Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 19

Revisits to Pho Ha Noi and Tim Ky Noodle

March 8, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

A few posts to help me catch up with my backlog.

Pho Ha Noi:

A few months back, when I was feeling under the weather, I really wanted some noodle soup. It's what I crave when feeling ill. I was at the office lamenting the lack of decent options in the area. One of the guys mentioned Pho Ha Noi. Pho Ha Noi? I'd been there a couple of years back a couple of times and really wasn't too impressed. But, the fellow was adamant that the "House Special Combination Noodle Soup" was going to be just the thing. So why not give it a try?

So I took the short drive over and ordered it ($9.99). And this is what I got.

Well, the shrimp was nice and plump and the slice of (pho cut) brisket tasty. But other than that……well, it's tax season, we'll call this a "write-off". I've always thought many of the dishes here were riffs on using Chinese fast-food ingredients. And this really didn't change my opinion. From the mediocre Chinese style wheat noodles, like you'll find in the cold case of your friendly neighborhood Chinese Market, to the broccoli, sliced carrots and cabbage. And that broth was really weak, with barely a hint of flavor except salt/MSG….at least it was hot.

But it did nothing to make me feel better. Funny thing, everytime I've visited this place it's been based on recommendations, ordering recommended dishes……..

Pho Ha Noi
6904 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121

Tim Ky Noodle:

I had some time for lunch. I wanted Chinese Hot Pot, but Calvin wanted Tim Ky. We brought Big Daniel along….he didn't have a clue what Beef Sate Egg Noodle (dry) was, but ordered it anyway. And really liked it.

My opinion of this version of this dish remains the same as on my previous visit. The meat fairly good, decently tender; though there's a slight powdery mouthfeel to it. I feel it could use a bit more onions, sate sauce, spice, shallots, and some "umph". Still, it definitely not bad. The broth was pretty good this time around…..not too much MSG.

I gotta get my next fix from Minh Ky.

Still, it was a fast and satisfying meal.

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

Returning to Mien Trung

February 24, 2018 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

The recent weather has been downright wintery; by San Diego standards. I even had frost on my windshield one morning….for the briefest moment. I'd been wanting to see if the soon to open Mi Quang shop was affiliated with Mien Trung. And since it had been a while since my last visit, the timing seemed right. Things were pretty quiet on this Sunday morning.

I'm wondering if it's just me or has the broth at Mien Trung gotten spicier over the last couple of years. There also seems to be quite a bit more meat these days. Nice spice, slight funkiness, definite lemongrass, and did I mention the spice? Soup was scalding; perfect for getting the sprouts and veggies to the right temp without compromising the broth. Nice slippery noodles and too heavy on the MSG.

One good hint for eating at MT, is to wear dark clothes……because of the red tinge from the annatto in the broth. My good buddy, the late Ed from Yuma would never fail to wear a white shirt when we ate here. He'd end up leaving, sweating and satisfied, but with a pattern of small red dots on his shirt.

There was a time when Mien Trung was a weekly ritual, but a very warm spring and summer had kind of put the place on the back-burner. There was also a rather "rough patch" of time where things weren't up to our expectations, MT has mostly returned to form.

And I really appreciated the place on this chilly Sunday.

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

Sunday Stuffs – Shu Dao Opens, Hui An Garden Closes, More on Mi Quang Mien Trung, and Shabumi Hot Pot Coming Soon

February 18, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

A bunch of "stuffs" for a quiet Sunday.

Shu Dao Opens:

I was a bit puzzled when the banner said a Sichuan Restaurant was opening in the former San Tong Palace location, right next to Spicy City.

So, when I noticed the place was open, I dropped by a few days later.

Turns out Shu Dao is a Sichuan Hot Pot place. So, yet another hot pot place….in the same strip mall as Tasty Pot too.

4690 Convoy St #105
San Diego, CA 92111

Hui An Garden Closes:

On the same evening as I noticed the lights on at Shu Dao. I noticed the lights were off at Hui An Garden.

