Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 32

Revisits: The Spotted Cow and Gala Chicken

July 29, 2014 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here are a couple of revisits for today.

The Spotted Cow:

**** The Spotted Cow has closed

When the Missus needs something from Zion Market on the weekend, I'll go right when they open. I really never paid much attention to the food court during these morning visits until I was a bit hungry one day and was surprised to see the Spotted Cow open for business.

I really hadn't been overly impressed on my previous visits, but being a bit hungry I thought it would a good time to try the food again. Instead of the items I had before, I decided to go with the "Mi"; egg noodle soup. The young man working was very nice and efficient. I was surprised to see all that cilantro and scallions floating at the top of my bowl.

The broth and the herbs was pretty much what I expected, lacking in savory flavors and salty (broth) and fairly sparse (herbs and veggies).

What really surprised me was the amount of char siu in this bowl….my goodness. Not the best pork, a bit light in flavor and some rather overly chewy bits. But for a $6.95 bowl of noodle soup, this was probably the most I've ever seen in a bowl of egg noodle soup.

A very generous amount of egg noodles as well…..prepared quite well.

This might be the way to go here if you need a quick bite. Not a place to go out of the way for….but if you're hungry at 9am in the morning and are shopping at Zion Market, this might be ok. If ok will fill the bill…..

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92111

Gala Chicken:

**** Zion Market has moved and Gala did not make the move with the market

One evening, the Missus needed me to pick something up from Zion on the way home from work.

Looking at the Gala K(orean) F(ried) C(hicken) stand, I thought it would be a good chance to try the chicken again. It had been about a year since I tried the chicken here, they had just opened and I had hopes the execution was better.

I went for a regular order of wings ($7.99). I was told it would be about a 20 minute wait, so I went ahead and finished my shopping. By the time I was done, so were my wings. I went home and opened up my the styrofoam container.

The wings were still hot, the coating wasn't quite as crumbly as I recalled, and not greasy, though I still think the seasoning is on the bland side. The wing pieces were fine, but the drumettes kind of dry and tough. I turned over one of the pieces…..

Sigh…… If you read my earlier post, you might recall how the guy running the fryer kept poking and cutting into the chicken pieces during the cooking process. So the chicken is losing moisture, drying out….. I would think if your business is frying chicken and have been doing it for over a year, you'd know when it was done without having to cut into pieces.

That's it…. what more can I say? I think it's sad that a product would never hit full potential because of something like this. I also realize that it might not matter to you, but it does to me.

Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (Inside of Zion Market)
San Diego, CA 92111

Ly Heng Asian Restaurant

July 28, 2014 mmm-yoso Cambodian Restaurants and Cuisine, Vietnamese Restaurants

Back in January, I noticed that Hao Vi was gone, replaced by Ly Heng. I was intrigued so I decided to stop by for a some noodle soup.

The interior look basically the same…. it seems like a nice family is running the place now.

The menu looked overwhelmingly Vietnamese, having seen the writing on the window, I asked the nice young man where their family was from. It turns out that they are from Cambodia. So, Ly Heng is one of those hybrid noodle houses, like Trieu Chau and 777 which reflect the family's travels.

I wanted to try the Hu Tieu Nam Vang – Phnom Penh Noodles, but they only had a Banh Pho version on the menu – which I ordered.

Served with blanched bean sprouts, I found the broth to be a bit too salty for me. The noodles were overcooked as well.

There was a nice variety of protein items, but nothing really stood out.

The nice young man told me that they had just opened and would soon be adding more items to the menu. So I decided to wait a couple of months to return.

Flash forward a whole six months….Ly Heng had slipped my mind. One Friday evening, MrQ mentioned how much he missed Hao Vi…… which reminded me that I had always intended to return to Ly Heng.

Man, look at the grafitti on the sign…..why on earth would folks waste their time defacing a business's sign like that?

The same folks were running the place and there seemed to be a few more items on the menu. I took my time looking over the menu this time and found one of my favorite dishes; Beef Sate Noodles, which I ordered "dry".

And guess what? They even had Hu Tieu.

To be perfectly honest, the highlite of the meal was the pork bone soup, which, though a bit on the salty side hit the spot, as did all that tender pork. This was more of a rib than pork leg bone, which suited me just fine.

