Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 42

Cali Baguette Express – Convoy

May 23, 2011 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** This location has become Cali Banh Mi

I'd been waiting a while for Cali Baguette Express to open on Convoy. I figured that by the time we returned from vacation CBE would be open…. and we were kinda close; they opened the Saturday after we returned.

Banh Mi has been conspicuously absent from this part of Kearny Mesa for years. I know we have Sau Voi Deli in the 99 Ranch Market shopping area…. but I've never been a fan. The Missus enjoys the Banh Mi from Cali Baguette, and the Mira Mesa location tied for first on our MM Banh Mi sampling. The Missus was happy that we wouldn't need to drive down to the El Cajon Boulevard location when She craved a Banh Mi. The shop is bright and sunny; stack of canned Pate stacked up nicely, Cha Gio and Banh Pate Chaud in bright metal pans under the heat lamps.

On my first visit I went with, well good ol' #1, the Dac Biet (special – $3).

The bread didn't hold up well on my trip home, but otherwise this was pretty much the same as I've always had on my visits to the other locations, save one thing. There was muc more pate on it then usual, which was a mixed blessing….good for flavor, bad for bread.

I'm not sure what time this location opens, and keep on forgetting to ask. I do know when I pass on my way to work they aren't open yet. Too bad, because I enjoy the Banh Mi Trung (Egg – $2.75), which seriously beats out any other "Mc-whatevers" in my book.

At the ECB location, I've actually watch the women there crack the egg into the deep fryer! I don't think they do it that way at this location, but the combination of crunchy pickled daikon and carrots, the Maggi (which tastes good on everything), light a flakey Banh Mi really does it for me. This time the bread was very good!

I've never been a big fan of the Banh Mi Xiu Mai (meatball) at Cali Express…. I prefer the version at Saigon Sandwiches and Deli, but I thought I'd give it another shot.

And though the bread was perfect, I really didn't care for the crumbled very wet meatball…… the texture was too wet, almost like snot, not great mouthfeel.

Overall, I'm happy to see Cali Baguette Express….. when the weather gets a bit warmer, I'll probably be stopping by quite often on the way home. All I can really say is….. it's about time!

I nearly forgot a question I had….. has anyone ever tried the soup or rice dishes at CBE? There's a menu of stuff like Bun Bo Hue, Bun Rieu, and even Bo Kho, but I've never seen anyone (other then the owner, or the owner's kids) eating the stuff.

Cali Baguette Express
4425 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

A Gooey Sunday Post: Tan Ky Mi Gia (Mira Mesa) and the “New” Mandarin Canton

April 3, 2011 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

This past week, for some reason, the Missus was craving something "gooey over fried noodles"…. something that happens every couple of years. I'm not quite sure brings it on…. but it does happen. We were in the Mira Mesa area so we stopped by:

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia is no longer

Which I've posted on quite a few times. The Missus went with the Pan Fried Egg Noodles with Seafood.

Something that I'd never had here before. The noodles not covered in the gooey "sauce" were very crumbly, and dare I say…. dusty. The light complexioned sauce was very tasty, perhaps edging on the salty side. That's about all I know since the Missus scarfed just about everything except the squid (not bad) and the fish balls (meh).

I noticed something interesting about the flavor of that sauce. It tasted a lot like the pork based "soup" that comes with many of the noodle dishes. I'm thinking they use this broth along with corn starch to create that stir-fry sauce. On this night, the broth was pretty salty as well….. but I wasn't complaining since I felt a cold coming on, and something with a good dose of salt (and MSG?) was welcome.

Needing a good dose of flavor, I went with the Beef Sate Noodle – Dry.

