Vietnamese Restaurants – Page 47

A Friday meal and dessert (Phuong Trang and Big Joy Family Bakery)

April 17, 2009 Cathy Desserts, Vietnamese Restaurants

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog and Cathy is stepping in with a quick post. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy.

Hi again. I went out to dinner just now and wanted to share. Most of you know this parking lot. 009

A variety of businesses are in here. Really. In addition to the listed businesses, there is a billiard place and a motorcycle place, Happy Family Bakery I think a Tae Kwon Do studio.

Kirk pretty much considers Phuong Trang MOR (middle of the road) Vietnamese It is good and where I bring friends who have never experienced Vietnamese food, for a first try.

So, we usually get three dishes when we eat out (one for each of us and 'one for the table'). tonight, 004

The calamari salad, which could be a meal in itself, was wonderful.

The squid was poached perfectly and was soft and sweet. The dressing was made with fish sauce, sesame oil which complimented the sesame seeds and chopped peanuts on top. The fresh mint and papaya, along with the pickled carrots and turnip added great flavor and crunch to all of it.

The Mister ordered the broken rice with Tau Hu Ky(crispy tofu skin around ground shrimp) and a ground pork patty

The fried tofu skin was just right and the ground shrimp seasoned perfectly with ginger and some garlic and sweet rice wine. The ground pork was grilled and juicy. This was served with a salad of more pickled vegetables. 002

I got my usual, Bun with cha gio chay (fried spring roll made with tofu).

The Bun (rice noodles) were sticky but had a nice flavor. The salad underneath the noodles was made with leaf lettuce, plenty of mint and lots of thin cucumber peels.

The cha gio chay wrapper was lightly crispy, properly fried and the filling was very nice with a touch of fish sauce flavor. Salty, but not soy sauce salty…

This was served with the fish sauce, which is pretty mild here.

We also had hot tea and the total for this meal was ~$23<

Then we walked next door, to Big Joy Family Bakery . Because it was Friday, I got my usual loaf of organic raisin bread. 012

005

The Mister got the red bean and fresh fruit (bananas, strawberries, kiwis), some canned mandarin oranges with French vanilla ice cream and ice bowl(topped with mini moochi and crushed peanuts). This is what it looked like halfway through.

…and a cup of drip coffee, which looks unusually large in this photo taken with my iPhone.

007

I got a custard filled croissant. Buttery layers of dough, filled with a delightful creamy custard.

All of the breads and pastries here are fresh made with quality ingredients.

A nice night.

I hope you had a good one also.

Phuong Trang 4170 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858) 565-6750

Big Joy Family Bakery 4176 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858)627-0888

Seafood Island – A first…actually a third look.

April 6, 2009 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Seafood Island has closed.

Sometimes the third time is a charm. Seafood Island is located in a bit of an odd location amongst all the home furnishing stores. When they first opened, the Missus and I dropped by for lunch and the place was half full, but it looked like the employees were running around like crazy. We were told at least half a dozen times that our table would be ready in "just a while", meanwhile half the tables in the place were empty, and the food coming out of the kitchen looked like pseudo Chinese fast food fare, a la generic Kung Pao Chicken. After 15 minutes or so, we told the folks, "that's ok, we'll be back next time." And left. I returned on a Sunday for lunch, and was seated. The young lady who served was very, very nice….but when I tried to order, first the Bun Mang Vit…negatory, then the Bun Bo Hue…sorry not today, Banh Mi Bo Kho….we don't have that today, Bun Rieu……sorry it is not ready yet. Yeow! I know the menu is huuuge, talk about "Vietnamese menu overload", this one is probably the largest I've seen. I ended up ordering a Com Tam(broken rice) dish, with Grilled Pork and Bi (shredded pork skin), and really ended up with just the grilled pork. Too bad, the grilled pork was pretty tasty, if a bit on the sweet side, and since this place also serves "Korean BBQ", I could make out the flavor transition. This place also goes pretty easy on the fish sauce. The broken rice was nice and fragrant, and the price was not bad – $5.25. And the Server, whose name if I recall was Desiree was fantastic, and was amazed that I like Nuoc Mam. She also told me that weekday lunches are the busiest, and gave me a flier with $4.99 Chinese lunch specials…..Orange Chicken and such. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, my photos didn't come out….memory card malfunction. So I recently decided to check them out again. this time for a weeknight dinner.