There were a couple of slices of fairly tender beef. The "sate" in this case was mainly peanut and chili paste, lacking the shallots and other flavors that add complexity to the sauce. I will say that it might be the spiciest sate I've had.

The portion of noodles was very generous, and it was prepared well, with a nice stretch and not mushy.

While I wish the menu was more diverse, it's heavy on Vietnamese style noodles dishes – thre are many places in the area that do it just as well or better, I'll probably return and try something else…. so long it has that pork soup!

Nice people and decent prices.

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

Revisits: Single dishes from Sushi Yaro, SuperNatural Sandwiches, and 777 Noodle House

July 10, 2014 mmm-yoso Sandwiches, Seafood, Vietnamese Restaurants

Some quick one dish revisits…..

Hwe Dup Bop from Sushi Yaro:

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

It's been a while since I've been here. One of my favorite non-menu items which I enjoy for lunch is the Hwe Dup Bop. Think of it as a sashimi salad rice bowl if you've never had it before.

Topped with spicy-sweet cho-jang and sesame oil, this is a filling, refreshing, and rather healthy meal.

It's always nice to see Sam as well.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Lobster Roll from SuperNatural Sandwiches:

**** SuperNatural Sandwiches is under new ownership

**** SuperNatural Sandwiches has closed

One of my first stop when I got back to work. I decided to go with the lobster roll, which ain't cheap at $15 and isn't quite your traditional Lobster Roll. This one is aggressively seasoned, but there were two whole claws in my roll.

This won't replace my favorites, but it was pretty good.

SuperNatural Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92121

Hieu Tieu Nam Vang from 777 Noodle House:

Hieu Tieu Nam Vang Kho (dry), still under six bucks.

Half the fun is gnawing on that pork leg bone. It's still my favorite here.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Pho DaKao and Grill

June 23, 2014 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Pho DaKao has closed

It seems that I'm finally getting back into some semblance of a routine and I finally got back over to City Heights/Rolando for a look see. It's probably been about 2 months since I was last around here. Turning on University from 54th I quickly noticed that Pho Tay Do was gone, replaced by a very familiar name.

Dakao….wow. I'm not sure of the whole backstory of Dakao, but I do understand that it is one of those treasured "brands/names" that evokes reactions. The neighborhoof of Đa Kao in Vietnam is reknown for the Pho Ga – chicken noodle soup. In fact, the last time I had a decent bowl of Pho Ga was at DaKao in Little Saigon…it was quite good, I believe the place even had it's own poultry shop on Bolsa.

So, no brainer right?

The interior has been pared down and looks even more spartan that Tay Do.

Of course I got the Pho Da Dakao (small $5.95).

This is a basic bowl of white and dark meat chicken with some offal thrown in for good measure.

The white meat chicken was surprisngly tender if lacking in flavor.

The broth was much too light, falling short with regards to having a nice poultry flavor, and was super salty……and I like salt and MSG, but in appropriate amounts. This one made my feet swell after just a couple of sips.

If I recall, it's normal to get a version of a sweet chili sauce for your chicken with pho ga. What I had here was a remnant of Pho Tay Do, the garlic-ginger sauce.

The noodles were horrendous, really mushy, not very pleasant to eat at all.

The young lady serving me was very nice as was the young lady working the cash register. I was on the fence about coming back, but I try to do my due diligence with places like this so I decided to return.

This time around I paid a bit more attention to things and noticed something on the front cover of the menu….apparently, this location of Dakao is a franchise that looks like is from Texas….so nhbilly, know anything about these guys?

Since I thought the chicken in the Pho Ga was okay, why not go for the Com Ga Hai Nam…..Hainan Chicken Rice ($6.25). It's actually a pretty good looking dish.

The chicken was very moist, of course it was bony, it's a leg after all, so it was a bit ponderous eating it. The flavor was pretty straight forward and lacking any flavoring from aromatics. It was nicely poached though.

The rice was a tragedy, it was hard, dry, and worst of all, lacking in the true flavor of the rice that should be served with this dish…..there was a faint chicken flavor…very faint. Usually the rice is cooked with the poaching liquid of the chicken, along with some chicken fat, then garlic, ginger, shallots, and sometimes lemongrass is added for depth. This had none of the above.

