Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 38

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant

November 14, 2012 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhat Vy has closed

Back in December of last year, I posted on Taqueria Aqui es Jalisco. The meal was not quite up to par and the place looked really, well, almost temporary. In fact, I wrote "I'm not sure how this place is going to do……." in the last paragraph of the post. A couple of months later they were gone and a sign went up for a new Vietnamese restaurant, which opened this past summer named Nhat Vy.

Driving past, I have to honestly say I didn't get too worked up about the Pho-Banh Mi-Coffee sign. I mean, it's not like we're short of places that serve the stuff in the area, right? About a week later, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check them out. I remained uninspired when I entered the place and saw the steam table set-up. But changed my mind when I was handed the menu. Banh Hoi….Banh Cuon…Bun Rieu…. my pulse quickened. Only to come crashing to earth when told they didn't have any of those dishes on this morning. Man, I really wanted some Banh Cuon. I had been going through photos of our trip to Vietnam and kept running into photos of Banh Cuon, in Sapa, Hanoi, and even Bac Ha. I was bummed….

So what to do when your first three choices aren't available? I went with the sign and the Pho Dac Biet ($6.99).

Which was pretty unremarkable. I recall the broth being kind of "scummy" and cloudy, the flavor being very mild, and the noodles a bit too soft.

The meat was just about average….total middle of the road stuff, nothing to get excited about. Plus, it was a thousand degrees even at 8 in the morning, which really didn't help matters.

This being the middle of July, I really couldn't bring myself to go back. Here was a one-shot deal that would end up in one of my COMC (Clearing Out the Memory Card) posts.

And yet, the menu stuck with me……seeing the other items kind of kept nagging away. Until almost exactly three months later, when things had cooled down, I decided on dropping by for an early breakfast. By this time the menu had morphed into a multi-page deal with photos. Sad thing was there was no Banh Cuon to be seen.

This was pretty early in the morning and I wasn't feeling like Bun Rieu, so I went with Bun Rieu's lighter cousin, Canh Bun ($7).

My first impression of the broth was really positive, it seemed light, not too "crabby", I did add some mam nem which is kindly provided, this really added some umami punch. The herbs were fresh and the quantity good. The noodles were firm and wonderfully slippery, the ong choi (water spinach), added a nice crunch and substance to this. Loved the fried tofu, the shrimp cake didn't have enough flavor for me, but was veyr light in texture. I could have done without the "oc" (periwinkles), of which there was a generous amount….these were just too chewy.

About halfway through I started feeling the effects of MSG….not over-powering, but enough to know it's there. Still, I thought this was decent and even sent a photo to my good FOY (Friend of Yoso), "YummyYummy". I guess the photo must have looked great because they marched right over and ate.

YY reported back that the Bun Rieu was quite good and the Banh Cuon, which they make in house and takes a while, was also worth a try. Banh Cuon? But I hadn't seen that on the menu? What the heck? So a couple of weeks later I headed over for some breakfast. The dining area is tiny and I've only seen other customers on one occasion.

Having arrived ravenous, I ordered the Bun Moc ($7) and then attempted to order the Banh Cuon, which isn't on the menu to the very sweet woman serving me. I say attempted because it took me four tries to get the pronunciation even close to where she could understand me. Yet she patiently stood there and helped me work this through.

The weather was just driving my sinuses into the ground, so this nice, clear soup was just what I needed.

The herbs where ever so fresh, the broth was indeed pretty mild and I really couldn't make out the "mushroom" flavor. There was a ton of protein in it, cha lua, meatballs, and a fairly surprising piece of pork spare rib. I looked at that piece of meat, which should have had "Goodyear" written on its side and then took a bite…..I was surprised at how tender it was.

And then of course, there was the Banh Cuon ($6). At long last.

It wouldn't be a stretch(no pun intended) to say that this is the best Banh Cuon in terms of texture in San Diego. The rice noodle is nice and thin and not too sticky. There's just the right amount of "pull" to it. The pork is fairly bland and while I like cha lua, this one is fairly bland. The nuoc mam cham has good spice, but other than that is fairly bland. The rau ram and blanched bean sprouts complemented the dish well, as did the fried shallots.

