Category: Vietnamese Restaurants

Road Trip – Dinner at Kalani’s, Hiking Big Meadow, and Ha Noi Pho (Lake Tahoe)

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Dog Friendly, Lake Tahoe, Pho, Plate Lunch, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

We really enjoyed our stay at the Landing Resort & Spa. It wasn’t right in the middle of everything and was still on Lake Tahoe. There was a beach right across the street and like I mentioned in my previous post, we loved the view from our patio.

For hike that morning; the Missus chose Big Meadow to Round Lake. There was a 1,200 foot elevation gain, but it didn’t seem to bad and about 6 1/2 miles out and back.

And JJ of course, handled it like a champ….always making sure that Daddy is not going too slow…..

The starting portion is near a main road, that goes uphill. And yes, the trail goes to a lovely meadow area.

And the lake is indeed “round”.

It was quite a way to start the day.

On the way back to the hotel, I noticed a Vietnamese Restaurant and decided to make a stop for lunch.

We weren’t too hungry, so we went with the pork spring roll and the combination pho.

The Nem Cuon was interesting. The pork was nicely griddled.

It was quite hefty, but lacking in herbs….no mint, basil…..just basically lettuce. The dipping sauce seemed like it was out of a bottle and was much too sweet.

Still, that was much better than the pho……

Broth was made by what we call the “wave method”…where upon you wave beef bones above boiling water….it was so thin and lacking in beef flavor. Lots of white pepper and quite salty.

Noodles were overcooked and mushy……

The tripe wasn’t bad at all; but the other cuts of beef were really lean and tough….totally lacking in beefiness.

Man, this was even worse than what we expected.

Service was fine….but this is a no-go pho…..

Ha Noi Pho
3330 Lake Tahoe Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

We made a couple of stops on our wat back to our accommodations….doing a bit of shopping; then had a nice siesta in our room.

When dinner time came along; we headed back to the very touristy Heavenly Village.

There was a restaurant in Heavenly Village that I’d actually read about….years ago in Bon Apetite…and of all things they served Hawaiian Regional Cuisine…in South Lake Tahoe! The owners are from Oahu and the place is named Kalani’s.

I know…in Lake Tahoe? Anyway, we walked on over…the place is dog friendly and we actually had a table in the bar….named the “Puka Lounge”….now this was getting kinda cliche for us, but still; the Ginger Rye Old Fashion was quite good!

As for food’ we decided on one app, a main, and a side……

First up were the Lemony Brussel Sprouts. You know hoe the Missus loves Her Brussel Sprouts; except She doesn’t care for how most places make it. In most cases it’s mushy, overcooked, and over sauced. This however was quite good.

Not overcooked, this had a nice crunch to them. Not over sauced, simply seasoned, citrus tones, good acid, perfect amount of salt. Well, we found some Brussels that the Missus enjoyed that weren’t made at home!

The one dish that I’d read about here at Kalani’s was the Chilean Sea Bass Miso Yaki. So, you know we had to try this, right?

Decent miso yaki flavor…perhaps a bit on the mild side, with a bit more sweetness than we like, but still nice and savory. It as the lovely, rich texture of the Chilean Sea Bass that made this dish….so lovely, almost creamy….it basically melts on your tongue! The ponzu butter sauce was fine….we expected a bit more fruity acidity, but it wasn’t overly rich. The mased potatoes had nice anise tones from Thai Basil. Overall, a good fusiony dish.

The one menu item we really enjoyed was the Crispy Roasted Pork Belly. Think “crisp and rich”.

The the light crispness of the batter that gave way to the rich and tender pork belly. Nice and porky, perfectly seasoned; it went well with a squeeze of citrus. We didn’t care for the basil puree which almost had a greasy tongue feel to it and just over powered the flavor and texture of the pork belly.

Kalani’s was a totally unexpected, nice surprise for us. We’d end up going back the next evening.

Kalani’s
1001 Heavenly Village Way
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

We made our way back to our accommodations. I went to refill our water and saw this.

Interesting, huh?

