Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 35

No Pho at Pho Hiep and Grill – Linda Vista

November 20, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

I know, Cathy just posted on Pho Hiep a couple of weeks ago. Usually I'd wait a while, but recently I had someone recommend the Bun Bo Hue and Bun Mang Vit at Pho Hiep……she said the Bun Bo Hue was better than Mien Trung's and the Bun Mang Vit superior to Chinese Kitchen (Chi Tu Thanh Nha Hang)! Really?? Since I hadn't had the Bun Bo Hue here since 2006, when the place was still called Pho Hoa Hiep, I decided to forgo what I usually order (Pho, Com Tam, or the Bun), and go for it.

I honestly don't remember ever seeing Bun Mang Vit on the menu here……

Though on this evening, I went with the Bun Bo Hue. I was craving something with a little kick. Unfortunately, the large bowl of Bun Bo Hue ($7.40) just didn't do it for me.

First the good; man the veggies and herbs were fresh and crisp. The meat, especially the tendon and thick cuts were very good. The noodles were prepared decently. The broth was nice and hot…..and it kind of stops there. The broth had almost no spice, I did see some chilies, but it was really nothing. There was a lack of the distinctive lemongrass flavor I enjoy so much. The broth was way too light in flavor, even though the oil content was decent. I dumped the entire dish of fermented shrimp paste and chilies into this and nothing…… It was las if Pho Hiep decided to dump some chilies in a very light pho broth, drip some annatto oil on top and call it Bun Bo Hue.

For me, the broth, whether it's Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Niu Rou Mian, Ramen, or whatever is prime. In this case the broth was seriously lacking.

Still, in order to do my due diligence, I needed to return and try that Bun Mang Vit (large – $7.40):

Again, I loved the vegetables and herbs, especially what the rau ram (Vietnamese Coriander) brought to the dish. The dipping sauce was terrible, too sweet, like sweet chili sauce mixed with a scant amount of ginger. The noodles were again prepared well and this time the broth; though light, had some flavor, though it tasted more like chicken fat added to pho broth. The bamboo shoots had a nice texture, but the woodsy flavor was pretty muted.

The protein was the most problematic. Though there were two nice slices of duck…..

Everything else was combination of bones and large pieces of duck liver…not my favorite thing in the world. In the end this was pretty much a fail for me.

Perhaps I should have taken it as a sign when the person that recommended this place noted that she hated Bun Mam and Mam Nem. But heck, I don't live my life just laying back…..I was taught to try things, it's how you expand and grow. And often, failure is the price of progress. But I did learn something here……

Stick with the pho, com tam, and bun at Pho Hiep and Grill. Lesson learned….

Pho Hiep & Grill
6947 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Noodling Around: Mien Trung, Pho Lucky, Santouka, and Ramen Yamadaya

November 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

I believe I've mentioned that over the last couple of years, rice has been replaced as my starch of choice by noodles. Never has it been more apparent than over the last two hectic, busy weeks at work. Sheeesh….and like I've also said before, I don't think this blog would still be in existence were it not for Cathy and Ed from Yuma. Who always come to the rescue.

Anyway, long days, meant more than my fair share of long strips of dough. Here's a round-up.

Mien Trung:

There's nothing like a spicy, sweat inducing, end to the day….and soup is good too! Mien Trung just does Bun Bo Hue right for me; spicy, salty, sour, is the formula. The soup is always hot which welcomes the shredded veggies and herbs. When the broth does edge toward salty, a touch of lime tames the sodium.

The Missus still enjoys the Bun Rieu, though She take umbrage to Mien Trung's switching of the noodles for the Bun Rieu to the wrong style.

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

Pho Lucky:

I wanted a real bowl of Pho Bo Kho after the lack luster version at Spotted Cow, even though I had to wait a couple of weeks.

This bowl had twice the meat, twice the flavor, and was cheaper than the food court equivalent.

Oh, and there was a fire sale on tendon on this day….must have been a "Lucky" one for me.

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

Santouka Ramen:

A cold snap means that the Missus is looking forward to ramen. Her favorite is still Santouka's Shio Toroniku Ramen with Egg, not cheap, but totally comfort food. This one with Chasu Gohan added.