Not as spicy as other versions, the beef was pretty tender, the sauce a good flavor, so this hit the spot as well.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126

For some reason, that dose of gooey-ness didn't cure the Missus. While driving South on the 805, I asked the Missus if we should drop by Mandarin Canton. I hadn't been back since before the unfortunate, and I still think unsolved murder of the restaurant owner in 2009. That's why Mandarin Canton never made it into our Salt and Pepper Wing challenge. The Missus had returned after the restaurant reopened, and thought the food had serious short-comings, which She blamed on "replaced oil syndrome" – where the well seasoned frying oil had actually been replaced, and all the flavoring is gone; and just never bothered to go back. We have nothing against ABCDE ('Ab-cee-dee' = American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) food, but it has to be done well. I found this to be a pretty hard thing to find here in San Diego. Anyway, as we walked to the restaurant off Telegraph Canyon Road, I noticed the sign now said:

The New Mandarin Canton Restaurant:

Perhaps trying to shake off the ghosts of the heinous crime. The menu looks new; but the same old dishes still occupy their place on the menu. In serious need of "gooey over fried noodles" the Missus ordered the Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles ($8.25), a well represented South Bay – Chinoy type dish that is well represented by places like Royal Mandarin and Golden Chopsticks.

This didn't deliver. The noodles were okay for this type of dish, but the sauce just had no flavor whatsoever. I did notice that the chicken in this dish was better than before. I'd always recommend that other than the wings, folks should stay away from anything with stir-fried chicken in it.

To digress, there's that ultimate sign of an ABCDE joint, stuff which I've gone over before. You get the fried won ton wrappers with the neon sweet-sour sauce. Also, no chopsticks; you have to ask for them.

Of course I had to have the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.75):

I thought these were much better than before. The batter had been lightened up, and the wings were nicely crisp. The ever present crystals of MSG were of course present….. this had that nice "crack-like" addictiveness to it. You'll need to eat these when hot; due to the light batter, they don't keep real well.

The Missus favorite here, and probably the most expensive item on the menu is the Salt and Pepper Shrimp without shell at $12.75:

Like the chicken wings, these have been lightened up a bit as well. Compare this with how the dish used to look. The batter is more light and crisp, fairly close to lacquer-like. The shrimp had a nice flavor as well. The Missus thinks this dish is much better than before.

In the end, this was a nice guilty-pleasure meal. I find most of the items on the menu borderline terrible, but you can't go wrong with the fried stuff, and they do a decent job with shrimp. Also, if you are one of those people who believe they are allergic to MSG, be careful, this place will put you on life support. After paying the bill, after the Missus had already headed out to the car; the really nice lady serving us told me "Xièxiè", to which I replied one of the only words I know in Mandarin "bukeqi"… she laughed and started talking to me in Mandarin! Whoa….. I told her that my wife is Chinese, I'm Japanese….. she laughed and said, "oh, I thought you were Chinese, and you're wife is Filipino!" Happens all the time!

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

Saturday Stuffs: Lao New Year Festival, Yes Ed Hoai Hue Restaurant is still open.

April 2, 2011 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, Vietnamese Restaurants

Lao New Year Festival:

Good FOY, TammyC mentioned a couple of them to me, but due to my schedule I'm not able to attend. Another frequent reader Andrea asked me if I could mention the Lao American Coalition's Lao New Year Festival at the Buddhist Temple on Market Street on April 16th and 17th, as well as a Lao New Year gala at the Jacob Center. You can find more information here. Good luck Andrea!

Yes Ed, Hoai Hue Restaurant is still open:

I managed to grab a bite with Ed from Yuma on one of his all too infrequent visits. He mentioned that he believed that Hoai Hue Restaurant had closed, since he couldn't find the place. He ended up eating at Danang instead…. not a bad alternative. I asked Ed if he was looking for the old location. But he assured me that he was looking for the new location. So I drove by today….and Hoai Hue is still the Ed!

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

And I'm sure the place will be waiting for you on your next visit!

Finding the Pho in Phoenix: Pho 43 Express

March 8, 2011 ed fromyuma Bun Bo Hue, Pho, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk needs a break and Cathy is reeeallly busy, so today ed (from yuma) is posting about some place not in Yuma or San Diego.