And of course, just like the night before, we watched the sun set over the lake!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – Lam Watah Nature Trail to Nevada Beach (Stateline) and Lotus Pho (South Lake Tahoe)

Banh Mi, Dog Friendly, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Road Trip, Travel, Vietnamese Restaurants

After our morning hike and lunch at My Thai, we settled in for a nice nap. Upon awakening, we decided to drive across the border into Stateline and right up the 50 to the Lam Watah Nature Trail. It’s a nice, easy, mostly paved trail that takes you thru a meadow area.

Past Jennings Pond.

And then thru a forested area.

You end at Nevada Beach. I had read that there’s a portion of the beach on the south side that was dog friendly. And we found signage that indicated where it was.

And we simply followed the “paw-steps”.

Until we ended up at an area near the dock where pups and people were having a good time.

And JJ made a new friend!

After JJ was done frolicking, we headed back past the campground and back onto the trail.

Heading back to the hotel, we showered up and relaxed for a bit. When it came time for dinner; we decided to get something simple. All the restaurants in Heavenly Village seemed very toursity and the very popular Base Camp Pizza had a super long line.

On the previous evening, I noticed a Vietnamese Restaurant right next to South Lake Brewing Company, which seemed to have outdoor tables. So, we walked on over and yes, the restaurant named Lotus Pho did have outdoor seating.

We weren’t too hungry and it felt too hot for pho; so we just ordered some Spring Rolls ($10.50) and a Grilled Pork Banh Mi ($13.95)…..yes, it was nearly fourteen bucks for a banh mi…but heck, this is Lake Tahoe, right?

The Spring Rolls were basically stuffed with the wrappers stretched and contents under pressure. Did not look very photogenic.

Huge amount of vermicelli noodles and lettuce….no mint or cilantro in sight. The wrapper was super chewy, the peanut sauce on the sweeter side.

Lots of proteins…the pork was decently flavored though chewy, the shrimp had been cooked decently.

I kinda thought that Lotus Pho would be very “gringo-fied” and looking over the menu added to my suspicions. The only options for the banh mi was grilled chicken or grilled pork.

The pork had been seasoned decently…more like pseudo teriyaki; missing savory tones, and on the sweeter side. It was toothsome, but not overly tough. There was even cucumber in this! The pickled veggies were fine; if shredded a bit thinly. Nice amount of cilantro and the peppers did have a nice kick. There was a nice layer of pate as well, a pleasant surprise as I didn’t expect much.

The bread was very dough and not really a banh mi…..closer to a French loaf in my opinion. It lacked the yeastiness, but due to the density was quite filling.

Overall, a fairly westernized Vietnamese restaurant though I’ve had worse.

Lotus Pho
4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Suite 25
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

Take Out Revisits – Ngon Ngon to Go and Chaba Thai

Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

It’s kind of funny. I recently made some revisits to places I’ve takeout from quite a few times. And while getting this post done; I noticed that I had actually done a post on these two places together once before! There must have been something triggering this, huh?

Anyway, here goes……

Ngon Ngon to Go:

Once a regular stop for me…well, it had been a while. I dropped by to place a takeout order and noticed something “interesting”. My usual, the Bo Luc Lac ($16), no longer included rice! There’s a version with fried rice, which is not what I wanted, but if I wanted white rice, there would be an additional charge of $2.

Well, I just sucked it up and got some white rice with my bo luc lac. I ordered and went and did a bit of shopping, returning for my takeout.

That side of rice was fine, if a bit on the harder, drier side.

There was a generous amount of salad which was fine. I’d had experiences with browning lettuce and stuff before, but this was fine.

My issue was with the beef. Take a look at the color.

The beef had not been marinated/sauced appropriately in my opinion. It lacked the savorysalty-sweetness that I associate with this dish. The beef was also super tough and chewy. Just not fun to eat.

With the weird upcharge and the lack quality and execution. I guess, after all these years and visits, I’m closing the chapter on this one.

