Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 45

Convoy/Clairemont Pho Revisits: Pho T Cali, Phuong Trang, and Convoy Noodle House

December 2, 2009 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

When I recently did a post on Pho in Rancho Bernardo, I received an email asking me about my pick for Pho in the Kearny Mesa area. To be honest, most of my Pho intake occurs to the South of Ulric street, or North of the 52 Freeway. I haven't had Pho in the Convoy area for at least a year, and that was at Convoy Noodle House……truth be told, it was a pretty good bowl. As with so much that happens here, your recommendations, questions, and requests, are the real ideas behind my posts….. I just provide the stomach! So, with my marching orders in hand, here are some updated visits to Pho T Cali, Phuong Trang, and Convoy Noodle House.

Before I get rolling, there's something I noticed with these places; first, the garnishes have dwindled, you'll need to request more basil, bean sprouts, etc……also, you'll never get Ngo Gai (culantro) delivered with your standard dish of garnishes. You can ask, I have, but that doesn't mean it'll be on hand. So here goes……

Pho T Cali:

**** Pho T Cali has closed

The favorite of many, for me, very MOR (middle of the road) Pho. In past visits, the Pho has lacked character, and I really didn't think things would be much different on this visit. The service was standard Pho shop, I'm pointed to my table, a menu dealt out like the ace of spades, and the gentleman is standing on top of me waiting for my order before I open the menu.

I went with the "Chín, nạm, gầu, gân, sách" (well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe – $5.50).

Well what can I say…… the garnishes were fresh, but sparse. Check out the broth……..I think the beef flavoring was provided by "old Betsy" in the back of the place who exhaled on a pot of water. The broth was also very salty…… Funny thing was, I had a flashback of Pho I had in Hanoi, and not in a good way. In fact, that bowl from Pho Cuong was better than this.

The noodles were done well, and the brisket was tasty, though the flank lagged behind in flavor, and there was but one tiny piece of tendon in my bowl.

In the end, I decided to cut my losses………

Try as I might, I just couldn't bring myself to have another spoonful. No wonder I saw everyone dumping loads of hoisin and sriracha into their bowls. What the heck happened here? For those who eat here often, I hope, for the sake of your tastebuds, this was just a bad day.

Pho T Cali
7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Phuong Trang:

AKA "Vietnamese Denny's"….as a couple of folks I know call the place. Still, the food is consistent, and usually non-threatening. Actually, the older Gentleman serving me was the nicest and provided the most friendly service of the three places.

Here I went with the Flank and Brisket ($5.50):

Though still pretty light on the beef flavor, there were at least some clove and anise hints in the broth. The broth was also the least salty of the three places, it was funny, I could taste the difference in the flavor form each leaf of basil I added to the broth. Still, much to light for my tastes. The bean sprouts were brown and going South, so I asked the older Gentleman if I could get a replacement, which was done post-haste, and apologetically. As for the meats, the flank was cut too thick, it was dry, and tasteless. The brisket was a bit under-done, and could have been more tender.

When taking this photo, I decided to use another angle since I've always been accused of taking my Pho shots from the same angle….and sometimes even for using the same generic photo of a bowl oh Pho over and over…..

If you want "Pho not to offend", you can't go wrong with Phuong Trang……. They do ride that middle line in the road well here…..

Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Convoy Noodle House:

**** Convoy Noodle House has closed

This is the place I usually recommend in the area, but I hadn't eaten here in over a year. As with Pho T Cali, I ordered the "Chín, nạm, gầu, gân, sách" (well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe - $5.15).

Even though the garnishes here were the most sparse, this bowl was my favorite by a mile. The broth was mildly beefy, with clove and anise over-tones that were smoothed out by a tiny squeeze of lime. It could have used perhaps a bit more oil, but it was pretty good. The noodles were perhaps a touch over-cooked, but edible. Of the meats, the brisket was over-done and crumbled everywhere, and the flank had good flavor but was tough. The look of the tendon lying on top of the bowl wasn't too promising, but it was very soft and almost melted in my mouth.

Funny thing, the cheapest bowl of Pho, turned out to be my favorite.

Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go……I'm sure all you "Pho-natics" out there have formed your own opinions……

Thanks for reading!

Pho in Rancho Bernardo – Pho Hoang Express and Pho Ca Dao & Grill

November 16, 2009 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

It's getting to be that time of year again…..the mid-morning and afternoons may still be warm, but the mornings are quite cool. Perfect for Pho. Though I've had recommendations for Pho Hoang in RB, I never thought of making a special trip North to RB. Until Pho Ca Dao opened a new branch just a stone's throw (if you were Roberto Clemente) away. So one recent cool morning, I bolted on my spare stomach, and made my way up the I-15 to Ranch Bernardo.

Pho Hoang Express:

Is located right off the Bernardo Center Drive exit. If you didn't know it was there, along with Spices Thai Cafe and Passage to India Restaurant, you'd think you'd be driving right past another business park.