Knowing that we were going to be in the Phoenix area around Presidents' Day, Tina and I thought about some places to eat. Both of us, as it turns out, were hungry for Vietnamese. A little research on Chowhound turned up a list of Vietnamese restaurants.

The one closest to where we were going to be was Pho 43 Express on 43rd Ave in the Maryville district of Glendale. We figured we'd give it a try.

The restaurant is a stand-alone building with plenty of parking in a neighborhood of multiple ethnicities — so far, so good:

The large number of family members (no school on Presidents' Day) let us know that this was a family restaurant, not a pho factory like some of the assembly line SD pho restaurants. The folks were friendly.

Looking over the menu, we realized that this was primarily a noodle House, with bun, pho, hu, and mi dishes predominating. That made ordering easy. A large combination pho and bun bo hue.

The garnishes arrived first and were all on one plate. There were plenty of bean sprouts and shredded cabbage, abundant mint and basil, lemon wedges, and a few jalapeno slices:

Although a few leaves of basil were blackened at the edges, we had plenty.

The first soup to arrive was the bun bo hue:

I thought it was a pretty decent bowl of soup. The nearly spaghetti size noodles were nicely cooked. They still had some pull and were not all clumped together. There was enough chili spice and a slight taste of the sea underneath the meat flavors in the stock. Kirk, of course, would have deemed it insufficiently funky and reached for the shrimp paste. But he wouldn't have found any on the table:
The beef in the soup was good (though not memorable), but the meaty highlight of the dish where the pieces of pork leg. Look at this:
And here's another:

Loved all the tender pork meat and the abundant tendon.

Still, I think we liked the pho even more:

Again the noodles were extremely well prepared. Separate and not overcooked. The stock rich, slightly sweet, with a nice anise flavor. The jalapeno slices and basil contributed nicely.

Unlike the bun bo hue, this soup had very little tendon and not much brisket. On the other hand, it was full of crunchy tripe and had remarkably flavorful rare steak:

I was impressed by the slices of rare steak. Normally that is my least favorite, and to my palate, the least flavorful pho meat. Here, it was really good and steaky. Amazing.

We also had good homemade lemonade:

To be honest, I was pretty impressed with this little restaurant. Maybe we just got lucky, but the pho was better than most that I've had in San Diego. And I would order the bun bo hue again as well.

I have not included prices because I'm sure that the carry out menu that I carried out is out of date. That large bowlof dac biet pho must cost more than five dollars, and the bun bo hue has got to be more than $4.90. However, I'm sure they are still incredible values.

Pho 43 Express, 2844 43rd Ave, Phoenix AZ 85009, (602) 269-3383. Open 8 am – 8 or 9 pm every day but Tuesday.

Keeping warm I hope? Banh Mi Bo Kho from Pho Lucky and other stuffs….

February 27, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Vietnamese Restaurants

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. First I got sick, then the Missus, now I'm pretty busy with work. I'm hoping to catch up this week. So thanks for your patience!

Throw in the record cold temperatures……… I was tired and wanted something… well with meat, and possibly a sauce or gravy. The Missus vetoed everything, but I finally mentioned something She approved of……. Banh Mi Bo Kho from Pho Lucky…with extra bread.

Even the Missus noticed how much tendon was in this one…..

Tonight I was pretty beat…got to work at 245 this morning, so my sleep patterns have been a bit discombobulated….. love the folks I'm working with though! Anyway, really didn't feel like going out this evening……need to be in at 330 tomorrow. So I went through the fridge and cupboards, and made something simple……

Curry- Egg -Rice……

It sure did hit the spot on a cold evening in San Diego!

And since after seeing the photo of his "brother" in an earlier post, Frankie has requested equal time.

I think he needs a good bath…….

