Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 35

Pho Hoa Huong revisited

October 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

During part of my usual weekend shopping "mission" my stomach started rumbling. It was just past 8am and my next "targets", namely Nijiya nad Marukai wouldn't be opening for a while. I hadn't been to Pho Hoa Huong in about three years so it was about time for a revisit.

Things seemed a bit different this time around….the young lady placed my menu on the table with a smile….no "dealing out" of the menu and hovering over you like in Hanoi. In the past the menu was just a formality, they either expected you to know what to order, or be a student of Evelyn Wood (how's that for showing my age).

Was this the new softer and kinder Pho Hoa? Well, I'll tell you this much, they're probably still the fastest pho in the West. Not five minutes after ordering, my plate of herbs and garnishes was on the table as well as good ol' #4.

The broth is still on the dark side here, but very clear, slightly beefy, and a bit on the "sweet" side. Not as sweet as Pho Fifth Avenue, but definitely up there. It also had a bit too much MSG on this visit as my feet started to swell pretty quickly.

The noodles were right, dead on perfect for me…..

In terms of protein; the tendon was really hard and tough, there was trace tripe, the flank was almost crunchy, but with good flavor, and the brisket was nice and tender, but flavorless.

A decent bowl.

I did notice something a bit interesting…a lot of "older" gentlemen with "wives" at least 20 years or more younger. I later asked my friend "YY" about this and she told me it was kind of a trend nowadays……

Anyway, I was out of the place in less than 20 minutes….still too early for my next stops….still the fastest pho…if not in the West, at least in San Diego.

Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant
6921 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Hiep Grill (Linda Vista) (revisit)

September 9, 2013 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the blog. Yep, you are here. Kirk has been quite busy for the past few days and so has Ed(from Yuma), so Cathy has been writing posts about food. Today, she continues.

Pho Hiep Grill in Linda Vista was the first Vietnamese restaurant for The Mister and I. It was where, when we ordered, the nice waitress sternly stared and told us 'you no want that' on our initial try. She made recommendations and we found out we really liked Vietnamese food. We stopped in a few weeks ago before shopping at Thuan Phat Market (in the same parking lot).

It's that last storefront. There's a Laundromat across from it in this same parking lot.

The inside of the restaurant is not too large (seats about 50) and always very clean. The condiment tray is filled with the usual suspects. I don't know what the deal is with the melted tabletop.

We especially like the spring rolls (cha gio) here. You can order three or five and three are quite enough. They are large…

and mostly meat filled. An order of three could easily be a meal.

The Mister ordered a bowl of tai (raw, thin beef slices) pho. You can see one not-yet-cooked piece of meat at the 12:00 position in this bowl. The pho broth here is one of my favorites; very deep flavored but not cloudy nor swimming in fat.

The pho comes with the usual accompaniments (there are two pieces of sawtooth under the basil and sliced pepper somewhere on that plate).

In the summer, I do like a good bowl of Bun -cold noodles topped with something on top of a salad of sorts. This time I chose grilled chicken as the topping. Not many Vietnamese places offer grilled chicken, so I order it when I see it on the menu.

Here's a peek at what's under the noodles- (which are topped with the grilled chicken, pickled vegetables and chopped peanuts)- shedded lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts and mint. When mixed with the nuoc mam (fish sauce), the combination of flavors is crisp and fresh and refreshing. It was another good visit.

I hope your week is going well so far.

Pho Hiep and Grill 6947 Linda Vista Road (at Ulrich) San Diego 92111 (619) 268-8406

open 7 days, 7:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

This location has no website, but the other location in Chula Vista has This Website

COMC – Places you know: Que Huong and The Original Sab E Lee Rancho Penasquitos

August 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

So a bunch of photos ("Clearing Out the Memory Card") from two places you know well if you're a regular reader of our blog.

Que Huong:

**** Que Huong has closed

Boy the place looks a lot different from when we first started coming here in 2005.

To me, a meal at Que Huong is not complete without the Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.

Like the decor, these have gotten better and better since I first tried them, as a recommendation from my good friend "YummyYummy" all the way back in 2008. I've been pushing those wings in every forum available to me since then. I was told they go through a thousand pounds of these a month, so it's no surprise that they end up on lists like Thrillist's Best Wings in San Diego.

Que Huong Restaurant
4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

The Original Sab E Lee – Rancho Penasquitos:

Yes, it's a bit out of the way for us, but the drive is worth it. Plus, the crew here have more of the originals, from the originals, they remember us, and it's nice to catch up on things.

Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing for us…..

The Original Sab-E-Lee
13223-2 Black Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA 92129

So that's all folks….it's kind of too hot to sit for an hour doing a post! See you tomorrow…..

Breakfast of Champions: Banh Mi Ba Chi (pork belly) from Cafe Dore

August 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Cafe Dore has closed

Man, it been a couple of years since I've been here and even longer since I last posted on the place.

Not much has really changed here. Older gentlemen gather, have coffee, chat….and do guys gossip? For lack of a better word, let's just call it that. It's the coffee culture of Vietnam translated here….mostly men, each with his group. Hey, it's almost like high school huh? I'm thinking that it is….only the topics of conversation have probably changed, or perhaps not?

What really motivated me to visit on this bright Sunday morning was a conversation I had with FOY("Friend of Yoso") YummyYummy. Her dad is a regular here so she really has a inside track on the food. She told me that the pork belly banh mi…Ba Chi had really improved over the last year or so. Pork Belly? I'm so there…..

As I walked from my car to Cafe Dore, guess who I see? It's YY's Dad! It was nice seeing him. it had been a while. I told him that the reason I was here…..his daughter's recommendation. He invited me to have coffee with his "group"….very nice, but I had errands to run and food to prep on this morning. He also told me the Ba Chi here is "famous"….

I couldn't wait to have at it. So I opened it eagerly upon arriving home. It's pretty interesting, even though the bread for the banh mi here are from the same source as every other place that doesn't make their own, it's usually pretty fresh and flakey.

The pork was rather thickly cut, not a bad thing, and very moist. The flavor was pretty good, mildly sweet, with a slight swiney flavor. YY had told me that's it's getting better and I'll agree with that.

The pickles are a lot sweeter here than what I remembered and there was some major "jalapeno roulette" going on, with some slices being very mild, but a couple of slices were just explosive. All in all, a nice sandwich, one that I'll return for.

The service was very typical Cafe Dore, guys still play on those "machines" in the back….middle aged guys….hmmmm. It was a nice sandwich for a sunny Sunday….I'd like to tell you the price, but YY's Dad somehow paid for it without me even knowing…… Sneaky, but very nice, it made my day. Make sure to thank your dad for me YY!

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Feeling Lucky? Revisits to Lucky’s Golden Phenix and Pho Lucky

August 3, 2013 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I didn't even notice the connection until I sat down and tried to decide what to write about tonight. As you can probably tell, by all my grammatical errors I do things "stream of consciousness" style. Most of the time, I have no idea what keys I'm gonna hit on the keyboard. The photos of my meals drive the blog post…..and apparently this one is no different! So here goes….

Breakfast at Lucky's:

**** Sadly Lucky Wong passed away at the end of 2024

There's nothing really outstanding about the food at Lucky's. SYSCO sausages, rehydrated hashbrowns…..though he does know how to get the eggs right for me.

The key ingredient, other than the really low prices….everything under five bucks, is Lucky himself. If this were a play, it would be a one man show…..on most days, Lucky does it all himself, serving, cooking, busing, all the while leaving us pearls of wisdom, some of which I've noted in my previous posts on the place. Yet, if you visit enough times, you'll start to notice the humble person behind all of this. You'll also start noticing other things……my buddy Candice noticed that Lucky has a thing about waste…..leave one piece of toast uneaten and he'll make sure you finish it, or take it home with you. Very telling…. As the Chinese Philosopher Cheng Chan-Pao said, "Know you that your bowl of rice each grain from hardship comes?"

Lucky's Breakfast (Golden Phenix)
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Pho Lucky:

I just recovered from a rather prolonged bout with laryngitis…I felt fine in the mornings, except for some major hoarseness, which kind of wore me down by the end of the day. All I really wanted was something salty, soup, and noodles. There were just so many times I could have ramen…..so one evening, the Missus told me She was craving Pho. It's strange, the Missus was never a big fan of Pho….but something changed this past year.

So we headed up to Pho Lucky and the Missus got Her bowl.

I was a bit torn, would it be Pho or my favorite Banh Mi Bo Kho. I really wanted the tendon, anise, and tomato tones of the beef stew, but I wanted noodles. The solution, Pho Bo Kho……

I'd always kind of avoided this because I thought it would be kind of a halfway, non-committal kind of dish. Which it was in a way….but on this evening, it was just what I wanted and needed.