Ngon Ngon To Go
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Chaba Thai:

Or as the Missus calls it; that “Chubby Thai place”. It had been a while and the Missus was wondering about the Krapow Gai. I would usually get that along with the Khao Kluk Kapi with Honey Pork, but on my last visit, it was mediocre, so I went with another item I’ve ordered from Chaba, the Tod Mun, the fried fish cakes.

So, I placed my order, ran to do some shopping at Zion and picked up our dinner.

First off, the rice that came with the Krapow Gai was terrible. You can see the brown, overcooked spots. It was really dry and hard.

The Tod Mun was strange. It was really hard and overly chewy…I mean quite tough.

The usual mild herbaceousness usually of the addition of lime leaf was missing. This was super bland. Even the typical fish sauce based dip was not helpful.

The Krapow Gai had it’s own set of issues. And no it wasn’t for lack of pidan.

As you can see on the photo below, where I put the dish into a container, there’s a good amount of century egg in this dish.

Rather, the ground chicken was very chewy and dry. I had ordered this spicy, but it was not. The seasoning was off as this was so bland. In fact we used the dipping sauce for the Tod Mun and all the fried basil from that dish as well to try to add flavor. I usually expect a salty-savory-mild sweetness in this dish, which was totally AWOL.

This was a very unsatisfying meal. I’d like you to take a look at the photos of these exact two dishes from our takeout visit in 2020 and compare.

This was quite disappointing. I guess we’re writing this one off as well. I’m not sure if “FOY” Si O still reads the blog, but maybe he has a recommendation?

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

Oh man, oh-fer-two…….

Pho and Wings aka Pho Nam Cali 2 (Scripps Ranch)

Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

While having lunch with Calvin at Hong Kong Kitchen & Dim Sum…well, our conversation veered, as it always does, into food. Among the places he mentioned to me was his new go-to pho shop in his neighborhood of Scripps Ranch. Called Pho and Wings. It’s in walking distance so he can head there during his WFH (Work From Home) days or even during certain evenings. I’d never heard of the place; so I looked it up when I got back home. After doing that search thing, I found that the place has an “alias” of Pho Nam Cali 2…… I’d heard of Pho Nam Cali in National City, so I’m thinking this is their second shop? Perhaps listing chicken wings to tempt other folks in? I liked that they open at 10am, so headed on over on a Sunday morning.

The shop is located in one of those numerous strip malls…this one has a location of Mickey D’s, Von’s, Starbucks, along with a couple of, I believe non-chain places as well.

The interior is bright and colorful….and I do mean bright and colorful!

The menu was completely in English. The woman working was so sweet and mellow. I simply ordered the House Special Pho ($16.99). I believe there are sometimes clues as to a place’s typical customer base. Like, I’m Asian, ordered pho, and still got a fork delivered to my table.

I did get a mild beefy-pungent fragrance when the bowl of pho arrived, a good sign.

The amount of sprouts and basil was typical for many places these days…rather sparse. But at least it looked quite fresh.

The broth had that typical “San Diego sweet – sodium blast” flavor, though it did have a mild beefiness. It did register as being a bit thin in terms of tongue feel as it was seriously defatted.

The noodles were in a serious clump at the bottom of the bowl. And, in an interesting change of pace, seriously undercooked. You can tell how stiff they are in the photo.

Well, I’m used to over cooked mushy noodles….undercooked, is a new one for me!

The rare steak was very lean and chewy, as was the flank. There was a serious lack of flavor as well.

I did appreciate the tripe, which was nice and crunchy. There was quite a bit of it as well.

Overall, an ok bowl of pho. Nothing to go out of your way for and there’s much better to be found in Mira Mesa.

Still, that woman was so sweet and kind. She kept making sure my water was refilled. And, since the place is named Pho and Wings…well, I had to try the wings, right? So, a couple of weeks later I returned.

Same really sweet woman was working. I was going to get the wings for sure.

But I needed to order something else as well. I looked over the menu and decided on the Beef Salad ($9). This is what arrived.