Ramen's popularity has spawned one good thing….folks understand ramen now. I hardy hear all that whining about how ramen is so expensive compared to pho. Well, I still hear it sometimes, perhaps I've just gotten better at ignoring it.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

I gotta ask….what happened here?

We ordered the Kotteri (extra rich) Tonkotsu and got this, watery and bland. A far cry from what I had just a couple of weeks ago. This was rather insipid and barely past lukewarm in temperature.

The chasu has improved and the kakuni pork was pretty good too. But the main reason we choose Yamadaya is for the broth.

This was disappointing……

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Pho Lucky-Warm meal on a cool day

October 28, 2013 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog you are reading, is an open diary of food consumption. Sometimes there is a story behind the reasons why one of us (Kirk, Ed(from Yuma), Cathy) is consuming said food. Sometimes it's just sharing a meal with you. Today is a sharing.

Wow, we've had strange weather the past week…foggy and overcast until mid-morning, and windy with some sun into the afternoon…chilly weather for us who live in San Diego and now this morning we have rain. The Mister and I try to be sure we have a meal before we go grocery shopping and last week, we planned on shopping on Mira Mesa Boulevard and Pho Lucky was an easy choice, because we wanted something warm and good.

I've counted more than five posts on this blog mentioning Pho Lucky in one way or another. It's a go- to place for both Kirk, Ed (from Yuma), when he is visiting (from Yuma) and The Mister and myself (as well as one meal with the three of us mmm-yoso-ers, which is left to our memories and was never posted).

This meal was typically good. Here is The Mister's rare steak and medium rare flank steak, small ($6.50). The stock here is so very flavorful and not greasy. The meats are plentiful and the noodles are always just right (not clumpy). The plate of toppings is always fresh and includes sawtooth (it's there, under the basil).

Kari-Ga ($6.50) chicken curry. On par with the Bo Kho (beef stew), Kirk's favorite. The flavors of the sauce, good amount of chicken as well as potatoes and carrot and the accompanying warm, crispy bahn mi (bread) is just a perfect ratio and comforting, especially on cool days.

I hope your week has started off well. Stay warm!

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

Spotted Cow Viet Kitchen

October 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Spotted Cow has closed

I first heard about this place on Eater and was a bit puzzled. I thought having a Pho stand in Zion Marketplace would be an interesting venture. It was the "marketing" and concept that I thought was kind of interesting. This place wanted to make "the pho experience more customizable"…..hmmm, have you ever seen the different combinations of protein, etc, at your friendly neighborhood pho restaurant? Like all 30+ of them…..and then you have nuoc beo (rendered beef tallow), gia chin (blanched bean sprouts), etc….. Pardon me, if I don't understand….is there some innovative "concept" here? It looks like an assembly line process, something which isn't too unfamiliar having seen the kitchen areas of a couple of Pho places. On the interesting side, the "chef" Jimmy Trinh went to the CIA…on the somewhat discouraging side the "heritage" of this place is not one of my favorite pho shops.

Still it's bright, the folks on my first visit, soon after that announcement on Eater were really nice. I was kind of confused at the set-up. There's the steam/hot table and the cold station where you can pick what you want for your soup, then a large gap, then what looks like another station with the cashier at the end. The gap seems like a "dead zone", what goes on here? On this visit I ordered one of the four soup offerings….pho of course ($5.99) and moved to the middle area because I really didn't know if I should stop here or move to the register. The really nice young lady took my tray all the way to the register where I paid and made my way to the table.

The broth was very light and defatted, lacking in richness. Beef flavor was lacking, though I could make out onion and a touch of anise. It was also on the salty side, thank goodness for the lime. This isn't among my favorite bowls. The broth was also on the lukwarm side as well.

The rare steak looked nice, but was cut too thick making for a dry and tough experience. I'm not sure if it was how the meat was kept in cooled sixth-sized food pans, but I found them really lacking in flavor. The one surprise was the tendon which was pretty good.

The noodles were decent, but since it was in a clump some of it was on the cold side.

I basically cooled my heels, until I read Kirbie's post and decided to return, after all this place is really close to work. But no pho pho me this time.