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

So whaddya know. I got "Lucky" twice in a row!

Pho Fifth Avenue revisited

July 16, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I know, we've been having a bit of a heat wave, what the heck am I doing having pho? Yeah, I guess I've gone around the bend in my old age. Actually, I was recently in the Hillcrest area for a meeting that ended at 1030. I was hungry and having not been back to Pho Fifth Avenue since February of last year, I was kind of curious to see how the place was doing……..

The place served up what I considered to be a decent bowl of pho….and yet I wondered, had they "jumped the shark" or was the pho here still pretty good?

I decided to take my chances on the hope that there would be an open parking space nearby. I lucked out and got one right outside the shop. This must be a good omen, right?

The pho for me here is the filet mignon version. It's not cheap at $9.95 for a small and $11.95 for a large. The other protein offerings seem to favor the gringo's….lot's of meaty cuts and not so much tendon and tripe.

The herbs and bean sprouts were kind of scarce, I asked for some additional basil to bump up the anise flavor in the broth and was gladly given more. The broth had a nice hue and was low-oil. As I previously noted, to me the soup tends to be on the sweet side, though unlike other versions elsewhere, there is a beefy component to it.

You must get the beef on the side for this and the broth must be at the right temperature to lightly, barely cook the meat. Check and check on this visit.

Even the noodles were prepared well, nice chew without being overcooked.

I hate to beat that ol' dead horse, but even the pho in Hillcrest is better than what I've had in Kearny Mesa? There's something just wrong about that.

Pho Fifth Avenue
3807 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

The second location of Paris Bakery opens

July 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

Back in April, I mentioned that Paris Bakery was taking over the old Thanh Son Tofu location. Two weeks ago, I noticed they were open. So having to work this past weekend, I decided on dropping by for a "breakfast/lunch" take-out visit.

Having not set foot in this shop in about six years, I'd forgotten just how large the place was. There seemed to be so much open space. It's a far cry from the other location. Yes, I said other location. I recognized the older woman, who was always so chatty. She and the young woman making my sandwich, her daughter, were very talkative on this morning.

Apparently, they've been in need of much more space for a while now, so this location fills the gap. I was told that the other location will still be open, which I found odd since you can literally see the other Paris Bakery if you walk out to the street. Her son will be running that location, her daughter gets the new shop. I mentioned that parking….oh boy…..that triggered a discourse about how bad the parking situation is/was at that location. "People come in to buy a bread and spend two dollars, they walk outside a minute later to find a ticket on their car….it was bad!" No wonder those little old Vietnamese ladies would rush out of the place practically running me over. You don't mess with them; they're tough. In their hands, a simple baguette becomes a deadly weapon.

I ordered two sandwiches ($3.50/each) eating half of each for breakfast than lunch.

Starting with the Dac Biet. The bread for this sandwich was decently crusty and slightly bready as is standard for their baguettes. If you've had a Banh Mi from any shop that makes their own, you've either had it from here or Le Chef Bakery. It's still a bit more dense than I prefer, but not bad.

I'd forgotten that Paris tends to be somewhat heavy handed in the application of mayo at times, which was the case with this sandwich.

With regards to that most enjoyable game of jalapeno roulette….this one was pretty spicy!

There was a good amount of pickled vegetables, which were nice and crisp, though on the mild side. The meat was decent for a banh mi, except that it as ice cold. In terms of proportion, I thought it was good.

I also ordered the Jamon, which I thought was better than the "special" for a couple of reasons.

Apparently the young lady started on a new baguette for this sandwich as the bread was still warm when I got to work. It was nice and flaky/crusty and fairly light.

The amount of "Jamon" was on the small side and it was also very cold, but the flavors of the meat, pickles, cilantro, and pate blended pretty well together. All in all, a decent banh mi.

I actually thought the sandwiches here were better than I remembered. Which means I'll be returning soon. Heck, at the least you'll know that the bread is fresh…or should be fresh. I was told that both shops have the same hours, which means opening early, like around 5am and closing in the late afternoon as well.

Paris Bakery
4616 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Now I've got to check out the Thanh Son Tofu in their new location! Stay tuned!

