Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 15

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Never Made the Cut Road Trip Edition

August 10, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Bun Bo Hue, Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Pho, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are some photos that I was just going to delete…..I have a bunch of breakfast one's from when I was driving to Irvine almost weekly as well. But since these weren't in San Diego; where I try to visit places more than once; I thought I'd just do one of those "never made the cut" posts.

I went to lunch with the folks I was working with in Irvine a couple of times.

Ngu Binh:

I've posted on Ngu Binh before, but was excited to try the Bun Bo Hue. Unfortunately, the folks that got there first ordered for all of us…….

They like their Bun Bo Hue not spicy with no pork hock and that's what I had waiting for me when I arrived……what the??????

Ngu Binh Restaurant
14072 Magnolia St
Westminster, CA 92683

Pho Lovers:

Which was right in front of Lien Hoa, it has since moved.

loved the herbs which were amazingly fresh.

The pho was seriously defatted, the noodles over-cooked, though the broth wasn't overly sweet or salty.

Now at:

9892 Westminster Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92844

From other Road Trips.

Chengdu Taste (Alhambra):

The Missus was seriously psyched to try the place that had been declared the "best Sichuan Restaurant in America". We were quite disappointed.

And the service was so terrible, that we got our mapo tofu and Shui Zhu Niu Rou, the beef boiled in hot sauce to go. Both just didn't have enough spice and were seriously defatted versions. The won tons in hot sauce were too sweet and lacked spice, not even close to the version I had at Long Chau Shou (龙抄手).

828 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803

The Lark (Santa Barbara):

This one was from the same road trip where we had a wonderful meal at Yoichi's. It was a super hot weekend; yet they had the fire pit going!

From the mushy brussel sprouts to the teeth rattling sweet duck wings, not our favorite meal.

Though the lamb shoulder confit was quite good.

The Lark Santa Barbara
131 Anacapa St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

So there you go; thanks for indulging me.

I'll be back tomorrow with more San Diego restaurants.

Brodard (Fountain Valley)-a Saturday morning road trip

July 7, 2019 Cathy Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this food blog. Cathy is writing. Kirk (and His Missus) are enjoying the holiday weekend.

The Mister said he would be responsible for breakfast on Saturday. At 7 a.m., I saw him on the computer, reading a menu.

We took a 'short' (83 miles one way) trip North. The craving for nem nuong (pork sausage) was overwhelming in the middle of this four day weekend. Both Kirk and His missus as well as The Mister and I have been to the 'original' Brodard; it moved South on the same main road (Brookhurst) in late 2017, from Garden Grove to Fountain Valley-so it is much closer to the 405. We arrived at the "new" Brodard location in about 75 minutes. The side parking lot was empty,

as was the beautiful, spacious interior. (Business picks up later in the day; you can get on a waiting list online and the wait was 75 minutes at 2 p.m. yesterday).
We asked for hot tea; jasmine and strong!
One order of nem nuong cuon (grilled pork rolls) ($6) Heritage Berkshire grilled pork (fresh grilled- warm) wrapped in rice paper with lettuce, cucumber, carrots, cilantro, chives, daikon, mint and a strip of crispy fried egg roll wrapper. Served with the 'house special sauce'-warm: savory, spicy and sweet. The pork- I could just eat a plate of that.
Roasted duck spring rolls (goi cuon vit) ($9.95) Warm, roasted duck wrapped in rice paper with asparagus, scallions, cucumber and cilantro. Served with a plum sauce. This was quite wonderful and special.

It was breakfast. We ordered sole porridge (Chao Ca) ($7.95) It came garnished with roasted shallots, fresh ginger, cilantro and scallions and a nice plate of add-ins (lime, jalapeño, bean sprouts and cilantro). Fancy, tasty, filled with a lot of firm, tasty sole.

