mmm-yoso – Page 533 – As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum

I know it’s a day late…but I’m hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

We did this year, what we’ve done for the last several years….started Thanksgiving Day off with some Dim Sum. I’ve already posted on Pearl back in November of last year, and even did our Thanksgiving Dim Sum there last year. So I won’t bore you with descriptions, just photos.

I may have missed a dish or two, and no Peking Duck 2 ways for $18, this year. All told, it came out to $30. Took a few laps around the path in back of the restaurant to help burn some of this off.

We hope everyone had a safe and fun Holiday!

Thanksgiving Day with friends

November 23, 2006 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

This is Cathy’s Thanksgiving Day menu. Enjoy!

Hello again. Happy Thanksgiving Day.

As you know, I had an incident involving gravity 23 days ago and basically am one handed. This does not lend itself well for my using knives, or any sort of tool normally used in cooking…go ahead, try to make scrambled eggs using only one hand, I dare you… I have seen a frying pan defy gravity and fling itself onto the floor in front of me. My dear neighbor graciously invited us to her house for the annual feast of thanks. This worked out perfectly- we made (OK, The Mister made) the starchy products and my neighbor made the main course..it was great fun and easy for me…I can’t even wash dishes by hand with this cast on….

The appetizer of raw vegetables, gherkin pickles, olives and dips. (dinner rolls in the background)…

Some condiments (and those desserts in the background)..

A very nice spiral sliced ham, cooked in an oven bag- it came out very moist.

The turkey, cooked in an oven bag and with *really* good stuffing (must be the butter used to saute the onions and celery)…

Side dishes- the Green bean casserole, always a favorite.

The mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn.

These were *excellent* baked beans.

of course, dessert…pumpkin pie, chocolate bourbon pecan pie, whipped cream and some kona coffee.

We hope all of you had a good day spent with family, friends, people you love.

Thanksgiving Eve

November 22, 2006 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

A quick post. The Mister just took two of these chocolate Bourbon pecan pies out of the oven and the house smells wonderful!

It’s just the refrigerated/rolled pie crust, unbaked, a handful of chocolate chips on the bottom, the recipe for pecan pie from the Karo Syrup bottle and you soak the pecans in Bourbon overnight.

Oh, and we are practicing with the new smoker and $1/pound turkey legs tonight, too.

The finished product came out moist and tastes more like ham than turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving from mmm-yoso!

Tajima

November 21, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

We’ve been going to Tajima since we first moved to San Diego back in 2000. I used to enjoy the Menchi Katsu(breaded deep fried ground/minced meat – in this case beef) Curry, now long gone from the menu, the various Ramen, and the Missus had always enjoyed the Okonomiyaki(a savory type of Japanese pancake).

Since an Ownership change a few years back, the menu has been expanded to accommodate a large variety of Izakaya style dishes(think pub grub/tapas style dishes) and Westernized Japanese dishes. Since I’ve started to make Okonomiyaki at home, the Missus hasn’t expressed a desire to eat at Tajima. So most of my visits have been for Ramen at lunch.

On this day, I had my favorite dish at Tajima, the Chashu Ramen($8.95):

The broth for the Chashu Ramen is Tonkotsu style, which is the whitish long boiled pork bone broth. While not as rich and velvety (nor as oily for that matter) as the version from Daikokuya in Little Tokyo(Los Angeles), it is still the best version of Tonkotsu style broth that I’ve had in San Diego. Though the broth is much darker in color than almost every other version I’ve had, it is not overly salty, and on the mild side, with a nice amount of oil.

The Char Siu on this visit were 3 slices of mildly flavored pork belly, accompanied by some slices of bamboo shoot, a boiled than marinated egg, bean sprouts, and a piece of nori.

Though thick noodles are available, I usually stick with the thin noodles(you can get more noodles for $1). The noodles have a nice pull and texture, but could stand to be a bit more chewy. I love that boiled egg…..