That was pretty sad because I consider the rice to be just as important as the chicken in this dish.

So I don't know……I'll probably drop by again in maybe a couple of months? It's slim pickins with regards to pho ga in San Diego. But as you know, I'm not the kind of guy who is "just happy to have it"…… Hopefully, things will get better…there's potential, so we'll see. Will it remain one of those places with untapped potential as Pho Tay Do did?

Pho Dakao And Grill
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Open Daily 8am – 9pm

Noodling around – Revisits to Ristorante Kaz, Mien Trung, and Pho Lucky

June 9, 2014 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Italian Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I tried to get my fill of noodles before our trip; here's a rundown of a few of those revisits:

Ristorante Kaz:

It had been over a year and a half since I visited "Sakura's Son of a different Mother", the Japano-Italian Ristorante Kaz. I'm not super fond of that fusion. Though, while I thought having the same type of pasta for almost every dish a bit tedious, I did enjoy a couple of items I had. So I decided it was time for a return.

It's good to note that the lunch prix fixe menu still has a base price of $12 for a salad, soup, and pasta. There are upcharges for various substitutions for each course. This means that top price for the lunch would be about $18….kind of pricey.

I decided to try some of the substitutions this time around, starting with the marinated vegetables in the place of the standard salad, a $1 upcharge.

I'd say save your money here; this is more like a couple of grilled vegetables and one that should have been roasted (the red bell pepper), but was not, with some vinegar and olive oil thrown on it.

The potato soup ($1 upcharge) was not bad.

This version was a bit less thick and creamy, lighter in texture overall. It needed a bit more salt.

I went with one of my favorites here the Shishito Pepper and Mushroom with "Citrus" Flavor.

The pasta, as in my past visits was nicely done. I did notice some fairly significant changes; there was a lot less shishito and mushroom. I also think they aren't using much, if any yuzukosho, as I couldn't detect anything but a very strong and bitter white pepper flavor which detracted from the dish.

Too bad I guess. I will say that when I left the place was packed….with women and infants; the Japanese National version of "women who do lunch" with strollers, highchairs, and such. Perhaps they've found their niche. For me, it was just a bit too much carbs………

Ristorante Kaz
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Mien Trung:

Yes, yet again, for maybe the zillionth time.

Mom was less heavy handed with the MSG this time around and the lemongrass flavor and the spice up front.

The Hen Xuc Banh Trang – Stir Fried Baby Clams with Rice Crackers was a spicy-peppery joy to eat. The left-overs come home with us and we eat it with rice the next day……I believe this was the last time I ate rice until tonight, something like 6 weeks!

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

Pho Lucky:

Yeah, I know, yet another post on this place. This time was different though. We both thought they went a bit too far with the MSG…..I know that San Diego is notorious for glutamic overload, but this was the first time I noticed it here. I hope this was a one-off….otherwise I'll have to stick with the Bo Kho.

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

Van Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant (City Heights)(underrated)

June 1, 2014 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is adjusting to having to be somewhere at a certain time and ed (from Yuma) is adjusting to not having to be anywhere at a certain time. Cathy is writing this post.

At the Northwest corner of University Avenue and 54th Street is a small shopping center anchored by Vien Dong IV, the incorrectly numbered Vietnamese Grocery (Vien Dong III no longer exists). Kirk wrote a two part post about Van Hoa more than six years ago (FYI-the Banh Mi are the same (really good, but now $3.25, with the Special Dac Biet now $3.75 and there is a "buy five get one free" deal)), and it's a regular stop for The Mister and I when in this part of town, usually for a meal before our foray into shopping.

The simple decor and condiment trays, early opening (just like Vien Dong IV) and always fresh food (I believe it's a short walk to get their supply of fresh produce and meats) make the meals here simultaneously not pretentious, convenient and delicious.

You may have seen "Van Hoa" labels on grab and go items (spring rolls and desserts) sold at 99Ranch Market, Thuan Phat and World Foods. If you get here early enough, you'll see the trays being filled and loaded into trucks for early morning delivery to those markets.