Based on the "specials" sign, I knew that today I'd be getting something other than Com Tam, Kung Pao Chicken, or Orange Chicken.

Like my previous visit, my Server today was a total joy. And I started with the Bun Cha Hanoi ($6.50), the wonderful grilled pork meatball and grilled sliced pork in a broth dish. The Bun and Garnishes arrived in a flash.

The Bun had been chopped into shorter pieces, and was on the soft and mushy side…..which amazingly was just like what we had in Hanoi! The herbs and greens were the appropriate purple perilla, mint, and lettuce, which was just North of wilting, but fine overall.

The Bun Cha was interesting….

The broth was quite sweet, the patties hard, and the sliced pork…in this case pork belly, was quite tough. There was a shortage of pickles, with daikon in place of the standard papaya and carrots. I hadn't expected this to be even close to what we had at Bun Cha Dac Kim(aka #1 Hang Manh) in Hanoi, or even Ha Noi Restaurant in Westminster, and I knew it wouldn't even approach what FOY Beach makes. I was just looking for a fair to middling Bun Cha, and I think this fell a bit short of that. Still, for $6.50, not too bad.

I also ordered the Goi Xoai Ton Thit (green mango salad with pork and shrimp – $9.99).

This looked lovely, thinly sliced pork, a bit on the bland side, but tender, a good amount of shrimp over shredded green mango and carrots, topped with chopped mint and basil. The dressing was again, a bit long on the sweet, and short on the savory, but it had a nice, not too strong, sneaky heat. In this instance, the usual sesame crackers were replaced with Chinese Shrimp Chips.

It was a decently put together dish, and quite refreshing. It may just bring me back again.

I like to think of the Vietnamese dishes at Seafood Island as being sort of Que Huong "light". The dishes I've had are on the sweet side, and seem to lack a savory-pungent punch. It is the "safer" choice if you are a bit hesitant to try out some of the more interesting Vietnamese dishes. For more on the Chinese dishes at Seafood Island, check out Kirbie Cravings, post, which you can find here. The service can be a bit disorganized, but all of the folks I've had contact with have been very nice. The restaurant is large, new, and clean.

Seafood Island Restaurant
7580 Miramar Road
San Diego, CA 92126
(619) 838-0571

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Saturday Snacks: Camau Bakery, Cheeseballs Perhaps?, or for something a bit more savory……

March 28, 2009 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats, yoso-silly

Just some "snacks" for Saturday…..

Camau Bakery & Deli:

This place had caught our interest a while back. We'd seen the prepackged Banh Beo, and other snacks with the "Camau Bakery" label on them. But the place always seemed closed. But on this morning, I noticed the shop was actually open! At least the open sign was out. So we stopped immediately, and found some parking. And walked on over to the door……

And it was locked!!! But the nice lady inside waved at us, opened the door and let us in. I kinda got the feeling that Camau really does catering, large orders, and wholesale orders. Nothing was out, and there were pans of covered snacks waiting for pick-up. But after passing by so many times, the Missus wasn't to be denied. She pointed at one of the containers, and said…"I want that!" The woman, who was a bit amused at the Missus's antics, told Her, "this is for an order, but since they're not going to be picked up until later this afternoon we can make more." Her name is Kieu…so thank you so much!

So what did the Missus get?

Well, a bunch of styrofoam containers of course…..

Just kidding. She got a large order of Che Xoi Nuoc. It's a "sweet soup" of sorts, flavored with sugar and ginger. In the "soup" are large dumplings made of rice flour, and stuffed with mung bean paste, much like the Chinese Tāngyuán. These also had scallions in them, and was more savory than other versions we've had before. Still, after being chilled ice cold, and covered with the accompanying cocunut milk and sesame seeds, it was pretty good.

I just wish they had regular hours…..

Camau Bakery & Deli
4857 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115
(619) 583-2904

Some Cheese Balls Maybe???

One of my favorite lines from the movie, I Love You to Death. Recently, "MG" brought these to work. I had never seen them before.

Apparently, these were the "newest thing" at Valerio's. Buttery, sweet, and a bit salty….maybe a bit too oily for me….none the less, not too bad. If you like buttery…….