Iceberg lettuce, cherry tomato, and cucumbers, topped with a mildly marinated, but fairly tender stir fried beef. Very typical soy based flavor. A fairly typical sesame dressing, kind of on the watery side. My favorite part of the salad were the fried shallots, nice and slightly crisp, with that sweet-pungent onion like flavor.

I really didn’t expect Bo Tai Chanh, so I wasn’t disappointed. And at least this seemed a bit healthy and was somewhat refreshing……

Because the Fried Chicken Wings ($10.99) were up next.

The menu says “crispy” which this was not. It’s lightly breaded, but not crisp, more chewy and gets soggy quickly. Simply seasoned, that sesame dressing was provided here as well.

The meat of the flats was moist and fairly tender. The drumettes were really tough and chewy. The flavor was simple and nothing really stood out. Except that super jumbo and really chewy drumette.

I’m thinking that this is ok neighborhood pho; the woman working is wonderful, but the pho and especially the wings are nothing special. In other words, if I’m on the 15 North I’m taking the exit before Scripps Poway Parkway….that would be Mira Mesa, for my pho fix.

Pho and Wings-Pho Nam Cali 2
10549 Scripps Poway Pkwy.
San Diego, CA 92131
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm

Paris Sandwiches Opens in the Midway District

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

I recently heard that Paris Sandwiches opened on Midway Drive in Point Loma. Since we’ve been having some unseasonably warm weather and I do enjoy the banh mi at their Mira Mesa location, I decided to check the place out. I thought the address looked somewhat familiar and when I arrived….well, the shop is located right next to the Homestyle Hawaiian location on Midway and in the same strip mall as Pho Little Saigon! It’s been a while since I’d been around here……

On this morning there was a lot of parking available. I walked on in and quickly took a look at the menu board……checking prices….

I’m used to seeing Banh Mi in the eight-nine dollar range at many places, so it was good to see that most here are under eight bucks. There doesn’t seem to be a “Point Loma mark-up” going on.

I ordered my “usual” at PS, the Cha Lua ($7.45), from the nice young woman. My sandwich was ready in a few minutes and I was headed home.

Opening the banh mi at home was an “interesting” experience. As you can see….it wasn’t the Cha Lua!

Hmmm…..perhaps the young lady misheard me….perhaps it’s grand opening jitters? That’s fine, this looked like the Thit Nuong, even though it was almost sausage like in texture. I didn’t see nem nuong on the menu and this didn’t have the flavor profile of “NN”.

The pork is on the sweeter side, but perfectly fine. The amount of pickled veggies and cilantro was generous. I was also happy that this wasn’t overly mayo’ed.

The jalapenos this time around wasn’t too spicy….so no “pepper roulette” going on.

My least favorite item was the bread which has historically been a strong point for me at their other locations.

The banh mi was doughy and chewy; lacking in the crustiness that I enjoy in a typical banh mi.

Well, at least I gave the place a try. I’ll return in a few months and hopefully the banh mi will be like what I’m used to at their Mira Mesa location. I’m thinking, other than the crazy traffic coming off that Rosecrans exit; this might be a more convenient location for me. And heck, I guess I’ll need to do a PL Banh Mi comparison one of these days, right?

Paris Sandwiches
3445 Midway Dr.
San Diego, CA 92110

Sizzling Saigon (Santee)

Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

It’s funny how I sometimes find new places to visit. For example, I was updating “The Big List” and other posts. I sometimes do random checks to see if places are still open and started wondering about Sab E Lee Santee….man it had been how many years since we last visited? It had apparently gone thru a change in ownership and name to Faidang Restaurant, so I added it to my “list”. A few months back, I decided it was time for me to finally check the place out….and oh my, Faidang had permanently closed due to various “creatures”! It was now a Vietnamese restaurant named Sizzling Saigon. Hmmm…… I waited a couple of weeks before actually heading out East on the 52 and back to a locale that was once fairly familiar to me, but where I hadn’t been in maybe 5 years?

And there it was…Sizzling Saigon. Taking a look at the sign gave me a slight pause. Under the name of the place was written “Asian Fusion”? Double hmmm….. Still, I had driven all the way here.