I decided to try the Pho Bo Kho. The young man working the front was really enthusiastic and friendly. I noticed something a bit different this time around. My noodles were dropped into hot water and the bowl rinsed in hot water as well. I'm thinking this step was missed on my previous visit….after all, it was just after they had started business. I walked on over to the register to pay. In a move I found somewhat awkward, this time around my tray was left in the "dead zone" for me to pick up and drag to the register. This wasn't much of a problem however since the guy working the register was too busy counting his money than to acknowledge my existence. I kept thinking if I was "at Pho Hoa Huong, I'd be eating by now". Finally, after checking his drawer, walking away to talk to someone, he returned and was ready to have me pay. When he actually spoke to me he seemed a really nice young man, it was getting to this point that was rather painful for me. What ever happened to "I'll be with you in a minute"? Come to think of it though, would I expect that at, say, Pho Cow Cali, or at your neighborhood Pho shop in Hanoi?

In many ways this was much better than the straight up pho bo. While not even in the same league as the version at Pho Lucky, this had some mild richness. The beef flavor was still faint and overall the broth was still a bit thin for me. I like a nice hearty soup. The carrots were a bit too undercooked for me and the beef was still tasteless.

The dunking of the already cooked noodles made them too mushy for my taste. The heating of the bowl ensured a nice hot broth though.

I also hated the plastic spoons which were not at all suited for soup slurping……I've seen disposable Japanese style soup spoons, though the cost might be a bit too high?

It had me wondering……where this ranked in the Kearny Mesa Pho universe? I will say that this was totally not what I expected, even in a fast-casual concept, from CIA Alums who've "logged stints in Michelin starred kitchens". Though after eating at Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food nothing should surprise me, right?

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

Tan Ky Mi Gia- Lunch in Mira Mesa

October 18, 2013 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed. It will be missed.

Thanks for stopping by mmm-yoso!!! and reading about food. Today, Cathy is blogging: Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are really busy.

The Mister and I were craving Vietnamese on one of those crazy hot days a few weeks ago, but neither of us wanted pho. We had originally headed to Lucky Seafood and when we got to the parking lot, went to the other end of that group of storefronts- to Tan Ki Mi Gia, which Kirk has blogged about several times. The menu here is a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, "mi" is noodles, which is the specialty here- and we didn't order any this visit…

We had just missed the 'lunch rush' and had the restaurant to ourselves.

Although while we were there, several people came in to pick up 'to go' orders.

I enjoy the plethora of condiments available here.

As soon as we sat down, I placed an order for Banh Xeo ($7), which did end up being brought out last, as expected. The turmeric flavored (and colored) rice flour crepe is mixed and made to order.

It's filled with a stir fry mix of bean sprouts, scallion, pork and shrimp, served with lettuce and mint and nuoc-mam(fish sauce). I do like the lightness and crispiness of the crepe along with the softness of the fillings; the flavors really go well together.

We also had an order of spring rolls($5.75), fried in a delicate, very flaky wrapper and quite filled with fungus as well as pork and not many rice noodles, these came out of the kitchen hot and fresh. Again, these were served with lettuce and mint and nuoc mam.

We decided to share an order of lemon grass fish($9) – steamed and delicate, the flavors of lemon grass and soy were light and also went well with the accompanying steamed rice, steamed (topped with garlic and a bit of sweet hoisin) bok choy and small bowl of broth.

It was a delightful, fresh lunch on a nice day. Hope your week has been good.

Tan Ky Mi Gia 9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A San Diego 92126 (858) 271-8899 Mon-Th 9:30-9:30, Fri-Sun 9-10

On a clear day, you can see…… Pho-Ever

October 14, 2013 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Pho cryin' out loud…….

So here I was again, up around the Oceanside area. My first instinct was to drop by Guahan again. But since this was going to be before 11am, I had my sights on another place I'd been wanting to check out. Unfortunately, that place was packed…..at 1015 no less! So I had to settle for a plan B. Pho is always a viable back-up and there was a place fairly close by that I'd been told about but had never really been motivated to try. I think it was due to a mental block…….created by the name of the place.