It matches up favorably with what I've had before.

Before leaving, I mentioned that banh cuon was not in the menu….the woman picked up a menu and looked through it. And sure enough, it isn't! We both had a laugh and she walked me to the steam table and pointed to the photo of the banh cuon and told me, "you come and point next time, ok?" I couldn't help but crack-up.

So there you go….I got my banh cuon, time to move on, right? Well not so fast….this past weekend the Missus was sleeping and YY and her hubby, MrQ had mentioned that they really enjoyed the Bun Rieu here……so of course:

I got the bun rieu. What I really like is that different sets for herbs are served for the pho versus the bun moc, versus the bun rieu. This was a fresh assortment of rau ram, perilla, banana blossom, and even some fishy-funky diếp cá.

As for the broth, it's much lighter and less complex then the rather heady version at Mien Trung. Personally, I prefer the stronger seafood-tomato flavors in that bun rieu. On the flip side, this one seems to have a lot less MSG….at least on this day.

For some reason I like the fried tofu here; it's nice a creamy. I'm still not a big fan of the "oc" in this as well.

It was "three for three" as again the noodles were prepared well….they also used the thinner bun, the appropriate noodle for bun rieu.

I'd easily have this again…….

I'm hoping this place does well. The folks here are really nice, but there's a real shortage of parking on the street….actually there's a couple of stalls in the back of the place as well. This location is not the best, as proven by Aqui el Jalisco's short run and the previous shop at this location, The Torta Factory.

Over the years I've seen my share of Vietnamese Restaurants that I've enjoyed going to, that are just not able to make it. Sometimes, like Huynh Hoa Tuu, they serve great stuff, then suddenly shut down and leave town. Or like Nam An, they start strong but are not able to sustain the quality, service, or portions….I'm still fairly certain that they won't reopen. I hope I'm wrong. And I hope that Nhat Vy sticks around…..

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

Sau Voi Deli

October 15, 2012 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Sau Voi Deli has closed.

This is probably the only Banh Mi place in the area I haven't posted on. Mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of the place. But recently, I decided to just go ahead and give it a try again. For those that don't know Sau Voi Deli; it's the little shop inside the 99 Ranch Market structure.

The place is starting to look even more worn recently and the folks who run the place seemed to have aged a bit as well. Things don't go too quickly here, you just order and kick back and wait for your sandwich.

I ordered the Dac Biet just to get some feel of how they're making banh mi nowadays.

To be fair, the sandwiches are pretty hefty for the price ($3.75), the bread seemed pretty fresh and it was perfectly toasted….not toasted to bits where it shreds your palate.

There's a ton of pickled veggies as well, though I didn't care for the flavor.

I think you can tell the problem I had with this sandwich……man, it was so D-R-Y….really. The proteins had the texture of rousong, which I guess is ok if you like the stuff. And you may well like it that way, since I've been told by Kirbie that I'm the only person she knows of who doesn't like the stuff! It's also pretty flavorless. Look, I'm the first to say when there's too much mayo or spread on my banh mi, but this was just too dry. What mayo the sandwich had was spread over one thin line near the edge of the bread. Even the cilantro looked wilted….

Of course, being the glutton for punishment I am, in the spirit of fairness, I returned to try something else. This time the pork (cha lua) and shrimp (cha tom)cake banh mi ($4).

This time along with the bread, everything else seemed a bit fresher, but the cha lua, which has almost a light smokey flavor to my palate was like rubber and the cha tom, while decent, having a mild shrimpy flavor, this still didn't satisfy me.

I'm looking for a certain proportion of ingredients and flavors….I don't want a super-stuffed sandwich, just one that fulfills my sense of balance and this really didn't do it for me. I mean, they'll do a decent job of filling you up, but to me not much more. Kind of sad actually……

Sau Voi Deli
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Meanderings: Is Nam An Closed? What about Luong Hai Ky on Convoy? And other stuffs…..

September 19, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

So, is Nam An Closed or What?:

Was the question posed to me by "Peter" on my original post on Nam An. I was kinda surprised, I know that Nam An had gotten away from serving lunch, but didn't know they had closed for the always ominous "renovations". So I placed a call to a very reliable source who told me that even though the sign says under renovation, the placed has closed down. Sad, this place had potential, but the folks running it had really no restaurant experience and though we enjoyed some of the dishes the service was spotty at best.