More Noodling Around: Tajima Noodle House, Izakaya Masa, and Pho Cow Cali

February 21, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Since it's still pretty darn cold (by our spoiled San Diego standards) and rainy here, I thought I'd get in another round of noodles…….

Tajima Noodle House:

Sadly, my last couple of visits to the original Tajima on Convoy have been the same. I've been underwhelmed by the broth, which wavers between too salty and bland. Still, I decided to drop by recently in the middle of one of our rainstorms…… I mean really, if it didn't hit the spot this time…..

Hedging my bets, I went with the Shoyu Kakuni Ramen…. the basic shoyu ramen with Buta Kakuni (braised pork belly) and Chashu in it. If I didn't care for this…….

And it didn't. On this day, the broth was seriously flat. The sweetness from the buta kakuni (which could have braised a bit longer) just emphasized the lack of richness. The Chashu was pretty dry, but not as bad as what I had at Gunco recently. The egg wasn't aesthetically perfect, but was nicely cooked.

I actually came back a few days later…. I didn't bother taking photos, and had the Shio Ramen, which was better, but not by much.

It's kind of sad actually. You'd think that with Yakyudori up the street, that Tajima would step up. I will say this; on my two visits, I really enjoyed the pleasant service. First by a young lady whose name I believe was Yoshimi. On the second visit, it was a friendly young man named Tony. Both were excellent……

One thing I am sure of…… I'm sure that the ramen tastes better at 2am in the morning…. having it during lunch with unimpaired tastebuds, maybe not so much.

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Masa:

Spurred on by Dennis of A Radiused Corner, I returned to Izakaya Masa for another shot at the ramen. Dennis had told me that Masa now serves a Shio ramen. I was also told to order my noodles "barikata", or extra firm.

The ramen prices here are good, $6.95 a bowl, though the portion size isn't huge. Here's my Shio Ramen:

As always, the Chashu here is tender, but not falling to pieces, if a bit mild in flavor. The noodles were much better when ordered extra-firm, though I still wish that being from Fukuoka, the folks here could serve some real Hakata style noodles. There used to be a shop in Honolulu, run by an older woman called Hakata Ramen……though her broth wasn't very good, I got my first taste of Hakata style noodles which she had brough in from Fukuoka. The broth was slightly rich, much better than what I had before, but the shio (the salt) used for the ramen left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I think the ramen here is slowly getting better…… but like Tajima, this ramen is probably better after a couple of beers……

Still, I love how this tiny restaurant is put together……..

Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103

Pho Cow Cali:

I've always thought that Pho Cow Cali (even when it was Pho HoaCali) was one of the most consistent Pho shops in San Diego.

So I don't know what happened on this day……..

The meat, as always was good, the beefy flavored brisket tender, but not crumbling, the flank had some chew, but wasn't tough, the tripe decent, and the tendon slightly chewy, but good. The broth and the garnishes on this day weren't very good. The soup was lukewarm and almost flavorless, and it seemed that I got the last handful of bean sprouts which were broken into pieces, the basil was turning black. As I mentioned elsewhere, the two things that PCC had over Lucky was consistency and the meat. I'm pretty much a soup guy, and if the soup ain't good…..

Hopefully, this was an off day……..

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

So I came home today to find our living room a mess…… towels strewn about, stuffing from disembowled doggy toys everywhere……. and in the midst of it all was Sammy…. giving me his best pathetic "you know I'm innocent until proven guilty" look. (Do you notice that piece of stuffing material on his nose? Hmmm……)

There are times….

January 29, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Vietnamese Restaurants

When I feel so blessed……. Recently, I was invited to a home of some good friends for a combined birthday, Tet meal…. and I do mean a meal. My good friends; Peter and JohnL's Mom, a fantastic cook invited me over for a wonderful feast…..

Not much more to say, other than feast your eyes…. everything was home made… from the sausages:

To all the pickles…

I can only say…. "man this was soooo good…."