So, I made sure to drop by a few days later. And yes indeed, that hand written sign says "closed" It seems the place really never gained any traction.

4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

More on Mi Quang Mien Trung:

I know folks were wondering if this shop, which is replacing DaNang Food to Go is associated with Mien Trung.

So, a few days later, I dropped by Mien Trung. Luckily, the really nice guy who has been working there as long as I can remember was working. So I asked him. He told me that a few regular customers had been asking the same thing. But no, this place is not associated with Mien Trung.

By the way; Mien Trung is basically the name of the Central Region of Vietnam.

It does look like the place will be ready to open soon.

4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Shabumi Hot Pot Coming Soon:

Because we do need yet another hot pot/shabu shabu place in the Kearny Mesa area, right?

I noticed the place when I went to pick something up from CVS. Located in the same strip mall as 85 Degrees, Ototo, et al….

Looks like this one is an "all-you-can-eat" place.

I believe the first indication that this was going to be a Shabu Shabu place was when I noticed something called "Yummy Shabu" was coming to this mall. I guess now it's Shabumi?

So that makes how many of these places in the area….including Shu Dao?

5500 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

A Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho Revisit to 777 Noodle House

February 13, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

My very satisfying visit to Phuong Nga 2 had me wondering about all those places in City Heights that used to be on my rotation. Work had kept me busy since the middle of last year. Things were now a bit calmer, fewer weekend work days, so I thought it was time to start making the rounds. Starting with 777 Noodle House. Man, I've been going here since they opened in 2010. Time sure does fly.

The place was quite busy on this morning. One of the great things I like about 777 is that the prices bring in a nice diversity of folks from the neighborhood. On this day, I recognized no less than four different languages being spoken!

I went with my usual here; the Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho, still under seven bucks.

I had mentioned on my previous visit to 777, that I thought the execution and flavor of the food had slipped. This visit was a nice surprise; it was a return to form. The noodles were nice and stretchy; just enough sauce, the shrimp, though not the best quality (whaddaya expect for the price?), was plump and tender. The sprouts were nicely blanched and they didn't forget the lime this time around.

The most surprising thing was the pork bone soup. The broth was very porky, super hot, not too salty. And all that meat; these were rib bones this time around. I could scrape them off the bone with my chopsticks. Very tender, nice pork flavor…..very nice.

I enjoyed this bowl. A while back I mentioned that I believed Ly Heng had overtaken 777. Now, I'm not so sure. I'll need to check. And I'll gladly do so.

It's nice to see 777 return to form. I'm hoping they can keep it up. And of course, there's that wonderful young lady, who is always so nice to us…..she always calls me "sir". The Missus told me she is just sincerely nice. And I do get a kick being called sir……at a neighborhood noodle house.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Bun Rieu from Phuong Nga 2

February 12, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

I am forever indebted to all the folks who send me recommendations. In the comments section of my revisits post on Suppanee and Pho Xpress, "Elle" asked if I had tried the Bun Rieu at the newest location of Phuong Nga. Bun Rieu? I'd seen the new signage for this place when we returned from our last trip in December. Since Van Hoa closed its doors back in fall of 2016; it became, first Pho & Banh Cuon Ha Long, which then became Pho Huong Viet for a few months. I never even had a shot at visiting. Then it became Pho 87 for a brief period.

Since this space had become more or less of a revolving door and having been to the original location of Phuong Nga a few times, I just kinda put it on the backburner. Even though folks have told me that Phuong Nga has gotten better over the years. Well, I didn't know this location served Bun Rieu. So, the very weekend after Elle's comment, I headed over.

The interior of the place remains basically unchanged from the locations last couple of iterations.

Except that the place was fairly busy, on a Sunday morning.

When I opened the menu, I cracked up. There are basically only two things on the menu. About ten different variations of banh cuon and bun rieu. I found this to be quite refreshing. In Vietnam, and many other countries, you do one or two things and do them well; that's all you need.

