of Thai curry in San Diego. I went with the Gang Phed Ped Yang ($14 – a roasted duck red curry):

I liked the consistency of the curry, not too thick, and not too thin and runny. But as usual, barely any spice, way too artificially sweet, too much coconut milk, and you really couldn't make out the flavor of the duck in this dish.

Still, the food displayed promise, and the Pla Yum Mameung was very good; perhaps even better than Sab E Lee Santee's Signature Fish in some ways. So I kept this post on the back-burner, but for some reason we never went back. Finally, on a night the Missus went out with Her friends, I decided to return. What drew me back was a little conversation I had with one of the very nice young men working at Siam Nara. He told me the chefs were from Issan, and I had noticed a section of the menu listing "set" E-san dinners. I also quickly noticed Kai Yang on the menu, and in my mind's eye, I pictured something like this:

These photos were taken on the streets of Nong Khai, right across the Mekong from Laos. Kai Yang is one of the signature dishes of Issan/Laos. When done well, there's a whole myriad of flavors going on, salty from fish sauce and/or salt, perhaps some sweetness from sugar, wonderful touches of herbs and garlic……… it's some of the finest roasted chicken I've had.

So, of course I ordered the Kai Yang set ($16), which was presented quite nicely.

The chicken just didn't look right though. It looked like something that had been precooked then thrown on the grill to apply grill marks….. more on that later.

The dish came with some nice and hot sticky rice, perhaps a little too wet, but still, it was very hot…. the young man standing by the table started giggling when I began eating it with my hands. I guess he didn't expect that….he quickly brought me more napkins.

The Som Tum – papaya salad was the same as before, very mild. I'm thinking I'll have to take the initiative and actually order things spicy since they never ask; even for the E-san dishes. This also isn't close to an Issan style Som Tum, which is very similar to Lao style.

The sweet chili sauce, was just what you think.

My favorite item on the plate was the Num Jim Jaew, which I believe is usually called Nam Prik Num in Chiang Mai, and Jeow Mak Keua in Laos. It's an eggplant dip of sorts, and something I love. I make this at home once in a while after learning how to make it in Luang Prabang at the Tamarind Cooking School.

Nice texture, good savory flavor, decent heat, all that seemed to be missing was perhaps a bit more garlic. Still, this is the one item I finished and wished for more.

The chicken itself was disappointing. First, I dunno if you noticed, but the chicken in Thailand is a bit smaller; it's usually free-range, not that I realistically expected that here, but perhaps they'd go with all dark meat for more flavor? Here it was the large pieces, flaccid skin…..most of the Kai Yang or Kai Ping I've eaten doesn't have a crispy skin, but the skin has some texture other than rubbery.

That chicken breast was just sooooo dry, even slathered in sweet chili sauce. The main flavor that I could detect was that of the coconut milk, no lemongrass, garlic, kaffir lime leaf, basil, or even heat to speak of. I'm thinking I could do better at home, so maybe I'll try.

Even though the food leans to the "gringo" side for us, it's not sayonara to Siam Nara; like FOY (friend of yoso) "Liver" mentioned in previous comments; this place seems to do seafood really well. The prices aren't bad by San Diego standards and, I really enjoyed the service.

Siam Nara Thai Cuisine
8993 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Some trivia:Did you know that Suree actually has her own cookbook? You can check it out here.

Madison – Lao Laan-Xang (Williamson St location)

December 13, 2010 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants, Madison, Wisconsin, Thai Restaurants, Travel

**** This location of Lao Laan-Xang has closed

One of the restaurants I had on my list from my previous visit to Madison was Lao Laan-Xang. Though it seems that many regard Lao Laan-Xang as a Thai Restaurant(and the sign does say Laotian Cuisine), the Owners are Lao, and there were more than few Lao style dishes on the menu…… and it had been a while since I've had good Lao food. Luckily, the weather had cleared by my last evening in Madison, and I was able to head down to the Williamson Street location of Lao Laan-Xang.