From a tiny kitchen in a cottage off a side street in Clairemont, such wonderful dishes arrived……

And then, when all the guys settled in for the usual "games of chance"…….

And liquid refreshment…..

There was even more…….

All of it home made……

Ever had twenty year old Nuoc Mam? The flavor is so deep……

There are times when I imagine how life is for other folks…. on this night, I felt so lucky to be me; and to be surrounded by my friends who I treasure so…… life would not be the same without them!

Mira Mesa Banh Mi Tasting: BaLe, Tan Ky Mi Gia, Express Deli (Lucky Seafood), Cali Baguette Express, Corner Sandwich & Cafe, Baguette Up, and Sorrento European Bakery

January 23, 2011 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Memorable Meals, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of weeks ago, while having my SPAM® and Egg Banh Mi and Baguette Up I suddenly realized that perhaps Mira Mesa had the most Banh Mi shops on one single stretch of road in the greater San Diego area. I could recall at least seven places; which sounded just enough to do a super-duper crawl/comparison.

And my good friends, bless their hearts, are always game and up for something different, and have been with me on different food excursions, crawls, and meals. Since I've done a shorter rendition of this before, I pretty knew what I wanted to do. There would be two cars; we'd meet in the parking lot of Lucky Seafood. We'd order the "special" at every stop, and get it just the way the sandwich is served. We'd hit BaLe, Tan Ky Mi Gia, and Express Deli first since it's in the same parking lot. I handed out pens and sharpies to mark each restaurant with the name and prices. Of course I didn't count on PeterL writing the wrong prices down on a sandwich (it's a darn good thing he's got Angela to keep things straight), but I remembered the prices anyway. There were also some timing glitches since Express Deli seemed to have a thousand sandwich orders and took a while to make our sandwich. We headed off across the street to Cali Baguette Express, while TammyC and MrC headed off to a place I'd seem recently called Corner Sandwich & Cafe, located behind Popeyes in the same mall as Seafood City. We hit Baguette Up, while the other team headed to the finish at the other end of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Sorrento European Bakery. This was our meeting area as the food court is empty on Sundays, giving us ample room to do a tasting.

We had come prepared; disposable cutting mats, paper towels, knives, and water. And PeterL was our "cutter" and displayed great skill in cutting each Banh Mi into six pieces. In order to keep things as fair as possible, we ate the sandwiches in chronological order…. not quite FIFO, more like FIFI – first in, first in. I've been told in emails and some comments that the differences in Banh Mi are so small that it's really not worth mentioning. While I've always believed that I could make out differences in various sandwiches. And this tasting bore that out; and I was very surprised at how significant the differences were.

For the sake of time; I'll spend most of the post on the two favorite, and the two that we thought really weren't to our tastes. Strangely enough, the voting was unanimous on the two best, and the two worst.

The two favorites:

Express Deli:

Even though our sandwich took forever, and what's up with giving us mostly stems of cilantro(?), we really enjoyed Express Deli. The portion seemed on the small side, meat cut into very thin slices, but you make out the flavors of the Jamon and other meat, and the bread was toasted perfectly, making this heck of a good Banh Mi. Proportionally this was our favorite….plus the pickled carrots and daikon tasted good.

At $3.25, it's one of the more affordable sandwiches.

Express Deli
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd (inside Lucky Seafood)
San Diego, CA 92126

Cali Baguette Express:

I like the sandwiches from the El Cajon Boulevard location, but haven't tried the Mira Mesa location until today. Like Express Deli, Cali Baguette Express was either first or second on everyone's list.

At three bucks this was the cheapest sandwich. Cali Express makes their own bread, so even though we noticed that they didn't toast their banh mi, it was still slightly warm when we ate it. The bread is pretty light, and even though it's nothing close to what we had in Vietnam (what is?), the crust was flaky, and the bread to fillings ratio was good.