So, I ordered my Bun Rieu and was quite impressed with what arrived at the table.

As impressed as I was with that rather cumbersome bowl of noodle soup. I was even more struck by the accompanying veggies. It was all there; shredded morning glory, shredded banana blossom, tai to – red perilla, green Vietnamese balm (rau kinh gioi), as well as the usual suspects. And of course, there was a little container of fermented shrimp paste!

The broth was light, at least by my standards and was on the sweet side. I like a bit more heft to my broth along with more tanginess. The shrimp paste helped a bunch. The noodles were wonderfully slippery with just the right amount of pull. I love tomatoes and the fried tofu in this dish.

The "crab cakes" were large, tender, but mostly pork. The cha lua was….well cha lua, squeaky, with a mild porkiness to it. There was one lovely piece of stewed pork rib with some meat on it. It was really good. As I dug deeper into the bowl, I bit on a small umami bomb. Turned out there was some dried shrimp in the broth….these were also quite tasty.

Is this the best bun rieu I've ever had? Well, no. Do I think it might be the best bun rieu in San Diego at the moment? Yes. Why don't you be the judge and check it out. Under eight bucks is not a bad investment for trying this.

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

Thanks so much for the recommendation Elle!

Revisits – Supannee House of Thai and Pho Xpress

January 28, 2018 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of revisits for a quiet Sunday.

Supannee House of Thai:

It's been quite a while since I did my post on Supannee back in 2013. I'd been back a couple of times, though not in a year or two. Over time, it seems that Supannee has become a favorite of CC and even Cathy.

On this day, I needed to drop by Trader Joe's in Liberty Station, so I thought I'd head a bit further south and have lunch at Supannee.

Of course I needed to get the Thai Sausage which is now $11.

This sausage that is made inhouse was what brought me to Supannee in the first place all those years ago. And while it was a bit drier that I prefer, it did "hit the spot". In fact, I think they've adjusted the recipe a bit as it's even more flavorful, the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf somes shining thru, and there's more of a chili kick. Nicely grilled, this was a great start to lunch.

I wanted to try a curry and went with the Roasted Duck Red Curry ($16).

This was very nice; in spite of the decent amount of spice, I could make out the flavor of the coconut milk in this. I often stay away from Thai Curries at restaurants because it's often too sweet….and I'm really not a big fan of fruits in my curries. But let me walk that back here. In this case, other than the curry being on the "thin" side, all the flavors worked in harmony. There was a generous portion of duck in the curry as well. All flavors of the ingredients, the duck, pineapple, tomato (added a nice acid), and grapes, worked both in harmony and individually in this dish.

The service was also very nice. When I took the leftovers home, the really nice young lady gave me an order of rice (I'd finished my bowl…a rarity these days) as well. Same young lady was so gracious and helpful to the woman who told her, "no meat, no dairy, no shellfish, no gluten, low sodium, and I'm allergic to peanuts".

I gotta get back here more often.

Supanee House of Thai
2907 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Mon – Fri 1130am-230pm, 5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun 12pm – 9pm

Pho Xpress:

So, since our office moved, I'm outside the free shuttle range for the folks who work on my car. So these days, I need to go Saturdays or Holidays. The first time, I took the trolley and just went "cruising". On my latest visit, I waited the three hours.

After paying and heading out, I decided to grab something to eat. It was pretty chilly out and I hadn't been back to Pho Xpress in nearly two years.

Instead of ordering the pho like I usually do; I went with the Banh Mi Bo Kho. What I got was disappointing.

This tasted like pho broth with some bo kho seasoning dumped in it. It lacked any kind of rich beef flavor, tomato, etc…..it was so bland. The carrots were still raw, the beef very tough. This was so thin that I thought I'd read the menu wrong….but no, it says right there "Beef Stew". At least the banh mi was warm and fairly crusty. But this was disappointing as a whole.

Also, since the guy who took my order insisted on correcting my pronunciation of "bo kho"…they should have actually made me a real bo kho, right?

