Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 16

Revisits – Chon Ju Jip and Pho 7 Cow

March 10, 2019 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Well; last night was the good old Daylight Savings Time "Spring Forward"….so yes; I guess it's spring, though it's still kind of chilly out there. I'm not really complaining as it gives me more "soup time". Here are a couple of recent revisits.

Chon Ju Jip:

Man, has it really been over 5 years since I last visited? Time sure does fly. For some reason; my recent visits to Woomiok had me wondering how Chon Ju Jip was doing. The place was looking a bit beat and run down….do you remember when this was Ko Hayang Jip back in the 'oughts?

I stopped in for lunch and decided on getting the Galbitang ($10.95).

And just like the interior; the panchan seemed a bit old and tired. The portions were tiny and some of it was kind of on the dry side and very mild in flavor.

The Galbitang came in a sizeable bowl; it was nice and steaming hot. The rice provided was decent; though not very fragrant.

The soup did need a good amount of salt; though it was slightly beefy and not bad at all. The rice vermicelli was over done and mushy. The beef ribs were very tough and all the flavor had been extracted from the meat.

Kind of a sad metaphor for the current state of this tiny little shop.

Perhaps I need to return with the Missus for the Gamjatang or Heukyumso Jungol.

Chon Ju Jip
4373 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours
Mon – Sat 10am – 10pm

Pho 7 Cow:

In my very sad post on the sad state of Pho at Pho Lucky; "Alan" mentioned that perhaps I needed to head back out and start checking out all those pho places again. I was thinking about this while driving down to National City this past weekend. I recalled that Pho 7 Cow had made a decent bowl of Pho during my visits back in 2017. So, instead of hitting up my intended destination, I stopped by Pho 7 Cow.

Like on my previous visits there was a good amount of staff working and things went quickly and efficiently.

The basil looked like it was on brink of starting to turn color, but the sprouts and the cilantro were fine. I was surprised at the amount of meat in this; a small #4 ($7.75). The flank was tender but quite bland; the brisket better, the tripe, of which there was a good amount was well prepped, crunchy, with a slight offal flavor, there was one tiny piece of tendon which was on the hard side.

The noodles were in the typical clump on the bottom and took some work untangling; but was decently chewy and not over-cooked.

The broth was a bit richer than on previous visits; it was on the darker side, but clear. There was a slight hint of anise and onion, with a mild beefiness, and best of all; it wasn't too sweet.

This was not bad. Actually better than I expected. So perhaps I do need to "make the rounds" again at all of those pho shops.

Thanks for the suggestion Alan!

Pho 7 Cow
1025 Highland Ave
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm

Paris – Revisiting Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Lunch at Dong Phat

March 8, 2019 mmm-yoso France, Paris, France, Travel, Vietnamese Restaurants

There were a couple of places the Missus wanted to revisit during this trip to Paris. One of those was Pere Lachaise Cemetery. We were a bit overwhelmed during our previous visit and couldn't find a lot graves and sites we wanted to see. This time we were a lot more organized as we got to the Porte Gambetta entry to the cemetery.

The first thing you past as you make your way up L'avenue des Combattants are the various war memorials.

And you soon come to the Crematorium. The building is surrounded by tons of small niches; cubicles for the cremated. We spent some time wondering the courtyard and came across some really fascinating niches.

I found the following really touching.

"Toi et Moi" it simply says….."Me and You".

There are some interesting niches in the structure.

Must've been a Rolling Stones fan?

Painter and Poet.

And of course; the famous soprano Maria Callas.

One could spend a good amount of time here.

Many families have crypts for entire families.

There are graves that look ancient ruins……

To the sweet and touching.

Close by is this tomb.

This is where Oscar Wilde is buried. It is one of the most visited tombs in Pere Lachaise; there's quite a story behind the build. It had become a tradition for women to put on lipstick and leave an imprint of a "kiss" on the tomb. It would be covered with thousands of kisses; the cleaning effort was causing damage to the stone; so they put up a plastic barrier around the tomb.

Monument to national airline disasters.

Gertrude Stein's grave.

There's an entire area which memorializes the victims of Concentration Camps and the Nazi Resistance.

Gaunt, haunting statues top the memorials with names like Dachau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen.

The concentration camp at Ravensbrück was created specifically for women prisoners and was used from 1939 – 1945. I had never heard of this concentration camp until I saw the memorial. After which, I came home and looked it up. Of the over 130,000 women imprisoned during the period of 1939 – 1945; only 15,000 survived.

My good friend Ale is a big fan of Edith Piaf; so I promised that I'd find her final resting place for her.

Her daughter who died at the age of two is buried beside her.

Bernard Verlhac might not be a name you recognize.

He was one of the twelve people assassinated in the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

Other famous gravesites.