It was a long, but not huge sandwich, which looked the prettiest of them all when unwrapped……

Cali Baguette Express
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd #106
San Diego, CA 92126

And much like the two favorite, the two we enjoyed the least was also a unanimous vote. Sadly, the second to last was…..

Sorrento European Bakery:

**** Sorrento European Bakery has closed

I've had some pretty good sandwiches here before, but the bread on this day was especially stale……. and having had six sandwiches before this one, everyone noticed right away.

We all oohh's and aaah'd at the chunky pate, but it had no taste. The probably from a can pate on the Express Deli sandwich had more flavor. Actually, the flavor of the cucumber over-powered everything else in the sandwich.

Sorrento European Bakery
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd #117 – in the Sorrento Plaza Shopping Center
San Diego, CA 92121

The unanimous last place, and I do mean for all six of us was…….

Corner Sandwich & Cafe:

Corner Sandwich & Cafe has closed

This was a mystery place, as I've only passed it once. It looked like one of the Viet coffee places with all the older men hanging out outside. The Banh Mi here tied for the most expensive at four bucks.

The sandwich itself looked promising when opened up.

And then it happened, as we each took our first bite of the sandwich. Starting with MrC, then Angela…. an "whoa, this tastes really fishy". And yes indeed, there was fish cake in this one. The bread also seemed a bit old…… but the fishy taste pretty much overwhelmed everything.

TammyC was the last to have a bite…. she was taking notes, not fooling around, was she? We pretty much agreed with her notes on this one.

"Nuoc Mam Taste……fish cakes….bread sucks….." She never finished her slice……

Corner Sandwich & Cafe
9005 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

As for the rest? I'll just keep this short:

BaLe:

Bread was on the mealy side, kind of hard overall. PeterL and Angela said they got an "eggy" taste, probably from the spread that BaLe uses.

Ba Le French Sandwiches
9396 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Tan Ky Mi Gia:

**** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

Had the most hefty sandwich of the bunch.

The crust of the banh mi was too hard and chewy….it was also a bit too bready and dry for us along with not being toasted. This Banh Mi was tied at the most expensive at four bucks. We all liked the choices of meat in this sandwich, but there was just too much bread.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Baguette Up:

**** Baguette Up has closed

Even though this sandwich had the nicest looking Thi Ba Chi (roasted pork belly), TammyC in her notes summed it up for us….. "bland". Nothing really there to make this sandwich stand out. I will say, that along with Cali Baguette Express, Baguette Up has the nicest service…..

Baguette Up
8155 Mia Mesa Blvd. Suite #3
San Diego, CA 92126

This was a fun time, and also an eye opening experience, especially for JohnL, PeterL, and TammyC who are Vietnamese and have grown up eating Banh Mi. We never expected such great differences, but each sandwich was very different from the other!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I've been blessed to know folks like JohnL, PeterL, Angela (whose warmth and graciousness always keeps us going), TammyC, and MrC! So what's next guys????

Baguette Up

January 9, 2011 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Baguette Up has closed

A couple months back FOY (Friend of Yoso) Pheth mentioned a new Banh Mi shop opening in the same strip mall as Vinh Hung Market, Luong Hai Ky, et al in Mira Mesa….. I had to chuckle when she mentioned that the name of the place was Baguette Up. How…. umm, well cute isn't the right word, neither is quaint…. witty perhaps? About a week later "Melanie" mentioned this shop in her email about Song Huong. So it was only a matter of time it was "batter up" for Baguette Up (I guess I can almost be as pun-ny).

Baguette Up has its' own doorway, but seems to share space with the Boba shop named Bobalicious (of course…). Actually, the space for the Boba (sorry, I have a limit on how many times I'm willing to type out out Boba-licious) is twice as large.

For some reason I'm reminded of an ice cream shop whenever I walk in. Even though the menu says, "deliciously different"….. funny, but I don't see anything really different about the fourteen Banh Mi, several of which are "gringo specials" from other Banh Mi shops.