Pho Xpress
6533 Mission Gorge Rd
San Diego, CA 92120

Revisits – Green China Grill and Pho Duyen Mai

January 23, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple more revisits before we moved offices late last year.

Green China Grill:

It had almost been a year since my last visit. So, on one of those cooler days, I decided to drop by.

The place was as green as ever. And the menu seems to keep expanding.

Looking over the menu I realized that I'd always had the Lamian (牛大碗 – hand pulled noodles) here. I decided to try the Dao Xiao Mian; knife cut noodles, with beef brisket.

While the flavor of the broth was still on the mild side; it didn't seem to be too heavy on the MSG side of things. It was also decently textured, a decent amount of fat/oil in the broth. The beef had a nice texture, not falling apart, but not too chewy. There was a nice soy sauce-anise-light sweetness to it that was pleasant. Man, this had a ton of noodles in it! The noodles were pretty uniform in terms of width and I prefer my Dao Xiao Mian a bit thicker. It seemed a bit too processed in texture; tearing easily, lacking tenderness and "pull".

All-in-all, not bad. Though not quite worth the $10.99 price tag for some rather routine noodle soup.

Green China Grill
4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Duyen Mai:

**** Pho Duyen Mai is under new ownership

Of course I had to have some of "Them Bones" again.

The pho broth here has hit a certain level of consistency; a bit too sweet and salty, but not terrible, light in beef flavor and anise tones. Still there's much worse to be found in the area. Noodle were perfect, proteins in the soup decent. And then there were the xí quách bò – the simmered beef ribs. I was kind of disappointed this time around as the meat was really tough. I had to use the knife to cut it off the bones. On previous visits, I could just scrape them right off the ribs with a spoon. The beefiness was there, but it was just too hard to fully enjoy.

And no talented pooch this time around either. Oh well, Duyen Mai is still better than other pho places in the area……for now.

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

Thanks for reading!

Revisits – Pho Hut and Saigon 5

January 18, 2018 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

I think everyone knows…..it's been quite a bad flu season this year. And I didn't escape the wrath of it. I must be getting up in years, because once I recovered; I still felt drained. Not wanting to go too far from home after getting home from work; but still wanting some noodle soup, I went for easy options nearby.

So here are two of the places fairly close to home.

Saigon 5:

**** Saigon 5 has closed

Located in the food court of the new 99 Ranch Market, I mentioned in my previous post on the place, that it opens early. I'd get home from work and crash by 7 or 8 pm. I'd be tired but hungry the next morning, a weekend, and Saigon 5 opens at around 930am.

I went with the dumpling egg noodle soup.

And while I still think the broth here is a little too light; it wasn't overly salty…no M-S-heebie-jeebies. It could use a bit more richness and pork flavor though.

That piece of pork hock was fairly tasty; the meat just chewy enough and was very nice.

The dumplings were on the tough side, with even less shrimp than before. Though the noodles had a nice pull to them and wasn't over-cooked.

Nothing amazing, but when feeling rundown and wanting to stay fairly close to home, well, this was okay for this morning.

Saigon 5
5950 Balboa Ave (Inside 99 Ranch Market)
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Hut:

One evening, the Missus was at work and I was feeling quite run down. I wanted a bowl of egg noodle soup and decided to revisit Pho Hut and get the Mi Sui Cao; the dumpling egg noodle soup. Which, on one visit was decent, but then on my next visit was disappointing. It's also now $9.95.

This was more like my last visit. The broth so thin, like MSG water, though the dumplings….which I thought were missing at first and were just four in number were better than the last time when the wrappers had separated from the filling.

The portion of noodles were generous and cooked nicely.

But this just isn't very good overall.

The most entertaining moment of the evening was trying to convince the guy sitting across from me that "bun" didn't mean bun. That is; he wanted a banh mi, but thought it was "bun" on the menu. And for the life of him, could not figure out why a noodle dish would be called something in a "bun". Luckily, his wife/partner talked some sense into him and I managed to show him the photos in the menu. So you can imagine what the typical demographic of this restaurant is these days, right?