Molière

Chopin

Colette

I guess you're really famous when everyone knows you by just one name. I already took a photo of Jim Morrison's grave on my previous post; so while we walked by, I refrained.

Though I couldn't help but take another photo of this one.

We got back to the apartment in the 7th a bit pooped. It was a pretty damp and cold day. So, we decided to head up two blocks to Restaurant Dong Phat. Some pho sounded like just the thing. The menu is rather small; the seating tight, the two young ladies working fairly nice.

The place was quite busy and it seemed like most of the folks really liked the shrimp chips?????

The Missus went with the Pho Tai and I went with the Pho Sate.

Man, these folks love their sauces….from the cup of Hoisin to the jar of chili sauce; folks on other tables were just dumping it into their soup. Also, notice that mint seems to be a standard herb for pho 'round these parts.

This was a pretty small portion for over ten Euros. It was pretty weak and bland….no wonder folks were dumping all of that stuff into their pho. Just a few slices of rare beef; decent fat, but on the tough side and very squeaky beef balls. The Banh Pho used were really wide and undercooked.

The Missus fared no better with her cloudy, bland, beef ball filled bowl.

I'd read good things about this place and with the history of the French in Vietnam, I thought that would be one cuisine that would be excellent in Paris. Well, this made it "oh-for-one".

Dong Phat
10 rue Malar
75007 Paris, France

Well, at least I was fairly certain dinner was going to be good…..

Thanks for stopping by!

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Revisits to Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa), Tim Ky, and Mien Trung

March 1, 2019 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

We've sure been getting some extended soup weather this year; and I'm not complaining one bit. Of course, going to the same old places would make for some pretty boring posts. So, please bear with me for tonight….I got these photos just taking up space.

Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa):

Yes, yet again. Though "FOY" Jason had been asking if I tried the Miso Ramen. So guess what Jason? I finally did.

And it was indeed very good; though to be perfectly honest, I still prefer the clean richness of the tonkotsu.

Menya Ultra
8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Tim Ky:

Yet another place that I've posted on a bajillion times since they opened.

I did notice a whole different set of employees working on this visit.

And of course I got my Beef Sate Egg Noodle "Dry"……

No complaints from me…..

Tim Ky Noodle
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Mien Trung:

And yes Mien Trung yet again.

For my Bun Bo Hue fix. After a few bumpy visits; my visits over the last year have been pretty consistent. I'm getting my Bun Bo Hue while things are still nice and cool.

And some Hen Xuc Banh Trang too.

Peppery and spicy!

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

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back with (hopefully) a more interesting post tomorrow.

Revisits – Pho Lucky and Pho King

February 15, 2019 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Man, talk about some rain! Hope everyone made it home or to their destinations safely this week!

Here are a couple of revisits for you.

Pho Lucky:

Well, even though the Bo Kho was good on my last visit; I was still wondering about the last couple of bowls of pho I had there. One bowl was terrible; the other barely ok. Our recent chilly and then wet weather made for a nice opportunity to revisit what was once my favorite place for pho in San Diego.

I ordered my usual; the #4; well done flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe….or perhaps as they spell in on the menu "stripe". Soon enough the herbs and spouts arrived, the ngo gai and everything else was sparkling fresh. Then the bowl arrived…and…..

It was seriously defatted, extremely dark, and while it had a mild beefiness and light anise tones, it was much too sweet. Sigh……what a bummer.

The noodles were nicely done and not in a clump; "hallelujah".

The flank was too tough, though the brisket quite nice, beefy and tender, the tripe was passable, but the tendon, once a strong point here was too hard.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. I need to start searching for a go-to pho place….. Because other than the bo kho…well, the pho doesn't seem to cut it any longer.

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Pho King:

About every six months or so; I just want the Hu Tieu Mi Kho from Pho King.

Over the years; this bowl of textures, the slightly crunchy egg noodles (mi), and the stretchy, starchy, tapioca noodles (hu tieu). Also, the bowl here has changed over the years as it no longer has any "krab" in it….which to me is no loss. Also, the amount of sprouts and Chinese celery has gone down a bit as well. Still, when the clear broth is not too salty or sweet, it makes for a satisfying meal for me.

On this visit; I noticed the pork and soy sauce broth, didn't have as much pork in it as usual. The clear broth was nice….not too salty nor artificially "sweet". The shrimp was cooked nicely, the squid….well, as usual, "meh". As I mentioned in a previous post I take my time with this dish (you can read about how I eat it as well). It was nice; nothing spectacular….but that's not what I was looking for on this day.

There used to be a really friendly, rather short guy working here….I believe he's the owner's son. I last saw him maybe 5-6 years ago. As a bonus, he was here on this day…apparently he'd been in Vietnam for the last couple of years. It was nice seeing him!