As we are being seated and handed menus, I always order a Banh Xeo ($6.25) since it takes a bit of time to be prepared. The Van Hoa version of traditional crispy turmeric flavored Vietnamese crepe, filled with bean sprouts, pork and shrimp, served with lettuce, mint and fish sauce dip is my favorite. (Those small 'dots' of pale yellow you see inside are a type of soft lentil mung bean).

The Spring Rolls here are only one type: shrimp with BBQ pork. ($3.25). The Van Hoa version is heavy; solidly and tightly packed with lettuce, mint and sprouts and a sprig of cilantro sticking out one end. It's served with the thick and not too sweet peanut sauce. Again, my favorite (this brand is the only one I purchase at grab and go).

Then there are the Stir Fried noodle dishes, this one is shrimp with crispy noodle ($7.50). You can see the light, airy, crispy noodles topped with freshly stir fried carrot, broccoli, mushroom and some baby corn. The gravy is light and has great flavor without being all salty or MSG-ish. Again, this is my favorite version.

The prices are not low-low; they are fair. The quality here is superb.

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

Pho Truc Xanh- Vietnamese & Chinese in Escondido

May 12, 2014 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! a blog about food. Right now, Kirk is barely awake, Ed (from Yuma is) busy busy and has been awake a long while and Cathy is wide awake and trying to get things done before the heat hits.

The other day, we were driving North through Escondido and stopped at the signal light on Centre City Parkway at Mission Avenue and looked Southwest (to my left). This is what I saw. You know I had to find my way to the parking lot.After several (several) turns, I was there. There is only one entrance and it is on Mission Avenue East.There were cars parked along the row where I was standing to take this photo (there are trees and shade on this far side of the parking lot). There is a hotel/motel on each of the four corners of the signal light and each has a restaurant.

Walking inside this former 1970's Diner, the happy decor and colors greet you. Neat and clean, the tabletops are all filled with the various accoutrement and condiments you will need.Even though we ordered only from the Vietnamese side of the menu, bowls of Chinese egg drop based soup were brought out first. This was *very* good soup, filled with crunchy vegetables and nicely flavored.

We wanted to order the nem nuong (sausage) spring rolls, but were told there was no Vietnamese (or Chinese) sausage available…hm…so, I changed my choice to Goi Cuon Tom (fresh shrimp) spring rolls ($4.25). These were the only disappointment of the meal, if I had to make a list. The filling was loose and rather sparse, just sprouts, noodles and lettuce (no mint or basil) and the shrimp were plump but tasteless. It needed the peanut dipping sauce, along with some garlic chili sauce to make these interesting. Every ingredient was very fresh/crispy though.

Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong ($7.25) I wanted to order something pretty standard (and try the egg rolls) to see how Bun was made here-the egg rolls were great (there were three cut into thirds) and had pork and shrimp as well as the usual fillers. This Bun was excellent. The noodles were on one side of the bowl and the lettuce/cucumber/mint/sprouts on the other half. The amount of grilled pork was substantial, well flavored, tender. The Egg rolls -cut into thirds were then fried again-giving the exposed parts a nice crunch. Peanuts, pickled veggies and nuoc mam (fish sauce) were all fresh/crunchy/crisp/flavorful. This was served in the 'small' bowl and quite a lot of food. I'll get this again.

Pho Tai Nam (Large, $6.75) (Pho with rare steak and flank). Looks like sparse sides, but it was just right. I don't add unless it needs it or halfway through if I am bored with the flavors. The broth itself was nicely fatty/flavored and without the unnecessary MSG.

Plenty of tender, flavorful meat, really fresh -not in a clump- noodles (which were squared and different from the rounded noodles in the Bun) and sweet, crunchy onions, scallions and cilantro flavored this much more than I ever expected.

So glad we stopped here. Unexpectedly good.

Pho Truc Xanh 503 W. Mission Avenue Escondido CA 92025 (760)489-8201 Sun-Thurs 10-9, Fri-Sat 10-10 Website

Noodling Around: Revisits to Ramen Yamadaya and Hinotez

May 4, 2014 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

We had a nice period of cooler weather before things turned really hot. It has been a pretty warm year, so we never had any period of real "noodle weather", so when things cooled down, I tried to make the most of it.