Instead of a Vietnamese crepe (banh xeo), we ordered the plate of several small crepes-the Luna rice cakes with shrimp (Banh Khot Tom) ($8.95) Small, light, crispy rice-flour crepes made with coconut milk and turmeric. Filled with mung beans, scallions and a large, plump shrimp and served with mint, sesame leaf, lettuce and pickled daikon and carrots. Great little bites.

If you look back at the first photo, that's the doorway to the left of the main doorway. You can walk in there to pick up an order, stare at the bakery offerings or just go ahead and order something.

cc has visited the new Brodard

Brodard Fountain Valley 16105 Brookhurst Street Fountain Valley, CA 92708 (657) 247-4401 website

One pistachio and one raspberry macaron. The almond topped, crispy pastry is filled with hazelnut cream (not sweetened) ($7.88).

Goi Cuon Inc (Hillcrest)

July 2, 2019 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

While driving on Robinson Avenue a while back I noticed that a shop named Goi Cuon was replacing The Thai Grill, which was shut down due to some, ahem, critter issues. A few weeks later I read about the opening on Eater. Apparently this shop is an extension of booths at the Hillcrest and OB Farmers Market.

It's an interesting location; but I really liked the hours; 8am to 8pm, which made it a nice little stop on a weekend morning. You know, a little something to eat before taking care of the "Honey-do" list.

Nice shop; clean, wide open, but man, it's quite a menu, with various combinations of the namesake dish, banh mi, salads, "pho rolls", cha gio. I quickly figured out, since the entire menu was in English, and with items like Shrimp and Strawberry and Shrimp and Avocado spring rolls, and a bunch of vegan offerings that this was kind of a fusiony shop.

Still, when I saw Sugar Cane Shrimp with "crispy snack" and "Vietnamese Sausage Pork with Crispy Snack", I figured I'd start there. After all, I've always thought if you can't make the basics, well….. So, there was a very friendly young lady working the counter. She was so nice and was a bit shocked when I ordered the Nem Nuong Cuon and Chao Tom Cuon in horrible Vietnamese. She laughed and asked me if and where I'd had this before and I told her, "Brodard" and the "now closed Dat Thanh". She smiled and we had a nice little chat while I had my Vietnamese Coffee and waited for my Goi Cuon.

Eventually, I got me spring rolls all wrapped up nicely in a little brown bag.

Man, they sure use a lot of plastic wrap. I had to work pretty hard getting it off the spring rolls!

Two sauces were provided; a peanut based dipping sauce and another sauce with a sweeter coconutty flavor.

The spring rolls are not cheap at $3 each, but I was given 20% off as it was during grand opening.

So, what did I think?

The Chao Tom Cuon had a nice thick piece of shrimp paste, which was a bit more tender than I'm used to. It was fairly bland however. There was that "Brodard-like" piece of fried eggroll wrapper which added a nice crunch. There was quite a bit of lettuce in this, some bun, and no other herbs. In spite of being tightly bound in plastic wrap; the spring rolls itself was wrapped fairly loosely.

Next up, the Nem Nuong Cuon.

This was a bit better, though it was again very mild in flavor.

Both really needed the dipping sauces; the peanut version went much better with both goi cuon.

So, no this wasn't nearly as good as Brodard. Heck, it wasn't as good as Duyen Mai or even Banh Mai. But these were fresh and I guess convenient if you live in the area. The young lady was so very nice as well. I wanted to check out a few other items on the menu, so I returned a few weeks later and picked up a lunch to take back to the office.

The nice young lady was again working; I believe she is the owner?

I wanted to try a Banh Mi; there are only "Grilled" meat, tofu, and easy over egg versions available. I'd usually go with the Banh Mi Op La – the fried egg version, but I decided on the grilled pork.

This was by far the best item I've had from Goi Cuon thus far.The bread was nicely done, standard issue banh mi, but warm, crusty-flakey, and it had held up well. The pork almost seemed braised, it was very tender. The pickled carrots and the cucumber were nice and crisp. But man, this was a bit too "gringo" for me, no jalapenos, no pickled daikon, this was banh mi not to offend.