The interior is on the dim side, and has an almost classic Vietnamese restaurant feel to it. From the simple tables and the spoon and chopstick stand, to the ubiquitous paintings of Halong Bay and a Hmong Woman and Baby scene. The service here is also classic….. you walk in, are pointed to a table, menu tossed on table, the guy stands waiting for you to order. Not rude, just no nonsense…..

Usually, I'll just order the special ("Dac Biet") when I eat at a new Pho shop, just to get a nice overview of the various meats. But I've really gotten tired of the same 'ol rare steak in San Diego, which is usually of low quality, dry, and tough. You can get it on the side if you want, but it really doesn't make much of a difference…..maybe if the meat was, say, Shabu-Shabu quality, a nice dunk might be great. But until I start seeing Filet Mignon Pho served in San Diego…..

I went with the #4 – well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe ($5.70). In less then three minutes, my plate of garnishes, and my bowl of Pho made it's way to my table.

One large and one small (and withered) sprigs of basil, lime, a couple of slices of jalapeno, Ngo Gai (culantro…yay!), and maybe a half handful of bean sprouts. This is about right for San Diego nowadays. The Ngo Gai was fresh, and had that light, but slightly more anise cilantro like flavor. The bean sprouts reminded me of a funny encounter I observed at Pho Hiep and Grill. A Korean Gentleman was apparently trying to show off to the two women eating with him. He did the whole Neoc Beo, meat on the side, etc, etc…… running the poor Server crazy by not making his requests with his order, but piecemeal. And not in a very nice way as well. He did things in a very superior – narcissistic, "I'm the customer, and you'll serve me" kinda way. I specifically remember him telling the two women, "yeah, I eat Pho all the time, and this is how I roll….." Finally, when the garnishes arrive, he tells the very good natured young man to take his plate back. He wanted is bean sprouts "blanched". The Server was really accommodating, and trying to be friendly he told the young man, "oh, you have false teeth?" The Korean guy, "what….no, I have perfect teeth, no trouble!" The Server; "oh, because my mother and grandmother have no teeth, and they need to have their bean sprouts made that way….." The two girls started giggling, the Korean dude turned several shades of red, all the while the Server kept a straight face, with a look of total innocence. So I'm still not sure if he was getting a bit of revenge, or if he was dead serious…… It was funny though…. I guess "that's the way he rolls….."

Back to the Pho:

The broth was on the dark side, but clear. The flavor was mildly beefy, but lacked any good pronounced clove-anise tones, and could have been more savory. The noodles were bunched in the bottom of the bowl, SOP….. and were a bit overcooked and mushy.

There was a good amount of meat, the best being the tendon which was buttery and excellent. The brisket was cooked much to long; it had good flavor but had fallen into tiny pieces. The flank looked good, but had a slight "refrigerator" flavor.

Not a bad bowl, I've had much worse, the amount of meat was impressive. As in most Pho restaurants, everything happened pretty quickly, and I was out in 20 minutes.

Pho Hoàng Express
16425 Bernardo Center Dr
San Diego, CA 92128

Right up Bernardo Center Drive, taking a left on Rancho Bernardo Road, and I was at Pho Ca Dao.

Pho Ca Dao & Grill:

Open just two weeks at the time of the visit, Pho Ca Dao was much more well lit, and had folded the usual "Pho dining set" into kind of a shiny pseudo-tropical looking dining area.

The service here was much more friendly, though not as efficient in the "well oiled Pho machine" way of Pho Hoang. My water was even refilled three times during my meal! But as different as the two restaurants were, there was much in common. The prices looked the same, and the well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe was item #4 here as well. And when my garnishes hit the table, it looked like the exact twin of what I had at Pho Hoang.

That's where the similarities ended, as this bowl of Pho looked totally different from Pho Hoang's version:

In fact, it was markedly different from the soup at Pho Ca Dao's El Cajon and Mira Mesa locations. The broth was very light and clear, with almost no oil. I got a spoon of the broth, and took a photo…. it's almost transparent.

The broth actually had more anise-onion-clove flavor than Pho Hoang's, but was much more salty, and obviously less beefy. The broth also did better with regards to being able to taste the couple of leaves of basil and Ngo Gai. The noodles were perfect, a bit of stretch, and a mild toothsomeness. The meat was on the sparse side, and even though some of my favorite tendon is served at Pho Ca Dao's ECB location, this wasn't even close. Actually, I thought the flank, though a bit chewy had the best overall flavor.

I was asked twice how things were. The service is bordering on Western in standards. Even with all of this, I was still out in 40 minutes. Very quick for lunch, maybe forever when it comes to having a quick bowl of Pho. The folks working here are attentive, and have obvious pride in their shiny new digs.

Pho Ca Dao & Grill
11808 Rancho Bernardo Rd
San Diego, CA 92128

So which do I prefer? I dunno, it's a toss-up. More meat, it Pho Hoang. Want a clean and sparkling restaurant? Pho Ca Dao. Dark broth, Pho Hoang, lighter broth Pho Ca Dao….. you get it. Half a dozen of one, six of the other. It's nice to have choices, isn't it?