Pho Hut & Grill
5252 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

On the good side. I'm finally feeling just about back to (ab)normal……..

Midweek Meanderings – Da Nang Food to Go Becoming Mi Quang Mien Trung and Liang’s Kitchen is Now Another Location of Private Kitchens

January 17, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Just a quick post on a busy week for me.

Da Nang Food to Go Becoming Mi Quang Mien Trung:

I was recently driving on El Cajon Boulevard when I noticed that Da Nang Food to Go and all the other businesses next to the 7-11 had closed down. I took a quick look at the sign and was surprised. Mi Quang Mien Trung? I'll have to ask then next time I visit Mien Trung. On a side note; I've never been a fan of the Mi Quang at Mien Trung, so we'll see.

4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Liang's Kitchen is Now Another Location of Private Kitchen:

Here's another surprise as I really didn't notice the change in signage. But rather something looked different so I did a quick turn into the strip mall.

Then I looked up and saw that Liang's Kitchen had become another location of Private Kitchens (aka Sister Ma’s Kitchen).

Based on my last visit to Liang's I'm not surprised. But strangely, didn't even notice the change until this past weekend.

4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Finally, on New Years Day; the Missus got called into work. So I decided to take a drive around the neighborhood. It's strange what catches your eye…….I saw this guy sitting at the outdoor table at Seisel's. All the businesses were closed. For some reason I find it sad and kind of haunting.

Roadtrip – Revisits to Qing Dao Bread Food (Monterey Park), Kang Lac Bakery, Lien Hoa, and Song Long (Westminster)

January 13, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

Whew; I need to catch up on all my posts! Since I've posted on these places a multitude of times; I'll keep it shirt and sweet.

This one is from back in August of last year. Basically, I had an all day meeting in Irvine. The Missus had the following day and night off; so we decided to stay in the area. We started things off well by having dinner at Sushi Noguchi in Yorba Linda (sorry no post on that one….next time). The next day after my meetings we headed off to dinner and was kind of unimpressed with Sichuan Impression in Alhambra. In fact we basically ate maybe half of what we ordered. Our hotel had a fridge, so I'd end up taking stuff back and then home.

Being somewhat disappointed in driving all this way, we decided to make a short stop. The Missus was really missing good jiaozi, so we decided to make a stop at….

Qing Dao Bread Food:

Man, it's been a good long time since we've been here.

The place is starting to look even more run down and the folks working a bit older. Though it's fun to get a smile out of the Missus when She hears the "Qingdao Hua"; the accent of Her hometown.

Two orders for us. The lamb versin; which doesn't have as much "soup" as before; but is still very gamey. And the vegetarian, which on this occasion was really good. The wrappers were nice; with that pillowy-pull to them.

The Missus had really been missing jiaozi it seems as She put these down in no time.

There was one rather sad moment during our meal. It was when the traditional garlic condiment came out. I've called this the Missus's "little dish of memories". Her job when She was a child in Qingdao was to pound the garlic for jiaozi in a mortar and pestle. Something She used to hate, but now loves…..in fact She did it with such relish the last time we were in Qingdao. Looks like they now put the garlic in a blender….very sad; because you really get the most flavor out of the garlic when you pound it; you release all the oils…..this really didn't have the "umph" we were used to. Perhaps the folks here have gotten old and tired of pounding garlic.

Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

The next morning, we got up rather early. Instead of just hanging out at the hotel until check-out and heading off to Sea Harbour, we decided to check out early and just do the usual two-fer of Lien Hoa and Song Long. We hit a snag as when we arrived at Lien Hoa; the place wasn't open yet. I had an idea. You see, years ago, "Beach" took me to the place right over in the next parking lot for a snack…..

Kang Lac Bakery:

The Missus had never had the Bot Chien here and it was right next door to Lien Hoa. So why not?