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Taste of Hunan Revisited

Chinese Restaurants

Since we revisited Taste of Hunan after a long gap back in April of last year, it had become the first choice with regards to Hunan dishes in San Diego. Since then we've visited about once a month; the service has always been nice and even though they no longer have some of our favorite items on the menu anymore, we've found a new favorite dish that we need to get on every visit.

Here's what we had on our latest visit.

The Xiangxi Style Beef Entrails is now a must order dish for us.

Taste of Hunan Rev 02

It arrives over a heating element to get the sizzling pot effect. We let is heat for a while before mixing things. Below the usually buttery tendon and the crunchy tripe are the onions, which grow sweet and absorbs the savory-mildly spicy sauce/seasoning.

On this visit, we also got the Pig's Feet.

Taste of Hunan Rev 03

The sauce was salty-sweet-savory. This leans toward almost a red-braised Hu-Cai (Shanghai style) dish. Nice porkiness; but the trotters were a bit harder and chewier than we enjoy.

We had seen several tables ordering the Mei Cai Kou Rou, the steamed pork belly and preserved vegetable, that is served with Bao. We had hesitated in ordering the dish because it really isn't Hunan, being, if I recall of Hakka origin, but quite popular in Guangdong and Jiangxi; regions which border Hunan. It did look good; so we finally went ahead and ordered it.

Taste of Hunan Rev 04

This turned out to be quite good. The pork looked firm, but was quite tender and buttery, not overly waxy, rich, and nicely flavored. Not overly sweet, very porky, good soy sauce, with mild anise tones. The meigan cai (dried preserved vegetable) had been nicely rehydrated-prepped and cooked with a pleasant, slightly crunchy texture. A nice umami-bitter flavor was present.

I think we found another winnah dish at Taste of Hunan! Now, both the Missus and I know that Village Kitchen serves Mei Cai Kou Rou as well…..hmmm….looks like an idea for dinner!

Taste of Hunan
9880 Hibert St.
San Diego, CA 92131
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs 1130am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday 1130am – 230pm, 5pm – 930pm
Sat, Sun 11am – 930pm

Saturday Stuffs – Palomino’s Replaces El Cuervo and Dao Xiang Noodle Replaces Mama Lin’s

Chinese Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants

Here are two changes that caught me by surprise.

Dao Xiang Noodle Replaces Mama Lin's:

Was at 99 Ranch Market off Balboa and went to the restroom when I noticed this.

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Well, Mama Lin's didn't last very long, did they? For some reason, I was just not interested in a noodle shop that made everything from Won Ton Noodle Soup to Pho to Ramen to Corn Dogs to Musubi…which BTW, they spelled as Misubi on the menu! That's another one for you Mar!

Anyway, this one looks a bit more interesting. Hopefully they'll last longer than Mama Lin's did. Though I believe Saigon 5 lasted about 6-7 years in this spot.

5950 Balboa Ave (Inside 99 Ranch Market)
San Diego, CA 92111

Palomino's Replaces El Cuervo:

I was driving up Washington Street….a route I honestly don't take much when I glanced over to the corner of Washington and First and what I saw surprised me!

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El Cuervo had been replaced by a location of Palomino's! When did this happen? Honestly, I hadn't been back to El Cuervo since we moved offices from Hillcrest over a decade and a half ago. And I had only done one post on the place back in August of 2005. Along with Mediterranean Cafe and Bronx Pizza, I considered these the "3-OG" within that two block radius! Man, I haven't been to Bronx since like 2008….perhaps I need to revisit?

To quote Chaucer: “Time and Tide wait for no man”

110 West Washington St.
San Diego, CA 92103

Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Recipes

"I just want a simple salad…." Ah yes, the phrase that will send shivers down my spine. Although, I guess the end product does look like a simple salad.

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It does look quite simple, right?

But, if you stage all the ingredients, it looks like this.

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And then of course the there's the preferences….."I want beets, but no red beets…they taste like dirt". "No orange carrots….it's so mundane…." And the biggest problem with the salad above? "I don't want grated beets or carrots, it makes them mushy….you need to do that spiral slicing thing." So, we got a spiral slicer.