We visited a couple of months back and the signs were already there. It seemed that prices had gone up a bit, not a terrible sign in this economy, but we had also noticed that the portion had gotten noticeably smaller.

For me, it wasn't the regular menu of noodle and rice dishes that I enjoyed at Nam An. Rather, it was the appetizer menu that really made things interesting. Sadly, it now seems that there's no good Vietnamese in the area bordered by Aero Drive, the 52, the 15 and the I-5.

Personally, I hope Nam An gives it another shot……but things just don't look promising.

Speaking of which, what's going on with Luong Hai Ky?:

I actually went to check out a different restaurant in that strip mall and noticed that LHK wasn't open. Which was odd since from what I recall the place is open seven days a week from 10 to 10.

The photo above was taken close to noon when I drove by to check things out. Still not open. Well, I wouldn't be surprised, LHK was never the same after the original owner passed away. LHK opened a second restaurant in Mira Mesa and this location became the ill-fated Phat Restaurant. Which eventually failed and the location turned back to Luong Hai Ky. So now what? Well, I dunno….

Meanwhile, since we're on a losing streak:

The place I went to check out is called Apple Korean House.

MrsZ mentioned this place to me, so I wanted to check it out. The hours 5pm yo 2am made it seem like one of the soju houses, but I wanted to see. Of course, with my recent luck….wouldn't you know…..

Well, at least this one is a "small remodeling"…so hopefully they're open already.

But with my recent luck……..

Revisits: No Pho at Pho Ban Mai, Pho Lucky, and Que Huong

September 9, 2012 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

Here's a round-up of revisits……

Pho Ban Mai:

Man, I hadn't been here since September of last year. I was thinking of having some Banh Xeo and this seemed just the spot. Not much has changed since my last visit…very clean, tables a bit too close together…..

I was quite hungry and thought some Bi Cuon would do as a nice start.

The wrappers were done a bit too thick and wrapped real tight. Actually, not much in here, the Bi really lacked flavor and was on the dry side. The nuoc mam cham is still good here, not watered down and not too sweet.

Then of course, my "crepe" appeared. It looked pretty much the same as on previous visits, perhaps not as crunchy, but still pretty good.

Overall, still the same…..not too much filling, but what's there is done nicely. The pork tender, the shrimp not overdone, and not too greasy.

As with previous visits, the service here is quite "modern"…..no dealing of the menu with someone standing over you, water was refilled, etc….. I would probably visit more often if we lived closer.

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

Pho Lucky:

Yes, yet again. The Missus was still a bit bitter about the nem nuong cuon at Dat Thanh and wanted to use this as a sanity check. It was quite busy when we arrived, I had never been seated almost at the west end of the restaurant before.

I had decided on getting the Banh Mi Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew with Bread), but suddenly shifted when I sat down. After chatting with the Missus, I thought why not do about the same thing we did at Dat Thanh…..

Starting with Goi Cuon (spring rolls).

These were wrapped a bit too thick, but did have a good quantity of herbs for flavor. The pork was quite tasty overall. Of course, texturally, I was missing that nice crunch that fried egg roll wrappers added to the spring rolls at Dat Thanh and Brodard, but these were nice….the Missus loves the peanut sauce here….She went through three and a half little bowls!

Next up, the Nem Nuong Cuon……

In terms of flavor, this was nice…the grilled pork "sausage" was decently flavored and caramelized….good flavors from the herbs, not as heavily wrapped as the goi cuon. Kind of one note in texture. Still, this was better than I expected.

To end things up, I decided to order what I think is the most expensive item on the menu, the Com Tam Dac Biet – house special broken rice, which is something like $9.65. I'd never had that here and really didn't expect much, but it was a rather pleasant surprise.

The Missus thought the pork chop was pretty good, I thought it a bit too salty and not sweet enough. The grilled shrimp were overcooked and under flavored. The Bi was decent but mostly just skin, without enough rice powder which adds so much to it. The cha, steamed egg was nice…I'd expected it to be dry, but it was pretty good, nice flavor. The Missus loved the sugar cane shrimp….She just loved it and I think has a new favorite here. The broken rice was moist but not very fragrant. Not in the same league as the top notch com tam places, but better than I expected.

