Category: Thai Restaurants

**** I managed to try the Khao Mun Gai and you can read that post here!

In yesterday's post on Sam Woo becoming San Wo I indicated I'd noticed two big changes in businesses within the 99 Ranch Market on Clairemont Mesa. The second one was this little shop, that has taken over the space previously occupied by the longstanding Sau Voi Deli. I walked on over and took a look.

A very nice young lady greeted me and told me they had just opened the past weekend and currently open at 10am. She also gave me a menu to view.

It's a nice and tight menu, just seven items featuring Thai Noodle Soups. Seemed like a nice change of pace for the area, so I decided to return. I arrived at a quarter after ten and there were already three of the five tables filled. I took a seat and the young lady brought me a menu and some water to get started.

I decided to get the Boat Noodles ($15.95) medium spicy, which turned out to be just right as I didn't have to add any chili oil or chilies.

It was nice and fragrant.

    It came with a variety of "cuts"; I went for the chicharron right away. 

The broth was quite soy-savory, I'd say almost beefy, with a decent amount of spice and anise-cilantro tones. Lots of flavor in this.

There was one large cut; it looked like brisket. I enjoyed the tendon, which looked tough, but was quite tender. There were two whisps of tripe which were nice a crunchy. Even the two pieces of liver were not bad.

   The Server recommended I get the rice noodles with this which reminded me of pho. It was perfectly prepared with a nice stretch to them.

Not the largest portion, but enough for me. I thought this was quite good and decided to return for a menu item.

I think it's really hard to find a good version of Khao Man Gai in San Diego, so I was excited to check it out so I returned a few days later. Unfortunately, they were out of the dish, so I had to find something else on the menu to try. 

I decided on the Kway Chap ($14.95)

   I was happy to note that they actually use the appropriate noodle, the curly-rolled rice noodle sheets known as kway chap in this. Nice and chewy! 

Also of note; the eggs while hard boiled weren't overcooked and did not have that greenish-grey tint. Decent soy sauce flavoring as well.

The meats again included chicharron, the rough cut of the tendon, some intestine, various other beef cuts and what tasted like stewed pork.

 The broth didn't have any spice, seemed a bit more porky and rich than the boat noodles. I ended up using the chili oil, which also had some nice acidity, and some chili flakes to help cut the richness.

Not a bad soup either.

I appreciated the fact that the portions skewed toward more Thai-sized. They seemed to be doing a pretty good takeout business. The folks working were very nice. I'm glad that we have a place that offers something a bit different in the area and that the prices aren't bad.

Now I gotta try that Khao Man Gai…..

Me Sen
7300 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Tues – Sun 10am – 8pm
Closed on Monday

The Missus had been craving Thai food during a recent lunchtime. Of course one of the first places that came to mind was Sovereign, but it was a Thursday and the place doesn't open for lunch until noon. After some back and forth, we decided on revisiting Soi 30th. The Missus took some convincing since our last meal from there was disappointing. But, it had been a year-and-a-half since that visit and we had done takeout to boot. So, in my mind, it was time for a revisit. This time we'd be dining in.

We arrived just after 11 and there were already a couple of tables filled. The menu has changed a bit over time; the Thai Sausage hasn't been on the menu for a while and another favorite; the Larb Moo Krob was not on the menu either.

Still, for me, it has always been about the pork belly here so I ordered the Ka Na Moo Krob ($16.95); the pork belly with Chinese Broccoli (i.e. Gailan). The Missus surprised me; not by ordering the Pak Boong; i.e. Morning Glory/Ong Choi, but ordering it with chicken ($15.95)? You know, based on my recent experiences with basic takeout Thai places, the prices here seemed quite reasonable. Though they did charge us $3 to add an egg to each dish……

Both dishes were quite good; the Ong Choi perfectly stir fried; crisp, mildly sweet, not bitter, but quite earthy.

The chicken was ok, nothing special, but the dish had some decent heat….we ordered medium spice. Good savory tones; I think they put Oyster Sauce in this, a hint of sweetness. The rice was fragrant and moist. We both cracked up (no pun intended) with regards to the egg….it was tiny. I joked that Soi now serves "quail eggs" on their dishes! At least it was nice and runny though it also had that fishy finish I don't care for. Still, this was way better than what we'd had on our last visit.

The Pork Belly with Chinese Broccoli was back to how it used to be. The pork perhaps a bit more sauced, but nicely crisp-chewy.

 The rice and egg were the same on this dish as well. The Missus loved the crisp, earthy-vegetal gailan. The spice was quite good for just a "medium". The sauce was closer to the saltier side of the scale, but was quite enjoyable. The hints of garlic, sweet, and the spice balanced things out nicely.

We enjoyed our meal and were really happy that Soi 30th is back on our "list" of Thai places to eat at!

We look forward to returning!

Soi 30th
3442 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs  11am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Fridays           11am – 3pm, 430pm – 930pm
Sat – Sun        12pm – 930pm

I guess the weather's warming up a bit since the Missus said She was craving Sovereign. It had been a while since my last post and though the Missus refused to catch the trolley there, we thought we'd check to see if we could find some decent parking. Which, for the Missus meant north of K Street and West of 15th Street. I will say that it looks like things have been cleaned up a bit in the area since my last visit and after finding parking on Island, between 13th and 14th we weren't accosted by folks like on my previous visits to the area.

We arrived at Sovereign and the place was doing some decent business at 330pm on a Sunday. We were given a nice table and looked over the menu. Our old favorites were there as well as a couple of items that caught our attention. Two of the items we'd had on previous takeout visits; which I hadn't posted on; the grilled chicken tail and the sour Lao sausage, both of which we enjoy weren't available.