Another Roadtrip Two-Fer: Pho Tau Bay (Santa Ana) and a revisit to Ngu Binh (Westminster)

July 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

After striking out a couple of times when ordering Banh Cuon from Nhat Vy, the Missus was, well, how to put it……a bit bitter, perhaps? So we decided to jump in the car and head to "the OC" for another one of the those "two stop" roadtrips. Recent trips to Banh Cuon Tay Ho have left us less than satisfied, so I thought a visit to Pho Tau Bay was in order.

Pho Tau Bay:

A very nondescript, one of a million, type shop in (of course) a strip mall. This one actually in Santa Ana and kind of on the outskirts of all that is Little Saigon, at least for me.

A look at the interior and you quickly realize that this could be but one of hundreds of restaurants in the area. The service is to the point, you sit, are dealt a menu, and you order.

There's really only two items to get here and really only two basic savory items on the menu; pho and banh cuon, which we love….."do what you do and (hopefully) do it well".

Of course we came here for the Banh Cuon…Dac Biet – Lon (large – $7.25).

If you're after a huge plate of thick banh cuon topped with all sorts of fried stuffs, you've come to the wrong place. The banh cuon here is wonderfully thin, tender, with a nice stretch, served at a nice warm temp. The two types of cha lua were fine, but I've had better. It's all served with blanched bean sprouts, very nice, "not from a bottle" fried shallots, and pork sung (pork floss). And even though, like Kirbie has said, that I'm perhaps "the one non-vegetarian she knows that doesn't care for pork sung"……it was not bad here…really Kirbie, really!

The Missus and I each had an order.

Pho Tau Bay L.T.T.
3610 W 1st St
Santa Ana, CA 92703

Isn't it nice when a dish takes you back to another time and place? No, it wasn't as good, but good enough to trigger some images…..

You know what? I thought this pork sung was ok too……

Ngu Binh:

The Missus had also been craving the Banh Nam from Ngu Binh. So, of course this was our second "snack" of the roadtrip.

You can read all about that stuff in my previous post. All I have to say about it is, that the Missus loves the rather thin smear of rice flour dough and the flavor of the banana leaves.

As for me….well FOY (Friend of Yoso) "TFD" mentioned the Com Suon Tom Riem….all I knew was this had rice and shrimp, but I took a flier and chanced it. This was a combination of a wonderful high – the rice was perfect, fragrant, and hot. The spare ribs, aren't really "grilled" but braised to a nice tender, but not falling apart stage. The flavor is the wonderful salty-sweet that elevates pork.

The low was that the shrimp was very one note in flavor; spicy and that's it. No nuance, no balance. It was also fishy, overcooked, and tasted like it had been kept past its "due date", if you know what I mean. I'd love to have that pork again. But no on the shrimp.

Still the Missus got Her Banh Nam….and Her Banh Cuon. All was good in the world, at least for the next few hours!

Ngu Binh Restaurant
14072 Magnolia St
Westminster, CA 92683

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant revisited

July 2, 2013 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhat Vy has closed

I first posted on Nhat Vy back in November when they had just opened, and while only one dish stood out, the Banh Cuon, the prices were right and the folks working here were very nice. Over the next couple of months we visited a couple more times. Here's what we found. After a few months they moved things around and even had a grease board put up. Unfortunately, it's hidden behind the palm…..

As you can see, there's a nice representation of items I really enjoy listed, bot chien, banh xeo, and of course, what they make to order, the Banh Cuon.

I brought the Missus right after my initial post and She was sold……granted, not the best Banh Cuon in the world, but good by San Diego standards. That would be thin, slightly stretchy……

The goi cuon, on the other hand is nothing to write home about……

Too much bun…with iceberg lettuce (!). Dirt cheap though at $2.25 for two.

We returned for the Banh Cuon, but were shut out on subsequent trips, which gave us a chance to try other items on the menu.

The Bun Tom, vermicelli with shrimp was quite good according to the Missus.

Shrimp plump and juicy and the bun prepared well.

On this trip I tried the Bun Mam ($7).

In the case of Bun Mam, I expect a rich, funky, complex, almost heavy broth broth, full bodied with the flavor of fermented shrimp paste almost bubbling to the surface creating what I call an "umami bomb". This was pretty weak. The broth seemed to be the kitchen's standard issue soup broth with some mam nem dumped in it. Not much else to say, other than this really isn't bun mam.

We returned the following week, hoping for Banh Cuon…..my pronunciation of certain Vietnamese words can be almost tragically funny. Like I've often said…."I barely speak English and you want me to try a six-tone language?" So I've started typing the words out on my iPhone showing the folks working here what I want. Well, no Banh Cuon on this visit either…….