The tiny, but very warm and welcoming shop brought back memories of my first experience with Thai Food at the tiny Keo's on Kapahulu Boulevard back in the very early 80's. Keo's has of course gone to greater things, but my memories of that tiny but welcoming restaurant stay dear to my heart. This was before the great Thai food boom, and indeed I recall when I told one of my dates that we were going for "Thai Food", she asked me if "this was a chicken place?" (Thigh food, got it?) Which had me laughing the whole evening……. it was also on that very evening we saw a very petite woman with big hair and big…. ummm….well, anyway it turned out to be Dolly Parton. On another night, I spied Steve Perry from Journey having dinner there. And though this dining room would never reach the orchid filled heights of Keo's, there was something cozy that just reminded me of that place.

And amongst the Crab Rangoon, Fried Rice, and Curries, there were two of my favorite Lao dishes. The first was hard to find since it was under it's Thai name of Khao Tod Nam Som…. but there it was, what I call one of my "Death Row Dishes" – Nam Khao ($9.50):

Before I continue, let me apologize for the photos. It get's pretty dark on "The Willy" at night. This version of Nam Khao was not bad, but lacked the amount of crunchiness I enjoy. Also, it was less sour, lacking that fermented sourness I enjoy. Still this was ok, I've had worse, though it was miles behind the versions I've had at Aisa Cafe, Vientiane Restaurant in Garden Grove, and not even close to what I had in Vientiane…. as in Vientiane, Laos. It was also fairly pricey, about 30% more than what you'd pay in San Diego.

I also ordered the Mok Pa ($15.99), with some reservations, as the only decent version I had of this dish was at Vietiane in Garden Grove. But this was very good.

I had learned how to make this dish after taking a cooking class at Tamarind Cooking School in Luang Prabang, and loved the complex flavors so much that I've made this at home, though I end up steaming it rather than grilling it. This dish did not disappoint; the fish was wonderfully moist and tender, but not over-cooked, and did not have any muddy flavor at all. The flavor of dill was there, adding that refreshing clean taste without over-powering the dish. The lindering flavors of the herbs was excellent. The portion size was quite large, almost enough for two.

About the only thing not very good about the whole meal was the very low quality of the sticky rice. It was off-white and I bit into some terribly hard pieces of rice. i'm thinking it must be pretty hard to get good quality sticky rice in Madison.

I won't go into the bland steamed "gringo" vegetables, because heck, this happens everywhere in San Diego as well.

We received good service, our Server was friendly, and our waters were refilled. The food was quite good, so I'll surely be headed back here the next time I'm in Madison.

Lao Laan-Xang
1146 Williamson St
Madison, WI 53703

Revisits: The Original Sab E Lee and Sab E Lee Santee

July 8, 2010 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

There wasn’t too much we missed in the way of food while in China. We did miss Ba Ren, which I’ll explain in a later post, but as a whole, there was nothing we really craved until back on Oahu….. which is about when we started mentioning Sab E Lee (now called The Original Sab E Lee), and Sab E Lee 2 (aka just plain Sab E Lee, or Sab E Lee Santee).

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed

Unfortunately, for folks looking for some really great new stuff….. we’ve been here so many times that we tend to stick with our favorites. One of mine, is the Spicy Raw Beef Salad, aka Koi Soi or Koi Nua. Since Kobe sold the place off, some of the newer folks will ask me how spicy I want things, which is usually an ‘8’ or ‘9’ on the heat scale. One strange thing, not eating here in 6 weeks or so must’ve thrown off my tolerance. Man did this get me sweating…..

The Missus’s favorite is the Salted Fish Fried Rice.

I was once asked by someone to describe the smell of the salted preserved fish…… the only thing that came to mind was having the person imagine what “fish cheese” would smell like. A briney, pungent, savory scent, which really gets our (maybe not you) stomach rumbling. Along with the scent of wok’d rice, it may not be appropriate for work, but it sure tastes darn good, if perhaps on the salty side.