And how's this for the kicker….it's filled with cream cheese….

Apparently, it was Valerio's in Mira Mesa who first started selling this…..and now it's being sold at other locations. This one was from the National City location.

Valerio's City Bakery
1631 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-8588

And for something a bit more "savory"….

You can get this:

Need a closer look?

It was nice breaking bread (and other things) with two of my favorite people, Howie (please check out his recently redesigned Foodie View) and Candice. And this was one of the dishes we sampled.

If you're wondering about the main ingredient, I think the food labeling may be very accurate in this instance:

Fishing Feed? = Bait???? It's all on the label!

Hope you're all having a grest weekend!

Pho 888

March 19, 2009 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Pho 888 has closed

In my Pho Hiep and Grill post, "Joe" mentioned another Pho restaurant in Chula Vista named Pho 888. I'd had another email mentioning the restaurant back in January, so on the weekend before our Vegas trip, I took the drive down the I-5…took the H street exit, turned right on Broadway, there I was.

The interior belies the strange "giardi-ish green" color of the exterior. It is large and fairly clean.

In addition to the Pho at '888', both Joe and the email mentioned the Cha Gio (eggrolls), so I decided to get 3 pieces ($3.75, 5 pieces are $5.75). Man, Cha Gio ain't cheap eats no more, are they?

When these arrived I wasn't too thrilled. I prefer my Cha Gio to have the crisp and thin rice paper wrappers. The Nuoc Mam Cham (dipping sauce), though a tad on the sweet side was adequate, and provided a bit of heat. Not expecting much, I bit into one, and was pleasantly surprised….these weren't over-wrapped, and had a light, pleasant crunch to them. The filling wasn't too dense, and was moist and tender. Lot's of cloud ear fungus, and some, but not too much filler.

I was very pleasantly surprised, and couldn't wait for my bowl Pho (combination – small, $5.75) to arrive.

First things first. The garnishes were routine, fresh basil, limes, jalapenos, and bean sprouts. When I asked if they have Ngò gai, I was given a bit of a weird look, and the really nice young man told me they don't carry it. As much as the Cha Gio was a pleasant suprise, the Pho was a bit of a disappointment. It wasn't bad, the broth was much too "salty", and just a bit more beefy than the version at Pho La Jolla. This was a very "middle of the road" bowl of Pho, and the broth lacked any nuance.

The noodles were done right, not too mushy.

The meat was the biggest disappointment. I'm used to really dry Tai (rare beef) which this was, but the rest of it was dry and tasteless as well.

Too bad. I really like the Cha Gio, and the service was very friendly, the young man was quite nice. So perhaps this was an off day? I understand that the place will undergo a name change soon, I was told that it'll probably be called Pho Kim. Having the egg rolls made this visit "a wash", and I also found another place close by that I'll post on later.

Pho 888
635 Broadway St
Chula Vista, CA 91910

(619) 585-0886

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Pho Hiep and Grill

February 26, 2009 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

I mentioned this place waaay back in November 2007, but was never able to eat there for one reason or another. I found myself in the area fairly early during the recent rainy weather, and a nice bowl of Pho sounded great. So why not?

The interior is relatively dark, sleek, and modern. You can read more about it on FOY, Caninecologne's blog, here.

On this day, I went with the large bowl of "Chin Nam Gau Gan Sach"…..let's just call it "Brisket, Flank, Fatty brisket, Tendon and Tripe" shall we? At $6.95 it was a bit on the expensive side, but still not as pricey as a bowl in La Jolla.

The garnishes arrived, fresh, bright, and shiny. The quantity provided was more than adequate.

As with Pho Hoa Hiep in Linda Vista, the broth in this bowl is clear, and low in oil,and fairly light. The flavor of beef comes through fairly well, as does a mild clove-ainse flavor. The broth is also a bit darker than it's namesake in Linda Vista.

PhoHiep&Grill04

The noodles were routine, if a bit hard and undercooked, which was remedied by a further steeping. Undercooked is preferred to overcooked and mushy in my book anytime.

The meat ranged from pretty good (fatty brisket), to decent (tendon), to mediocre (the tough and dry flank), to non-existent (one tiny strand of tripe).