Nha Hang Quoc Te

November 8, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nha Hang Quoc Te has closed

When we moved to San Diego the Missus and I tried the two locations of Quoc Te severals times…. and had some horrendously bad meals. It ended up that the only thing I'd ever get at Quoc Te is the Banh Cuon, which is a bargain at a shade over six bucks. Over the last couple of years however, I've gotten several recommendations for the Quoc Te location on University. There were two items mentioned, the Fried Rice, and the Roast Duck. The prices at Quoc Te have always been pretty reasonable so I thought "why not"?

Not much has changed from our previous visits, except the prices which have gone up tad over the years. The dining area is a bit dated, and don't look at the carpet, and you'll be fine. The parking lot, with a very limited amount of parking stalls can be a challenge.

We decided on getting those recommended dishes, and throw in a few more Vietnamese style dishes as well.

So we started with the Papaya Salad with Dried Beef:

This was probably the best dish of the night, served ice cold, refreshing, with a good amount of herbs. The Missus has been craving this in the time since this meal, so we've been making it at home quite often.

Taking the fried rice recommendation, we went with the Shrimp Fried Rice:

This one was almost there. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, just past rare, not allowing the flesh to seize and become too chewy. The rice had a smidge of "Wok Hay" (Guo Chi), that caramelized smokey essence of the wok. On the downside, the dish was quite bland, and needed a good bit of soy sauce and white pepper to bring the flavor up to par.

Of course, I got the Banh Cuon Tay Ho ($6.25):

This was strangely bland for me as well. The only item I enjoyed was the Banh Cuon with the dried shrimp, everything else was very dull…. even the Nem Chua (fermented sausage). Even worse, the Nuoc Mam Cham tasted watered down. It sure looks like I'll have to head to Little Saigon soon for my fix, as this sure wasn't it.

And of course, the Roast Duck ($12.95 – half duck):

This was a bit of an "odd duck", no pun intended. It was very meaty, but sorely lacked a decent flavor….even the "drippings" were bland. The skin was strangely cracker-like, not the usual lacquered look and texture, but crumbly. I think this duck had been deep fried to revive it before serving. Personally, I'd take a more boney duck with good skin and great flavor.

A couple of days later, the Missus and I were chatting about Quoc Te, and how it seems that most of the dishes were just a bit off. So we decided to make another trip up to Quoc Te.

Having thought the papaya salad was pretty good last time around, we started with the Goi Xoai Tom Thit, the Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp and Pork.

Again, the fish sauce based dressing tasted watered-down. Good amount of herbs, specifically Rau Ram, the pork was tough but had decent flavor, and the shrimp was passable. Not as good as versions I've had at Seafood Island or Que Huong, but okay.

We also ordered the Stir-fried Egg Noodles with Seafood:

I thought the calamari and the shrimp were cooked to perfection. The egg noodles were a bit over-cooked. And much like the fried rice, this fell short on flavor and needed a good dose of soy sauce and white pepper.

We also decided to try the Whole Steamed Sole ($12.95). The dish that first drove us away from Quoc Te was a Catfish Hot Pot that was so heinously bad, that it still remains in my memory banks. Unfortunately, this dish would have the same effect on us five years later:

First off, apparently the oil used to top the fish had not been heated properly, and so there was no sizzle, nor wisp of steam coming off this. Thus, this caused the dish to have an excessively greasey feel to it. Also, the soy sauce was not appropriately flavored, and didn't add enough flavor. And worst of all, the oil tasted rancid…….yuck. My tongue was coated with a nasty rancidness that was really difficult to conquer. To add insult to injury, the Missus got a fish bone stuck in Her throat after the very first bite. I don't think we'll forget this dish for a while….for all the wrong reasons….

Nha Hang Quoc Te
4448-A University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Revisiting the Rotation: Mien Trung and Izakaya Sakura

October 13, 2009 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple more revisits to our rotation.

Mien Trung:

Our recent cold weather meant an immediate return to Mien Trung, easily my favorite Bun Bo Hue in San Diego. I've had my share of Bun Bo Hue and keep returning to this little Mom and Pop shop. It is literally a Mom and Pop shop; back in 2007 Mien Trung was closed for almost a month. When they reopened we asked why they were closed for the better part of a month. The answer was simple, "Mom was on vacation. No Mom, no soup!" It does beg the question of what happens when Mom decides to retire…. But let us consider more pleasant thoughts for now.

The Bun Bo Hue:

The soup was as usual spot on, full of lemongrass flavor with a nice lip and back of throat heat, and a mild savory fermented component to boot. One aspect I think is important with Bun Bo Hue, is the temperature of the broth. The main reason being the shredded veggies served on the side. The vegetables to me, are an integral part of the dish, and the soup needs to be very hot to soften the veggies a bit. I've become used to the thicker cut meat in Bun Bo Hue, those who want the tender rare steak, should stick with Pho Tai, as at all of the more traditional Central Vietnamese shops that serve Bun Bo Hue serve it that way. The noodles always seem to be served a perfect al dente at Mien Trung.