Ok, I said mostly photos……

The Grilled Duck Larb:

The Bamboo Shoot Salad:

The Issan Sausage:

All of which I’ve covered in many posts from back in August of 2008 until now. You can find all the links on our “rotation” page.

Here’s something that I haven’t posted on before; the Beef Tendon Soup.

This is one of those cases where citrus enhances the heat, pegging it up a few notches. The soup is chocked full of tendon and meat cuts, with some tripe and other offal thrown in for good measure. I’d recommending sharing this with a few people as it can get rather tedious eating the whole darn bowl yourself. A small bowl or two is just perfect.

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

Sab E Lee 2:

**** This location of Sab E Lee has closed

I gotta say, even though we don’t get ’round these parts very often, Kobe always treats us like friends. Many of the dishes are closer to Bangkok style Thai, but the Issan dishes still pack enough of a punch.

So here are the photos, starting with the Plaa Shrimp, a quickly seared shrimp salad, with a familiar, bracing, yet refreshing fish sauce based dressing. Just as good as the first time we had it.

Here’s the Spicy Raw Beef salad for comparison.

Even at a ‘9’ level, not nearly as spicy as the Linda Vista location. Much more roasted rice powder is used, adding a nice level of nuttiness. I believe this dish has gotten better over time. So which do I enjoy more…. it like asking me to pick my favorite “mutt”…. Sammy or Frankie…. I love them both, but differently.

Speaking of better over time….. on this visit, the Garlic Rice was positively addicting.

The Thai Basil is more finely chopped, which means the flavor is spread throughout the rice. More pepper is used, and even more garlic……

Sab E Lee has consolidated the Pinecone Fish (seen here) and the Three Flavor Fish (seen here), into one dish featuring both sauces on the side, which I think was an excellent decision.

Light and crunchy panko crusted exterior, gives way to moist and tender white meat. It has been perfectly fried every time we’ve had this style of fish at SEL. This was the dish the Missus was missing. We really need to get out here more often!

Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071

Our previous posts on SEL2 can be found here and here. And some chicken here.

Cathy’s post can be found here.

777 Noodle House revisted

April 19, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Here are a few other dishes from 777 Noodle House. We've found ourself in the area a few times recently, and it turns out the Missus thinks the food here is a good value, and pretty tasty as well. So here's the rundown:

"Yummy Yummy's" sister, "Little K" recommended the fried rice. And one day the Missus ordered the Thai Style Seafood Fried Rice ($6.77):

Other then the scalded chilies and a few leaves of Thai Basil, this would pass for good "old school" fried rice. There's a nice smoky char, and a decent amount of shrimp, and some beef, which were a surprise because there was no beef in the photo. The beef wasn't that great, but the Missus enjoyed the fried rice. The portion was large enough for the Missus to have the left-overs topped with fried egg the next day. A few visits later, the Missus ordered it again:

I'm thinking that they were out of a few items on our previous visit since there was some squid and fishballs, and even more shrimp this time around. A lot more scrambled egg in this as well.

There are of course the Leek Cakes ($2.97), worth another mention:

On one visit, I ordered the Hủ Tiếu Bò Kho (Beef Stew with Rice Noodles – $5.77):

The noodles in this was the wider rice noodles, rather than the Hủ Tiếu in the Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang. Instead of the usual reddish color of the photos, this was kind of an almost unappetizing brown. The broth was actually quite good, well seasoned, with lots of star anise flavor. The beef was just so-so, and the tendon was decent, but not outstanding.