I was curious about the "Pho Rolls"; so I ordered a shrimp version ($3). And yep, this was a version of Pho Cuon, an acquaintance who recently returned from Hanoi mentioned this dish to me, a thickish rice noodle roll, rightly wrapped around beef and herbs used for pho. This is what I got here.

The rice noodle was on the thinner side and was wrapped quite loosely as it just fell apart. No herbs, just lettuce and cucumber; though the shrimp was nice and plump, well prepped. Overall, this was pretty bland and I thought some nuoc mam cham would have gone better with this than the peanut sauce.

There was one more item I was curious about. It was the shrimp and avocado spring roll ($3); so I ordered one. I mentioned how tightly these are wrapped earlier. By the time I got all the layers of plastic wrap off; the spring roll wrapper had started to peel.

The slice of avocado adds an interesting textural contrast; but very little in terms of flavor. The shrimp were thin half slices, quite bland, and having just bun and lettuce again really hurt the overall flavor of the spring roll.

And paying $12 bucks for this lunch seemed on the high side for me.

So, while the spring rolls are nice and fresh; I find the overall preparations and flavors a bit too "Westernized" for me. It's missing the herbs, seasonings, and other ingredients that make these dishes Vietnamese in my mind.

Also, I had thought that Goi Cuon was at least a nice, fresh breakfast option in the area; but at last glance they've changed their hours and are no longer open from 8 to 8. I really like the owner; she's really nice, I hope they do well, but for me, the food has lost its "soul" somewhere along the way.

Goi Cuon Inc
420 Robinson Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours
Mon – Fri 1030am – 930pm
Sat – Sun 11am – 10pm

Pho Fusion and Pho Hoa Huong Revisited

May 13, 2019 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Since it's still fairly cool out; here are a couple of places I haven't been to in a while.

Pho Fusion:

Man, has it been three years since I last visited? I'd actually kinda forgotten about this place. I noticed that they were tearing up the parking lot and saw Pho Fusion open. I had thought the pho wasn't too bad; at least for "pho not to offend" on my last visit, so I decided to drop by and have a bowl.

The place was empty during my visit; probably the combination of all the construction and the time of day of my visit. Late afternoon on a weekend.

I started with the Popcorn Chicken which I thought wasn't too bad on my last visit.

And it still wasn't bad at all. Crunchy, well seasoned dark meat chicken. I believe the popcorn chicken here is better than, well the now closed Popcorn Chicken down the street.

As for the pho; well, I got #14; brisket, flank, marbled flank, tendon, and tripe. I was provided with one sprig of basil and a ration of bean sprouts. In all honesty, I didn't expect much more. At least it was fresh. The clump of noodles were decent, not over-cooked. The broth on this visit was way too salty, and sigh; like much of the pho in San Diego these days on the sweet side. Not a hint of beefiness nor anise. The proteins were fine, the tiny sprig of tripe had a soapiness to it; the brisket was tender but flavorless, the tendon was decent, not overly chewy, but not soft and buttery either.

Like I said; "pho not to offend". Still, I'd take this over what I last had at a couple of other places in Kearny Mesa.

Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Hoa Huong:

So, the next morning I went on some errands and passed by Pho Hoa Huong at around 730am and the open sign was lit. My understanding is that they open at 8….but no, the place was open. So, since I hadn't been here in a while and, it had been even longer since I'd had pho here, I thought "why not"?

Strange, PHH used to be known as one of those "old school", perfunctory, menu slapped on the table, guy hovering over you for your order kinda place (remember – the "Fastest Pho in the West"?)….in fact the woman working was very nice told me to sit wherever I wanted and brought over a men and laid it on the table. On my last visit, I noticed what I thought was a "a softer, kinder Pho Hoa".

The place still looks quite "old school". I went with good ol' #4, which now cost $8.10 for a regular sized bowl.

Damn, when was the last time I actually had such a generous plate of basil, sprouts, and ngo gai? Well, at the other "old school" pho shop; Pho Hoa.