Is it just me, or has service here gotten a bit nicer….other than the woman who runs the register, over the years? Or perhaps I've just gotten used to it.

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

Que Huong:

**** Que Huong has closed

Actually, about a week before this, Cathy, Carol, Dennis, and myself had one of our all too rare get togethers. We gathered because one of our favorite, now quite inactive (with good reason), fellow food bloggers, Sawyer was visiting. As always it was a great time….though you'll have to depend on someone else to post about it….. The place Carol and Cathy choose was Que Huong, a perfect place for a family style meal….and those wings, of course….which I hadn't had in a while.

Funny thing, about a week after that meal, I was craving those wings. The Missus had a girls night out, so I decided to head to Que Huong and have some wings. Which I had all to my greedy self….

I've heard folks tell me that these were on the small side….but I like the skin to meat ratio…you can have all the fat meat laden wings you want…heck, why not just have a thigh while you're at it? These do fine by me. The other thing is, you need to eat them here right when they get to the table; it's maximum crunch and peak flavor….

Anyway, Jay, one of the owners told me he's going through a thousand pounds of wings a month now…sheesh. Jay also told me that his mom was in the kitchen and seeing that I was looking for something lighter to go with my wings, she had made a simple salad of roasted chicken with rau ram and onions. Hey, if mom's making it, I'd better order it, right?

This was pretty good, lots of black pepper, very simply put together, an entire leg – thigh and drum of chicken stripped topped some lettuce. The combination of the citrus-pepper-cilantro flavor of the rau ram, the pungency of the onions, cut with lime for that nice acidic touch was really good. I'm thinking of making this at home…….so simple, yet it really livened my palate.

As did those chicken wings….

Que Huong Restaurant
4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Roadtrip: Dat Thanh (Westminster) and a revisit to Vientiane Thai Laos Restaurant (Garden Grove) – Orange County

September 5, 2012 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

The Missus was in the mood and craving some springrolls and the natural answer to that would be Brodard, which I've been to but never posted on. But just the thought of visiting on a Saturday….well, we wanted something else, so I did a bit of research and after reading Elmo's post, decided to head on over to Westminster and….

Dat Thanh:

This tiny shop on McFadden is supposed to be "The" challenger to Brodard for supposed springroll supremacy in Little Saigon, how could we not try it. The guy running the place is really nice, friendly, and seems to sincerely want you to enjoy your meal…he's quite chatty and will talk about anything from the parking situation (really bad) to what he eats on his day off (anything but Vietnamese). As you can tell it's obvious what this place is all about from that lovely photo on the menu, and in fact, if anything the springrolls we got on our plate actually looked better.

It's also wonderful that they have a combination of 2 Nem Nuong Cuon (pork sausage) and 2 Chao Tom Cuon (shrimp sausage/paste) on the menu for $6.99. These looked so wonderfully bright and fresh, I couldn't wait to take a bite…..which kinda ended my total admiration for these. First, the great….absolutely loved the fried egg roll wrappers in the middle, it just brought the texture up a level adding a wonderful crunch to everything. The good, loved the way these were wrapped, not too tight, and the wrappers weren't too thick. The mediocre, man that nem nuong and chao tom were bland…we actually pulled out pieces to have a taste. There didn't seem to have enough mint or herbs in these to give it that nice "pop' of flavor. The tuong – dipping sauce was really sweet and had an eggy flavor that the Missus wasn't too fond of.

Luckily, we also ordered the combination broken rice with BBQ pork chop $8.89:

Other than the shrimp, which was rubbery and very plain tasting, and perhaps the pork chop which the Missus thought was too sweet, but I enjoyed, this was a unanimous thumbs up……it's really hard to get the perfect broken rice plate and this was darn close. The rice was awesome, right amount of moisture for our taste and more importantly, fragrant. The Missus, who has declared Herself a non-pork eater loved the Bi, which had the right ration of skin to meat to rice powder and was also just moist enough. The cha, steamed egg and pork cake was also tasty and fresh….and not to belabor the point, moist. Ditto the shrimp in beancurd wrapper.