Today's salad turned out looking like this.

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With the beets and carrots looking like this.

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And instead of croutons, I reheated some left over falafel from Ibis Market in the Air Fryer.

As for the dressing….well, that's evolved as well. The Missus wanted something similar to what we get at the Turquoise Room in Winslow, a Tahini based dressing. So, I initially started with the standard vinaigrette ratio on acid to EVOO, but it turns out the Missus enjoys a thinner, lighter dressing, with a fresher acidity from fresh squeezed lemon juice, with just a touch of sweetness. Vinegar was eliminated, so I can't call it a vinaigrette anymore. The Missus enjoys savory-nutty-sourness from Tahini, so I slowly increased the amount and came up with this base recipe.

Sorry, my photo of the dressing ain't very pretty.

Tahini Dressing 05

It's the Missus's current favorite dressing and I'm sure I'll be making this quite a bit as the weather warms up. Think of it as a base and adjust as necessary.

Tahini – Lemon Dressing
– Makes approximately 3/4 cup
1/4 Cup Tahini
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tb Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 Tsp Maple or Agave Syrup
1 Clove Garlic grated or finely minced
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to Taste

– Whisk Tahini, EVOO, Lemon Juice, and Maple or Agave Syrup together until smooth.
– Add Garlic and Lemon Zest
– Taste and adjust sweet-sour profile to your taste
– Add salt and pepper to taste

Super easy yeah?

Tahini Dressing 06

Have a great weekend everyone!

Daybreak Island Grill – Breakfasts with JJ

Breakfast/Brunch, Dog Friendly, Loco Mocos

I was looking for dog friendly places to get breakfast with JJ and also places where he can explore a bit. He likes "new" things, so this has gotten me to neighborhoods where one can walk and explore. Which is why we did North Park and Flora, University Heights and Parkhouse Eatery, and even Carlsbad and Wildland. Looking over things; it seemed like OB would be nice neighborhood for JJ, fun and funky, and laid back. I did a bit of research and found a listing for a restaurant named Daybreak Island Cafe. I checked out the Website and the "About Us" section which mentions stuff like taro and sweet potatoes. Google lists them as a "Hawaiian Restaurant". But when I looked over the menu, well it just seemed that there were just a few items that I grew up eating, like Portuguese Sausage and Kalua Pork on the menu. Hmmm……

Finally, while looking at the "four lettered" website I found this quoted in the "About the Business" section:

Daybreak About Us

Not a big deal really, I just wanted to know what to expect.

So, early on a Sunday, I drove with JJ down West Point Loma and found the very "beachy-tiki" looking restaurant right by the roundabout near Robb Field. It's a less hectic spot just a few blocks down from Voltaire.

Daybreak Island Grill 01

Daybreak Island Grill 01c

It's quite charming……

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With a nice outdoor tiki bar on one side and a covered patio area on the other….great for really hot days.

Daybreak Island Grill 03

And yes, the place is super dog friendly.

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No where was this more evident than in our Server; Monica who was super warm and friendly…she treated JJ like a little prince!

Daybreak Island Grill 05

Not much "local kine" stuffs on the menu. I decided to order the "Hawaiian" Breakfast Bowl, but they were out of Portuguese Sausage….so I went with the Loco Moco ($18). I liked that they actually have Tabasco, a necessity for my Loco Moco's since small kid time.

Daybreak Island Grill 06

The loco moco soon arrived….of course no mac salad on this one. It looked kinda manini for eighteen bucks, but with prices going crazy these days.

Daybreak Island Grill 07  Daybreak Island Grill 10 So, here's the score using the Modified Rubio Scale.