On some days, I want more of a "blank slate", a very mild broth, so I’ll have the "Ramen"($6.95), which in the case of Tajima is a Shoyu Ramen:

The broth is a mild Soy Sauce based broth to which I usually add a nice scoop of garlic paste, and some Shichimi for some zing. Speaking of the garlic paste; on a previous visit a gentleman with some obvious olfactory problems dumped 3 spoons of the garlic paste into his ramen….taking a sip of his soup, his eyes opened wide, exclaiming "Holy crap, this isn’t mustard"…..he-he-he.

As previously mentioned…I love that boiled egg. A nice hot bowl of Ramen on a rainy day, very few things better than that.

On this day, I needed my fix of Umami, and ordered this:

In case you can’t really identify it, let me help you:

It’s the Marinated Baby Squid($3.95), a salty-pungent-winey-slightly sweet offering, with a mild Shiokara-like flavor. The julienned basil added a nice clean flavor to this dish.

On a recent visit I managed to drag the Missus along, and being quite hungry we tried a few of the appetizers, along with a main course.

We started with the Tako Wasabi($3.95):

This was pretty good, more on the sweet side, than salty. The Missus enjoyed it, and even thought it was better than the version at Sakura!

The Tuna Tataki($6.95):

Looked fairly nice, but the fish was tough, the ponzu watery, and weak in flavor, and the fried garlic only added a bitterness to the dish.

The Chicken Karaage($3.95):

I love Chicken Karaage, in fact I love Chicken Karaage so much that it only needs to fulfill one of two criteria. Either it’s nice and crunchy, with mild flavor, or it can be cold and have a nice salty-soy-slightly-sweet-mildly gingery flavor. This version was on the soggy side, which would be fine if it was loaded with flavor. But as you can tell by the color………

The Miso Nabeyaki Soba($8.95):

Hardly any miso flavor, and soggy noodles. The shrimp tempura was fine, nice and crisp.

Minchi(Menchi) Katsu($9.95):

Aaaaah, minced meat, breaded, and fried, how can that be bad? Honestly, not a bad version, nice and crisp on the outside, and not oily at all. The patties had a good amount of filler which kept it moist, and the onion flavor came through. The "butter noodles" are not my favorite thing, and the Hijiki(seaweed) had not been cooked long enough and was like eating wood. The Menchi Katsu came with a bowl of miso soup(okay as miso goes), rice, and a combo Demi Glace – Katsu Sauce, that was too sour for my taste.

OH, before I forget…one of the really great things about Tajima is the late night Ramen! Check check the hours:

Yep, open till 3am Thursdays through Saturday(Convoy location only). And it’s a good thing; for now, I think I’ll stick with the ramen at Tajima. Don’t forget to try the Okonomiyaki!

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

and now

4411 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111

Meat by the Side of the Road-really

November 20, 2006 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is NOT on vacation. Cathy is blogging while Kirk is not. You are here. Continue reading.

Hi again. This is a good, true account of my life.

One day, about 7 years ago, I had occasion to be driving to the house of a friend, daily, in Valley Center (Just north of Escondido, where the Wild Animal Park is located). It was the week before Easter and I noticed, in front of Fat Ivor's (one of 4 restaurants in Valley Center- google it) this yellow trailer, off the side of the road …it says "Optimist Hams and Turkeys" (for now, the turkeys is crossed out..more about that later)…and I drove on by. I asked my friend about it and she had lived in Valley Center and said she saw it there, on occasion, for all the years she had lived there (about ten years at that point) . As I was driving home, I had to stop (you all know I *had* to stop). Here is a better photo, with Fat Ivor's, which is perpendicular to the road, in the picture:

As you can see, some friendly, Valley Center Optimists are sitting under a cover, waiting to chat with you.