I'm not sure if I'm turning soft in my old age; but this was a decent bowl. The broth looked much too light, but it wasn't too salty, nor too sweet, had a mild beefiness, anise tones, and a mild hint of onion.

The noodles were prepped well, not too chewy, not mushy.

I wasn't a big fan of the flank which was too hard, but the tendon was decently tender and the tripe was nice and crunchy without any off flavors.

The woman who was my Server was very nice and smiled; the Gentleman manning the register asked me how I enjoyed my meal. Man, this sure ain't the Pho Hoa Huong I remembered. If this is the way things are now; well…all hail the old school pho shop!

And, I still got out in less than thirty minutes!

Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant
6921 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Song Huong Mira Mesa Revisited

May 8, 2019 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** This location of Song Huong has been replaced by Saigon Corner

A few weeks back; Calvin asked if I'd join him at Song Huong; he wanted to have some Banh Cuon for lunch. I told him I wasn't the biggest fan of the Banh Cuon at Song Huong; nor much of anything else I've tried during several visits. Still, it had been over three years since I'd last visited, so why not. Unfortunately; or perhaps fortunately, Song Huong was undergoing some renovation work at that time….so we got Menya Ultra instead.

Fast forward a month and Calvin asks if we could go and check the place out. So, why not?

There're now a couple of groups of older Vietnamese guys hanging out on the tables outside the place. Guess they've found their coffee hangout.

Other than the fresh coat of paint and some wooden tables and benches, the place looks pretty much the same. Though I heard someone saying something about ceiling damage and repairs.

Calvin had one thing on his mind; the banh cuon. I on the other hand, really wanted nothing to do with any of the noodle soups here and was kinda fascinated by the new fried food menu.

Anyway, the Banh Cuon and Banh Uot was mediocre.

The banh cuon was especially bad; the rolls too thick and chewy, the filling bland, the nuoc mam cham watery….'nuff said.

Meanwhile, after a short wait all the fried food started arriving. First the chicken gizzards ($5.99). Holy smokes, the portion size was more than I bargained for.

These were crunchy, nicely seasoned, and in my opinion the best item of the meal. A good dose of Louisiana Hot Sauce added a nice kick and acidity to cut all that fry-o-lated goodness.

The fried okra ($2.49) was again a good portion size.

While it could have been more crunchy; it was still decently crisp, with a nice, gooey interior. Not bad; though this could have used more seasoning.

And last; the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings (6 pieces – $6.99).

Unevenly battered, bitter garlic, too salty, and rather dry flesh…..this wasn't too good. a lot of the batter just flaked off as well. This one needs some work.

There was a ton of leftovers. We took it back to the office and gave it to Big Daniel from Georgia and he whacked those gizzards in minutes. Then looked sleepy for the rest of the afternoon.

As for the Banh Cuon; Phuong Nha definitely does it better. The woman working was much more friendly than I recalled. But am not sure I'll return.

Song Huong
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Seaside Pho & Grill

May 5, 2019 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Seaside Pho & Grill has closed

A few weeks back, I recently had to run down to Point Loma to pick a package up at the Post Office for the Missus. I thought it a bit strange that the info given on the slip in our mailbox was for the Point Loma location, not the usual Midway Station. And to make things worse, that Post Office is only open from 10 to 1230 on Saturdays! So, I headed down at 1030, found some parking and headed into the Post Office and stood in line. Only to find out that I was given the wrong location….it should have been the usual Midway Post Office! Sigh…..

Well, I decided to grab some lunch in the area before heading back up Rosecrans to the correct Post Office. I decided to check out a place that had been on my "list" for a while.

An acquaintance recommended Seaside Pho & Grill to me for a specific dish. More on this shortly.

I walked on over and easily found a table as the place was totally empty on a Saturday at 11am. The Server was a bit disorganized and kept calling me "honey"…..ok. The vibe is definitely fusion, gastro-pub/bar, very modern. Looking over the menu; well, there's all types of Asian noodles; everything from Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, Ramen, to Pho.