The young man working was very nice as I was seated and handed a menu….which gave me another hard stop.

My goodness, in what universe is pho now almost $21????

And in this alternate universe, Bo Luc Lac is cheaper than the pho???? And the even the Bun Bo Hue is $21???

Well, this mad my decision quite easy; after all the place is named “Sizzling”, right? I decided to go with the Bo Luc Lac ($17.89). My order took awhile, but it looked quite good when it arrived.

I guess I didn’t read the fine print. This comes with fried rice; which, while nothing special in terms of flavor, the rice was fairly evenly coated, the texture fine, and a rather nice surprise.

While the beef was definitely not filet mignon, it was decently tender, nicely marinated if a bit too salty and in need of more complex umami tones; like perhaps a bit more fish sauce and pungency.

My pet peeve with this one is that the bell peppers were basically raw and too hard and crunchy. Not the largest portion, but with the fried rice, not bad at all.

I think the version at Ngon Ngon is better; but this was not bad at all.

This meal, combined with the really friendly service, had me wondering what that $21 bowl of pho was going to be like. So, of course I made time to return. The same really nice young man was working. I went and ordered the Pho Dac Biet ($20.89). And soon the “tools” and accoutrements arrived…..

I say tools because this was included with the napkins, spoon, and chopstick.

The young man told me that the chili oil is a “must have” for the pho? Hmmm again. As I anticipated, no Ngo Gai; it’s “Asian Fusion” after all.

And then my pho arrived.

At first glance quite impressive that bowl was a molten, bubbling cauldron of broth crowned by a beef rib. Seeing this arriving at my table I was really worried that the young man would spill some on himself or get burned by that stone bowl.

The plate of rare steak, beef flank, noodles was impressive. Though upon further review; it seemed to have all been premade and put in the fridge, because as hot as that bowl of broth was, the plate itself was ice cold.

That portion size of noodles was no joke either. The banh pho was of the “wider” type and because of being pre-portioned was a huge mass stuck together. And the bowl of broth was filled to the top, so you couldn’t put all the noodles into the soup at once. The scissors did come in handy here. At least the texture of the noodles were good.

The actual broth was tongue meltingly hot, but really lacking deviod of beef and any pungent tones. Thus the chili oil I guess. While not overly “San Diego sweet” in flavor, it was very bland. I used all the basil, onions, scallions, and even wishes there was more cilantro. It took me twice the amount of time to taste a spoonful of broth without burning my tongue.

The texture of the beef rib was on the chewier side, but came off the bone cleanly. It was really mild in flavor as well. There was a half a meatball swimming in miasma.

The beef flank was, as expected being served cold, super chewy once heated in the broth, but also lacking in beefiness.

The one blessing of having the broth served so hot was that a single dunk would get the rare beef done. Sort of like a pho shabu-shabu I guess?

Overall, I think of this bowl, much like what is served at Phonomenal to be more of a “marketing” angle, perhaps anticipating an influx of influencers? But, if you like a showy bubbling cauldron of broth, with a large portion of noodles and meat, without caring much about flavor, this might be for you.

At least the Bo Luc Lac wasn’t bad. Though like I said, I prefer the version at Ngon Ngon.

Sizzling Saigon
9159 Mission Gorge Rd.
Santee, CA 92071
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm

Pho Real (Lemon Grove)

Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Recently, before the warm up I was in Lemon Grove and decided to get some pho. I saw the sign for this shop and decided to stop by. Pho Real…….

Okay….very “punny”, eh? It was just after 9am; so Negro Durazo next door, which Cathy has posted on several times wasn’t open yet.

The interior is spacious, fairly modern. The menu board was filled with boba type drinks. I was the only customer in the place.

I decided to order “Special” Combo Pho, medium size…..of course there’s no “small”, only medium and large bowls ($15.50) . And since I was hungry I also got the Garlic Butter Wings ($11.75).

I quickly started noticing some of my pet peeves when the basil and sprouts arrived.