The perfect panacea for the cooler weather…… I have encountered a problem with eating Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu. It is the matter of attire, slurping around the annatto tinged broth, you are better off wearing something where little red dots aren't so conspicuous. I mention this because Ed from Yuma always seems to wear white or other light colors when we've eaten at Mien Trung……

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

Izakaya Sakura, yet again:

Yes, another place that we've posted on many, many, times. Though if you think we pay a bit too much attention to Sakura, you should check out Dennis's posts on Sakura, which truly defines the word obsession dedication, the heights of which I've never seen in the world of blogging. I'm kinda glad cooler weather is upon us, since I haven't seen Kazu around much during lunch hour. No Kazu means no Chirashi, no natto-maguro don, etc, etc…..

So on this day, the Missus got Her usual, the Unadon – Unagi Rice:

The Missus really enjoys this… perhaps a bit too much, as She now visits Sakura solo. That in itself is not too bad, but She always makes sure to call me and let me know what a great lunch She's having!

I went with the Curry Udon:

The pleasantly hot, but somewhat thin broth was topped with a "slick" of Japanese Curry.

A little stirring with the chopsticks, and viola!

The curry added some heat, richness, and flavor to the rather thin and bland broth which I tasted before mixing. The noodles had a nice pull to it, which of course posed another problem….has anyone invented a "slurp proof" shirt yet??? Maybe Dennis might know!

Even though the curry had bits of ground beef in it, I had thought this would be a bit short on the protein, and it in fact was, which justified my ordering the Chicken Karaage.

I usually end up making my own Chicken Karaage at home since it's so easy, but I think Sakura's version is nice and light, if a bit short in the flavor department.

So I guess with all these visits, Izakaya Sakura easily stays on our rotation.

To finish up, I just thought I'd throw in a coupla photos of the ever changing "special bento", just for the heck of it.

Anyone know where I can get a "slurp proof" shirt?

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St Ste 121
San Diego, CA 92111

Maxim’s Seafood Restaurant

October 6, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Maxim is a restaurant on the periphery for us. We pretty much never head there as a destination. For some reason, I have a hard time remembering this place, until you drive past it on ECB.

The menu is varied, as is the customer base. On any given visit you’ll see African American families enjoying the Orange Chicken and other ABC (American Born Chinese) favorites, a pair of Hispanic working stiffs ravenously attacking a plate of fried rice, a Filipino family chowing on a sizzling plate or two, and large parties of Vietnamese ordering up plates of seafood usual seated in the larger dining area on the right side of the restaurant.

And the menu is as varied as the clientele, with everything from Yu Hsiang (fish flavored) and various clay pot dishes, to the inevitable Chop Suey and Orange Chicken, to Bun and Pho! That’s a lot of territory to cover, and honestly, not everything at Maxim’s has been good. That said, the prices make it worth a try. Funny thing, they’ve pretty much got us pegged… they start talking to the Missus in Mandarin as soon as She enters the place.

So here’s a sampling of what we’ve had over the last couple of months at Maxim’s. Starting with the good:

The Sizzling Beef Sate ($10.99):

We’ve had pretty good luck with Beef dishes at Maxim’s, and this was very nice. The beef was tender, and the sate rich though only mildly spicy. It was a bit on the greasy side, but pretty good.

Actually, we’ve had pretty good luck with anything Sate at Maxim’s, the Sate Shrimp($8.99) was no exception:

The shrimp were perfectly cooked, moist and tender. The garlic-peanut flavor was good. Again the only problem I had with the dish was the distinct lack of spice. Being that we believe the folks who run the place are Chiu Chow(I’m sure someone can tell us for sure), it’s not surprising that they do a decent Sate.

The Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice ($8.99), was sufficiently pungent:

But lacked the deep savory flavor of a good salted fish fried rice. The rice was decently stir fried, but lacked a decent “wok hay” that would have taken this up a notch.

The Seafood Pan Fried Noodle ($8.50) was pretty ugly looking, and I didn’t care for the noodles used, and there was a distinct lack of “seafood”:

But the flavor of the gravy, a nice salty-garlic taste, with a hint of sweetness, made this palatable. When looking at this dish, I started noticing something about the dishes at Maxim’s….. most of them were kinda, well, “fugly’ looking. The dishes really didn’t look that appetizing. And thus, Maxim’s became the place where things “tastes much better then it looks.”

The Flavor Duck ($9.50) was a very large portion of soy sauce stewed duck.

The duck suffered from star anise overload, as the anise flavor, along with excess saltiness took over the whole dish.

A heavy handed star anise and ginger flavor, along with a much too thin “gravy” also ruined the Special Beef Stew Clay Pot ($8.99):

Too bad, because otherwise this would have been a pretty good clay pot, as the meat was tender.