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

The first place I hit up was Ramen Yamadaya. We left less than satisfied on our last visit back in November. I ordered my usual, the Kotteri Tonkotsu, noodles extra firm, with garlic on the side. Things were better this time around, the broth nice and hot, the rich soup coating my tongue….and belly. Noodles were decently firm, and overall, this was a nice bowl. I guess our last visit was a fluke….I hope.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

On another note, the sign for the downtown location on Broadway is finally up. Still not much sign of activity and it's been over a year….but at least it's progress.

Hinotez:

I actually had been thinking of going to Yakyudori, but my meetings had run long…..try and get into Yakyudori, or any number of ramen shops on "the Mesa" at noon. I really didn't have the time, nor the internal fortitude to wait in line….so where to go? Well, I've never encountered a wait at Yakyudori's sister restaurant, Hinotez. I will say that in my experience, the ramen at Hinotez never really stood up to the Yakuyudori name, but since my choices were limited……

Like my experience at Yamadaya, the Shio Ramen ($7) here was better than on previous visits.

I actually hedged my bets by also ordering some Chicken Karaage, which were nice and lightly battered, but was on the tough and chewy side.

The ramen was pretty good, the nice mild sweetness of the salt was there, the noodles were wonderfully chewy. Not a fan of a chashu, which was dry, but at least it wasn't cold like on my last visit. The broth had a nice layer of fat floating on the top….this was a vast improvement since my last visit.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Two for two….nice!

I think we've got some cooler weather coming up this week, what are planning to eat?

Roadtripping mmm-yoso style – revisits to some of our favorites: Song Long (Westminster), Tasty Noodle House and Hunan Chilli King (San Gabriel) and take out from Shufeng Garden (Rowland Heights)

April 27, 2014 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

I've taken folks on various roadtrips before and have even explained my strategy to folks….you need to have a basic plan of eating….what needs to be consumed right away and what you can take home, something that might even taste better later. You have to approach things with a rather balanced approach….you can't be like PeterL, who tasted a beef roll for the first time and just went after it,even when I told him we'd be getting another; possibly an even better version later…..which of course, he was too full to eat, along with the Xiao Long Bao, Shenjian Bao, etc, etc…. Just because he got greedy.

A recent, really fun roadtrip is a good example of the fun we have. We did a good deal of shopping in between meals and the Missus and I had a blast….and lots of left-overs to boot. I won't delve too much into the food since these are places I've posted on at least twice before.

Song Long – Cha Ca Thang Long for breakfast:

So this is enough for the two of us………

As I've mentioned in previous posts, this place has become a favorite of the Missus. They open early; we hit them up at just after 9am and the place was empty. For some reason the Missus really likes the Banh Trand Me here and will eat it up before the Cha Ca arrives.

We like this version of cha ca thang long…..but it really won't keep so we had this for breakfast.

The one thing being that the mam nem is the gift that keeps on giving….as in every time you burp, you'll be reminded of what you had for breakfast….until lunch of course.

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

Tasty Noodle House – for my favorite Tianjin Baozi:

So, in my mind jiaozi, xiao long bao, and to a certain extent shenjian bao will not keep. Baozi is kinda iffy; it won't be quite as good, but can be passable. For me; the version at Tasty Noodle House is my current favorite. After going about taking care of shopping and stuff we made it to this part of San Gabriel….even with all the detours and road closures by 11am. It's a tiny restaurant, so it can get filled quite quickly.

For me, the item here is the Tianjin Baozi….but the Missus felt guilty about just ordering one item for the both of us, so we started with some Fried Intestine….hey, who doesn't love fried intestine?

Somewhere between 2006 and 2009, I really developed a taste for deep fried pork rectum…to the point that the Missus says when I die, I'll be headed to the "giant chitlin in the sky". These were crisp and easy to eat; though I'm not a big fan of dipping it into hoisin sauce.

There's something wonderfully yeasty about these that just takes me back to China. The bun is light and not too sweet; there's just a bit more than a smear of meat but it is also very light…..there's a nice ginger flavor that comes through which really refreshes the palate.