BURGER: On the leaner side and chewy, but with a decent char and beefiness – 3.5

EGGS: Nice and runny. Would have appreciated some crisp edges. No off flavors. – 3.0

RICE: Was fine; on the mushier side. – 2.5

GRAVY: A bit on the runny side, edged on very salty. – 2.5

Daybreak Island Grill 09 STUFFS: While eating, I noticed a gluey component under the eggs.  Not a fun texture and quite bland. Looking over the menu; I guess they also include sausage gravy with this? Overkill in my opinion. 1.0

Well, 12.5….exactly an average score! Not sure if it's worth $18 though.

I asked Monica what kind of Portuguese Sausage was used for the bowl and she didn't know. She was so nice to JJ, that we decided to return.

Daybreak Island Grill 11

And Monica was working again…and JJ even remembered her!

Daybreak Island Grill 12

This time a glanced around and saw that along with the Tabasco, they seem to carry some very appropriate condiments.

Daybreak Island Grill 12a

Daybreak Island Grill 12b

I wonder if they use Best Foods for their Mac Salad and is the ketchup Del Monte????

Anyway, they had the Hawaiian Breakfast Bowl ($14.75) available this morning.

Daybreak Island Grill 13 Daybreak Island Grill 14  Not sure about the Pico de Gallo as a side….funny, at first glance I thought it was Lomi Salmon! Four rather slices of Port Sausage; based on the texture and taste, I'm thinking this seemed like Redondo's? I'm fully "team Purity", but this was fine. Two scoops rice and two easy over eggs completed the set. The scoops of rice seemed on the smallish side; but I can't put it away like I used to, so this was fine. The rice was perfectly cooked and the eggs nice and runny.

Daybreak Island Grill 15

While I'm not sure this was worth almost fifteen bucks; I enjoyed the service and Monica treated JJ like a little prince…a very spoiled prince at that! And that is worth something to me.

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And it was interesting walking around the neighborhood after our meals.

Daybreak Island Grill 17

Daybreak Island Grill
2296 Bacon St.
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 8am – 130pm
Sat – Sun 7am – 3pm

Daybreak Island Grill 00

mmm-yoso Makes 20 a.k.a. Post #5527

yoso-silly

Well, I didn't know that they made our Blog's 20th anniversary a National Holiday! I'm just kidding, happy Memorial Day everyone!

And yes, today our little blog turns 20! Little did I know when I pressed "Publish Now" on our first post on May 26th 2005, that I'd still be doing post 20 years later! Hard to believe at times that it's 5527 post in 7305 days……

So much has happened over the last 20 years….I have been told that Blogging is dead for almost a decade now; but I guess I'm just a bit stubborn. When we started, MySpace was making waves by having more pageviews than Google! And that "four lettered website" had just been established in 2004 as well as Facebook.

I just wanted to do this post to thank all of you for visiting, reading, commenting, the wonderful emails, and recommendations. Without you all…well, I don't think we'd still be doing this. And of course, with co-authors Cathy, Vicky, and the late Ed from Yuma (we miss you so much Ed!), I don't think this blog would still be in existence.

I've always thought of our little blog as a food/travel diary of sorts…it ain't fancy writing, but I still look back on my travel posts, and wistfully smile at those places that I enjoyed dining at that are gone. Over the years I've had the honor of sharing my meals and our travels to 37 countries (well, I'm behind on Ecuador and Australia)….the only reason I know that is being asked how many countries I'd been to while grabbing a cold one a couple of months back. The guy who asked me that was shocked that I didn't know that number. I guess it's some kind of badge of honor or something these days? Ok, well, let's get back to the post, shall we?

As for what the future holds, well who knows? Ever since Typepad was purchased a few years ago and stopped offering new sign-ups functionality has deteriorated. It sometimes takes me 8-12 tries to get a photo to post. I've lost content when saving posts and had to depend on the last "restore content". I know I'll need to move to a WordPress platform, but the biggest issue has been not wanting to lose our 5,000 + posts. I know that the actual posts can be migrated; but the issue for me are the photos. So, perhaps I'll find a solution down the road.

Until then, JJ and I would like to raise our "glass" and thank you all for dropping by! And if you'd like to tell me when you started reading our little blog…well, that might be fun!