One day I noticed…gasp, Salt and Pepper Chicken wings($4.79) on one of the signs posted on the wall. There was no way I could resist.

This was interesting, the chicken had a batter that reminded me of something that came from a box with the letter B-A-N-Q-U-E-T written on the side. It also topped with fried garlic that obviously came from a jar….. not good eats.

One day, we went for the “Vietnamese Menu” and the Missus ordered the combination Com Tam (broken rice) dish ($6.99):

This was an interesting dish. The broken rice wasn’t very fragrant, but who doesn’t love a fried egg?The “Bi” (shredded pork) was extremely dry, but that “char grilled beef” was quite good. In fact, it almost tasted like a less sweet Mongolian Beef, and was very tender. I ended up poaching most of it off the Missus’s plate.

I ordered the Phnom Penh Noodle:

The broth was deceptively clear, it had a lot of flavor, but gave me the MS – heebie-geebies, perhaps a bit too much of the three letter flavoring. The noodles were done well, with a nice al dente pull to it. The combination of meat was fine, I didn’t care much for the slices of liver, and the fish balls were “meh”. The rest of it, chunks of what looked to be roasted pork and some offal were fine. Not that I’d have this again, but it was fine.

So what is my suggestion? Give Maxim’s a shot…… heck, you might find something that “tastes much better then it looks”!

The pricing structure with most items under ten dollars, makes Maxim’s a decent value. and they are open until midnight. Think of it as a sort of Sam Woo of the neighborhood…….

Maxim’s Seafood Restaurant
4616 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Open Daily – 10am to midnight

Pho Pasteur Ahn Hong- Another meal from the eight days of feasting

October 3, 2009 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is this. A blog about meals. A few of us blog, individually and occasionally together. Today, Cathy ate. So she is blogging.

Hi. The Mister and I have birthdays seven days apart, so our tradition is to let Him chose what he wants to eat the first three days, we agree on the middle two days and I get to choose the last three days of meals. Here is one of “my” meals.

I have posted on Pho Pasteur. It is another of our “regular rotation”, and I realized I have not posted in a while anyhow, so this time I took photos.

It is in the same parking lot as K-Sandwich, a place Kirk and I have posted on *a lot*. Also, it is basically a walk inthe parking lot from Mein Trung, another place three of us have posted about *many* times. Right on the corner of Mesa College drive and Linda Vista Road.

Since this was one of “my” birthday days, and a Friday-when I don’t eat meat “just in case”- I got to choose the meal and I did. It was simple.

We ordered and waited. The decor has pretty much stayed the same here over all the years.

Especially the pretty pink tablecloths.

The fresh grilled tofu vegetable filled summer rolls ($2.95) arrived. Warm tofu, grilled slightly crispy on the edges and filled with sprouts, carrot, lettuce and rice noodles. Served with the hoisin-peanut sauce.

Soon, a large plate of lettuce, mint, sprouts, cucumber, marinated lily buds, carrot and daikon arrived.

After about 20 minutes, our meal, a whole steamed catfish (medium, $36) arrived. It was served flat and open on the platter. It had been steamed in basically with ginger-soy and topped with three types of onions (regular white sauteed and green onions as well as fried onions), cilantro and carrots with a black pepper touch, for some heat. Served with those rice noodles you see on the left in this photo.

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As well as the rice paper “tortillas” on top of a bowl of hot water (you dip the sheet of rice paper in the water for a few seconds and then it is softened).

You basically fill the rice paper with the noodles, sprouts, mint, marinated veggies, cucumber and fish, wrap all of it ina piece of lettuce, dip in sauce and eat.

I never got around to taking any photos of our little “wraps”. We were too busy eating.

I guess we were hungry…

Pho Pasteur Ahn Hong 7612 Linda Vista road San Diego 92111 (858) 569-7515

Revisits: Pho Sao Bien and Pho Hiep and Grill Linda Vista

September 2, 2009 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

I'm not quite sure what's going on this year. It used to be that we'd have a couple of stray days a year where we wished we had A/C. But this year, it seems like we're having a couple of decades worth of stray days run up together. Not necessarily hot, but kinda sticky too. When I think about it, Hawaii's much worse, but I guess my years on the mainland has made me a wuss…….whatever, I'm just hanging on, stewing in my juices, waiting for the weather to break. Here's a couple of revisits for hump day:

Pho Sao Bien:

I've always enjoyed Pho Sao Bien, for a quick bite. But on my last couple of visits, the food seemed to have slipped a bit. So on a recent visit, I decided to remove that camera from my pocket and document. On my last visit, a couple months back, when the weather was still nice a cool, I ordered some Pho, which was way too salty, with over-cooked noodles. No Pho for us on this visit thanks to the humidity. (I believe that this is where Ed from Yuma comes in telling me how hot it is there….something like "110 degrees in the shade"……)

We started with an old favorite, the Cha Gio($6.25).