Pho-real….it's called Pho-Ever and while it doesn't even come close with as does the "mother lode" with regards to names of pho shops, it was really hard for me to take this one seriously. I a serious two-fer', the restaurant next door is called "Thai One On"….. really. Just add in another restaurant name and you have a conversation "Pho-Ever"? "Yes! Pingo", now let's "___-____ Thai One On".

Still, here I was in Vista, it was a clear day, and like Barbera Streisand sang, "I could see Pho-Ever".

I walked into the place, which seemed like a nice neighborhood Pho shop, there was a family seated up front, and the flat screen was set to some children's show for the kids, a nice touch. The folks working here knew everyone who came in except myself, all regulars it seemed, though none were Asian, it was still a nice sign.

As for what to order? I just went with good 'ol #1, the Dac Biet, the house special….extra large bowl ($7.25).

The bowl arrived…..well not as hot as I'd preferred, but ok. The broth was cloudy, though it had fairly good hue. The flavor was very mild, mostly salty, very light on the beefiness, and was very "pho not to offend". Nothing really stood out, no onions, beef, nothing really…..

The herb….it should probably be singular and not plural, well, 'nuff said. The bean sprouts were very fresh. I really didn't need the lime because at least this wasn't an MSG bomb.

The noodles, and there was a good quantity of them was fine, perhaps a bit softer than I like, but still not bad.

As for the protein, well as you can see, it was pretty sparse. The place says it only uses "filet"…..beef tenderloin, which is nice, but where's the supposed "rare steak" (Tai)? If you're serving "filet", I would like having it "rare" as stated. All the "well done" steak was fine. The flank was extra chewy, but that's nothing new, the lack of beef flavor in that cut and the brisket was. The tendon was fine, if a bit harder than I'd prefer. The tripe was nice, but also pretty sparse.

The folks here were nice and I enjoyed the neighborhood vibe. This seemed pretty much middle of the road, nothing wrong with that.

Pho what it's worth; I preferred the Pho I had at Pho Lena and Mr Pho. I know, I still haven't made it to Pho Lucky, Yummy Pho, or Pho San Marcos…..I haven't pho-gotten about it. Ok, that's it, no more pho-puns for a while…..

Pho-Ever
485 S Melrose Dr
Vista, CA 92081

Noodling Around: Revisits to Ramen Yamadaya, Mien Trung, and Pho Convoy Noodle House

October 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Well, it's finally starting to cool off a bit, which means I can start-up on noodle soup again. Here's a trio of revisits, with minimal verbiage.

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

Along with Santouka, one of my two favorite ramen shops in San Diego.

My usual M.O. is to order the Kotteri Ramen with Kakuni Pork, but that would have been pushing it a bit for lunch, so I just went with the Kotteri Ramen.

With noodles extra-firm of course.

The extra rich broth just gives you that "warm blanket on a cold day" comfort…makes me kinda look forward to winter.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Mien Trung:

For some reason I was kinda craving some Bun Bo Hue and the Missus was kind enough to humor me….even though it was almost 90 outside at the time. So I got my Bun Bo Hue and it was delici-yoso…….even through the perspiration running down my face.

The BBH here has sometimes been a tad off….but on this day it was just what I needed. As usual, the Missus got Her Banh Nam and we shared some Hen Xuc Banh Trang…..I just think an order of the Fish Sauce Wings from Que Huong, these spicy clams, and a couple of cold ones……aaaaaah….

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

Pho Convoy Noodle House:

**** Convoy Noodle House has closed

No, I didn't want to push my luck and have the pho here, which had been not so great on my last two visits. I had a bunch of meetings and either needed to have lunch at 10am or have nothing at all until dinner. Since they open at 10, I decided to grab a bowl of noodle soup…..the Mi Dac Biet (House special egg noodle soup) to be exact.

It's gone up 30 cents to $7.25. On the good side, the shrimp are deveined, the fish cake is decent, and the portion of noodles was nice. On the not so great side, the noodles were over-cooked, the pork tasteless and dry. The broth had flavor, though it seemed like mostly MSG….it used to be much better here. I'm wondering what happened?

Maybe I should go back to Pho? But you know what I think about the Pho in the area, right?

Pho Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

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.