As for the prices; well they're pretty much in line with the other Banh Mi shops in the area as well.

So of course I went with the #1, the "special" (aka Banh Mi Dac Biet – $3.50) just to see what their Dac Biet consisted of. There's nary a word in Vietnamese as far as I could see; so it just seemed that this place was trying to distance itself. The sandwich itself seemed pretty small when I got it.

The bread itself was very fresh on this visit…. it had that light flakiness of a decent Vietnamese Baguette. Opening up the sandwich I was also pleasantly surprised to see pate, albeit a very mild pate, but I was glad to see that this little shop was actually trying to make a proper Banh Mi.

The overall portions of meat in the sandwich was on the small side; think Express Deli with lower quality protein. Also the pickled carrot, there was hardly any daikon, was not pickled enough, and hardly had any flavor.

The one interesting thing was the jalapenos. The jalapenos in this sandwich had some kick, which just about killed off everything in the sandwich. On the good side, it was just cilantro leaves, and not all the tough stems, which was nice for a change.

In the end, I thought this sandwich was not a very good value. And usually that would be it for me. Except for two things; first, the young lady manning the counter has got to be one of the nicest, friendliest, and attentive persons I've had the pleasure of coming across in a while.

Second, before walking out to the car to consume my sandwich, I noticed something which I could perhaps call "deliciously different"…. it was lucky #8:

After all, I always say "everything tastes better ina Banh Mi" right? (And I do mean everything.) So I returned for a SPAM® and Egg Sandwich ($3). There was a different young lady this time; but with the same sunny disposition:

I mean really, there are few things in my world better than SPAM® and eggs, and those would be SPAM® musubis, and perhaps Spam® Katsu Curry? This time, the bread wasn't so fresh, but there were two eggs in my Banh Mi, and with two slices of SPAM® this was fairly filling.

And if I wanted to get nit-picky, the eggs were cooked a bit more than I'd prefer, the pickled vegetables were still terrible, and all Banh Mi Trung (egg Banh Mi) should always have a sprinkling of Maggi. Still, this was a decent sandwich. But don't think it was a huge sandwich……

Because it was not….. but it would be a good breakfast. Which gets me to my next point; there are three egg sandwiches on the menu, but the place doesn't open until 11am.

So what can I say? That SPAM® and Egg was okay, the special less so. Service was great, prices are in line, not sure if I'll return, but it's always fun checking out a new place!

Baguette Up
8155 Mia Mesa Blvd. Suite #3
San Diego, CA 92126

Thanks for pointing this place out to me Pheth and Melanie, I'd have never found it otherwise!

Song Huong – Mira Mesa

December 28, 2010 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** This location of Song Huong has been replaced by Saigon Corner

I've been kinda hesitating "pulling the trigger" on this post. Based on comments and emails I've gotten, it seems that opinions of Song Huong are somewhat polarized……. But after a recent third visit to Song Huong I decided it was time for a post….. and I still waited and visted one more time….just to make sure….. When my good FOY (friend of yoso) "Yummy Yummy" told me that there was going to be a second Song Huong opening in Vinh Hung Market, I had mixed feelings. We've had a couple of decent meals at Song Huong on El Cajon Boulevard, but it just seems that the same dish was never the same twice…. perhaps some would find the somewhat whimsical preparations an interesting surprise. For us it was just plain maddening.

And then they opened….. and folks started emailing and commenting. On one side, "Yummy Yummy" and "Janfrederick" were thumbs down. On the other hand "Joe" (you can read his comments on this post) enjoyed it. "Melanie" (thanks for the emails!) was more on the positive side. By the time I finally visited I already had some recommendations……and some dishes to avoid as well!

If this doorway looks familiar, this is where Chibugan used to be (more on Chibugan at the end of the post).