So the Missus ordered the Banh Xeo.

We were both surprised when not one, but two crepes were brought out. Along with the veggies and herbs, this was quite a bit of food. These were ok, the scant pork really tough and the meager shrimp overcooked and rubbery. If I recall, this was like about five bucks….really cheap. But we'd have preferred a smaller portion with a better product.

I decided to try the simple bot chien, but it was a "no go". So I went with the Bánh canh giò heo ($7) a clear broth soup with pigs feet.

This was their standard issue clear broth with some well prepared and slippery rice/tapioca flour noodles. There were two smallish pieces of pig's feet which was pretty tender, but nothing special. The broth was light on flavor, but kind of heavy on the MSG as I started to puff up a bit after the soup.

After striking out twice on the Banh Cuon, the Missus and I concocted a strategy. I'd park in front, motor running, the Missus would walk in the door and ask if they had Banh Cuon today. If not, She'd thank them and we'd be on our way. That way, we'd minimize wasting time and calories on dishes we really didn't want.

After coming up empty handed three more times we just gave up. The folks here are nice, but there's just really one item on the menu we want, and they never seem to have it anymore. Too bad…….

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant
4595 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Noodling Around: Revisits to Pho Tay Do, Santouka, Minh Ky, and having something that’s “just wrong” at Pho Cow Cali

June 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Somewhere at about the half-way point during our trips, the Missus always asks me, "are you missing anything?" And usually, it's noodles. Strangely, on our last vacation we ate so well that I only started missing noodles, at the end of our trip……yes, I realize we were in Rome and all, but it was Asian noodles, in any form….

Anyway, here's a short collection of revisits…..

Pho Tay Do:

**** Pho Tay Do has closed

I first posted on Pho Tay Do back in 2010, Cathy followed up a year later. For some reason my mind just blanks out places in this strip mall; I'm not sure why.

I actually hadn't been back here in over a year and was wondering what the state of the Bun Mang Vit – The Duck and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup was.

There were a couple of tables occupied when I arrived, but the interior was pretty dark. I guess they're trying to keep the energy bill down.

I ordered the Bun Mang Vit which arrived in the blink of an eye.

I don't know how business is, nor how the current state of the economy or anything else is affecting this place, but in terms of what I had it seems to have fallen.

The broth wasn't hot and had very little flavor. There was hardly eny of the earthy reconstituted dried bamboo and maybe 2/3 of the noodles of the bowl I last had here. The portion of dipping sauce was smaller and though it still has a nice hint of ginger, it too tastes watered down.

The slices of duck are smaller and very dry. Even though the place never provided an abundance of herbs in their greens, this was just about all cabbage……

This was pretty sorry overall and a mere shadow of what I'd had in previous visits. Sad…..

Pho Tay Do
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Santouka (for the zillionth time):

Yeah, I know…I won't even post the links. A couple of weeks back, I took my coworker, "YZ" to Yamadaya, I was interested in what She thought.

On this visit, the pork cheek was spot on, tender and full of flavor. The noodles were done perfectly as well. Hard combination to beat.

So when I quizzed Her, the opinion was pretty much the same as ours. Pork and noodles Santouka, broth Yamadaya. So I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for, right?

The Missus asked me if the perfect ramen existed? I could only shrug my shoulders……

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Minh Ky:

Yes, Beef Sate Noodle – Dry, again:

Needless to say….it delivered as expected.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Cow Cali:

Before we left on our trip, the Missus was strangely craving Pho….something that rarely happens as I'm the Pho eater in the family. The craving lasted for a couple of weeks and there's just so many times you can go to Pho Lucky. The Missus can be a rather hard nut though…..once She finds something She likes it's hard to convince Her to try something else. I did explain to Her that Pho Cow Cali's protein was better and that they had Filet Mignon Pho!

Which was just fine for Her….however, once She saw this on the menu:

She determined that I just had to have the Com Tam Dac Biet….without com tam (broken rice). And so it came to pass that I had mine with brown rice.

First, let me explain that I'm not a fan of brown rice. Then to add insult to injury, they charge you $1 more. Of course they probably don't sell too much brown rice, so this took forever……it was also very low quality. The Bi was good, the pork chop and cha ok, the brown rice, just wrong. Nuff said….I tried it once.

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126