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Cheers everyone!

And it'll be back to business tomorrow for sure! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – Shugrue’s Restaurant & Bar (Lake Havasu City)

American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

We needed a place to stop for an evening on the way back from Winslow. Heading back to the Phoenix area or even heading back to Flagstaff or even Sedona might have worked. But having JJ along made a 7+ hour drive seem a bit too long. We had never been to Lake Havasu City and there was one thing I did want to see after watching a BBC documentary a few years back.

So, we made the drive to Lake Havasu City. We were staying on an area called "the Island" and since we'd be only spending the evening thought it would be nice to have a view of what I had wanted to see here; the London Bridge. So, I booked a dog friendly room at the Heat Hotel, which had a patio and a view of the Bridge.

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And yes, this is really the "London Bridge". It was built in the 1830's and had become unable to handle the traffic in the city by the early 1960's. Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu City (which was founded in 1964). I enjoyed this historic documentary on it.

And having recently been to London made it even more significant to us.

We got to the hotel a bit early and our room wasn't ready; so we took JJ for a short walk along the London Bridge Beach area.

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It was a bit warm, but JJ did fine.

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I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City; so it was interesting to see all the "snowbirds"….like I felt like a really young! 

We checked into our room and then decided to find a place to get some dinner. As I mentioned earlier; unlike what I'd usually do, I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City…….we were just going to chill and not worry about things.

When it came for dinner; I looked for a pooch friendly place and we decided not to stray too far. We basically went across the street.

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It seems that all the restaurants are owned by the same company. But here we were…and  I (at least) was tired, so I walked into Shugrue's and the very nice young lady greeted me. I asked if we could have the outdoor table, which was right at the entrance of the restaurant. The folks here were quite welcoming and they did love JJ. And the view from our table was not bad at all!

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We started with some nice brews…..

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And, as we will often do these days, we just went with appetizers.

For some reason, I just decided to order the Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts ($16), which had a "sweet maple glaze". It just didn't seem like something we'd like, but this was our favorite dish of the night.

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I'm usually not a fan of sweet stuffs as a main or appetizer; but we enjoyed the smoky-sweet-nutty flavors along with the salty-crunchiness, with the pineapple which actually did a nice job as a palate "cleanser".

I don't know why, but I enjoy fried pickles. But this version ($12) was not a favorite of ours.

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There's a ratio of breading to pickle that I think is optimal, which balances out the sour to texture. This was just huge spears which were not evenly breaded.

The Flatbread ($15) was also not a favorite.

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A bit too soggy-doughy and too sweet for our taste. We could have used more Portobello Mushroom and less Balsamic Glaze. 

Still, the folks Serving were so nice….especially to JJ.

Shugrue's Restaurant & Bar
1425 N McCulloch Blvd.
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

And after dinner we took a walk across the bridge.

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Where we got a nice view of our hotel.

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Our walk on the other side of the bridge was interesting as it seemed to be party central……well, over 60 party central……think Gaslamp for seniors….

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After getting back to our room and settling in….well, it was time for JJ's nightly "walk". 

And there just happened to be an outdoor bar along the way! How convenient! I got a gin and tonic nightcap overlooking the bridge….

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And had a chance to chat with the bartender. I really hadn't done a whole lot of research before choosing Lake Havasu City. I found out it's a haven for snowbirds and seniors and then party central for college students during weekends and spring break which was coming up. I guess we lucked out visiting during the middle of the week in March before Spring Break.

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Lake Havasu City was a interesting stop on the way back home. Not sure we'll return; but we got to see the London Bridge!

Saigon Corner Revisited

Vietnamese Restaurants

During one of my previous visits to Saigon Corner, I had noticed some outdoor tables were available. I asked the very nice young lady if we could bring our dog and dine outside? Her reply, "oh yes, he would be most welcomed!" I thought the food was pretty good and mentioned this to the Missus. Plus, I wanted to try the Oxtail Soup which they were out of on my two previous, so we headed on over. The place opens quite early; 9am, so we headed on over and arrived before 10, so we would not have to worry about the place being too busy on a Sunday.