All in all, a decent bowl. If I lived in the area, I'd drop by for a bowl of lighter, low oil Pho. I think the Pho Hoa Hiep on Linda Vista is better(and closer to us, and cheaper), but this is a decent facsimile.

Service was decent, if a bit "sleepy"…..the folks looked really tired on this weekend morning. By the time I left folks were starting to move with a bit more conviction, and even smiling. So if you're in the area and craving some Pho, Pho Hiep and Grill may be the remedy.

Pho Hiep and Grill
539 Telegraph Canyon Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91910

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San Diego Tet Festival 2009

January 23, 2009 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, Vietnamese Restaurants

Wow, where did time go? It's time for the San Diego Tet Festival again. The venue this year, is the same as last year, Balboa Park.

I decided to check things out on the way home from work, so that I could get a post in tonight. That way, if you're interested, you'll still have tonight, Saturday, and Sunday to attend.

This year, it didn't look like the weather was cooperating, but by the time the Festival opened at 4pm, the rain looked to have moved on, and the sun was shining.

Things were a bit wet, but I'm hoping that doesn't dampen spirits.

As with all the previous festivals, various vendors, businesses, and community organizations are represented.

And of course all of the rides.

Of course, I know you're really interested in the food, right?

It was nice to see some of the old regulars, who are here every year.

And many that I don't recall seeing before.

To me, it seems that every year, there seems to be an interesting food theme. In 2006, it was Cha Gio everywhere. In 2007, it was salads. Last year, it was Nem Chua and Banh Kot. This year, in keeping with the weather, it's soups, stews, and rice porridge (Chao).

And every year, there's something a little more adventurous.

Here's a closer look:

And just in case you aren't in the mood for Vietnamese (gasp!), there's the usual Kettle Corn, Hot Dogs, Tacos, and maybe a few not so usual suspects:

The meat grilling in back of the booth smelled heavenly. Too bad they weren't quite ready.

Only a few booths were open, and this booth was the busiest:

And though all folks ahead of me were getting Eggrolls (Cha Gio), or Fried Bananas, I had my sights dead set on something else…. Bun Rieu!

I ordered my Bun Rieu($5), and the very friendly young man manning the booth asked me to wait a few minutes. And what should appear, but a large fast-food plastic tray, and a proper large bowl of Bun Rieu. I was shocked…..

I had expected a small styrofoam bowl, but this was larger than many bowls of Bun Rieu I've had in restaurants. No garnishes other than lime, but this was better than expected. And while it was a far cry from Mien Trung, the Bun Rieu sure hit the spot on such a damp day. I was so stuffed after finishing this off, that there was no room for anything else.

Which might have been a good thing, since many booths, like this one, which will be serving Banh Kot, were simply not ready.

So if you visit, let me know what you enjoyed!

Fourth Annual San Diego Tet Festival - Balboa Park.

Fri 1/23/2009: 4pm – 10pm
Sat 1/24/2009: 10am – 10pm
Sun 1/25/2009: 10am – 8pm

LV Sandwiches and Restaurant

January 22, 2009 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** LV sandwiches has closed and has been replaced by Toan Ky, you can find a post here.

While I was paying too much attention to the opening of Thuan Phat Market and the soon to open Yum Cha Cafe, LV Sandwiches opened right under my nose last week.

LV Sandwiches has opened in the spot formerly occupied by Le's.

We'd have never noticed except for the grand opening sign….

And buy 2 sandwiches, get 1 free is a great deal in my book!

Other than the sandwich menu, not much has changed.

And the restaurant has kept Le's Vietnamese-Chinese-Thai menu, along with the mediocre food, like this combination Com Tam. Underwhelming and overpriced at $7.95.

I had never been a big fan of Le's, and holding over the old menu items, which seem to number in the hundreds….

But of course we were here for the sandwiches! On our first visit, things were a bit disorganized, but the folks, and especially the woman who looked to be running the place were very nice. We had a seat, and ate our sandwiches inside the restaurant. Of course the Missus ordered the Banh Mi Bi (shredded pork – $2.75):

The Bi was mildly flavored, but on the dry side, I likened it to eating sawdust. The bread on the other hand was good, warm, crusty, but not hard, and airy. Instead of slicing the baguette in half, adding margarine, than toasting, creating what I call the "crouton effect" (I'm sure we all love croutons…but try chewing on a baguette sized crouton and attempt to preserve the skin lining your mouth), LV toasts the whole baguette. Also, as we were to find later, eating in, has its benefits.

