Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 29

Trying to beat the heat. Revisits to RakiRaki and Pho Ha Noi

August 5, 2015 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Don't want to bring too much attention to it….just in case you hadn't noticed. But man, it's still some kind of humid isn't it? On the good side. Well, I've been getting a nice amount of recommendations recently. Here are two of them.

あまりにも多くの誇大宣伝の家 aka RakiRaki:

That would be "Amarini mo ōku no kodai senden no ie". You can kind of figure out what I'm referring to based on my previous posts. It just seems at times that RR's biggest fan is themselves. On a good note, I think the product, while still far from great has been getting better over the last couple of years. And I received an email by "one who wants to remain anonymous" with two rec's. The first telling me that the Rikimaru Miso Tonkotsu Tsukemen was the way to go. So it's the way I went.

First, some housekeeping items…I ordered my noodles cold, but I guess the kitchen didn't get the memo and over-cooked them instead. Maybe to teach me a lesson for being a pain and ordering them cold? That egg was tragically over cooked, dry, and quite bland to boot.

I usually avoid miso based ramen broth because it's either much too salty, or all you end up tasting is the miso base. In this case it worked out quite well. Not too salty, faint miso flavor, the broth's almost citrus like "bite" tempered a bit. Decent amount of pork in the soup. This might be the way to go for me in the future…… In spite of the $13 price tag.

I heard through the grapevine that RR had purchased the lease to the A Cafe space, so it will be interesting to see what happens here.

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Ha Noi:

There was a second recommendation in the email. I was informed that the best item on the menu at Pho Ha Noi was not the Pho, but something called Spicy Beef Salad, which just sounded right on one sweaty day.

Pho might not be the way to go here; but it sure didn't seem that way since the other three folks in the place were all getting pho.

The young man serving me was very nice and friendly. He also asked me twice if I could eat "spicy" when I ordered the spicy beef salad.

This is an interesting riff utilizing the typical stir fry beef which has been flavored with soy and fish sauce; a little sweet of course, but a bit under flavored for me. It was adequately tender and there was a fairly generous portion of protein. The "salad" is basically cabbage (aka coleslaw) mix with some, a bit too little slices of herbs mixed in. The "spicy" wasn't very spicy at all, basically a watered down nuoc mam cham with chili paste mixed in.

As a pseudo fast food dish, this wasn't bad. And I got my veggies……. Still, I'm not sure I'd have this again.

Pho Ha Noi
6904 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121

Our "FOY" (Friend of Yoso) really wanted my opinion on these two items. So there you go! Thanks so much for taking the time out to email me!

Revisits: Sang Deuan and Tim Ky Noodle

July 29, 2015 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of short revisits to two places that just opened up in the last year.

Sang Deuan:

**** Sang Deuan has closed

I hadn't been back since my first couple of visits in March. So I thought why not? I was kind of craving some Nem Khao….but like many of my first visits, it was "no bueno"…..

So I went with some Salted Fish Fried Rice.

A decent version, not too salty, rice a bit more mushy than I like. If you don't like chunks of preserved fish in your fried rice; this version might do it for you as the salted fish is finely minced.

I was looking for something to have with my meal and the Whole Fried Fish was recommended. I must have had vapor lock since I just went ahead and got it without asking what kind of fish…..tilapia….sigh….

Fried to death and beyond…….dry flesh, but at least it didn't taste too muddy. I've got stories about tilapia and growing up in Hawaii….sometimes called "the mahimahi of the Ala Wai Canal".

Sang Deuan Thai & Lao Kitchen
3904 Convoy St. Suite 112
San Diego, CA 92111

Tim Ky Noodle:

Well, it had been over 6 months since my last visit, and in spite of the heat, I thought I'd get some Bun Suong. Which unfortunately is no longer on the menu, which look a bit abbreviated from what I recalled. So I went with the Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle soup which I recalled was pretty decent compared to other versions in San Diego.

While I don't expect excellence in won tons and dumplings in "Mi shop" versions, these weren't quite as good as I'd previously had. They were still more tender than say Luong Hai Ky or Minh Ky. The real difference between what I'd had before was how bland the broth was; there was a shortage of flavor and richness in this bowl. Just compare it to what I had on my previous visit:

Quite a difference, eh?

It's hard to complain about a bowl of noodle soup that is cheaper than a sandwich (not of the banh mi species), but this was nowhere as good as what I'd had before. Disappointing and kind of sad….I'm hoping this is the exception and not the rule.

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

Revisits: Da Nang Food to Go and Pho Sao Bien

July 20, 2015 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Noodle soup when it's 88 with 80% humidity? Yeah, I guess so. At least that's what I had this past weekend.