Maybe one day I'll try the Hieu Tieu My Tho again. But for now, I just wanted my "fix"

Pho King Restaurant
4658 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Midweek Meanderings – Tram Chim Opens, Junz Closes, and Royal Garden Has Limited Hours

January 30, 2019 mmm-yoso Beer, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

It's been a while since I've done one of these……

Tram Chim Opens in City Heights:

Two years ago, I mentioned that Ly's Garden was the last "man standing" of the former 54th St trifecta of Ly's, Lee's, and Lucky Star. Well that's no more as Tram Chim; yes, Tram Chim, the seafood specialist with restaurants in Garden Grove and Westminster has taken over the spot.

This is going to be an interesting addition, as folks who I know mentioned they are not particularly fond of the OC locations for either food, nor hygiene.

Tram Chim
4350 54th St
San Diego, CA 92115

Junz Teriyaki & BBQ Closes:

I noticed this last month when the Missus had Her hair appointment in the area.

Though I wasn't particularly fond of the food here; I know folks who liked the place. Looks like the Hanaoka "empire" has taken a hit.

As an aside….notice the little sticker on the left hand side? Hmmm……is that what's moving in?

3010 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Royal Garden Has Limited Hours:

The reason I ended up at Hoai Hue this past weekend, was that I drove by Royal Garden nd noticed they were closed! So I parked the car and took a look.

Not sure what's going on here…according to the sign it says they are only open on Thursday and Friday evenings. I'm hoping this is only for the short term.

Royal Garden
4201 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92105

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant Revisited

January 28, 2019 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

I'd been passing Hoai Hue on most of my drives up to City Heights. This past weekend; a bit jet lagged, I decided to check them out again, since it had nearly three years since I last visited.

I ordered the usual; the "house special" version of Bun Bo Hue (they already have a Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet on the menu), the Bun Tam Hoai Hue.

I noticed that they now have different protein combinations for the BBH….even a "beginners" version. Heck, in the past the broth here had been quite mild, which I figured would have made a decent "beginners BBH".

As the bowl arrived I was somewhat surprised at the fragrance……the broth had a fairly good amount of fermented shrimp paste in it! A good change for a place that I considered to make a pretty weak BBH.

The broth still lacked a noticeable lemongrass flavor, but was decently spicy, and decently hot. It was also not as "sweet" as what I'd had on previous visits.

Another interesting change; the pork hock meat had been taken off the bone….it was very tough though. The meatballs were weirdly muddy tasting; though the thick slices of cha lua and shrimp balls were quite good. The tendon was too hard to enjoy.

The noodles were nicely prepped; firm and slippery.

And, in case you're concerned about me not eating enough vegetables.

Though the Bun Bo Hue is still not in the same league as Mien Trung, I was pleasantly surprised. The BBH here is now closer to my taste preference and definitely better than "Pho shop Bun Bo Hue". Service was efficient and the guy actuallu came by to see how I enjoyed my noodle soup. I'll try to drop by again soon.

Remember when this place was a couple of blocks down the street next to AA and a Tattoo Parlor? Man, time sure does fly, huh?

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Bun Mam from Nhu Y

January 17, 2019 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

The recent cold and wet weather had me craving some Bun Mam. And for me….at least so far; the only place for that in San Diego is Nhu Y.

In a post of my last visit to Nhu Y, I documented the changes in the Bun Mam over the years. So, I was wondering; a year and a half later, what would the Bun Mam be like?

Because of the rain; there was parking to be had in the lot, since it was too wet for all the old timers to be hanging out in front of the restaurant.

The menu now is a lot, well up to date, though the tables are still on the sticky side. I had to actually look to find the "dac biet" page and the Bun Mam, which was a whopping $6.95 in 2006, was now $10.99.

Things started well…..

And stayed the course. Pretty much the same as the last time; perhaps with a stronger funky-fermented flavor and less sweet and spicy.

The broth still has that reddish-murky color, with swirls of mysterious and tasty goodness. I still remember the time that I went to Nijiya after eating this and the young guy standing next to me started sniffing the air and actually took whiffs of his armpits! Or that Sammy used to follow me around the house after I'd get home from having a bowl. The bun had a perfect stretchy goodness. The fish wasn't muddy tasting this time around; though the eggplant was under-cooked. The shrimp was nothing to write home about….and then there that nice and spicy stuffed pepper and the pork belly.

All-in-all a satisfying meal. Just what I wanted on a cold and damp day.

Nhu Y Restaurant
4712 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

If you're curious about Bun Mam thru the years, you can check out my previous post on Nhu Y.

Minh Ky and Tu Thanh Again

December 30, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

A friend of mine greeted me with an "oh my god….you're wearing a jacket, it must be cold!" Yeah, well I guess I really don't wear jacket and such until it does get a bit chilly. In a way, I enjoy this time of the year since I can make the rounds getting noodle soup.