Tasty Noodle House
827 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

When we start thinking in terms of "what's next", it's items that can either: keep real well, or have really assertive flavors. On this trip it meant…..

Hunan Chilli King – almost five years later:

It's been a while since we'd been here…….this is where I first understood what the term "big spicy" really meant. I also remember getting "maced" by the leftovers that I heated in the microwave. I'd been craving spicy food recently; the Sichuan in San Diego is quite timid and doesn't cut it, so it was time to return.

We started with the basic "three steamed meats"…..

See the chili seeds? This was kind of spicy and was what we called a two out of three…the smoked pork (la rou) was excellent; the chicken (how lamented that they don't seem to serve duck anymore) was good, but the fish was really hard and chewy…..it was actually better then next day.

The one dish we were wondering about is a favorite of the Missus. It was a dish simply called "steamed eggplant" on the menu, but was so good that I've made this a couple of times. It has not quite reached the heights of the dish as made at Hunan Chill King though. However, it had been quite a while since we had it and wondered if it had withstood the test of time.

Well, it has….though it wasn't quite as salty as we recalled. It was also really spicy when we had the leftovers the next day…..still a great dish though.

As a bonus; we got our fun "San Gabriel sign" fix here as well.

Hunan Chilli King
524 East Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Shufeng Garden – my take-out go to joint:

**** Shufeng Garden has closed

We had to stop by Rowland Heights on the way back to San Diego….so it made sense to stop by a take-out favorite of mine; Shufeng Garden. For some reason, it was really quite on this day.

There are basically two dishes I get from here….and perhaps some Liang Cai (cold dishes), we really need to stop by for a sit down meal again someday, but it's always the situation of "so many places to try….so little time".

Anyway, for us it's the Tea Smoked Duck:

And the Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce.

This makes for some really good take-out….though I think Sammy may disagree…….

I guess he doesn't have quite the same taste in spicy foods as we do!

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Thanks for reading!

Road Trip: Mi Quang from Huong Giang (Westminster)

April 25, 2014 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

Things have been a bit crazy for me since October and when my birthday rolled around in February, I was….well, not really in the mood for a party or anything, I just had a nice low keyed evening with friends. Later in the month, I took holiday time…I had worked through a couple, and decided to just get out of town…the Missus totally agreed….so I went up to LA for an evening. I was meeting friends for dinner; a very special meal of sorts and I had lunch planned out, so I decided on trying a place someone had told me about several years back……

Huong Giang occupies space in, what else, a strip mall off of Brookhurst in the complex that houses Stater Brothers and Pho 86. Having been in this strip mall before, I had no problem finding the place.

As you can tell by the sign, the restaurant specializes in Central Vietnamese style dishes….banh beo, bun bo hue, and the like. Half of the restaurant looks like a catering business, folks coming in to pick up catering and take-out orders. There was a pretty steady flow of customers picking stuff up.

The other half of the place looks like just about any other Vietnamese joint in the area. At this time of the morning it was just me and a couple of old-timers having their morning coffee and gossip.

Speaking of coffee….being somewhat inspired by the setting, I decided on a cafe den da, black coffee. I really don't drink much coffee nowadays (though I've started up again recently) and this was really strong! It really got me going…….like Dr Hook said, this thing wanted to "make my pants wanna get up and dance"…..

Now, knowing the heritage of the place you'd automatically think Bun Bo Hue right? Well, not quite….you see, I can't remember who recommended this place to me, but I was told to try the Mi Quang – Quang style noodles. I hadn't had a good version since we left LA.

In total, this was pretty good, the tumeric colored noodles had a good stretch, the proteins passable, the pork cake dry though well flavored, the shrimp over-cooked. The broth was nice and fragrant, the flavor very nice, though it had a greasy tongue-feel to it.

Still, this was a load of food and better than anything calling itself Mi Quang in San Diego.

It was a nice, filling start to the morning…..with enough carbs and caffiene to keep me going.

Huong Giang Restaurant
14564 Brookhurst St
Westminster, CA 92683

And for those who wonder were the heck that Dr Hook line came from….here's the song. And yes, I have a special place in my heart for a good hook (no pun intended) and cheesy lyrics. Have a great weekend!