Da Nang Food to Go:

**** Da Nang Food to Go has closed

My first choice was for some Beef Sate Noodle from Minh Ky, which was standing room only….at like 9 in the morning. My second choice was for some Bum Mam from Nhu Y, but all those guys having coffee and the parking lot was full. It had been a while since I last visited Da Nang and the parking lot was empty….

As was the dining room…..

I really wasn't sure what to order….but then I recalled that CC's post and the Mi Quang, which was still $5.95.

While not in the league of, say Huong Giang, this wasn't bad at all. Mi Quang isn't supposed to have a ton of soup, so this filled the bill. The broth was a little too light for my taste. There was a ton of turmeric colored noodles. The shrimp, which looked kind of dubious at first was nicely cooked, still moist, the pork had good flavor, though it was on the tough side. I wish there were more "herbs"

Hard to complain for $5.95 though.

Da Nang Food to Go (aka Quan an Da Nang)
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Sao Bien:

Sunday was a crazy day, wasn't it? Things looked bright and sunny early on; but by 3pm…..well, the clouds moved in as did the record rainfall. The temps stayed high….and it became a sweatbox at home.

It had been a while since I'd been to Pho Sao Bien so I decided to check them out again.

The place had been freshened up a bit over the years, but looked pretty much the same.

The guys working here have, for the lack of a better description, sort of a laid-back, stoic kind of thing going on.

In the early days PSB made some pretty good Cha Gio, but a few years later things seemed to have gone downhill. Not sure if the latter visit was just a fluke, I got the Cha Gio……

Let's call this set of photos the "Cha Gio go on a diet"?

2006:

2009:

2015:

Unevenly fried so that portions of the wrapper was hard and gummy, the rest of it just plain hard instead of crisp. The filling is now almost all filler. The nuoc mam cham watered down. How sad. I could only manage to try to eat two.

I hadn't had the pho here in almost 9 years, so it was time for a repeat, right?

In keeping with my previous pho encounter here; the garnishes were quite skimpy.

Lordy, lordy, where to start? How about the good news? The tendon, tripe, and flank were pretty darn good. No off tastes, the tendon gelatinous and tender.

The rest just wasn't to my taste. Other than being on the salty side; the broth was really, really, weak and bland. It was also cloudy and there seemed to be an abnormal amount of scum in it. The noodles were also over cooked and mushy. I tried all kinds of stuff to bump up the flavor. But nothing really helped. Finally, I did something I haven't done in 25 years……..gasp….I added Sriracha and Hoisin….. I never thought I'd have to resort to this.

I've had a whole lot of pho in my time. I never thought I'd see the day……

To add insult to injury….it didn't help.

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant
1958 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Ly Heng Asian Restaurant – A Revisit

July 13, 2015 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

If I had really been of sound mind on this day…….this would have been my craving. In retrospect, it was., but I just didn't know it.

Actually, I was craving Bun Mang Vit from Tu Thanh, but they weren't open yet at 830. I'd usually head right on up the street a few blocks to 777 Noodle House, but for some reason, I just kept on driving. Until I passed Ly Heng. It had been about a year since I last visited, so I thought it was time for another try.

This time when I ordered the Pho Nam Vang; I was asked "soup or dry". That's a no brainer…..

First to arrive was the pork bone and broth….good lord…..

Check out all the meat on this baby. The soup was super hot…..I wasn't able to taste it for a few minutes. At which time everything else arrived.

I think this place has hit their stride. The noodles were nice and stretchy, that piece of chicken was delish, tender and with a surprisingly nice flavor almost like Hainam Chicken.

The broth is still a bit too salty for me; though it does well poured over the noodles in small doses. But man; this was all about the porky goodness of this.

While the version at 777 is larger and cheaper at $5.77, there's actual pork on the bone here and the flavor might be a bit better if high on the sodium end. And it's a bargain at $5.99 as well.

Can't really grumble about that, right? I think I found a new place for Pho Nam Vang.

Ly Heng
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Thurs – Tues 8am – 8pm

What’s Our Craving? Roadtrip Edition – Song Long and Lien Hoa (Westminster)

July 1, 2015 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

It had been quite a while since we headed out of San Diego on a road trip. Things had gotten hectic between vacations and various trips we'd taken. And yet, we really weren't satisfying some of our cravings. One of which was the Cha Ca Thang Long from Song Long. So last weekend we headed out, for the first time this year!

I don't think Song Long has changed much since we first visited a couple of years ago. But it had been long enough that the old menu had been replaced with a newer version and the Cha Ca Thang Long had gone up a buck to $17.95.

It's still more than enough for the two of us.