Strangely, the Missus ordered the Banh Mi Chay (vegetarian – $2.75):

Turning over a new leaf for the New Year? hmmm… When our sandwiches arrived, they were cut in half for consumption……and I really couldn't figure out what this was. It tasted pretty darn good….with not a hint of the usual deep fried tofu, nor "plastic meat" in sight. There was some nice flavor, the addition of fried shallots and garlic gave the Banh Mi a nice kick. What was the most surprising, and impressive was the quality of the "faux" Cha Lua (defatted pork sausage – think bologna!!!). The texture was pretty good, and it didn't have an artificial flavor. When we inquired about this, we were told that they make their own "mock meat" in house. The Missus had found Her favorite at LV.

We took the Dac Biet (Special – $3.25) home with us.

I was surprised at the amount of meat in this sandwich. The Thịt Nguội (Ham – Jambon) was lean, and the Cha Lua had a mild smokiness to it. I believe they make this inhouse as well. The Pate had a strong livery "funkiness"to it, which ranks up there with BaLe on University, but went well in this sandwich. The bread had gotten chewy, and the crust hard by the time I arrived home. Still, we had gotten 3 sandwiches for a tad over $6. A great deal in these cash-strapped times.

A day later, the Missus wanted another Banh Mi Chay, so in addition to the Dac Biet, I got a Trung Lap Xuong (Egg and Lap Cheong – $3.25):

Not much in the egg front, but a lot of sliced sausage. The sweetness of the sausage, along with the pickled vegetables was a nice combination.

And soon enough, it was another day, another Banh Mi Chay for the Missus. This time we decided to have our sandwiches at the restaurant. And we verified that the sandwiches were much, much better eaten ASAP. The bread for each of the sandwiches were a bit different quality wise. The Missus's was a bit more mealy, close to getting stale.

While the bread for the Banh Mi Xiu Mai (meatball – $2.75), was a bit better, it seemed to have some mileage on it.

The ground pork was very rich, almost oily, and combined with the Pate sent the sandwich into pungent overdrive. It was a bit much for the Missus, and was too rich for me. Even the pickled vegetables, which are cut a bit on the thicker side, and tend toward the sour side of the spectrum, didn't cut the richness.

The bread for the Banh Mi Ba Chi (cured pork belly – $2.75), was about as good as it gets in San Diego. Light, and pulling almost to the flaky, instead of overly crusty, this was some good bread. We still miss the airy baguettes we had in Vietnam. For us, they seem more suited to the Banh Mi, than the dense and heavy baguettes we sometimes encounter.

I didn't enjoy the tough and stringy cilantro in this particular sandwich. T LVSandwich14 he pork belly was very mild in flavor, and it was almost all texture. The Missus though the texture was similar to eating raw bacon. And though I really enjoy some versions of this sandwich, I had to agree with Her.

So what's to like at LV? First off, they aren't heavy handed in the use of Mayo and margarine. Second, I like the Thịt Nguội and Cha Lua. Third, when the bread is right…it is right. Fourth, the folks here are really nice. Fifth, the sandwiches have much more flavor than their "Gringo-ized" brethren. Sixth:

Can you really beat buy 2 get one free?? And it's not like Paris Bakery where you have to get all Dac Biet. So check them out………

LV Sandwiches and Restaurant
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Did you think we ate enough Banh Mi????

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Luong Hai Ky Restaurant – Mira Mesa

January 19, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

As noted in the comments of this post, Luong Hai Ky's second location has finally opened in Mira Mesa. And about a week after their opening I found myself in the area, so I thought I'd check out the home of, ahem, "The Original Chinese Noodles". I'm pretty sure I don't need to elaborate…..

The Owners have done a pretty nice job with the interior…..down to having the now standard plasma televisions mounted on the walls….