Sadly, they were still out of Oxtail, so I'd have to find something else. On an interesting note; we noticed that some of the prices have actually been lowered! That's quite surprising in this day and age.

Saigon Corner Rev 01

For some reason, the Missus decided that She wanted the Banh Cuon instead of what She'd usually get…the Com Tam. I just couldn't resist the price drop so I order that.

There was also something the Missus was interested under the Coffee drinks.

Saigon Corner Rev 02

Salted Cheese Coffee!!!! Which She ordered.

Saigon Corner Rev 03

Really thick, a bit too sweet-milky for me….though it did have a hint of salt. Not my kind of thing, but the Missus enjoyed it.

The Missus's Banh Cuon, which She got with Grilled Pork ($16.25).

Saigon Corner Rev 04

The banh cuon was fairly light and pliable, though and filled with cloud ear and a bit of pork. Not quite in the same league as Thien Huong, but fine. The pork had been chopped, nicely marinated, good savory-fish sauce-sweet tones, though a bit on the chewy side. Tasted good though. The shrimp rolls – Tom Hoa Tien was nice and crisp, a bit lighter than what we've had before, the shrimp not overcooked and pretty good. The sweet potato fries were kind of a strange addition, but fine. We liked Nuoc Mam Cham, as it was savory-pungent and not too sweet or watered down.

My Com Tam ($15.95), which was a dollar cheaper than when the menu was printed.

Saigon Corner Rev 05

The broken rice was legit, fragrant, nicely cooked. Same pork as the banh cuon, though a whole pork chop in this dish. The Bi were lovely "rubber bands", though we would have enjoyed a bit more nutty roasted rice powder. The Missus enjoyed the "cha", nicely flavored, savory, moist, with good savory notes. I liked this version of the nuoc mam cham, which had garlic in it. It gave everything a nice pungent "kick".

Overall, a nice meal. Plus we could bring JJ. It's good to have another option in the area. Now, if they'd only have that oxtail in stock!

Saigon Corner Rev 00

Saigon Corner
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 9am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday

Luscious Dumplings (Eastlake) a Soft Opening Visit

Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

A few days ago; I got word that Luscious Dumplings, a well regarded jiaozi shop, now located in Monrovia, which holds Michelin Bib Gourmand status had just opened in Eastlake. Yep, Eastlake! Initially, I decided to wait a few weeks….but then having had some great jiaozi at the original shop in San Gabriel (which eventually moved to Monrovia)…and you know me and jiaozi, right? I just decided to check the place out and see if it was worthy of a visit from the Missus, who, hailing from QingDao where everyone in the family makes jiaozi (yes, even the Missus does) is even more picky about it than I am.

So, I took the 35 minute drive onto Telegraph Canyon Road, past places I hadn't been to in years, and then where Telegraph Canyon become Otay Lakes, to a large strip mall that I'd never been to; the Village Walk at Eastlake.

Luscious Dumplings 01

Finding the place was easy….they sure make a big deal out of the Michelin recognition, huh?

The restaurant is spartan. You order on the device at the counter……I understand it's card only.

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Luscious Dumplings 03

And then they'll bring your order to you or text you to pick-up your takeout order.

The guy at the counter seems a bit gruff and unfriendly; but he turned out to be a very nice guy.

Luscious Dumplings 04

All the standard accoutrements are available. Along with disposable sauce bowls and utensils.

The prices gave me a bit of a pause, the Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage Jiaozi was $14, as were the Pork XLB. After a short wait, my Jiaozi were delivered.

Luscious Dumplings 05  Luscious Dumplings 06  You notice the color of the fillings that you can see thru the wrappers? Well, I'm thinking there was some opening jitters here as I ordered the Cabbage, Shrimp, and Pork, but I basically got 4 of those and four Pork, Shrimp, and Chive! Which I would have ordered if I could have gotten four of each!