My source had recommended that I try the "Garlic Noodles" with Shrimp, not cheap at $16.75. I had pictured something like Crustacean's Garlic Noodles or Momofuku's Scallion Noodles. This tended more toward Crustacean's….though more like a version you'd make when you had midnight munchies and robbed the fridge.

The typical noodles were mushy; the sauce was gloppy-gooey with hardly any flavor and definite greasiness to them. The shrimp were nicely cooked but really bland and lacking in "shrimpiness". I added all the parmesan cheese and was definitely tempted to dump Hoisin and Sriracha on this….but I held back.

For some reason; I decided to head back and try the pho. So I returned a few weeks later. In contrast to typical pho shops there are limited options. So, I got the "Beef Combo" ($10.75 – small bowl). But first, some Garlic – Butter Wings (6 pieces – $9.95).

The wings had a nice crunch and were moist and very hot. Not a fan of all the broken bones and discolored flesh. Also, the garlic was too raw and was on the bitter side; the "sauce" was bottled lemon juice with black pepper.

This could have been a winner…..but no cigar.

I got the "Beef Combo" (small – $10.75); rare steak, brisket, flank, and tendon.

As I had anticipated, not much in terms of basil and sprouts; but at least it was fresh. That lime was much needed since the broth was super salty and like most "San Diego style" pho, on the sweet side. It lacked beefy-anise tones that I usually appreciate in a good bowl. The noodles; while in the typical clump were prepped nicely. The rare beef wasn't too rare by the time it hit the table; but it was more tender than the usual lousy top round I get at most pho shops; the flank and brisket were fine, both were fairly tender. The two pieces of tendon were slightly chewy, but passable as well.

In the end; another newish, modern "pho to not offend" shop. Fairly pricey with small bowls of pho near, or over ten bucks and limited options. And no; I'm not going to get the ramen here. The service was kind of; well, distracted, even though I was the only customer in the place during both visits.

And yes, this place is right next to Shanghai Bun…..still not sure if I should check that place out. What do you think?

Seaside Pho & Grill
1005 Rosecrans St.
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Mon – Thur 11am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 10pm
Sunday Noon – 9pm

Nhà Hàng Chay Hoa Từ Bi Tâm

April 22, 2019 mmm-yoso Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhà Hàng Chay Hoa Từ Bi Tâm is now Thanh Tinh Chay

A few months ago, I drove past the latest incarnation of a restaurant at 4591 El Cajon Boulevard…..and did a double take. It looked like yet another restaurant has taken the space; the last three, including a location of Saigon Sandwiches moved in and out so fast I never got a chance to check them out. What got my attention was the "Organic – Veggie" lettering on the sign.

I really wasn't too keen on checking this place out but "FOYs" (friends of yoso) Elle and Phuong both mentioned this place in the comments section of my Banh Mi Boulevard post. So why not? The following weekend, I drove over. Hoa Từ Bi Tâm opens at 8am, so I decided to head over for breakfast.

They've really "greened out" the place and one thing clued me in…..that this was a real "vegetarian" place; there's a bit of Buddhist literature around. This ain't no hipster – tree hugger joint. there's even floor seating available; just don't ask me to do that, I've gone though my lack of flexibility, which has turned into a bit of a phobia over the years. Well, here you can sit on the floor if you want to.

Another interesting thing…..just about everything on the menu (the Banh Xeo is $6) is five bucks!

I decided to start with the Banh Beo, something I hadn't had in a while.

The tapioca – rice cake was way too soft and was ungainly…it also strangely lacked the mild hint of sweetness. While there was a good amount of toppings; it was quite bland and sorely in need of a more savory component. The faux nuoc mam cham was super sweet and amplified the need for something savory in this dish.