The nuoc mam cham was also excellent, if also a bit on the sweet side. Overall, I'd gladly return for the com tam, it was the best I've had in a while.

The Missus on the other hand was looking forward to some good Goi Cuon and was a bit perturbed….

Dat Thanh
10032 McFadden Ave.
Westminster, CA 92683

The Missus wanted something dependable and flavorful…..and She had one place in mind:

Vientiane Thai Laos Restaurant:

Not much to write here that hasn't been covered in a previous post. The first two dishes you can read about there.

The raw shrimp salad looked even better today:

And it was….in addition way more spicy as well. They never ask us how spicy we want our food here…so we just take it as it comes. This was delicious, but man it was hot. The Missus had mild burns around Her lips….no biggie though. I just couldn't stop eating that sauce….

The Nam Khao had good flavor, but wasn't as crunchy as on previous visits. Still, I just love this, it's one of my "desert island dishes".

We decided to order one more item and chose the garlic shrimp….which the Missus loved. She ate most of it, I had one piece but really couldn't taste anything because my tastebuds had been killed by that shrimp. When I recovered a bit, the shrimp was gone, but I had a taste of the caramelized garlic, which was done right….it tasted like "garlic candy".

So the Missus has another dish to order when we return.

Vientiane Thai Laos Restaurant
10262 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove,CA92843

We hit up Marukai in Costa Mesa on the way back and got some great looking black cod, so the Missus ended up getting misoyaki black cod for a couple of days……so in the end, it was a happy roadtrip for Her.

Bale Returns to Linda Vista

August 29, 2012 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Bale has closed (yet again)

Well it took them awhile but Bale has returned to Linda Vista for a third time, this time in the space formerly occupied by Toan Ky, LV Sandwiches, and Le's…..sheesh, this location doesn't have that great of a track record, huh? Anyway, the place reopened on August 25th, a few days later the mercury was telling me that a banh mi might not be a bad idea.

Man, the place was just besieged by older Vietnamese women…..who were giving the two young ladies total hell. A lot had to do with the sign in the front.

Apparently, folks read the sign that said "Buy 1 Sandwich Get One Free…." and stopped there without reading the "coffee or Thai tea" part of the sign. In some ways I don't blame them. They could have written the sign a bit better. Anyway, when I stepped up to the counter the girls asked me if I understood the sign and I said yes. They could not understand why folks were just reading the first couple of words……I explained that many times we see what we want. Also, they were catching hell in Vietnamese, so obviously English was not the primary language here. The young ladies could not for the life of them understand…meanwhile, a woman stepped in front of me and gave the girls a piece of her mind! Yikes! I mentioned that perhaps they could let the manager or the owner take care of the irate customers….the two girls looked at me like I had lost my mind! Well then, what can I say????

Anyway, the prices looked pretty good, sandwiches ranged from $2.95 to $3.45. I decided to just get the Dac Biet (the special – $3.45):

A bit different from my previous experiences with Bale in San Diego, this place used the longer baguette instead of the standard issue banh mi. This meant less bread, more crust, which, though not as good as Cali Baguettte Express, was flakey enough for me. Bale has a long history of toasting the bread to death, not so in this case either. The pickled vegetables were on the bland side, but there was a good amount of pate smeared on the sandwich and just the right amount of mayo. Proportion matters and I found the thin slices of protein to be sufficient. Not bad at all…..

That Thursday I was at the Linda Vista Farmer's Market and did some shopping at Thuan Phat. It was pretty hot so I thought I'd grab another banh mi. I guess convenience is playing on the side of Bale here. It being about 4pm, the place was fairly empty. This time I went for defatted pork sausage – Cha Lua ("Pork Bologna on the menu – $2.95):

This time the bread was a little old for my taste…kind of chewy and not as crusty. Also, a bit too much mayo and hardly any pickled vegetables….which, based on the blandness wasn't really missed too much. Nice pate, which was about all of the flavor, except for the cilantro and jalapenos which were pretty hot this time around. Not good, not terrible……

I did take a look at the sit down menu……but I think I'll do that when the weather gets a bit cooler…..

