Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 17

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

Revisits – Mien Trung and Cafe Dore

December 3, 2018 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of early weekend meals since returning from vacation.

Mien Trung:

MT was actually my first meal after returning from our trip. Our flight arrived quite late; the Missus had to work the next morning, the weather had cooled and I was craving some Bun Bo Hue from Mien Trung.

The fellow….we've been coming here so long, I remembered when I used to refer to him as the "young man", made me feel quite guilt when he said: "it's nice to see you….you only come by once a year these days…."

Anyway, I got the #1; the regular sized bowl.

Scalding, spicy broth, bright lemongrass flavors, a slight funkiness from the shrimp paste; slippery noodles with a nice "pull" to them. I do wish they'd start adding banana blossom back to the veggies; though it was fresh and plentiful. The thinker sliced meat was flavorful and toothsome; I did wish the pork hock had a bit more meat and connective tissue and perhaps the tendon was a bit more tender. But this did hit the spot.

As usual, I wore dark clothing to hide the red dots on my clothes from slurping those noodles. And without fail; I always think about our good friend; Ed from Yuma, who would without fail always wear some light colored shirt when we ate here. He's always leave, smiling, happy, and with a nice little scattering of random red dots from the broth on his shirt. We miss you Ed!

This was a nice bowl on a chilly, damp day.

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

Café Dore:

**** Cafe Dore has closed

Ah yes, one place that's still "old school"; Cafe Dore. Man, remember those days when they had the "video game" machines in the back? Except there were older Vietnamese Gentleman "playing" on those "video machines"…..hmmm…. Well, those days are long gone. I recall when the older men used to smoke in the place. On one visit, somebody came to "inspect" and pointed at the "No Smoking" signs posted…..and the guys all looked confused and acted like they didn't understand….and since the signs were posted in English….well, maybe that hasn't changed as two guys were smoking in the place when I arrived. Though I did notice when folks start coming in; the smokers will head outside.

And neither has the about 12:1 ratio of men to women customers in the place. Most women just come in to do take-out orders…..though perhaps this is because I usually visit rather early in the morning? Perhaps most of the old-timers finish up and leave by lunch?

One thing that hasn't changed is the 7am opening and with the Missus having to work early on a weekend morning and waking me up…..well, I was hungry and wanted some noodle soup. Also, my Dry Cleaning Lady, had mentioned that Café Dore had started serving Mi Quang, so I wanted to check it out.

I arrived, sat at a table and was given a menu….right on the top was "Mi Quang Dore"…..I guess their version of Mi Quang.

The broth wasn't bad; it had a nice tongue feel, though it was on the "sweeter" side. I made good use of the nuoc mam to bump up the flavor.

I really enjoyed the veggies….finally, some banana blossom! It was fresh through and through. Though the cracker was on the stale side.

Unfortunately, the noodles were on the overcooked side and there were quite a few smaller pieces of noodle floating around.

The selection of "proteins" was interesting; there was a good amount of chewy pork intestine, which was kind of bland….quail eggs; obviously canned. I didn't have high hopes for the two large shrimp; but it was cooked perfectly, very moist, and slightly sweet.

I quickly noticed that no one else was eating in the place and all eyes were focused on something.

That something was the Lottery Drawing on the screen.

As soon as that was over; half the guys in the place either left or went outside to have a smoke.

I finished up my tea, went to the register and paid for my Mi Quang.

While it wasn't bad; I don't think I'll be having this again. I'll probably go back to my old ways.

For me; Café Dore is an interesting slice of life, something totally different from hipster-rich San Diego. It just seems real and totally reminds me of Vietnam, be it ever so humble. Though without those little plastic "kiddie chairs"!

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

House of Pho

November 28, 2018 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

One of my coworkers wanted to know what I thought of this little shop off Plaza in National City. So, I thought I'd head down to check them out. I was forewarned about the "interesting" service that "MG" sometimes got here.

The little shop is a simple set-up; the menu is status quo for these type of shops.

The young lady who waited on me; was well….different; she dropped off the menu at the table and just stood there, not impatiently mind you, she just stood there blankly looking at….well almost through me, not saying a word. This wasn't say; the perfunctory service of, for example Pho Hoa, this was just silence. I placed my order, she grabbed the menu, turned and walked away; uttering not a word.