In looking over the list of noodle soups; two were quickly eliminated; Bun Mam is only served on Thursdays and frankly, since that soup is a major umami bomb, I'm not sure how things would manage to hold up without seafood or meat, and the version of Bun Rieu which might have been a possibility, was only served on Tuesdays. I chose something that I thought would do well in a vegetarian format; Bun Mang; dried bamboo soup.

The highlights of this soup were the noodles; while the portion was rather small, was prepped perfectly, it shows that they really take care with what is being served. The rehydrated bamboo shoots had a nice crunch and earthy flavor. Unfortunately, not enough of that flavor was given to the broth what was surprisingly salty and on the "sweet" side. The bean curd items were standard issue….and I'm not a big fan of some wheat gluten products; which has a weirdly chalky-"off" meat flavor to me. And those items; especially the faux cha lua tasted that way.

Still; this wasn't terrible and I decided to return this past weekend to try a few other items.

I started with the Bo Bia; Jicama Spring Rolls.

I think these had been sitting a while for a couple of reasons; unlike my previous visit, where things took a while to hit the table, this came out in five minutes. In addition, the wrapper was dried out and really chewy. Third, in addition to the crunch of Jicama, I usually detect a pleasant light sweetness, which was missing here. The dipping sauce; which tasted peanut based was actually quite good; it held up well, and was nice and thick, coating things well.

Not quite knowing what to order in terms of noodle soup, I went with the Hu Tieu.

Which turned out to be a good choice. The broth, while still edging on being too salty, was fine. Because it was on the milder side, I could really make out the flavors; the lightly sweet cauliflower, the vegetal broccoli, the sliced king mushrooms, earthy and meaty. The bean curd items were fine, though I'm still not a fan of the wheat gluten stuff here. The noodles were cooked perfectly this time as well. I also enjoyed a squeeze of lime to tame the sodium and the addition of crunchy bean sprouts. This was not bad at all…..especially for five bucks!

The folks here are really nice. I noticed that all customers were a bit older; except for one table where a very unhappy young lady sat with her smartphone not eating anything while the two older women with her had noodle soup. I'm glad I tried the place; it looks like they already have a decent customer base and are trying to put out a good product. I hope they do well. I just may return one day for another breakfast…

Hey, maybe if they have one of the those "ear cleaning guys" like at Wenshu Temple? Just kidding….once in my life is enough!

Nhà Hàng Chay Hoa Từ Bi Tâm
4591 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Thurs – Tues 8am – 8pm
Closed on Wednesday

Thanks for the recommendation Elle and Phuong!

Revisits – Woomiok and Pho Duyen Mai

April 2, 2019 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Well wouldn't you know; it's cooling off a bit for the next couple of days. Time to get in a post with soup in it, right? Here are a couple of revisits for ya'

Woomiok:

In my post on Woomiok, I mentioned trying to get the Missus to check the place out. Plus, I wanted to try out the Galbitang. The weather in the following weeks gave us a good opportunity. And Woomiok is open all the way through from 11am until closing on 9pm, so we headed over right before 5pm.

The Missus really enjoyed the kkakdugi and the squid panchan. The baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi was a bit better than on my previous visits.

The Missus instantly loved the container of scallions; which reminded Her of Seoul.

So, of course I tried the Galbitang. I enjoyed the presentation, with a dried jujube swimming around in the broth.

As a whole, this was not bad, the soup a bit thinner and not as beefy as I prefer, it was also on the salty side. A decent amount of galbi, which was adequately tender. It didn't hold a candle to what the Missus got….

The Seolleontang with Mixed Meat of course….

I had a taste and it was a bit richer than on my previous visit. There was a good amount of mixed meat, especially tendon, which She generously shared with be. It was soft and buttery. The only complaint was that the rice wasn't as good as on my previous visits and the noodles were a bit overcooked.

Still, I believe this is the way to go here. And I think the Missus is sold as well. A week later we had rather quick rain storm….guess where the Missus wanted to go? Yeah, you got it. This time we both got the Seolleontang. It hit the spot. I took my coworker SJP here; she said it made her homesick for Seoul.

So get it while the weather is milder…….