You see why, right?

At least it wasn’t overly discolored…….

And it got even more “interesting” when my bowl arrived.

You can quickly see how defatted and thin, the rather cloudy broth is.

It also had that “San Diego sweetish” and very salty flavor I’m not fond of, that is present in many versions of pho here. Very little beefiness….basically what I call the “wave broth”…you know, it’s like they waved a beef bone over the soup to impart flavor.

And when I “dug up” the noodles…..with all the stereotypes in play……you know what I’d find, right?

Yes, the banh pho was in a huge clump at the bottom of the bowl. Well, at least the noodles weren’t mushy, nor were they cold.

So perhaps things were slightly looking up?

The flank and brisket were really chewy and strangely, also lacked beefiness. The tripe though, was nice and crunchy and the one small piece of tendon quite soft and buttery.

You know, I’ve done over 150 posts on pho over the years and this is probably the most cliched, stereotypical bowl of San Diego Pho I’ve had! Or perhaps I’m just getting too picky?

I was nearly done with my pho when the wings arrived.

Look at that giant drumette. Like the pho, I thought this was rather mediocre. The batter was mushy and lacked crispness or crunchy texture. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste.

Worse of all….ready for this one? Most of the meat had that blackness that I find annoying.

Usually, I prefer the “flats” to the drumettes, but in this case the meat of the wings were really chewy, like jerky. Take a look at the flat below…..

And what was that round piece of chicken? Anatomically, what part of the chicken wing is that?

This meal had me wondering if I’d been pranked, as it seemed that all those things that I find annoying about pho were present here? Was this pho real for real? Perhaps this might be the one time that I find a “punny” name of a pho restaurant to be totally appropriate! Of course, I’d add a question mark at the end of the name.

I’m glad I took all those photos to show that I’m not exaggerating things.

Perhaps this was just an off day? If you’ve visited, let me know what you think?

Pho Real
6966 Federal Blvd.
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
Current Hours:
Daily 9am – 9pm

Banh Mi Express Revisited

Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

After my last, rather mediocre revisit to Banh Mi Hoi An, I was wondering how some of my “old favorites” were doing. A few days later I found my self driving on Clairemont Mesa near the I-15 and decided to grab something for lunch. It had been a while since I’d visited Banh Mi Express, so I decided to grab a Banh Mi.

Interesting thing about Banh Mi Express; much like Banh Mi Hoi An they’ve decided to forgo the Vietnamese names of the offerings. I guess it’s the customer base?

This had me wondering how the Pate “Meat Loaf” (aka Cha Lua), now priced at $8.49 (previously $7.75 in April) would be. The woman working was very mellow and sweet.

As for the Banh Mi?

The bread was yeasty, a bit denser than I recall, but enjoyably crusty.

Unlike my previous visit; there was a good amount of pickled veggies this time around. Unfortunately, like my previous visit; there’s still no cucumber. **** I stand corrected – the cucumber detective is correct; there is a thin slice right above the cha lua! Nice slice of jalapeno, which was kind of mellow and a decent amount of cilantro.

Unlike Banh Mi Hoi An, there was a generous amount of funky-earthy-savory pate, which really “drove” the sandwich. In fact, in this case it really got close to too much of a good thing!

Still, I’m not complaining! Still among my favorite Banh Mi in San Diego.

Banh Mi Express
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm
Saturday  8am – 3pm
Closed on Sundays

Banh Mi Hoi An Revisited

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

The series of posts on Banh Mi shops that I did this past summer had me wondering how places like Banh Mi Hoi An, which I last visited over 7 (!!!) years ago were doing. So, on my way back from Liberty Station I decided to stop by.

The place is starting to look a bit dated and the tables looked kinda dusty….good thing I was just getting a banh mi to go. The young lady working seemed a bit distracted by something, though I was the only customer.

I decided on getting the “Special”….which would probably be called the Dac Biet at traditional banh mi shops since they don’t have Banh Mi Pate Cha on their menu. Yes, I’ve always considered Hoi An to be a more “westernized” Vietnamese shop.