The wrappers were on the thicker end of the scale, but quite fluffy, with just the right amount of pull. The chive filling was full of, well chive, almost pungent-garlicky tones. I could make out more of the shrimp flavor in these as well. The fillings, while not as light and fluffy as the one's we had at the original location, was moist and juicy. These were quite good; I'm sure the Missus would be asking for some pounded garlic with these. Perhaps my favorite in San Diego right now. Though I'm not quite sure about how I feel having 8 jiaozi for $14!

Speaking of juicy, the Pork XLB were indeed that.

Luscious Dumplings 07 Luscious Dumplings 08  The wrappers were quite delicate, almost too delicate as I punctured three of the XLB while picking them up with the chopsticks. There was so much light-porky, not salty "soup" in these.

The amount of filling was on the lighter side, though it was decently porky and so moist. 

I'm thinking that the lack of saltiness might have thrown another customer off, who was complaining that the soup had no flavor and that he knew XLB because he is from LA! Ohhh-kay…..

I think these XLB might be my favorite overall in San Diego right now; while not even close to what we had at the original location of DTF on Xinyi Road, it's much better than what I've had on my Luscious Dumplings 09 first and subsequent visits to the SD location.

And while they do play up the Michelin thing a bit too much for me; I found the service to be nice. I showed the gentleman the photo that I had on my phone of the original location in San Gabriel and he smiled and asked me to wait. He went and called the owner who came over, looked at the photo and laughed. It's his Mom's shop!

I do wish this shop was closer to where we live as it's going to be a bit of a trek getting the Missus there; but I do want Her to try the jiaozi out here.

Luscious Dumplings 10

They are getting set for their grand opening shortly. If this place was on Convoy, there would be lines out the door……

Luscious Dumplings
872 Eastlake Pkwy Suite 413
Chula Vista, CA 91914
Current Hours
Daily 11am – 9pm

Luscious Dumplings 00

Circling Back to Song Hak

Korean Restaurants

A few weeks back, I did a "circling back" post on Tanuki. I'd been meaning to return after doing an abbreviated post back during the pandemic. Well, there was one other restaurant on that post that we'd been meaning to return to. Song Hak. And just to really set that reminder, "Sami" of the wonderful blog Things I Tried did a post on the place a while back.

The Missus was wanting a Dolsot Bi Bim Bap and really wanted something different from Her usual choice, so this was a great opportunity. We decided to head on over for lunch, because like many of the places on Convoy, that parking lot is horrible. And now that all the street parking is gone, well that just makes things more difficult.

On weekends, Song Hak opens right before 11am, which is when we arrived, encountering no issue with parking in the lot.

Song Hak Rev 01

The woman working was so nice…..very kind, warm, very much an "Imo"… Auntie. Because the Missus was getting the dolsot, we wouldn't be doing BBQ, so no Gopchang for us. Though we still get a kick remembering when that young girl ate the Gopchang and said to her dad: "Did I just eat POOP…..it really looked like POOP!"

I went thru the lunch specials and the woman steered me to the LA Kalbi lunch. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of LA Kalbi, the cross-cut ribs. I prefer the more traditional So-Kalbi, even when making Kalbi at home. But, I decided to take her word for it.

The panchan arrived.

Song Hak Rev 02

Not too impressive, except for the baechu kimchi which had a nice slight fermented sourness to it.

Song Hak Rev 01b

Song Hak Rev 03

I must say; the Kalbi was quite good. A thicker cut than what I'm used to, but surprisingly tender, beefy, though the marinade was a bit on the sweeter side. The Missus sampled some and enjoyed it! It was a good recommendation. The rice was decent as well.

The Sundubu was not very good however.

Song Hak Rev 04

Thin, salty, lacking in savory tones…..not a favorite.

As for the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap…..

Song Hak Rev 05

Man, this was quite hefty. The Missus enjoyed the bulgogi, which did skew to the sweeter side of things….but of course that egg with crisp edges. She (we) waited as the rice crust developed and also poured the juice from the kimchi onto the bowl. The namul added some nutty and textural contrast. This might just be the Missus's current favorite Dolsot Bi Bimbap…….