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Duyen Mai:

**** Pho Duyen Mai is under new ownership

Man, has it been over a year since I last visited Duyen Mai? I guess that moving our offices really affected things. What really got me to revisit was a text and photo from a good friend of mine. She noted that even though she had ordered the ribs; there really wasn't very much meat. One the good side, PDM opens at 9; even on weekends. So this past weekend I headed on over and got "them bones", which is now $4.99.

I also got a small pho. A few minutes later the ribs came out, it's now four ribs instead of three….which looked fairly hefty.

The basil and sprouts were very fresh.

While waiting for my pho, I scraped as much meat off the bones as I could. The meat wasn't as tender as before; though it was still nice and beefy. I then went to town on the connective tissue and meat on the bones.

I appreciated that the rare steak was still "rare" when the bowl hit the table. It was also fairly tender. The flank and brisket were decent, tender, but mild in flavor. The tendon was a bit more chewy than I prefer, but wasn't bad. Neither was the tripe.

The broth wasn't as salty as on previous visits; though it was still "sweeter" than I like. It could also stand to be richer, but it was clear, with slight beefy-anise tones.

But of course, I really wanted it to work with this.

The noodles were nicely cooked and for the first time wasn't in a clump at the bottom of the bowl!

This was probably too much for me to eat at 9 in the morning. I was stuffed.

"Them bones" had way more meat than I should eat. And Duyen Mai is still probably the best pho in the area. Though I've got to make my "rounds" again.

Pho Duyen Mai
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Revisits – Green China Grill and Pho Kitchen

March 25, 2019 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

As I was getting things together for this post I noticed something. I've actually done a revisits post on these two places together before! Kinda funny; I'm wondering if there's some internal "calendar" that goes off when I eat at one of these places that automatically makes me go to the other?

Anyway, here goes…..

Green China Grill:

In addition to the earlier combo post with the Pho Shop; I noticed that I tend to revisit Green China Grill about once a year. Strange.

As you can see GCG is a green as ever.

This time around I went back to Beef Noodle Soup with Sour Cabbage, which is now $10.99.

As always; the soup was blasting hot; with a good amount of "ma", numbingness to it. I still think it could be beefier and a bit richer, but at least they didn't go too heavy handed on the MSG on this visit. The standard issue xue cai was fine; though I notice they've cut back on the amount of it provided. Too bad; it adds a nice sour-acidic dimension to the broth, along with a bit of crunchiness. The beef was on the tough side and could have used a flavor injection. Though the Lamian (牛大碗 – Hand Pulled Noodles) were excellent this time around. Perfect chewy-al dente mouthfeel, wonderfully slippery, I think they've finally got things nailed down with regards to the noodles.

Overall, a bit over-priced, but this basically delivered.

Green China Grill
4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Kitchen:

On a recent Sunday after working for a couple of hours I decided to head home. I'd been trying to fight off a cold and just wanted some pho relatively close to home. I thought about Pho Hut, but I'd never had anything close to a decent bowl of pho from there. So, I headed on over to Pho Kitchen. I went ahead and ordered the regular sized Pho "Tu Do"; basically pho with your choice of three proteins ($7.50).

When the basil and sprouts arrived, the expected small portion, I noticed that both the basil and sprouts were just on the verge of turning color.

The broth was super hot and like the typical San Diego pho broth, on the sweeter side. The soup lacked richness as it was severely defatted, though it had a hint of oniony-beefiness, an improvement over previous visits.

The proteins were quite good. Both the flank and brisket were tender; but not falling to pieces, and both were flavorful. The tendon, while a bit more chewy than I prefer was decent as well.

The issue this time around were the noodles.

While not in a clump on the bottom of the bowl; they were over-cooked and mushy.

It just seems like Pho Kitchen always just misses the mark on my visits. Perhaps one day they'll put it all together. All-in-all, not bad. It's "pho not to offend", if you like that kind of stuff. Service here has always been nice, which does make a difference.