I had initially asked the Missus if She wanted a taste, since She was still waiting for Her fried rice to arrive. She looked at the bowl, and turned Her head in disgust, but unfortunately I insisted…… and though the Missus didn;t care for the meat, She drank almost all the broth! Leaving me pretty much with a "Kho" (dry) dish. Then something surprising happened. One of the young women, seeing most of my broth was gone, asked me if I wanted more soup! Shocked I think I mumbled, "yes, just a little bit more…." When the young lady went back to the kitchen, the gentleman working the counter passed by, and also asked me if I wanted more soup! So I guess this is the usual MO….. man was this very different from other soup shops. And sure enough, about two minutes later, the smiling young woman delivered my "soup"…… and it wasn't quite "just a little bit", but an entire bowl. And they didn't even charge me for it!

In order to respect their generosity, I made sure to finish everything, making sure the bowl looked licked clean. I left fat and happy, soup making "glop-glop" noises in my belly as I rolled to my car. Just this one gesture ensured that we'd return.

Once the Missus had the Wonton Egg Noodles ($4.77):

Nothing to write home about. The broth was milder than it looked, the wontons not bad.

On one trip the Missus, for some reason ordered the Shrimp Thai Red Curry ($5.77):

Which wasn't half bad, perhaps better than many Thai Restaurants in San Diego. There was no coconut milk or sugar overload in this one. Total eight shrimps made it a good value. Even though it was ordered at "spicy", this was pretty mild. The curry was kinda weak in the complex melding of flavors I expect from a curry.

Here's the Shrimp with Stir Fried Bun Loc ($6.77):

This dish was made with a type of rice noodle also called "Banh Bot Loc" bearing no relation to the pork and shrimp filled tapioca flour dumpling looking stuff I get from places like Mien Trung. Another generous portion of shrimp, and scrambled egg intertwined with bean sprouts and a thick rice noodle which was slightly gooey, and I didn't much care for. The noodles was served with a small bowl of Nuoc Mam Cham, which I found kinda strange, as the sweet flavor seemed to kill all the smokiness in the dish.

One dish I found pleasant was the Pig Intestine with Sour Vegetable ($5.77):

I would have preferred that the preserved vegetable be more sour and pickled in flavor, but there was quite a bit of well prepared earthy flavor intestine. One item that made this a bit different from other versions I've had, was the addition of a bit of spice, there were two or three sliced Thai chilies in the dish that really livened things up for me. It wasn't very spicy, just enough to tingle my tongue.

Here's the Egg Noodle Soup with Duck Leg ($4.77):

The broth was different this time around, featuring almost a seafood flavor. There was quite bit of egg noodles in the bowl though it's not my favorite type of egg noodle. The duck leg was decently fried, and adequate, especially for the price. The duck came with a little bowl of sweet soy, almost like you'd pour over steamed fish. I actually poured some of it into my soup, which was a positive addition.

While we were eating, the Missus and I noticed a pretty large party eating at one of the tables next to us. Even though they spoke Cantonese, She understood some of it. They must be regulars because they all requested a refill of soup, which came out promptly. And near the end of the meal, one of the women, who I think is the owner came out from the kitchen. They chatted for a while in Cantonese, which ended in a nice laugh. When the woman walked away, the Missus cracked up and told me, they just requested some watermelon……. say what! The audacity…. But wouldn't you know it; as we're paying our bill, out comes one of the young women…. with a large plate of sliced watermelon. You gotta love this place…… it may not be the best, but it's a good value, and the folks here are very nice…. almost too nice. And some of the dishes are pretty good to boot.

After all, there aren't many places where you can get noodle soup for under five bucks nowadays……

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Open Daily 8am – 9pm

Our favorite take-out…. guess where?

April 15, 2010 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

This is an easy one……

There are a couple of reasons why this place is our go-to take-out joint. First, we (obviously) love the food. Second, the prices of almost everything we order is below $7.25. Third, it's on one of the alternate routes home. Fourth, our favorite dishes there hold up well on the 15-20 minute drive home. The place is rather small, so sometimes doing take-out works out better as well. It does help that the place serves one of my "last request" dishes. Without further ado……

Yep, it's Sab E Lee of course. I guess now that Koby has sold the place to the staff, they've gone ahead and called themselves "The Original" Sab E Lee. And though I've been doing most of my recent postings on Sab E Lee in Santee, and god knows we adore Koby. I thought I'd just dig out a few take-out photos cluttering my folders.