I could tell that the level of disorganization was still running pretty high, I was asked for my order three times, by three different Servers. My hot tea didn't arrive until I was almost done with my soup (though this was not as bad as what happened later), and so forth. Being in the midst of a "grand opening" make such problems reasonable……

I stayed with my usual, the Won Ton & Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($5.75):

After making a brief stop at another table, the bowl of egg noodle soup arrived. The soup was piping hot, but much like my last visit to the Convoy location, lacked the nice rich flavor that I had encountered on previous visits. I'm guessing this is the standard broth at LHK now…bummer. The won tons were a bit softer than the norm, and the dumplings even better, toothsome, but not hard, and the shrimp flavor came through.

Still, this was enough to warrant another visit, this time with the Missus in tow. On this evening the Missus ordered the Combination Fried Rice ($7.50):

We both thought the shrimp were excellent, the rice had been cooked well, with a nice caramelization. But for some reason, the rice had an overly sweet taste. The Missus had to add fish sauce and soy sauce to balance out the flavor.

I ordered the Combination Crispy Noodle ($7.95):

Not enough sauce…which again ran on the sweet side. This meant instead of the nice combination of crunchy, to chewy, to soft and tender textures, I felt I was eating stuff from a can. The veggies were done perfectly, nice bit of crunch and weren't overcooked, and much like the fried rice, the shrimp was the best thing about the dish. The accompanying soup was fine, if a bit heavy on the sodium.

And than there was the tea…or lack thereof. We ordered hot tea with our meal, which never arrived. We inquired about it when our food arrived, and were assured it was on the way. I figured it was going to be like my previous visit, and end up at the table later on, but it never made it. When our check arrived, I asked what happened to our tea. The Server gave me a puzzled look, looked at the bill (even though it was written in Vietnamese, there were 3 line items). Seeing that they had forgotten the tea, we were told: "that's ok, no charge for tea anyway!" And walked away….. I guess because tea is free it's ok to not serve it when ordered? Having been caught off guard by that answer, we couldn't help but laugh……..

One other thing, it does seem like prices are going up rather quickly. I noticed that both locations of Luong Hai Ky share the same take-out menu. So if this is accurate, I paid $5 for Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup around November 19th, of last year. It's now $5.75, these "Mi Gia" noodle houses are getting out of the zone of cheap eats rather quickly. In the end, even if I don't believe that Luong Hai Ky is "The Original Chinese Noodles", I sure received a pretty original excuse for forgetting part of our order!

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
10606 Camino Ruiz #2
San Diego, CA 92126

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Road Trip: Pho Thanh Lich – Westminster (OC)

January 6, 2009 mmm-yoso Orange County, Pho, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Pho Thanh Lich in Westminster has closed

I'll be the first to admit that most of my Pho photos look the same. In fact, I've been accused of using a "stunt bowl" on occasion. Let me be very clear…. I have never, and will never use a "Pho double". Hopefully this time you'll know it wasn't just "any" bowl of Pho.

During a recent shopping trip to the "OC", I was in the mood for a bowl of Pho, and decided to stop in Westminster. In retrospect, I should've gotten the blessing of the "Don of Little Saigon", FOY Beach! But this was a last minute decision(and New Year's eve to boot!) on my part, so I'm hoping he'll forgive me. I arrived on Bolsa, the heart of Little Saigon at just about 10am, after seeing the my first option was not yet open, I headed up Brookhurst, and stopped at the corner of Bolsa and Hazard, at Pho Thanh Lich. It's one of a seemingly endless number of Pho shops in the area, and like many of them, shows signs of having a past……the facade indicates perhaps a Pizza joint?

From the fragrance of simmering beef and herbs, to the workers watching a Vietnamese variety show, all things felt right…. as did the requisite slightly sticky tables.

Funny, I took several photos of the interior but the only one that came out was this weird one. It happened when I placed my camera on the table, and accidentally snapped a photo. Go figure; so much for my photographic capabilities.

After several years, and many bowls of Pho in San Diego, I've lowered my expectations with regards to rare beef(Tai). It is usually dry and tough Beef Eye of the Round. I used to get the meat on the side, but to me the difference was minimal and not worth the effort. As they say you "can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear". When ordering Pho at a shop I haven't been to before, I still order the rare steak, but I've set my bar very low. Such is not the case at Pho Thanh Lich. Why?