I had gone with the well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe.

The portion of sprouts and basil was also average for most pho places these days; rather sparse, but at least fresh.

The broth was cloudy, not very rich, lacking in anise/beef tones, and mostly just salty. Sorely in need of a flavor injection; more cilantro, onions, or anything…..

The noodles were over-cooked and on the mushy side.

The meatballs were the typical squeaky, flavorless orbs; the well done steak tasteless, the one piece of tendon thick and tough; the chewy flank had some beefiness, ditto the brisket, and there were two little "wisps"of tripe.

My check was silently placed on my table; the silent Server, turned and walked away. I did hear her talk to the other woman working…..she just didn't speak to me at all. This was kind of odd.

There really wasn't any reason to return. But a few months later….yes months; I decided to just come back and try something else.

The same young lady was working; same blank stare, same silence…….. I started with the Garlic Wings.

Which arrived sizzling hot and crisp. It really lacked any substantial seasoning though…..not much garlic, or anything else going on here. The skin got mushy rather quickly, lots of black spots in the flesh, whose texture was a bit chewy in spots. I'm thinking there was some oxidation and freezer burn going on here as there was that slightly off flavor in spots.

I had also ordered the Bo Kho; the Beef Stew.

This was basically pho broth with bo kho base. In a completely opposite manner; the broth was super greasy, had a metallic finish to it, and lacked the beefy, tangy, mild-anise/peppery spice of a decent beef stew. It was quite salty and I used a good amount of the lime trying to balance out the flavor of the broth….to no avail.

The beef in the stew were strangely provided in tough and dry "rolls"

The banh pho was decently prepped this time around and had some "pull" to them.

My check silently arrived at my table…….

I decided to see if I could actually get a response from the young lady serving me and when I saw this…..

I had an opening…perhaps the young lady was just shy? I asked her if the owners were from Hawaii? The young lady gave me a blank stare; took my money, turned around and walked away. She did say something to the other woman working who laughed. I guess I just wasn't worth but a single word or response. Strange…..

House of Pho
3120 E Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Sun – Fri 10am – 9pm
Saturday 10am – 10pm

Pho Van (new 2nd location- in Santee)

November 8, 2018 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog with posts from Kirk or Cathy. Kirk is unavailable today, so Cathy is writing.

At the end of August, a second location of Pho Van opened in the old Pho Santee spot, across the street from the Sheriff office. The change has been a great addition to the Vietnamese choice in this East County city.
The interior is neat, clean and busy almost every time we have stopped in for lunch. There are televisions on each wall.
Two shrimp and pork spring rolls ($3.75) had to be a first order, sort of a 'test'. These were not pre-made and the shrimp and pork were both still warm when brought to the table (very much a plus). Another visit required me to order fried egg rolls (4 for $6.50) {both the spring(#26) and egg (#27) rolls are priced the same per order} and these were very interesting- you can see the elongated shape, nice fry as well as the fillings being plentiful. Great starts to our meals.
During those first three weeks of Grand Opening, all the bowls of Pho were half off. This large bowl of Ga Tom Bo (chicken, shrimp and rare steak) (#16) is normally $8.36. It is worth it. The flavors of everything- broth, beef, chicken and shrimp- were each excellent. The noodles were chewy but not clumpy. The add- ins, though sparse, were just enough with so much else in the bowl.