We started things off with the Crispy Pork Belly ($14). We had enjoyed the spicy pork belly on our previous visit, though the rest of the dish wasn't to out liking. We thought just having that pork belly might work out well.

And man, were we right! It doesn't look like much, but the thick slices of pork belly was wonderful. The skin crisp and crunchy, the fat melted away to a wonderful, rich velvetiness on your tongue. The sauce, which wasn't overly sweet or spicy helped to cut all the swine-a-licious goodness adding some balance to each bite. Though I don't think it would reduce your Cardiologists bill. Talk about a guilty pleasure.

The other new dish didn't fare as well, the Crispy Chive Cake ($14). I really didn't know what to expect.

The coating was more hard than crisp. The filling was what seemed like a combination of overly gummy-glutinous, sticky rice and chives, of which more was needed for flavor. This was really bland, even with the sweet-savory sauce provided. Man was it chewy…..this reminded me of pan fried mochi. It really needed a savory boost in flavor.

From here it was our usual go-to dishes.

The Hat Yai Fried Chicken ($24).

Crisp skin, tender flesh, the shallots add a nice pungent-sweet-crunchy layer to the dish. Nice mildly sweet-savory flavors from soy sauce-fish sauce-sugar. Always a favorite.

The Missus's favorite vegetable dish is the Stir Fried Eggplant with Basil ($14).

Tender eggplant, I think more Thai Basil was needed this time around; but the dish has always been a favorite of the Missus.

And of course, the Thai Sausage ($13).

Still our favorite in San Diego, crisp casing, tender pork filling, studded with herbs, with a slight spicy "kick" to things.

As you can tell, we enjoyed this meal. And while Sovereign doesn't provide that spicy "Issan" or Lao heat we enjoy, we have dishes here that are favorites of ours. And while there's still some environmental grittiness to the area around the restaurant, it seems like things might be changing for the better in the area.

And we found a new "favorite" dish to add to our typical order at Sovereign as well.

Sovereign Thai Cuisine
1460 J Street
San Diego, CA 92101

A few months back, I heard about a Thai Restaurant located in an office park in Sorrento Valley. I did some quick "Googling" (hmmm…is that an appropriate present participle?) and Thai Test Kitchen came up, located off of Lusk Boulevard, right down the street from Eurofood Depot. The place was fairly close by and they even open at 9am! A Thai restaurant! So, after returning from our last trip, I headed on over to grab an early lunch.

Thai Test Kitchen is located in the Sea View Corporate Center. Such an interesting location.

There's ample parking. The interior is a collection of posters, knick-knacks, with a certain charming kitschiness.

I took a look at the menu posted and have to say, the prices did give me some pause. I thought it was all in my mind, but when I did a menu check, in some cases Soi 30th was cheaper!

The young lady working was very friendly and when I mentioned the decor, she laughed and told me that they were previously a deli and coffee shop and decided to change course. They still do a couple of sandwiches like the BLT and also coffee. but now the focus was Thai Food. Things were going so well that they decided to open until 7pm on Fridays! Good for them!

I decided to try out the Crispy Pork with Basil ($15.49).

 No, your eyes aren't fooling you. That's a fairly small portion. The egg was crisp at the edges just like I enjoy it, but a bit over cooked for my taste as the yolks was hard.

The pork belly was quite good, crisp, yet fatty. I really liked the spice level; it was a bit too much for "CY" whom I gave a sample to, but I enjoyed it. Also enjoyed the green beans and the Thai basil flavor, there's hint of garlic, just enough sodium, with nice umami from fish sauce and soy. This was definitely not an "Ameri-Thai" dish.

The portion of rice was quite large in comparison to the amount of pork belly which consisted of 4 pieces.

Well, while the price to portion ratio seemed a bit skewed, I decided to return and try one of the pick-a-protein dishes and settled on the Eggplant with Basil ($12.99). The young lady recognized me from my previous visit. I asked her what protein would go best with the eggplant and she said chicken.

Like before, the flavor and heat were quite good…. perhaps I'd enjoy a bit more basil, but no complaints with the rest. On the negative side, the chicken was really tough and dry, the eggplant was not cooked the way I like it. It was too hard. I like a slightly crisp exterior with a creamy interior; this was solid all the way thru. Like before, there was quite a generous portion of rice provided.

As I was leaving, the young lady handed me a card with a QR code on it. She told me to just scan, order, and pay…. then my order will be ready for pick-up. There's no upcharge.

So, deciding I needed to do one more visit, I did the QR thing and ordered the most expensive item on the menu, the Spicy Basil Duck ($20.99). Even though it wasn't the same young lady working on this visit, the woman working was every bit as friendly.

As you can see; there's quite a bit of rice. I really enjoyed the seasoning and spice again; the bamboo shoots were wonderful with the Thai Basil and savory components; nutty-anise goodness. The duck was a bit on the dry side, but the flavor was good, nice "duckiness" with a touch of sweet and assertive savory components.

 I really appreciate having a place like this fairly close by. It's definitely not "Ameri-Thai", though I do think the proportion of rice to dish is a bit skewed on the starch side and the prices fairly high for the portion size.

Still, the folks here are quite friendly and nice. I also like that they open early, since I often like to get lunch at 10-1030. So, I'll definitely drop by again and try some other dishes. So, I guess they "passed the Test"?

Thai Test Kitchen
10184 Telesis Ct.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs   9am – 5pm
Friday             9am – 730pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday