One of the benefits to putting together the "Big List" is that I needed to go over my former posts, which was a great reminder of places I hadn't been to in years. I went about checking on Erlinda's Filipino Cuisine, which had replaced a favorite sisig (along with fried chicken skin) spot of mine Conching and found that it was replaced by something called "Kujo Eats"? Now granted, these days I can't put it away like I used to and have really cut down on the amount of rice I consume. And though I've been trying to change things up a bit, with gas and food prices soaring, well, I've cut down on heading to places I once used to check out every 2 weeks or so to see what was happening. What really surprised me is that my post on Erlinda's is from 2014! Sheesh. As for Kujo Eats? Well, I went to the website which mentioned that the owner was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego! Plus they open at 8am in the morning? So, I could drive on down and (hopefully) avoid crowds.
Exiting the 805 on Plaza and driving east felt so strange. When was the last time I was in this area? I mean, the last time I actually visited Tita's was in 2013. I headed off to where Plaza turns into Paradise Valley and into the parking lot of Kujo's which looks basically the same as when it was Conching.
And other than the new signage, the two level interior looks the same as well.
The women working are super friendly and of course there were some items that immediately caught my attention.
I didn't come across anything that seemed to have touches of Hawaii until I got to the cashier. They had Spam Musubi for sale!
I got a two item combo with "fried rice" which was $13.79, a bargain these days, especially if your lunch (+ tomorrow's lunch) looks like this.
My goodness, the portion size.
I instantly dug into the sisig, which was just passable with hard and chewy or waxy chopped lechon. The skin had not held up well, even though it was a shade after 10 in the morning.
I can't fault the amount of pork in this; though I do enjoy a good amount of onions as well. This was just slightly sour, while I enjoy a bit more of a bracing flavor. It also lacked spice, one of my favorite things about sisig.
The best item in the plate was the "fried rice"; which was a pseudo garlic rice.
The rice had a nice texture, a good amount of garlic, and more soy than other versions. It was quite satisfying.
The Tortang Talong looked wonderful.
It was nicely coated with egg, though I thought it needed more seasoning, not enough salt and pepper for me. The eggplant was nice and creamy, with a hint of that "aubergine-y" smokiness. I usually like a hint of garlic in my Tortang Talong which I couldn't detect here.
So, this ended up being two meals and change (I still had rice leftover for another meal).
I was going to do a post right then, but decided that I should go back for another visit. I did wait a couple of weeks though.
This time I got the Lechon Kawale and Kaldereta. Again the portion size was more than generous; especially the rice!
Most of the time, folks working at these turo turo places see that I'm obviously not Filipino and they won't give me the free sinigang that often comes with meals. It's not a big deal as the amount of food provided is more than enough.
But on this visit, the nice woman included the soup.
I enjoyed this; it was bracingly sour, had just enough salt too.
The Lechon Kawale looked quite good.
The chunks of lechon were quite large; the skin crunchy, though I thought it needed more salt. The meat was on the drier side of the scale and very mild in flavor. It looked better than it actually was.
While not as garlicky as on my previous visit; the fried rice was still good.
I thought the Beef Kaldereta, while on the greasy side was good.
The beef, in this case short ribs was tender, which was a good thing as the bones made things rather unwieldy. I really liked the tart-tomatoey flavors that permeated the beef as well. This went quite well with the mild pungency of the rice.
I'm glad I checked out Kujo's, though my arteries are probably not as happy. I need to get down here more often and really need to revisit Tita's after all these years.
Kujo Eats
3400 E 8th St. Suite 115
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 8am – 7pm
Sunday 8am – 6pm
These seem a little smaller than I recall, but the sausage was nicely grilled and the proportion of ingredients seemed right, so one could enjoy the salty-sweet-savory flavors of the "bouncy" nem nuong and the crunch of the crisp egg roll wrapper. The wrapping was done perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight which would make the rolls tougher, creating what I'd call "bad botox spring rolls". The sauce was as before slightly sweet-sour, with garlic and umami tones. I does seem a bit more watered down than I recalled.
I did notice that one of the shrimp was "MIA". Still, the Missus enjoys the crisp rice flour cup/shell, which has a hint of coconut. The shrimp were plump and tender, nicely cooked. These are quite a treat with the mung beans, pickled veggies, the anise-citrusy tiet to (perilla), and the slightly sweet-chili-fish sauce concoction.
The poppy seed bun was adequately fluffy, the sport peppers spicy, of course there was the radioactive green relish. The dog had a nice snap, I'd expect no less from a Vienna Beef wiener, though for some reason it seemed a bit thinner than what I'm used too? Everything else was in line; pickle wedge, check, tomato slices, check. A bit too heavy handed with the celery salt, but this was a decent Chicago Dog. 
Soon enough the steaming bowl of pho arrived. It was chock full of cilantro and scallion. Hot but not overly so. I had a taste of the broth; which had been decently defatted, looking perhaps too clear. It had hints of anise and beefiness, though it did go in the direction of being "San Diego sweet" in flavor. Still, it was not bad.
Best of all, the noodles weren't overcooked, something that I've been running into recently.
Loved how the broth had a nice, even fat content, but it was too salty and had me chugging water for the rest of the day.
This was a nice bowl. The highlights were the wonderful soft poached egg, which added a wonderful creaminess to things. And the noodles, slippery, springy, with a nice chewiness. This was much better than expected. The broth didn't seem hot enough for me, though I did like how the soy sauce, and light sweetness balanced out the dashi in the "BK" (I remember when they called this, ahem bukakke) sauce.
The scallions are a must as they add a bit of "sharpness" to things, though the agedama really helps with textural contrast initially, it'll get soggy quick, though it does add another range of textures to things. As for the beef, which is like beef teriyaki, they call it "sweet beef" on the menu and they weren't kidding. It was chewy and overly sweet for my taste.
For now, we're in need of more escargot and boudin blanc. I like the folks here, they are friendly, and are always ready with some tips and recommendations on using the products they sell.