If you're a regular reader, you know my "last meal" dish is the Koi Soi, the raw beef salad.

I love the texture of the raw beef. And though it is not as refined as the version at Lotus of Siam (which is $6.70 more expensive), I just love the melding of flavors, the biting heat, the nuttiness of the roasted rice powder, pungent onions, scallions, and raw garlic slices, and biting into an occasional Thai chili! I know…yada-yada-yada….. just make sure you give me a spoonful before you pull the plug.

That's not say that any of the other dishes take a back seat. Whether it's the mild sourness of the Issan Sausage, with bits of pork skin adding a nice chew. Wrapped in a slice of cabbage with a peanut or two, or perhaps a chili or slice of raw garlic, and you've got a symphony of flavors.

Or the somewhat stinky, but so savory Salted Fish Fried Rice:

The Missus recently took a bunch of folks She works with to Sab E Lee. The coworkers weren't really familiar with Thai Food aside from Tom Yum and Pad Thai. When this dish arrived, folks pulled away from the plate…. once they tasted this, you couldn't get them away from the plate.

Well 'nuff said…. I'm sure all the SEL regulars have their favorite dishes…… I know of one one Food Blogger who can't get enough of this.

While building links, I just realized that this is my seventh post on SEL….. so maybe I should back off a bit.

But man, do I have tons of SEL photos.

And not only take-out either…..

OK, enough of that……

Most importantly, I'd like to know what your "go to" take-out places are, and why. Is it convenience? Prices perhaps? I'd really like to know…….

And in case you like to check out my other posts on Sab E Lee, you can find links on our "Rotation Page".

Playing Chicken: A bunch of chicken posts – Saffron, Nazca Grill, Mercado 2000, Casa de Pepe, Sab E Lee 2, and more….

March 23, 2010 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Peruvian Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Whew, this post has taken me almost five months to get together…. talk about a flocking long time. A while back I thought it would be fun doing a post on some of the different variations of grilled and roasted chicken in San Diego. So here goes….. oh, and why did it take me so long? The answer is at the end.

Pollo Asado from Internacional 2000 Taco Shop – Bargain City:

On one of my previous posts on Internacional 2000, I mentioned the plumes of smoke rising in the air from the chicken being grilled over mesquite in the parking lot. I also noticed that the chicken was mostly precooked, and moved from the taco shop to the grill for reheating. That just didn’t sound promising. But once, while doing part of my South Bay taco crawl, MrQ decided to purchase the Pollo Asado, since it was just $8.50, for a whole chicken a fixins’. The chicken was better than I thought it would be, so on a later visit, I decided to get it.

So for $8.50, you get a whole grilled chicken, beans, rice, salsa, condiments, and tortillas. Man ,what a deal!

I had thought the chicken would be dry and tough as heck, but it wasn’t. Also, because the chicken didn’t have much of a salt flavor, I’m thinking that salt use was minimized to ensure that the bird wouldn’t dry out. The chicken did have a wonderful smoky mesquite flavor. The tortillas, once warmed a bit was decent, the rice was quite dry.

But the beans……

Were quite good, rich, beany, and creamy….just don’t look at ’em after you refrigerate the stuff….. you WILL know why they taste good. Sometimes, it’s better not to know…….

We did use a sprinkling of Tajin Classic Seasoning…. the stuff we call, “This is not a candy” seasoning:

I’m wondering how many complaints the company got from folks who tried to eat this thinking it WAS candy, causing them to label the product thusly?