Looking at my photos of Chibugan; it seems that the folks removed a good amount of the interior clutter and opened the place up a bit…… I never realized how high the ceilings here were!

The place does end up being on the cold side, and things tend to echo.

Like the ECB location; this place seels all manner of shakes and drinks, one thing which the Missus always enjoys at the ECB shop.

I pretty much knew what I wanted to order…… Melanie and Joe recommended the Banh Cuon. So I went with the Banh Cuon Dac Biet ($6.50):

As things go; this was decent by San Diego standards. The rolls used Banh Cuon Uot, and the pork was fairly bland and dry. The Nem Chua was pretty good, I like mine a bit more sour, and there was only one slice of it.

The Banh Cuon were a bit drier than I enjoy as well. The Nuoc Mam Cham also tasted watered down. The Cha Lua – lean defatted pork sausage were decent. Overall, I thought this was better than the version at Tan Ky Mi Gia, but not even close to say, Banh Cuon Tay Ho. Of course nothing beats having it made fresh in the morning. To be honest, I returned at a later date and had this again, this time it was much better(though they gotta bump up that Nuoc Mam Cham)……. so I guess YMMV??

I sitll wasn't quite sure about this place, so I returned and got the very thing I was told NOT TO get….. the Pho. "Joe" did mentioned that the place had changed Pho cooks, so perhaps my bowl of Pho Tai, Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach….. heck just call it #6 ($5.75) would be ok.

I swear, this could be the twin of the bowl I had at Vietnamese Cuisine on Miramar Road. It was cloudy and lacked any distinctive character…. it was far from terrible, but maybe a "C-". The garnishes were fairly scarce. The noodles however, were prepared perfectly.

Where this bowl fell really short was in the protein department…..

For some reason all the cuts of meat were very dry, none more than the flank which was tough as well. The worse was the tripe which had that unpleasant soapiness to it.

Still, I returned…… And when I ordered my Banh Cuon the second time, I was starving so I decided to try the Thit Nuong Cuon (grilled pork spring rolls – $3.75):

Aside from being a bit too wet, and the bun being on the mushy side this was ok. I also thought these were on the skimpy side, and would have appreciated more herbs to cut the saltiness (in a good way) of the thin slices of the pork.

Being on the wetter side, these started falling apart pretty quickly.

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment because I returned to Song Huong one more time…… this time for the Bun Bo Hue ($5.50):

All thoughts that this was going to be a "bland bowl" went away as the bowl arrived, and the funky fragrance of Mam Tom, fermented shrimp paste hit me before the bowl arrived. For me, the over-riding smell sends mixed signals, as what passes for Bun Bo Hue in most Pho shops is a basic clear broth with Mam Tom and chilies, something which totally misses the mark. And unfortunately this was, well, that. I liken it to having a trio play something designed for a quintet…… all the music is there, but certain parts aren't played. The plate of finely shredded cabbage and bean sprouts, though on the small side did fine. I could have used a bit more mint to add a herbaceous flavor to the bowl. The lime came to good use…. it helped me cut through the strong shrimp paste flavor.

There was a tiny speck of meat on the pork hock, and the thick slices of beef were tough and dry…. and to think folks complain about the meat at Mien Trung, which along with Hoai Hue is in a total different league.

On the good side; the broth was scorching hot; as must for this type of soup, and the noodles were cooked properly.

In the end, the food here is not terrible; but when it comes to everything other than the Banh Cuon, in my opinion there are other much better options in the area. I do really like the young lady who I believe runs the place…. she is quiet, but very nice…..they've never charged me for tea, and "round down " my check. As to whether I'll return? Maybe after a fairly long break….

Song Huong
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Postscript:

So what happened to Chibugan? Well, they moved over to a smaller space one door over:

One thing I've always liked about Chibugan is that they serve vertically challenged folks like me! Hah, just kidding…. but that's the first thing that went through my mind when I read "We make short orders!!!" Got a crispy pata for shorty over here?