Which is kind of a dilemma….because I want to return and get the gopchang and similar dishes again……

Still, the woman working was so nice; we enjoyed our meal, so I'm thinking we'll return again soon.

Song Hak Rev 00

And maybe get some, ahem, "poop shoot"…….looking forward to having some gopchang here…..

Song Hak Korean BBQ
4681 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 11pm
Friday            1130am – Midnight
Sat – Sun       1050am – 1130pm

Revisits to A-Chau and Avian Sandwiches

Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

My revisits to the more "modern Banh Mi" at Banh Mi Express and Paris Sandwiches had me wondering how some of the more "traditional" banh mi shop were doing. So, it was time for a couple of revisits.

A-Chau:

Well, I decided to head on up to the place where I did my first post on Banh Mi in June of 2005! My how time flies! On this day I lucked out and the slightly psycho parking lot was only half full. It was just after 8am on a Sunday morning so Minh Ky  wasn't open yet.

A Chau Rev 01

It's pretty much "all business" here. You walk in, order, pay, get your sandwich and get the heck out of Dodge.

A Chau Rev 02

The Banh Mi Pate Cha here now runs you $7.25. It was $5.50 on my last visit and the end of 2021. OF course I had to get some Cha Gio as well.

A Chau Rev 03

I had been a bit critical of A-Chau over the last few years because the place seemed to have slipped a bit over the years.

This version was actually pretty good.

A Chau Rev 04

The exterior was crusty, the bread was light and yeasty. There was that "unicorn" of banh mi ingredients, a slice of cucumber present. The pickled veggies were thinly sliced and though there could have been a bit more, it was crisp and sour.

A Chau Rev 06

The ingredients was nicely distributed thru out the whole sandwich; the amount of funky pate was excellent, the cha lua nice and toothsome. Perhaps a bit too much mayo, but I think that's splitting hairs. There didn't seem to be a lot of jalapeno; but what those thin slices were pretty darn spicy.

Pretty good banh mi!

But while the banh mi seems to be "back"…the Cha Gio still seemed to be "stuck in a rut".

A Chau Rev 05
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While it was improved on my last visit, this was much like what I had back in 2018.  While still nicely "stuffed" it is still lacking in crispness, very chewy, the filling cold and lacking in a good pork flavor.

Oh well, at least the Banh Mi is back on my "list" here. I need to return more often.

A Chau Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 7am – 4pm
Fri – Sun        7am – 5pm

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water:

In my post on Banh Mi Express, "FOY" ST asked if I'd be doing Avian Sandwiches. Well, considering that Avian is one of the closer Banh Mi shops to me, of course I was. In fact, Avian was one of the most recent Banh Mi shops I posted on before this last  spate of visits.

I will say, that this small shop can get kinda crazy, with all the old timers drinking coffee outside, the endless stream of folks playing the lottery or filling up water.

Avian Rev 01

The interior can get positively claustrophobic.

Avian Rev 02

Like now you can get some body wash, shampoo, and conditioner with your Cane Juice, Alkaline Water, Lottery Tickets, and Banh Mi if so desired.

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My drill here is to order my sandwich and find some crevice or corner to squeeze into until my number is called.

Like on my last visit; I got the Banh Mi Nem Nuong, which is now $8.95. It was $7.95 last May.

Avian Rev 04  Avian Rev 05 The bread was crusty, though on the drier end of the scale. It had a good amount of pickled veggies; crisp, sour, and refreshing. Huge slices of jalapeno, some of which was spicy, some not…time for some "chili roulette"? Nice, thick slice of cucumber.

Two thick slices of nem nuong, savory-sour, with a mild sweetness. A bit too much mayo, but acceptable. Good amount of fresh cilantro. All evenly distributed. 

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A good banh mi…probably why it's one of my first choices for banh mi these days. In spite of the almost nine dollar price!

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am – 7pm

So, my "Banh Mi Brethren" ("BMBs"), where have you been getting your Banh Mi these days!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!