The egg rolls at Pho Sao Bin has always been on the pricey side, but were usually very tasty, huge, and made with the right type of wrapper. I dunno what happened, but instead of crisp, these were hard, really hard, and not very pleasant to eat. The filling tasted a bit bland, and the Nuoc Mam Cham tasted watered down.

The Missus wanted something cool and light and ordered the Bun Tom Nuong (Rice Vermicelli with Grilled Shrimp – $6.95):

The Bun was mushy, and like the Cha Gio the Nuoc Mam Cham tasted watered down and weak. There were no herbs, just a chopped lettuce. The shrimp were on the greasy side, gummy, and low on the flavor scale.

I ordered the Com Bi Cha Thit Nuong ($6.95):

This is the combination rice plate with the steamed egg (Cha), shredded pork (Bi), and charbroiled pork (Thit Nuong). And since Pho Sao Bien is of the Pho Hoa Huong family tree, the pork is colored bright red,sort of like tocino. Unfortunately, it was as tough, and hard as tocino. The flavor was very mild as well. The steamed egg was somewhat mushy and tasteless. The Bi was dry, but had a decent flavor, and was the best thing on the plate….other than the rice, which was satisfactorily fragrant.

Overall, a fairly disappointing meal. I hope it was just an off day, but the quality of the ingredients seem to have taken a turn…..

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant
1958 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Pho Hiep & Grill – Linda Vista:

For some reason, I keep calling this place Pho Hoa Hiep. Old habits die hard I guess. Even though Cathy has done an updated post, I still think when someone mentions Pho Hiep and Grill, they are referring to the Chula Vista location. My bad………

Every so often, I enjoy eating at Pho Hiep just to check out the demographics. Because of the location, tucked away from Linda Vista Road, you would probably have to know it's there….. So over the years it's been interesting to see an almost all Vietnamese clientle, slowly evolve into a nice melting pot. Two years ago I noted a shift in demographics, and on this visit it looks to still be going strong. "Butt crack guys" (you know, plumbers, contruction workers, etc) sitting on one table, a group of Hispanic dudes on another, a Caucasian Family here, a Filipino Family there. It's really nice to see….

Oh, and my combination Com Tam wasn't bad either!

The only weak point was the steamed egg (Cha) which was nice and moist, but very bland. Also, even though the menu said "Com Tam" this was jasmine rice. But like I always said, whenever you get Com Tam Dac Biet, with the variety of items, it's almost impossible to have everything done to perfection. Strangely, I enjoyed the charbroiled chicken the best, though the Missus poached all the shrimp, so I'm guessing it was pretty good as well. This dish is called the Com Tam Hiep, and is fairly pricey at $9.95, but it sure did fill me up.

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

The other evening, the Missus & I had the pleasure of having a wonderful, gut-busting meal with some of my favorite folks. There were lots of laughs and enough food to feed the entire neighborhood….several times over! As if to crown off the evening, here's the sunset from YY & MrQ's backyard:

I'm sure the fires up North have something to do with this, but it sure was beautiful………

Phat Restaurant – Chicken Delight a first look

August 31, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Phat Restaurant has closed

One evening I was in prowling Convoy looking for a place to eat, when I noticed a new business in the former Luong Hai Ky location, something called Phat Restaurant…… Phat Restaurant? Along with the written Chinese "Fat", it was kinda quaint.

I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for something new this evening, but was sold when I saw the little "Chicken Delight" sign. Now, I was pretty sure that whatever came out of the kitchen here would not resemble Chicken Delight in any way. But I just couldn't get the "don't cook tonight, call Chicken Delight" ditty out of my head. Back when Chicken Delight had shops opened in Honolulu, it was considered very expensive for us, so I only had it maybe twice in my entire life. The taste memory has long faded, but that catchy slogan had been retained in my cabeza forever! BTW, did you know that KFC's Extra Crispy was created to combat Chicken Delight? But I digress……

I entered the restaurant, and the interior looks basically the same, and I'm sure folks like Cathy will be glad to know that the fish tank is still in place, and the denizens of the tanks haven't suffered a flush faith possibly worse than death.

The menu was interesting, as all dishes featured chicken, from the variations of chicken soup, appetizers, and rice dishes. There was the now ubiquitous "Mission Statement" spiel of the restaurants disappointment in processed food, and declaring a dedication to organic, free-range, chicken with no Hormones, he-mones, and she-mones, or whatever. One nice thing is the ability to select the type of noodle you'd like for your soup from the six offered. I also noticed that all the dishes were over six bucks, fairly pricey for this type of soup and noodle joints.

I ordered the Chicken soup with dumplings and egg noodles ($6.50). Well, actually I ordered Hu Tieu as my noodle, but I guess something got lost in the translation or perhaps the very nice Server decided to over-rule my decision.