Anyway, this past week, I had to run and buy some rice. Not really for us, but for Da' Boyz who eat rice with every meal….we hardly consume rice anymore. There's something wrong in the world when my dogs are consuming Three Ladies or Buddha brand jasmine rice!

On this visit, I noticed that the new deal was "Buy 2 Sandwiches, get 1 Free"….I felt much better for the poor young ladies….this time it was pretty cut and dried. Then I stepped in and took a look at the prices for sandwiches…..

What the heck? All sandwiches had gone up by about 10-12% in two weeks? All the $2.95 sandwiches were now $3.39. The $3.45 sandwiches were now $3.69. The BBQ Beef had been $2.95 and was now $3.69……this time, I don't blame customers for getting a bit upset. It is "only" 20 to 40 cents or so…..but it just doesn't seem right to raise prices so quickly….2 weeks?

Speaking of upset, I ordered a Dac Biet and got this instead…..

Whatever, at least it was same priced sandwich.

Tell you what though….I'm not going back for a while.

Bale Restaurant and Deli
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

More Noodling Around – 777 Noodle House, Pho King, Santouka, Yakuyudori Ramen and Yakitori, and Yum Cha Cafe

August 27, 2012 mmm-yoso Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Ooodles of noodles in mostly photos for Monday.

777 Noodle House:

This place seems to be doing some pretty good business, I love the diverse crowd. Had my usual simple bowl of Hu Tieu Nam Vang – dry. Did have a fairly lousy bowl of Egg Noodle Soup with Roast Duck Leg recently, but the Pork Intestine Noodle Soup was interesting. Intestine was prepared fine, though on the chewy side….this really smelled funky, but the flavor was good…..the broth did take on some of the intestine flavor.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Pho King:

Hadn't been back here in a while. So had my usual Hu Tieu Mi Kho….man am I getting boring and predictable.

Pho King Restaurant
4658 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Santouka:

Talk about predictable….yep, Shio Toroniku style.

Though I don't feel so bad, since a couple of weeks later I ran into Dennis here and he got his ramen…yep…toroniku style! Dennis also said he just knew he'd run into someone that day…..I guess he was getting readings on his "blog-dar"???? Funny….

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

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori:

I gotta say….this bowl of shoyu ramen was probably the best I had here. Balanced in flavor, not too salty, the noodles were perfectly prepared….just good stuff.

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

Yum Cha Cafe:

**** Yum Cha Cafe has closed

I feel the place has kinda gone downhill since they opened and have not visited very much recently. However, I was in the area and hungry after shopping next door. I'd always wondered about the $3.99 rice noodle soup with BBQ pork, so I decided to get that.

I was pleasantly surprised. At least in terms of portion size. There were at least 6-7 slices of BBQ Pork, the noodles were nicely done. The soup was a step above MSG water….but in terms of value, I'd say this is pretty good.

Great stuff for the starving student set…..

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Ed Noodles around San Diego

July 25, 2012 ed fromyuma Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Most days, Kirk posts about adventures and food here at mmm-yoso!!! Often Cathy blogs about foody events as well. Some times Ed (from Yuma) has a post. Today is one of those times.

While Tina was stuck in Yuma working, entertaining international visitors and amusing our dog, I was looking forward to a few days in San Diego. Not wanting same ol’ same ol’, I carried a list of some of Kirk's favorite Vietnamese dishes with me. Of course, one place was closed for remodeling, and I ran out of time before I ran out of restaurants, but I had three interesting noodly adventures.

Chinese Kitchen

All I have is an exterior picture:

The folks at the restaurant were amazed that someone who looked like a total gabacho knew to order the duck soup, Bun Mang Vit (thanks, Kirk). The folks at one of the tables in the tiny, shabby little restaurant said "yeah, that's what we’re all having." Anyway, I was conspicuous enough without taking pictures, but Kirk is right about soup – the duck is good, the noodles are plentiful, and the dipping sauce perfect and full of ginger. I have had more flavorful duck broth, but it's hard to complain about a $6.50 meal as good as this one.