#98 on the menu, charbroiled pork with bean curd shrimp paste ($8.50) was at first 'warned' to us when we ordered…that it wasn't whole shrimp and that it was bean curd sheets, not tofu. {We know what tau hu ky is; look at the results when you type that in the Search Bar (top left of this page).} Anyhow, this version of shrimp paste stuffed into tofu skin was excellent; crispy, filled and flavorful. The grilled pork is very well grilled and flavored and the rice is a better quality. The vegetables here are always extremely fresh.
#65- Beef stew with french bread ($7.87) was both a wonderful surprise and slight disappointment. The stew was great; tender beef (though not much tendon), carrots and onion. The serving was huge (it's served in a large pho bowl). The disappointment? The bread. It was warm and with a crispy crust, but for some reason the interior/bread part tasted like yeasty french bread and not a bahn mi. Not a biggie, and you can order beef stew with rice, rice noodle or egg noodle.
Bun cha gio (#46, $7.87) was ordered the one time I visited and wanted the egg rolls but also the salad and chilled noodles. The salad part included cucumber, shredded mint and bean sprouts and was served in a fairly large (I'm guessing the small pho sized) bowl. This satisfied my cravings, especially because the pickled radish and carrot along with the fresh chopped peanuts added so much texture and flavor to all of the things under the egg rolls. The 'House Specialties' part of the menu is also interesting. #25- rare lemon beef salad ($13.50) is wonderful- large and lemon marinaded beefy with shredded radish, onion, fresh herbs (mint, basil and sawtooth) and topped with chopped peanuts and fried garlic. There is enough to share on this plate.
Also from the 'House Specialty' menu…the bottom item (#29 C) "Bowl of soup wonton" ($3.50). Small, but just enough if you want to eat light or have a small side dish. The wontons are so fresh, nicely filled with both shrimp and pork and the soup broth is not salty, with a chicken flavor.

If you are in Santee, this is the place.

Pho Van 8790 Cuyamaca Street, Suite K Santee, CA 92071 (619) 631-7878 open daily 9-9

Revisits – Mi Quang Mien Trung and Pho Hoa

November 5, 2018 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

It had been about eight months since Mi Quang Mien trung had opened; so I thought it would be a good time to revisit. Plus, they open at 8am, so I can get noodles for breakfast before hitting the office on weekends.

It seems like only half of the menu display was working on this day; but I knew what I wanted. I wasn't very impressed with the signature dish of this place during my previous visit; so I gave the Mi Quang another try.

The pork this time around was vastly improved; nice saltiness, good pork flavor. After that; there was a total drop-off. Still hardly any broth and what is provided is so bland, it might as well be msg flavored hot water. The noodles were nicely cooked and I appreciated the banana blossom, which added a decent texture. The shrimp was really bad; it was over-cooked and had a very musty flavor, not good eats.

Like I said before; it's a pretty nice looking dish and maybe you'd like it….if you've never had Mi Quang before. For me, this is just so bland and lacks soul.

That said; there were a few things on the menu I had wanted to check-out, so I returned the following weekend.

By now it seems the entire menu board is now non-functional. It's back to paper.

I ordered the Bun Hen ($8.50) and Banh Bot Loc (a small order $4).

The Bun Hen is by far the best item I've had here so far. While not nearly as well seasoned or spice as the version at Mien Trung, the clams had a nice mildly chewy texture, had a mild savory flavor, without any sandy-grittiness. That mam nem did it's magic on the dish as a whole; adding a wonderful deep-funky savoriness to the dish. The chicharrons were fresh, light, and crunchy. The bun was perfectly prepared and there was a good amount of banana blossom in the dish. It was very satisfying…..

I can't say the same about the Banh Bot Loc, which was ice cold, really, tough, and flavorless.

You can't win 'em all I guess.

CC recently visited Mi Quang Mien Trung as well.

**** Mi Quang Mien Trung has closed

Mi Quang Mien Trung
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

As for that "vehicle" parked in front of the 7-11….well, you never know what you'll see on ECB…..

For some reason yesterday's time change kind of messed me up….as in, I was up at 4am messed up. After trying to sleep for a few more hours; I gave up and decided to go into work for a while. But first I needed some breakfast….and perhaps some pho. I've had some pretty lousy pho recently and just wanted something decent…..plus it was 645am in the morning. I decided to head up to City Heights and have my breakfast at Pho Hoa, after all it had been over 2 years since my last visit. Plus, they open at 7am.

Not much going on at 7am on a Sunday at Pho Hoa; just a few "old-timers"; me included. The lighting gave the place a rather eerie look.

The drill was as expected. The menu, placed on the table, is basically symbolic, a formality, as the guy taking the order is already standing above you, pen poised in hand, impatiently waiting for you to order before you even open it.

But there was no mistaking the freshness of the basil, ngo gai (yea!!), and sprouts when it hit the table. And man, apparently there's no national shortage of basil as other pho shops will make you believe.

It was good 'ol #4 for me. As I mentioned in a previous post; I'm not a big fan of the rare steak here….it usually has a rather metallic taste to it.