Pho Kitchen
5375 Napa St
San Diego, CA 92110

Pho Nhu Y (Chula Vista)

March 20, 2019 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Pho Nhu Y is now Pho Viet Noodle

I thought it might be best to get this post done before things starts warming up around here.

I found myself in Chula Vista a couple of weeks back and thought about getting an early lunch; it was around 10am, but I was kinda hungry. I remembered CC's post on Pho Nhu Y (BTW Happy 13th Blogaversary CC!), and wondering if it had anything to do with the Pho Nhu Y that lasted only a short while on Kearny Villa Road. From what I remembered; that place was owned by the original owner of Nhu Y, and without going into the gory details; there was a break-up and the ex-wife kept the restaurant or something like that.

This incarnation of Pho Nhu Y resides on Third Avenue in the same strip mall as Carnival Market. It's a pretty tiny shop; just a few tables.

The menu was typical of most pho shops. I didn't expect to find Bun Mam down in these parts and it was indeed not on the menu.

On my two visits; it was the same guy working; I didn't recognize anyone, so I'm not sure if this place is associated with the now defunct Pho Nhu Y.

The weather had still been fairly wet and rainy, so I just stuck with the pho; I made it easy for myself and went with the Dac Biet; which was decently priced at $7.49.

The herbs and veggies were as expected; the basil just starting to turn color, the sprouts were fresh, and of course no ngo gai.

The pho soon arrived as did an implement wrapped in a napkin…it was, well…."W(hat) T(he) F(ork)"? I mean really. I moved it away from the bowl as if it were radioactive; the older guy working soon swooped in and picked it up. He told me, "sorry, many Filipino's like to eat noodles with a fork"! Okay, so here's something in common with the "old" Pho Nhu Y…remember when I was the "Korean guy who liked bun mam"? We weren't exactly starting on the right foot here, were we? The broth was actually fairly clear, on the darker side, with a decent amount of fat. There was a slightly beefy "nose" to it. It did have a hint of beefiness and slight anise-oniony tones; but also edged on the really salty, M-S-heebie-geebie side.

The noodles were in a dense clump in the bottom of the bowl and more tangled than Medusa's hair. I took a good three or four minutes working with the chopsticks and spoon to loosen things up. Hey, maybe that fork??? Nah….

If you take a good look at the banh pho above; you'll notice the noodles are different shades. That's because some of the noodles were really under cooked and hard. I'm figuring it was the stuff in the middle of the noodle clump.

The rare beef was over-cooked when it arrived and tough, dry, with a metallic taste to it. I was surprised that the tendon was quite good and fairly tender. The tripe was also decently crunchy with no off flavors.

Basically a mixed bag, but not sadly, even with those noodles, not the worst bowl of pho I've had recently.

Sooooo, I decided to return this past weekend. And is it just me; or did we skip spring and head right on into summer?

Anyway; my intention was to have the Bo Kho, but I felt like it was just too darn hot and went with the Bun Cha HaNoi. Which, interestingly, came out in the same style of plate as the defunct Pho Nhu Y and was even priced the same at $7.95.

First and foremost, the nuoc mam cham was really watered down, which basically killed the whole dish. The daikon and carrots weren't pickled enough; there was just two leaves of lettuce, and the only herb provided was mint. The bun was nicely cooked, good stretch. The meatballs had a mild beefiness and weren't too bad, neither was the marinated pork, which was tender, if a bit too salty. Still; this dish felt incomplete.

Overall, a mixed bag. I've had much worse recently, but that's not exactly a seal of approval and sets the bar pretty low, doesn't it? Still, the flawed pho, was still better than what I'd last had in the Kearny Mesa area, except for Pho Duyen Mai, which coincidentally took the place of the old Pho Nhu Y. Man, it like we've got three degrees of se-pho-ration….okay, that's enough with the puns for today.

Pho Nhu Y
864 3rd Ave.
Chula Vista, CA 91911
Hours:
Open Daily 9am – 9pm