Lucky Seafood

Here I have no exterior picture because I forgot. No interior shot either. I ordered pho # 4, flank steak, tendon, tripe, and brisket (thanks again, Kirk). The garnish showed up first:
Look at that wonderful abundant fresh basil. Perfect. Notice the sawtooth leaf underneath it. Four thick slices of jalapeño and perfectly fresh bean sprouts.

Then came the soup:
Both the flank and brisket were melt in your mouth tender. A little more tendon and tripe would've suited me, but it is hard to complain about a soup this good. The broth in particular was extremely rich, spicy with anise, and deeply and profoundly beefy. I cannot remember a better pho stock.

The noodles were truly outstanding. They still had some toothy pull and separated nicely instead of balling up:

And when I looked at the noodles carefully, I realized that some of the noodles were wider than others, and I wonder if mixing two gauges of noodles helps keep them more separated. In any case, this is my new standard for a bowl of pho.

Thuan Kieu

Years ago, Kirk and I had some Bun Mam (pungent catfish and pork belly noodle soup) at Nhu Y, which used to occupy the space now named Com Tam Thuan Kieu:

On his last visit, Kirk thought Thuan Kieu’s version was still the best in town, but that it seemed to be changing. If my visit is any indication, the evolution of Bun Mam here is continuing.

First came the garnishes:
Notice that everything is mixed up together – as if the restaurant is saying, we know the right proportions of mint leaf, shredded red cabbage, shredded regular cabbage, beans sprouts, lime juice, and fresh jalapenos. I honestly don't know what the long green grass like leaves are, but they went into the soup anyway.

The noodles that showed up on this occasion seemed better than the ones that Kirk describes on his visit:
They are not watery at all. They were hot and had a nice bite.

And this is how the soup looked:
The broth certainly was less pungent than the version at Nhu Y, if my memory is accurate. In fact, it does not look as dark and funky as the version in Kirk's post. Otherwise the visible contents seemed about the same, except for that odd green thing at the back of the bowl that looks like some sort of a strange vegetarian clam.

Here you can see the chunks of eggplant (cooked soft and buttery), decent sized shrimp (a little overcooked), a one of the few pieces of squid (pleasantly tender), and some of the pork belly:
This picture shows more of the pork belly (rich and flavorful and slightly chewy). Notice also the flecks of red chilies in these pictures:
There were two thin slices of excellent, clean flavored catfish:
And that strange green clam thing? Actually, it was a jalapeño stuffed with Vietnamese white sausage and then roasted whole before going in the soup:
This was something new to the soup and was an excellent addition, providing green chile spice and sausage flavored pork in every piece. And it did add an interesting visual as well.

Overall, this Bun Mam was, for my taste at least, truly outstanding. It had a greater interplay of flavors than I remember from the version at Nhu Y. In fact, it reminded me in some strange ways of the complexity that I love in the Bun Rieu at Mien Trung – perhaps my favorite Vietnamese soup in all of San Diego. Well, it used to be my favorite.

Some Noodling: Pho Convoy Noodle House, Lucky Pho, and Pho Cow Cali Express.

July 12, 2012 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

Funny thing; much like last year, the only thing I really craved while on our trip was noodle soup….really. Not rice, but noodles. So of course when we returned I really needed to scratch that itch. Here are some of those v(re)visits.

Pho Convoy Noodle House:

**** Pho Convoy Noodle House has closed

One of the most convenient with regards to location from work. I've had some fairly decent Pho here before, so this was an easy choice.

It was kind of strange when I arrived. It was already past 11am, yet it looked like the place had just opened. I believe they open at 10? Chairs were still stacked up and the guys working here looked like they just woke up. I should have taken this as a bad omen…..

I ordered the #2 regular (well done steak, flank, fattybrisket, tendon, and tripe $5.65). Second bad omen, the first plate of garnishes arrived and looked like we were suffering from a basil shortage here in San Diego…….really, I got more basil and bean sprouts with my pho in Madison Wisconsin! So I asked if I could have a bit more basil and perhaps some Ngo Gai. The guy grunted and removed the entire plate……

Meanwhile, my bowl of Pho arrived.