The verdict? Not the most fantastic pollo asado I’ve ever had, but pretty good, and for $8.50? Bargain city!!! Just as a reality check, to the right is about seven bucks worth of food from the local “Crazy Chicken” joint…. which includes some of the worst tortillas I’ve ever experienced. In all honesty, I don’t mind the chicken……

Internacional 2000 Taco Shop (Window in the parking lot of Mercado Internacional 2000)
1415 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Pollo Asado from Casa de Pepe – No thank you:

On one of my “Sunday Stuffs” posts back in January of 2008, I mentioned seeing Pollo Asado being grilled in the parking lot of a taco shop on Imperial Avenue. This bright, colorful, and possibly luminous restaurant is called, Restaurant Casa de Pepe:

If the bones of this place look familiar; it because this used to be the location of El Comal, before they went “uptown”.

Almost every weekend, I’ve seen the guy in the parking lot grilling chicken.

I crossed the street and took a look at the chicken, which looked pretty good. So I told the guy that I’d be going into the restaurant to pay, when the guy held up a pot full of kinda gross barbecue sauce, and told me; “you want BBQ on chicken, right?” I should have taken this as a bad omen and high-tailed it out of there, but instead I just said “no thanks” and went into the restaurant and paid my $7.95.

Hmmm, they forgot my tortillas. I loved the variety of salsas provided, as well as the cebolla. The chicken was terrible, terribly bland and dry.

The rice was decently flavored, but the beans were very bland, and too soupy for my tastes.

Maybe I shoulda gotten that barbecue sauce, huh?

Restaurant Casa de Pepe
2822 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102

Pollo ala Brassa from Nazca Grill – getting better all the time:

In my previous post on Nazca Grill, back when they first opened, I indicated that though the chicken was moist, here was something left to be desired with regards to flavor. I’m glad to say that the last time I ordered it, the chicken was very good. Still moist, and more balanced in flavor. You could tell that even though it wasn’t cooked over hardwood, it had been finished with it.

For $11.95 you get the half chicken meal, which comes with papas fritas (french fries) which usually ends up pretty soggy by the time you get home, and good sized salad.

I do wish they’d just sell the chicken ala carte. Anyway, a picture is worth a few paragraphs……

I still think the Aji Amarilla (yellow chili sauce) is too mild, and needs some zip. But compare that chicken to my previous post……

**** Nazca Grill has closed

Nazca Grill
4310 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Rotisserie Chicken from Saffron Thai Grilled Chicken – I could never figure out why…..

This place is so popular. When I first ate the chicken from here back in 1998, the first thing that went through my mind was “huh”? To me the chicken here isn’t “Thai Rotisserie Chicken”, it ain’t even close to Kai Yaang. Those were my thoughts back in 2006 when I did my last post on Saffron.

And after eating Kai Yaang in Thailand twice, this ain’t even close. The chicken from Pok Pok might as well be in another universe. Another sad thing is, I really enjoy Su-Mei Yu’s book, Cracking the Coconut. There’s even a Kai Yaang recipe in the book, which features her “Big Four Paste” (coriander seeds, garlic, cilantro stems and roots, white peppercorns), minced ginger, cumin, tumeric, and caraway(strange, no lemongrass). Not even a whiff to be found on this chicken.

I didn’t think you’d be happy with this, a two leg plate ($4.99):

So I went ahead and had a half chicken plate ($7.86):

Instead of my usual Sriracha ($1.29 a bottel at 99 Ranch Market, BTW), I went with the red pepper sauce, which was too sweet, like simple syrup, and the peanut sauce, which was too much coconut and sugar, and not enough peanut.

The best piece was the thigh which was passably moist. The leg however, had been sliced, possibly to check “doneness” and was, as a good FOY once described the chicken here as “petrified”. The breast was worse.