Minh Ky:

Of course, Minh Ky has been a staple of mine since that first post way back in January of 2006. Recently, it's mainly been for the Sate Beef Egg Noodle "dry". But on this morning, I really wanted egg noodles in soup and I was starving. Having recalled how generous the portion size were for the combination egg noodle was; I ordered the won ton and dumpling combination.

So, while the broth here is still lighter than it used to be; on this day, it had a bit of richness and flavor (other than sweet-salt MSG tones).

The charsiu was decent if a bit on the chewy side. I think that over the years the dumplings and won tons have improved. At this price point; I don't expect perfection….I do expect glorified noodles; but the fillings were tender as were the wrappers.

The noodles were cooked perfectly, just enough crunch-chew.

And yes, I finished the entire bowl.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Tu Thanh:

Calvin had been wanting to revisit since the last time I took him here. Finding parking was of course an issue; the shop next door has put "Only for Customers of Mucha Fruita" signs up. Though the folks at Tu Thanh say that's not true.

One thing I quickly noticed was that the namesake of the place – Chi Tu Thanh was not in the kitchen. Perhaps she's retired? Too bad because everytime I come here I think of having her come out and go over eating Bun Mang Vit at "Chinese Kitchen" way back in 2006. Of course ordering was a no-brainer….Bun Mang Vit.

This was an interesting visit; some things were the same and I quickly noticed some differences.

The herbs and cabbage still has rau ram; but banana blossom is totally MIA. At least on this day.

That wonderful Nuoc Mam Gung; the gingery-slightly sweet-tangy-savory concoction is still present and as good as ever.

The noodles were decently prepared; no complaints there.

The duck was prepped decently, but the chopping job was just shoddy. Compare what it used to be like:

To today……

As is the norm for me here; I leave the broth for last as it's very mild initially. But after having those dried bamboo shoots release it flavors and all of the dunking and such it gains traction. On this day; it was sneakily salty…..like I need a couple of glasses of water salty. Not quite as good as before.

I'm sure I'll return. I just hope things return to how they used to be.

Tu Thanh
4804 University Ave. #A
San Diego, CA 92105

777 Noodle House Again

December 20, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

Right before we left on our last vacation, I had to do a bit of shopping in City Heights. It was 8am, still fairly early for most places, so I decided to drop by 777 Noodle House since it had been almost a year-and-a-half since my last visit. On that visit; I noticed that the food was not as good as on previous visits It seems that 777 had maybe hit a bit of a slump? My favorite Servers were working; the woman and gentleman always make me feel so old when they call me "sir".

I did notice that the place looked a bit more run down in the morning light; but it was doing some good business on this morning…..you can't beat the prices here. I usually go with the Hu Tieu Nam Vang; but this time, I felt like egg noodles so I went with the dry "Mi" ($6.97) version.

This ended up being a nice surprise. The MIA lime was there; though the bean sprouts weren't blanched. The egg noodles were perfectly prepared; just enough stretch, no mealy or mushy textures, enough soy in the sauce, the noodles were nicely coated. The toppings were simple, with an abundant amount of ground pork….kind of on the chewy side, but fine; the shrimp were nicely cooked with no muddy or off flavors…the fishballs….well, I'm not a fan of squeaky fishballs. The soup provided on the side was decent, slight savory flavors, not too salty. That pork bone was quite good; full of flavor, the pork tender, not falling to pieces.

You know, this was better than I've had here in a while. Now, I gotta get back to Ly Heng.

This really did hit the spot on this morning.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Phuong Nga Revisited

December 18, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

Happily, at least for me, it's been "soup weather" recently. Which had me wondering how the Bun Rieu from Phuong Nga 2 was holding up. So, I recently decided to check them out again. It does seem like the place is doing some pretty good business. Heck, Bun Rieu is now #7 of seven item on the menu; the other six are variations of Banh Cuon and Uot Gio Chien.

Of course I got the Bun Rieu.

The accompanying herbs were sparkling fresh; rau kinh goi (Vietnamese Balm), banana blossom, a rarity at many places these days, shaved rau muong (ong choi), along with a fragrant and funky mam tom (fermented shrimp paste).

The actual Bun Rieu was colorful and consistent with what I'd had before.

Broth on the sweeter side, with mild savory tones. The "meat and crab cakes" were lighter and fluffier than I recalled, the tofu cubes did well dipped in the mam tom. There was a nice and tender piece of pork rib; which easily came off the bone. The tomato was meaty, but lacked the nice tanginess I appreciate. The noodles were the appropriate thin "bun" and were slippery, with a nice chew to them. The dried shrimp added a nice umami touch to things.

The older couple working are very nice. And this, at least for me, while not being the best Bun Rieu ever, is perhaps my current favorite in San Diego. And of course, I'll always mention "Elle" who recommended I try the Bun Rieu here!

Phuong Nga 2
4016 54th St
San Diego, CA 92105