It looked really light, like bad dishwater, and man was it salty. The noodles were adequate, the protein mediocre, with just one tiny little dime sized piece of tendon. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my basil….which finally made it's appearance about five minutes later. In retrospect I should have taken a photo. It was a brand new("different") plate which I guess they switched out. Still no Ngo Gai, blackened basil, and this time the bean sprouts were brown….taught me for asking for something here. Perhaps all their energy has gone into the second location in Chula Vista? Or was it a bad day? I dunno……

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

Lucky Pho:

Always one of my favorites, I decided on going here early one weekend morning.

I went with the flank, brisket, tendon and tripe….spelled "stripe" on the menu……

The broth looked nice and dark, not too salty on this visit; mild beef flavor, with hints of onion, a bit lighter in the anise than I recall. On my last couple of visits, they had gotten into the habit of overcooking their noodles; bot on this trip…it was nice, firm with a bit of stretch.

The protein was a bit scarce, but was never their strong point. Still, one of my favorite bowls…….

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

Pho Cow Cali:

Mean, on the other hand, has never been an issue at the competition right across the street at Pho Cow Cali.

Man check out how much basil they gave me! Looks like an entire bush! Talk about the opposite of Pho Convoy…..

Some of it was going kind of brown, but you enough to choose from that it wasn't a problem.

Basically the same item as Lucky; but of course it looked like twice the meat.

The last couple times I've been here; the broth has been kind of weak, though it does let the flavor of the cilantro and scallions come through a bit more. I do prefer something a bit more beefy and assertive in flavor. I'm thinking that's not a big deal for a lot of the customers here, like the three Korean guys on the table next to me who almost used up the entire bottle of Sriracha and Hoisin, then asked for onions. Pho Jjim I guess? Or perhaps some hamajang ganjang?

I think folks at "Da' Cow" do a really nice job with tripe, as it's usually quite good, nice crunch with no off-tasting soapy flavor. The flank and brisket are usually good as well, full of flavor and just tender enough. Not my favorite tendon, but still good.

Still in my top three……

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

Still, even Lucky and Cow Cali had me wishing for a bowl from say……Pho 86, Pho Kimmy, or Pho Thanh Lich. Which had me wondering; most of the Pho places make their broth very mild, except for salt and MSG. Do you think this is specifically done this way in San Diego? I realize that there's a bit of a chasm in terms of flavoring in San Diego. The older Vietnamese prefer something a bit stronger in flavor; the younger generation goes for something more hip, lighter in flavor, and focus a lot on decor. So is San Diego creating it's own "pho not to offend"? Or am I just going crazy?????

Pho Hiep & Grill (revisit)

June 10, 2012 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Well, you've found mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk is busy recovering from the last leg of his vacation, ed (from Yuma) is busy recovering from events occurred in Yuma and Cathy, recovering from a sunburn, is able to blog a short post today.

Hi. The other day, it was chilly and The Mister and I both wanted noodles and broth. We could not agree on the type of broth, nor on which the animal we wanted to eat. It occurred to me that we hadn't had any Vietnamese food lately and so we headed to Linda Vista and Pho Hiep & Grill, which I've posted about, and so has Kirk. This location has been here more than 20 years (it originally was Pho Hoa Hiep and the first place The Mister and I ever ordered pho). It is our favorite place, with Pho Lucky Seafood being a very close second.

Not much has changed in all these years.

The condiments on the table are standard. The tables are highly laquered. There are two televisions and on this day, both were playing a black and white Mexican (not translated) Cowboy movie.

The Mister's Dac Biet (small, $5.50)- a rich beef broth, noodles, onion, herbs and thin cut rare lean beef, rare brisket, fatty brisket, flank, tendon and tripe.

The pho add-ins at the top, which includes sawtooth. The Mister and I shared that plate. The ginger sauce is to add into my to my Pho Ga ($5.50) -a very rich chicken broth, noodles, onion, fresh herbs and -my reason for eating here- you are asked if you want only chicken breast meat, or "all of it". Of course, since The Mister got just about every part of the cow, asked for every part of the chicken. As you can see, there was chicken liver and also heart with dark as well as white meat from the bird.

A favorite place where each of us can get exactly what we want, when we want everything. I hope everyone is having a good weekend and will have a nice week.

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 two locations in Chula Vista share This Website