First thing I noticed was the portion size wasn't very "phat", in fact it was quite small. The chicken made to look like Char Siu was very mild, but serviceable. The egg noodles were super hard, and I needed to let them steep in the soup a bit. The soup however, was "fairly phat"(?), full of flavor, with a nice, mild, almost cinnamon/onion, along with a good amount of white pepper taste. The broth had just the tiniest sheen of oil. It was also full of umami, so savory as to be almost sweet, a flavor that almost never occurs naturally. But because I didn't suffer from thirst, nor edema in my fingers or feet, I'll give the broth benefit of the doubt, and just say "man that was (kinda) phat!"

Replacing pork with ground chicken is very difficult, but this was a decent job. The minced water chestnuts added a nice crunch, but the shredded carrots didn't do it for me. The filling was moist and tender, instead of the normal rock hard meatball. Four dumplings total. At $6.50 a bit over-priced in my opinion.

A few nights later, I returned. I had seen something that interested me on the menu; Salt and Pepper Chicken wings ($6.25). Being a certified Salt and Pepper Chicken Wing fanatic, I was curious to see what these would be like.

When the plate hit the table, I cracked up. On one side of the plate were two regular sized wings, on the other side of the plate were 5 little drummettes and wings that looked like they belonged on a phat fat quail perhaps? The wings had been fried without batter, than stir fried with garlic and chilies, in fact these should be called garlic-chili wings. The wings were pretty greasy(so much about the whole healthy mission statement), and the garlic burnt to literally the "bitter end".

Not settling for just appetizers, I asked for a recommendation, and was told to order the Lemongrass Chicken, with a warning that it was "very spicy".

This was pretty much a ho-hum dish, the chicken was undoubtedly free-range as it had a chew to it, something that I don't find unpleasant. It wasn't very spicy, and the flavoring nothing special. The rice, which was "Com Tam" (broken rice) wasn't fragrant at all, and there were a couple of hard bits.

The saving grace of the mediocre meal was the fairly sizeable (for a freebie side dish) bowl of broth, which was again very tasty, of not a bit salty.

I guess the question to be answered would be "chicken phat?" I'm not quite convinced though I'd say to stick with the soups here. The menu is fairly small, and I'm kinda interested in the "curry broth". I'm pretty sure I'll return when things cool down a bit.

Phat Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant

August 18, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Hao Vi has closed

If you're like me this is probably the closest you've ever gotten to Hao Vi……

You just kinda zip on by while driving on University, and say to yourself, "one of these days…." Whenever we'd pass by, the Missus would always mumble, "good taste". Which is what "Hao Vi" means. Over the years, there was only one individual I knew who actually ate there. My ears perked up when he mentioned Hao Vi, and when I quizzed him about the place, I was told, "it must be a front…..they had the absolute worst Pho I've ever eaten!" Scratching my head, I said, "isn't the place one of those Chinese-Vietnamese Noodle Shops, that serve Mi?" His reply, "what's mee….hey, there's Pho on the menu, so it must be a Pho shop." Dude needs to stick to writing those "reviews" on the board who we need not name……

And so the place remained on the "one of these days…" list. Until during a conversation with two of my favorite folks, MrQ and his lovely missus YY. MrQ mentioned HaoVi in passing. Which instantly got my attention, I pushed Q and YY for more info, and they filled me in a bit on the place. Which is why I ended up opening that door and entering Hao Vi on a recent weekend morning.

To be perfectly honest, the interior of this place has seen better days, but it looks like they make an effort to keep the place as clean as possible.

The menu is tri-lingual, English, Chinese, and Vietnamese, and Hu Tieu (tapioca or rice noodles) and Mi (egg noodles) appear prominently on the menu.

Without further ado, I'll get to my favorite part of the meal at Hao Vi. Much like Cam Ky, you're served a pork broth as a starter.

Much better then the version at Cam Ky, more "porky" in flavor. You know that there's no way in the world this tastes as good without a little "help" if you know what I mean. But after a sip or two, you really don't care.

On both of my visits the pieces of pork in the soup was soft without being mushy, and hadn't had the flavor cooked out of it.

And this is the free part of the meal.

Like a few other similar restaurants, only bean sprouts and lime garnish the noodle soup dishes.

The weather was unseasonably mild on my first visit, so I decided on the Beef Sate Rice Noodle Soup (Hu Tieu Sate Bo – $5.25):

The portion size was on the smaller side. The sate broth was more like gravy, as it was thick and vicious. In fact, it was just kind of resting on top of the Hu Tieu. When I moved the noodles with my chopsticks it drained to the bottom of the bowl. The flavor was quite strong. When I order Sate Noodle Soup, I'm used to a broth with a couple of tablespoons of sate sauce in it. This tasted like it hadn't been diluted much! It was pretty spicy, and there was the presence of a powerful cinnamon like flavor. It was also quite salty. The beef was tough and forgettable, but the noodles were perfect, chewy, with a nice pull.