That my friends is Filet Mignon. For me, you need to order it rare and on the side. The prices here are not bargain basement. The regular bowl, with Filet costs $6. You want the beef on the side, add 50 cents. The young lady who served me was a joy, nervous, and I think new on the job, she led me to my table, and while having some difficulties with my order; she told me, "I so sorry, only Freshman….." Which I took to mean she was new at this….. and any attempts at ordering in butchered Vietnamese would probably only confuse things.

The herbs soon arrived, sparkling fresh. Not the largest portion I've ever had, but very fresh, especially the Ngo Ngai (Culantro, Saw Leaf Herb). Along with soup, it made a nice "family photo":

The broth was interesting, beefy, with a strong ginger/galangal flavor. The broth wasn't the clearest I've had, though not very dark.

Someone once told me this place had very oily broth. I didn't find this to be the case, it seemed to have a decent amount of oil, giving it a nice richness, and I didn't find it to be overly salty(MSG).

I found the noodles to be bit overcooked and mushy. The other cuts of meat, especially the brisket was full of flavor. I had also been told that the brisket and flank here, tastes "offal". All I tasted was a good beefiness.

One more thing; the broth came scortching hot. The better for this:

Very mild in flavor (the brisket will take care of that), but it melted in my mouth.

And a little dessert as well.

Overall, this was an enjoyable bowl. It is not a "meat-fest", but in my opinion does well in the flavor department. The Older Woman manning the register, even smiled at me, and told me "thank you, come again." I think I will. I still have Pho Kimmy in my sights, but did not feel shortchanged by eating here. And you can tell, no "stunt bowl" right?

Pho Thanh Lich
14500 Brookhurst St.
Westminster, CA 92683

Why the regular bowl instead of the large? Well, I wanted to squeeze in one more "snack" before heading home from Orange County.

Our Revised Rotation – What is yours?

December 18, 2008 mmm-yoso Pho, Thai Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

So finally…… I've revised our "Rotation Page". And removed a few places, a few because they've closed down (Sammys and Mo's), and one because, well, we hardly go there anymore (Mama's - which may make a comeback when the weather gets a bit warmer).

In place of those 3, I've added 2.

**** Pho Lucky is under new ownership.

First, folks keep asking about my favorite Pho shop. And my quick response is Pho Lucky.

There are places that have better tendon and places that have better overall meat, and on any given day there are several places that can do a great job. But for my money, I enjoy Pho Lucky. In fact, when FOY (Friend of Yoso) the "CAB" asked about my favorite bowl of Pho, I was quick to recommend Pho Lucky. You can read about her experience in this post.

I also enjoy the Banh Mi Bo Kho(Vietnamese Beef Stew w/Baguette) here as well. But on one recent visit with Cathy and Ed from Yuma, I was less than pleased. So before doing this post, I (well the weather helped me to) decided to have the beef stew again.

On my visit with Ed and Cathy, I found the beef to be tough, and the broth to be lacking in flavor. On this visit, everything was as I remembered. Hopefully, that was just an off day. The bread itself is unremarkable, I'm pretty sure they get it from Le Chef, as I've seen tags from their packages lying around. Still, I enjoy the beef stew here.

So if you hold my feet to the fire, I'd have to recommend:

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

**** This location of Sab E Lee has closed

And of course, Sab E Lee would have to be added. We've been eating there at least once a week. I still go for most of the larb and salad style dishes. Like the Larb Pet (Duck Larb):

Recently, I got to sample a new addition to the menu Naked Shrimp, served the right way…. that would be raw:

The first time I had this dish with a group of FOYs, I thought it pretty good, but a bit out of balance with regards to the amount of citrus. But a few days ago, I tried it again with Ed from Yuma, and it was very good. Nice heat from the chilies, with the bite of raw garlic, topped off with tangy citrus. Ed compared it to Camarones Aguachile, but with a more interesting and complex flavor. As I mentioned before, for me it's the Issan dishes that shine here, so of course it's a bit humorous to hear folks saying the food here isn't "Northern Thai" because it's not like what they had in Chiang Mai (which is Lanna, not Issan). Issan is Northeastern Thai food..…..

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

So if you're interested, our updated Rotation Page can be found here.

And I'd love to hear what's on your rotation this winter!