From the caramelized shallots, to the nicely fired fish to what we call the "gift that keeps on giving", the mam nem, which you keep pouring over your bun and greens, only to have it keep "returning" for the rest of the day! It's just a lovely dish, one of our favorites.

It's also good that they open rather early, since we could hit up places before they got busy on this Sunday.

Song Long Restaurant 9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108 Westminster, CA 92683

Hours: Open Daily 9am – 10pm

Wanting to make the most of our visit, we hit up Lien Hoa, which had moved a short way since the last time I visited. It's been a while since I've had decent roast duck.

This was nice, not salty, could have used a but more bean paste perhaps, the skin is not the best, but the duck is meaty and it actually tastes better the next day.

It really hit the spot.

The place does put a lot of "jus" over the duck. In case you're wondering what to do with the last few pieces of duck and the sauce. Chop up the skin and what meat….little meat if you've done it right, and make fried rice. I actually made omurice with some of the fried rice I made……I was so hungry and the fragrance just took over, thus I forgot to take photos. Next time perhaps.

Lien Hoa BBQ
9311 Bolsa Ave
Westminster, CA 92683

This sure satisfied our cravings…..for now…..

Van Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant (City Heights)(revisit)

May 26, 2015 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

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.

Van Hoa 4016 54th San Diego, Ca 92105 (619)582-2642 Open Mon-Sat 6-8, Sun 7-7

Revisits: 777 Noodle House, Yakuyudori, Izakaya Sakura, and Sushi Yaro

May 5, 2015 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

The recent see saw weather patterns are easily reflected in what I've been eating for lunch. One day in the 80'2, the next in the 60's. The thing we really need is a good amount of rain.

Weekend day on the chilly side?

How about some Pig Intestines with Preserved Vegetables at 777 Noodle House?

I never knew you could get the intestine "fried first" to give a bit more texture. I was told on this visit. At $6.77, this is priced right. Good swiney, earthy intestine, the pickled vegetable is typical, but this is a good value and I have no complaints.

Nice folks….I still get a kick that they call me "sir"……

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Come Tuesday it was on the chilly side…so it was over to Yakyudori for some Shio Ramen. Hard to believe the place was empty when I arrived.

Went for the shio ramen. It was interesting; I still think they changed the salt they use for this a while back…it just doesn't have the same flavor. The broth was also a lot darker than I recalled. The chashu was better than what I've had before. At least it wasn't ice cold. The boiled egg was lovely….not the best, but decent. The noodles prepped well.

The service was a lot less surly than what I've recently experienced. As I left, the place was getting crowded.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

As the week moved along, it started getting warmer. It had been awhile since I'd been to Sakura. I was craving the Ebi Kakiage Udon.

They've done a bit of renovation since the last time I was here.

I really love the texture of the crisp and light kakiage. And though the broth and udon is nothing special; it's the sum of the parts that works for me. That onigiri still seems like overkill to me….but I'm not complaining.

Plus, it's still $8.95.

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

By Thursday, it was in the 80's. It was time to treat myself to a nice Hwe Dup Bop.

And Sam know just how I like it. Easy on the rice, a good amount of cho-jang…crisp, fresh, a little spicy. Just what I needed to refresh.

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

The weekend came and it was a bit cooler again….so I guess it was back to the beginning.

Hieu Tieu Nam Vang Kho (dry) from 777.

rinse…repeat…..

Hope your week is going well!

Another Revisit: Que Huong Nearly a Decade Later

April 22, 2015 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Que Huong has closed

I'm enjoying getting back up to City Heights again, so here's another revisit post.

Can you imagine that it's been nearly 10 years since I first walked through the door of Que Huong. Little did I know that "Jay" and his sister had just taken over the spot. I've revisited quite a few times over the years, though strangely, the visits always seem to be spread apart. I will say that the place sure looks a lot different these days.

There sure aren't specials written on the mirror anymore!

If you're going to have one item here, it should be the fish sauce wings. Since I first tried them in 2008, it's been a beloved item. In my article in the Reader, I noted how Jay told me he was going through as much as a thousand pounds of wings in a month.

It's still a wonderful, sweet, salty, and sticky…….

The Jackfruit Salad is another standby.

Over the years, I've noticed that they've somewhat refined their dishes a bit. In this salad, I noticed that the whole, hard peppercorns were gone and on this visit the nuoc mam cham was more savory, heavier on the fish sauce than sweet and watered done, which was a welcomed change. Nice amount of veggies, the somewhat citrusy-pungent-cilantro tones of rau ram, shrimp, and pork.

This made for a very satisfying meal.

It's good to know that the food here was just as good when Jay wasn't on the premises. It's also good to see Que Huong last when so many haven't.