The skin was tough and too chewy. To be honest, that two leg plate I had earlier was better. I’m thinking the earlier in the day you go, the better your luck may be. Someone once told me it’s the sauce that makes this “Thai”, so I asked this person, being of Italian heritage, if I got a supermarket rotisserie chicken, and gave you a teensy container of marinara sauce, if I could call that “Italian Chicken”? And to add insult to injury, I once bought an entire bird from Saffron and a rotisserie chicken from Costco, and provided a bottle of Sriracha. I asked some friends which bird they enjoyed better….. guess which? Well, enough of that. I was told that the chicken here back in the late 80’s and early 90’s was great, but something happened.

I do still enjoy the “Cambodian” salad:

I believe the success of Sab E Lee displays that San Diego does want “real” flavors. So maybe someday……..

Saffron Thai Grilled Chicken
3731 India St.
San Diego, CA 92103

Speaking of Sab E Lee (2):

**** This location of Sab E Lee has closed

Here’s the Kai Yaang from Sab E Lee 2 .

Not amazing, but solid. Since the chicken hadn’t been sliced into parts and held on trays it was very moist. Nice salty, mild garlic and lemongrass flavors. The sauces, one tamarind and palm sugar based, and the other a nam prik (fish sauce and chilies) were serviceable.

I need to go back and take better photos.

Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071

So why did this post take months? Well, back in November, the Missus saw this commercial and was traumatized.

So now the Missus won’t eat chicken or turkey…. but will eat duck!

I guess I’ll just have to:

“keep on dreamin’
The thoughts that are in my brain
You just keep on being
The lady I can’t explain “

“Lady I Can’t Explain” by Jimmy Buffett

Chiang Mai: Doi Suthep

March 6, 2010 mmm-yoso Chiang Mai, Thai Restaurants, Thailand, Travel

On our third day in Chiang Mai, the Missus decided that She wanted to visit Doi Suthep, located about 15 kilometeres from Chiang Mai. So how to get there???? Well, you just flag down a "sawngthaew" one of the innumerable red trucks plying the streets. Bargain, and get on your way…..

We arrived at the 309 steps up to Wat Doi Suthep….. and it seemed like everyone else in Chiang Mai decided to visit as well.

There's quite a bit to see, more than I could possibly cover in a post.

Lest you think just tourists come to Wat Doi Suthep, you'd be mistaken, as there seemed to be many who came to worship.

We spent a nice morning wandering the grounds.

We could only imagine how beautiful the view would be on a clear day.

Walking around sure stirred up my appetite….. so we had the sawngthaew drop us off across the Three Kings Monument, and went lookng for something to eat. I noticed a Khao Soi shop on the corner. I'd already tried Khao Soi twice, and was relatively unimpressed. This place looks busy, so I decided to give it another try. The Missus had already decided that Khao Soi wasn't Her thing, and stuck with just a soda.

I don't know if it's the fried noodles that is rather powdery and could have come from a can. Or if it is the watered down curry flavor that can't be rescued by lime, shallots, or even the only item I enjoy, the pickled vegetable. It could be that I didn't have a good version of this dish. But I really didn't care for the three versions Khao Soi I tried….. maybe next time….

As we walked down the street, we noticed another shop full of people. It looked like satay was the specialty here.

A woman walked down the aisles taking orders. As she took orders she'd bark them out, and the orders would hit the table.

Then things stopped…… the woman announced something, and half the people got up and left! The woman told us that they had run out of chicken, and only had pork left. I guess this place made a mean satay chicken. We decided to stay……

And indeed the pork was fine, but nothing to write home about.

I thought it was strange that each of us got two servings of rice. One on a plate, and the other in a bowl.

No matter, the rice had been cooked in chicken stock, and I would have been happy with just the rice alone.

Even better then the rice was the bowl of chicken broth, rich and vibrant with chicken drippings, great oil, with just the right amount of salt, and a touch of ginger to cleanse the palate.

That was worth the price of admission……

Like the rest of Thailand……… food was everywhere…….

Food aside, I found this little pup adorable.