It wasn't bad, but the pork broth brought me back a couple of days later. This time I had the Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($5.25). Because it was quite hot, I ordered my soup "dry", so a sweet-soy-oyster sauce with bits of ground pork was poured over the noodles.

I gotta say, this dish really didn't do it for me. The hard dumplings had only thin slivers of cardboard like filling, which tasted exactly what it looked like. It was also one bland dish…. except for one thing, MrQ had told me that the Mi always comes out perfect at Hao Vi, and he was right. This was about as good as egg noodles could be prepared, crunchy, but not hard….. just perfect. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about the rest of it.

Actually, this wasn't the way I wanted to leave this post. I fully intended on returning and trying the classic Hu Tieu Nam Vang – Phnom Penh Noodle Soup, but I'm just not feeling up to it right now. Maybe one day soon, so this'll have to do until then.

A few details; street parking only, and cash only, the folks here are quiet, and on the serious side, but nice. The restaurant is not as gritty looking on the inside as it would appear from the exterior.

Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Tao Vietnamese and Japanese Cuisine – A first look

July 15, 2009 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Among the emails I received early this week was one that started "Hey yoso-Dude….." Dude??? Well, I'll take that over other four letter words that I've been called or other various utterances starting with the letter 'D', often ending in "bag' or a word commonly used to describe any animal of the genus Equus…….

Anyway, this email went on to tell me that he really enjoys Dao Son, and first heard about the place through one of our posts. To return the favor, he thought he'd let me know that on his last visit to Dao Son he was told that they opened a new, more upscale restaurant on Adams Avenue called Tao. Tao also made their own tofu in-house…..we were so there!

After scouting about for a bit I found some parking, and we walked over a half block, and entered the world of Tao.

The interior is nicely adorned without going over the top. The menu is a mixture of Japanese, Vietnamese, and fusion dishes. We noticed a few familiar "Dao Son" items. We also noted that the prices reflected the upgrade in decor being about $2 more than Dao Son.

As with Dao Son, we steered clear of the straight Japanese and Vietnamese dishes. We were disappointed to find the Fried Catfish with Eggplant not on the menu, but pleased to see the Red Chicken. The offerings seem on the lighter side, with fewer fried dishes.

After placing our order, we were brought a free "salad", a nice touch.

This was more of a "herb salad" and will wake up taste buds if you aren't familiar with the flavors of Rau Ram(Vietnamese Cilantro), Ngo Om (Rice Paddy Herb – you'll swear there's cumin in the salad), Tiet To (Perilla), and I swear there was Diep Ca in this as well. It also featured a few small cubes of the handmade tofu, which was of the firm variety, and mildly "beany" in flavor.

Wanting to check out the homemade tofu, I ordered the Handmade Tofu with Oyster Mushrooms in sizzling Basil Black Bean Sauce ($12.95). Can you tell that Tao is really into oversized plates? The plates took up large real estate on the tables. Also, the pinwheel arrangement was a far cry from Dao Son.

I enjoyed the whole cloves of garlic, and the rice, a half red and jasmine rice was a nice touch, even though the rice wasn't particularly fragrant. The oyster mushrooms were ok, but nothing special. The tofu was too mild for this dish. For me good home made tofu should go off on one of two tangents. The first would be a wonderful silken tofu, that would be textural heaven. The second would be a firmer tofu that would have a pronounced "soy-beany" flavor. This had neither, and though the sauce, which tasted like basic black bean sauce, wasn't too salty, the tofu was lost in the sauce. For my taste, the tofu would be better served in dishes like the salad as it is very mild. This was not bad, but not outstanding.

The Missus, wanting to compare with Dao Son, ordered the Tasty Red Chicken($8.28):

I enjoyed this much more than the Missus. At Dao Son, the Red Chicken is sometimes served with strips of white meat chicken which can be dry as heck. These were wok seared dark meat chicken which I enjoyed. The "red sauce" here is more like a glaze than a sauce, and seems to be missing something. The heat is provided by dollops of Sriracha-like hot sauce, which tasted out of place. As you can tell, the Missus and I had switched plates. I think we'll have to go back to Dao Son soon to refresh our taste memory with regards to this dish.

The young lady serving us instantly charmed us when she smiled and told us, "I'm sorry in advance, I've just started working here….." She did a good job, and in fact was a bit over-attentive but I'm sure she'll do well. It didn't hurt that she brought us some free "dessert" while we waited for our check.

Overall, we enjoyed the experience, and we'll return to Tao in a few months. As you can tell, the decor is much more refined than the "divey" Dao Son. The folks are very nice, and the menu large. Parking can be a pain. We're glad that Dao Son has done so well, that the "Hot Chef" could open up a place like Tao. Open less than a week at the time of this meal, I think they did pretty well.

Tao
3332 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Lunch: Mon -Fri 11am – 2pm
Dinner: Daily 5pm – 10pm
619-281-6888

As for the FOY who emailed me, when I wrote that I'd like to mention him in my post, he requested anonymity. So let's just call him 'Mr X'! So, thanks Mr X!