Que Huong Restaurant
4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Tan Ky Mi Gia (City Heights) Revisited

April 21, 2015 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

Yes indeed, Tan Ky Mi Gia did indeed close. However, there's still a Tan Ky Mi Gia around…..

Of course, this used to be Hing Ky Mi Gia, but before that, it was Tan Ky Mi Gia. Then it became Tan Ky Mi Gia again in 2008.

Now that things are settling down I can make more trips up to City Heights. And revisit Tan Ky Mi Gia.

Man, this place is looking a bit run down.

Still, the place has outlasted the pool hall next door.

Still, the prices are still good….$5.75 for basic egg noodle soup. However, on this visit I saw Bot Chien posted on the wall. It was breakfast time, so there was no doubt I'd be ordering it.

While not in the class of Kang Lac, this was not bad. The crisp parts were nice, though there were some kind of gummy parts to it. It was also pretty big, I ended up taking a good part of it home…the Missus, who basically never saw an egg dish She didn't like enjoyed it. Loved the dipping sauce as well. Overall decent.

A week later I returned in the morning and decided to try the Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($5.75).

The broth is not quite where it used to be…..a bit more salty, less body, cloudy. The egg noodles were perfect. I didn't care for the hard as rock dumplings and won tons. It's not like I'm expecting amazing for under six bucks. But this just didn't do it for me.

So will I be back……yes, I've got see what the state of the duck egg noodle soup is like. Plus, it's hard to complain about meals like these…….and heck, there one Tan Ky Mi Gia left.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
5237 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Revisits: Pho Ban Mai and New Mandarin Canton

April 13, 2015 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here's a couple of places I haven't been to in a while.

Pho Ban Mai:

A couple of weeks ago, when it was super hot, Lily and "YZ" wanted to grab some lunch. Everything just seemed a bit "too much" for the heat and this being a Monday, places like Sab E Lee were closed. We ended up going to Pho Ban Mai, which I seem to visit about once a year. I ended up doing the ordering and we started with the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings:

While the seasoning wasn't bad; I thought these were greasy, the bones in several were broken and the meat tasted a bit off like it had been thawed and then refrozen. Not good eats.

I also went with what I call the "Brodard South" dishes; the Nem Nuong Cuon and the Chao Tom Cuon. Like I mentioned before, these were right out of the Brodard playbook.

As before the Nem Nuong, the pork "sausage", was much better, more flavor, nicely grilled, and the addition of a touch of herbs along with the scallion complements the flavor of the meat. The Chao Tom, is a bit too rubbery and "squeaky" for me and is quite bland….which comes to the sauce….I keep on meaning to just get nuoc mam cham, the sauce here is not very good, very bland, lacking in flavor.

I've always enjoyed the banh xeo here; I think it is crisp and light, and I appreciate the ratio of fillings to the crisp "crepe". It's all about proportion to me when it comes to banh xeo.

Lily and "YZ" had never had banh xeo before, so I thought this would be a nice introduction. Man, Lily went after this like there was no tomorrow…..apparently, she loves bean sprouts, and the combination of the light crunch of the crepe with the crisp lettuce and herbs, dipped into nuoc mam cham was just what the doctor ordered for a hot day. This was a nice specimen, perhaps as good as what I had here in 2011.

Overall a decent meal; though there's one area that seemed lacking. When Pho Ban Mai first opened, the folks seemed friendly and attentive, during my last visit, the guys seemed more interested in socializing. This time around, they seem to want nothing to do with customers. In other words, it's getting almost borderline rude here. Not a good trend. I hope the next time I get my banh xeo fix, the pattern will be reversed.

Pho Ban Mai
8991 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

New Mandarin Canton:

Speaking of salt and Pepper Chickens Wings….we've been eating pretty good for a while and just needed to get our ABCDE (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment – "ab-cee-dee) fried food fix. It had been a while since we indulged in one of our guilty pleasures.

I'd always thought the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings here were pretty good and was disappointed that they weere closed during our Salt and Pepper Wing Challenge. Though we were even more disturbed that the owner had been stabbed and beaten to death.

As far the wings go, they've never been quite the same, but were still good, and usually held up well. The Missus had always enjoyed the salt and pepper shrimp without shell here as well. Which is what I ordered.

Man, what is going on here? The chicken, while crisp, had basically no flavor…..I had to roll it in the garlic-scallion mixture to get any flavor at all.

It had also been fried to death……dry as a mouthful of sand. Kind of sad. Looks like I'll have to start making the rounds searching for some good S&P wings.

To make things worse, the shrimp were even more pathetic.

Very bland, under fried and gummy batter….this was pretty bad.

It's quite sad when an "old standby" doesn't deliver….

New Mandarin Canton Chinese Restaurant
543 Telegraph Canyon Road
Chula Vista, CA 91910