The broth was decent; a slight beefiness, a bit richer than usual, clear, with a nice mildly pungent-anise flavor. Not overly sweet like much of the pho in San Diego is these days.

The brisket was slightly beefy if a bit on the dry side; the flank wasn't overly fatty, the tripe crunchy, but it was the tendon that took the gold medal. Nice and buttery in texture.

Not an amazing or great bowl of pho; but passable and it hit the spot. With the state of pho in San Diego, this will just have to do these days.

Pho Hoa Restaurant
4717 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho La Jolla Revisited

October 25, 2018 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

My 3 hours of meetings ran a bit late, I was starving, and wanted something to eat before heading back to the office. It was then that I recalled that Pho La Jolla was close by….and I hadn't been there in nearly half a decade. Some pho sounded good, so I decided to grab some lunch.

The place was empty when I arrived; though folks quickly came thru to pick-up take-out orders. The Hispanic guy working the front of house was really nice to the "regulars"…..but quite, ahem, perfunctory to me. I was somewhat relieved to know it wasn't personal as he was the same to anyone who came in to eat that he didn't "know".

What I wanted to order was quite simple; well-done steak, flank, tendon, and tripe….except there was a problem; they don't serve tendon and tripe anymore. It's been replaced by meatballs. Ok, how about the bo kho….nope, that's off the menu now as well.

So, I finally settled for the Bun Bo Hue….that would be the "Vietnamese Spicy Beef Soup" on the menu; not the rather strange sounding (in a Vietnamese Restaurant) "Szechuan Style Beef Noodle Soup" (well, maybe not since there weren't any Vietnamese working on this day as my order was called back in Spanish to the kitchen).

The sprouts and company was pretty much what I expected; sparse, but fresh. The BBH arrived in a rather large bowl; I took a sip and holy ms-heebie-geebies Batman! Man, it was super salty; I ended up using the two slices of lime trying to temper the saltiness. I had expected doctored up pho (obviously no pork tones) broth, but this was kinda funny….basically slightly metallic tasting pho broth with chili paste and voila, Bun Bo Hue! No deep savory flavors from shrimp paste; no lemongrass tones….lots of onions though. I guess they tried to balance the scales by using a ton of cilantro and scallions.

The beef and there was plenty of brisket and well done steak in this was decent; quite beefy, no off flavors. The cha lua of the "ga" (chicken) variety was passable, except for being cold. Of course there was no pork hock. But man, that bun was over-cooked and really mushy.

I've had some mediocre bowls of Bun Bo Hue over the years; but this might have been the worse. And with a $11.75 price tag and unfriendly service. Add no tripe, tendon, bo kho, and who knows what else? I don't think I have any reason to return.

Pho La Jolla
3211 Holiday Court #102
La Jolla, CA 92037

The Pho Shop Revisted

September 30, 2018 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

So, what to eat near Sports Arena at 10am on a Sunday morning? I had to do a bit of shopping and it was a bit too early for lunch at most places. Then I remembered the Pho Shop. I thought it would be good to check them out again since it had been a while. But man, I hadn't realized it had been over five years already! How time flies.

I arrived just as the "open" sign went on. There were fans running in the place. I was obviously the first customer of the day and the only customer during my entire visit.

I just went with the Pho Dac Biet. The herbs and sprouts soon arrived….. as expected the amount of basil was miniscule and just starting to brown.

My bowl of pho quickly arrived thereafter.

The broth was a lot lighter than on my previous visit. It was also, like most of the pho in San Diego these days on the "sweeter" side, though it still had some nice onion tones. Not much beefiness and also highly defatted.

The tai; rare steak was very lean and once past rare quite tough; like on my previous visit, the flank and brisket were nicely done and beefy, the brisket being very tender. There was nary a piece of tendon in my bowl; though there was a lot of tripe; which was crunchy, and had no off flavors.

The noodles were cooked decently this time around.

While obviously not among my favorite pho shops in San Diego and navigating the course of "pho not to offend" this was not terrible. I can't think of any better pho in the area; though I haven't made the rounds in a while.

The Pho Shop
3760 Sports Arena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Mon – Sat 10am – 10pm
Sunday 10am – 9pm