The dac biet Hoi An Special is now priced at $8.95, which is pretty much in line with places like Avian. Like I mentioned, I was the only person in the place, but it took over 30 minutes for my Banh Mi?

I would say that places like Avian, Banh Mi Express, and Saigon Sandwiches are a step above Hoi An. I’m sure location and demographics have something to do with things.

As for the sandwich, the bread was crusty, but strangely chewy. The proteins were sliced quite thin and the “pate”…well, there wasn’t much of it and the sandwich had too much mayo.

The pickled daikon and carrots were on the sweeter side and pretty much nullified the proteins; though I did appreciate the decent amount of cilantro and slices of Jalapenos.

Overall, a Banh Mi not to offend…kind of westernized, I felt that proportions of ingredients were off. ‘Nuff said.

As I noted in my previous post all those years ago: “The banh mi here isn’t bad. It just isn’t worth going out of your way for.” Well, at least in my opinion, they are consistent……

Banh Mi Hoi An
3145 Rosecrans St
San Diego, CA 92110

Mien Trung and 777 Noodle House Revisited

Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

These days, I actually look forward to cooler weather as it gives me a opportunity to head on out and get some noodle dishes. Just in the last week as things cooled down I made two revisits of places I’ve posted on many times….so if you’re looking for something new; I’ll try to have something for tomorrow.

Meanwhile….

777 Noodle House Revisited:

I last visited 777 back in January and I thought it was time to head on back for my Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho fix. There was a time when the folks working here would remember me….I used to go quite often back in 2014 – 2017, but after things slowed down during Covid, I’d only go maybe once a year to get my fix.

Things were quiet on this weekend morning and of course I went with my usual. The Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho is now $13.97 which caught my attention. Returning home, I checked the price on my last visit in January and it was $11.97. Whoa, a $2 increase……

Well, beyond the price increase, this was an “interesting” visit….

There seems to be a lot more ground pork these days. The shrimp was plump with no off flavors. The blanched bean sprouts goes well with the sauce. Strangely, I ordered the Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho, but got egg noodles instead? Well, the noodles were slightly springy, which I coat well mixing in the sauce with a chopsticks and spoon.

The pork hock has been on the smaller side for my last couple of visits, so I expected that.

Less edible parts as well. The soup was also loaded with msg this time; which was ok when mixed in with the noodles and sauce….but man, the raging thirst.

Well, as much as I have a sentimental attachment to 777…..this is my 30th post on the place! I’m not sure when I’ll return.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105 

Mien Trung:

Another place that used to be on my “rotation”, though these days it seems that I visit maybe once a year. My last visit was all the way back in December of last year!

The place was doing a bustling take out business…pots of soup leaving the premises, when I arrived on this past Sunday morn. “Boo” the owner smiled and waved me to a table and asked me “bun bo hue, right”? Of course I’d come for my bun bo hue fix. Looking over the posted menu; it looks like the large BBH has gone up a dollar since my last visit. It’s now $13.95.

A rather overflowing plate of sprouts and veggies soon arrived.

And soon enough my scalding bowl of Bun Bo Hue arrived.

Man, the fragrance of this was so good! The soup was super hot which intensified the already spicy soup….perhaps I’m just getting wussy in my old age; but it seemed much spicier than I recalled!

I really enjoyed the broth; spicy, savory, hints of aromatic lemongrass……not overly salty as it would sometimes be.

An abundance of slippery noodles….I’m glad I wore a dark colored shirt to camouflage the “sprinkling of red dots” from my slurping.

For some reason, the look of the simmered pig’s feet cracked me up. You know why, right?

Loved the gelatinous skin and gnawing on that bone.

This really hit the spot! As I wiped the sweat from my brow and walked up to pay, Boo smiled and said “as soon as the weather cools down, I know I’ll see you here!” I guess I’m also getting predictable in my old age as well?

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr.
San Diego, CA 92111

Well, here’s to cooler weather and getting out noodle soup fixes!