Category: Vietnamese Restaurants

Well, well, here you are again, looking at mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk is still overwhelmed with lists of things to do.  Ed (from Yuma) has lists of places to see.  Cathy is writing today, with a list of favorites.

It's about time for me to rotate locations and cuisine to Mira Mesa and Vietnamese.  Bolsa has been located in this same mall that holds the storefronts of QT Pot and Tapioca Heaven at the SouthWest corner of Mira Mesa Boulevard at Black Mountain Road for more than ten years.  Kirk wrote one post about Bolsa in 2008 and he didn't like the pho.  Let me say that after 7 1/2 years, the pho here still is not the best.  But so many other menu items are. The interior is always clean and we've always been seated immediately.The fried squid appetizer ($9.95) can be a meal or can be shared. Lightly seasoned and breaded and properly fried, the crispy batter combined with the tender squid is always a good choice.The version of cha gio ($6.50) are made with my favorite, rice paper skin.  The deep fried egg rolls are filled solidly with a variety of vegetables and just bit of pork. Six are served with a good amount of fresh mint and lettuce; more than enough for wrapping.  The nuoc cham dipping sauce here really has the sweet, sour, salty, savory and spicy hints of flavor that compliment the rolls.Then again the order of spring rolls ($4.25) are also multi vegetable filled, tightly wrapped in fresh rice paper with my preferred filling of pork ball and the accompanying peanut dipping sauce.Banh Xeo ($7.95) is ordered before opening the menu.  The crispy sizzling rice batter, flavored (and colored by) turmeric needs some extra time to make.  The filling of sliced pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and mung beans are all part of our 'ritual' of cutting up the savory pancake and placing a bit of everything on a piece of lettuce along with some mint and dipping the wrapped morsel into the nuoc cham sauce.  

It's gotten to the point that one of the waiters merely tells us that they have begin preparing the Banh Xeo because they saw us in the parking lot…The version of chicken curry ($6.95) here is excellent.  Savory with some sweet, the curry sauce is thick and always has such deep flavor.  Served with a warm loaf of banh mi that is used to soak up the sauce after eating the (large amount of) chicken along with the onion, carrot and noodles that are in the bowl, this is a great meal, especially on a cooler day.The turmeric marinaded fish ($13.95) is so good.  The accompaniments in the upper photo include lettuce, sesame leaf, cold noodles, peanuts and sesame studded rice cracker…but those are hardly necessary for the first bites of these fried thicker pieces of moist fish with a light turmeric seasoned crust and fresh cooked dill.  The flavors of just those basic pieces could be enough, but I end up making small lettuce filled bites using all the other ingredients to continue the enjoyment of the flavors.Last summer, my obsession was lemon beef salad.  The version here is called lemon sauce beef ($9.95) and is listed as an appetizer.  The salad, with its lettuce, onion and mint along with some crushed peanuts and the lemon cooked thin slices of beef seems to be exactly what I crave on hot, humid days.  However, I still seek out other versions, just to be sure I have found my favorites.There's also a 'Stir Fried Egg Noodle' section the menu.  You can ask for the noodle to be deep fried instead of stir fried and sometimes (like rainy days) the crispy noodle, topped with a combination of everything ($9.95)…beef, pork, shrimp, squid and vegetables..along with the addictive flavorful gravy is just perfect here.

 Bolsa 9225 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858) 693-3663 open 9-9 daily

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food that's been around for a very long time.  Kirk is usually here writing, but he's on vacation right now.  Ed(from Yuma) is sometimes here, but he is planning his vacation as this is being written.  Cathy is here and now.

Van Hoa has been in this corner location of the strip mall at the North West corner of University at 54th since at least 2007, when Kirk wrote a two-part post about it.  I followed up about seven years later with my own post about this regular stop before shopping at the Vien Dong Supermarket (to the right in the photo below).You have most likely seen the Van Hoa label on spring rolls and desserts sold at 99Ranch Market, Thuan Phat and World Foods. Ordering at the restaurant means the rolls are even fresher than the ones delivered to those stores daily.  I must say the rice paper wrap is never 'rubbery', because the rolls are just made.  There is only one choice of flavors- shrimp with pork. ($3.25).  The fresh vegetable fillings(lettuce, mint, cucumber, carrot, daikon) are refreshing and what I crave.  The peanut butter based dipping sauce lends a good umami to it all. The egg rolls here are also above average ($5.95).   Mostly meat with mushroom filling, the frying is proper and never too greasy.Now that the warmer weather is coming (and going), sometimes bun (it's pronounced 'boon') is an order.  Chilled vermicelli on one side of the bowl, salad (lettuce, mint, cucumber, sprouts) on the other half and, in this case, topping of Tau Hu Ky (shrimp wrapped with tofu skin) and the usual pickled radish/cucumber and peanuts ($6.50) makes an exceptional meal.Then again, my most favorite version of Banh Xeo ($6.50) is at Van Hoa, so as we are being seated I place that order (it takes a while to make the rice flour/turmeric pancake) The crunchy light pancake is delightful, the shrimp and pork are plentiful along with the onion/bean sprout/mung bean filling.  Eating bits of this wrapped in lettuce and mint is also refreshing.   

Thanks for reading.  I hope your week is going well.