I was curious that first time…and back then they were selling half and full smoked hams and also smoked turkeys. The Optimists were using the smoke pit at Fat Ivor's after hours and then sealing the meat in double wrappers. They had a handout, indicating 100% of all proceeds would be used to help Youth in the area, like this handout this year:

Oh, and I happened to be *very* hungry that first time. Back then the half ham was $25…today its $35 and it is *well* worth the price.

The ham is not at all salty nor is it dry. It is deeply smoky, not artificial, and anyhow, I recall I tore through the two layers of thick plastic on the way home, while driving, to tear off a piece of that ham.

Remember, The Mister, born in Finland; smoked meat is something he craves, and he knows what he likes (smoked cheese by the way, is just plain *wrong*).

I've been getting a half ham every holiday since. The half ham is $35 this year, the full ham is $55. It became less cost effective to smoke turkeys. (Something about having to have them reach a very cold temperature within two hours after smoking).

Note that sometimes they run out, but you can order and pay and pick up another day. It's only available these three Holidays a year (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter) and is *worth* the drive.

Aren't you glad I stopped? I am.

The yellow trailer, in front of Fat Ivor's 27961 Valley Center Road, Valley Center, CA 92082. Starting the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the Saturday before Christmas and the Saturday before Easter

Lolita’s-Don’t say they did not warn you

November 19, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk is taking a day off from blogging, and Cathy has found-surprise- another Taco Shop to talk about…and she has an add on..

You have driven on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, I know it. 99Ranch is right across the street, and Teri Cafe and Pho T Cali is right in this mall. You’ve seen this place, it used to be a Souplantation, which moved down the street to an area with less parking but apparently more table space. ( I do so like planning ahead).

As you walk in, on the wall to the left it’s written: "Patience is the essence of fine Mexican food"

That’s your clue…its not really fast food. Its still a taco shop. You walk in, order, pay and wait…look at the receipt: Its written there, too..

So, here is the main menu, and there are some handwritten specials also.

You can see the full menu here ..you know, while you are waiting… (look at the site-Under the "Lolita’s Taco Shop" logo…there it is..that darn talk about patience)…so load up on the salsa bar..it has radishes,scallions, jalapeños and limes! You can eat those while you wait…

AND FINALLY your number is called…

The carne asada torta (beans, carne asada, guacamole on a fresh, toasted telera roll) was excellent, as was the mashed potato taco.

This is one of the breakfast burritos: Eggs, cheese, potato and bacon.

This is the unrolled breakfast burrito, so you can see more of the filling. The potatoes were sliced and crispy-sauteed..nice.

So, yes you will wait, and yes, its worth it. Its a nicer atmosphere and a better quality of food.

Lolita’s Taco Shop 7350 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92123 (858) 874-7860

And now, a little diversion…

I tend to write about cooking at home, Taco Shops and Mediterranean style foods…and just wanted to let you know, I do frequent fast food places…for a reason. On Halloween, I decorate…oh, sure not like my neighbor does-

But I save my fast food bags, throughout the year, and line the driveway, making interesting luminaria:

When its dark, it looks more like this photo from last year-

..and I didn’t take a photo of it in the dark this year…

because Oct 31, 2006 at 5:50 a.m…well, I was walking up at the top of the hill in my backyard: (that is Nutmeg, by the way) the hill is higher up that these stairs indicate-there is a deck, two more stairs up and one step down..oh, it doesn’t matter…gravity, displacement, Colle’s fracture of the distal radius…

This was at about 11 hours after it happened. On November 15, because the healing wasn’t quite right, I was casted twice:

You might notice the palm of my hand is 90° in a different position than in the other photo. This is the 4th cast, in 15 days…and as a side note, my elbow is immobilized, so the cast goes to my shoulder….

Oh, I drive a manual transmissioned car…and I worked for the Registrar of Voters, as a "Troubleshooter", manning 4 driving locations, on November 7 (as did The Mister). I am not complaining. Its just I am now realizing how much, even though I am ambidexterous, how much we use two hands a day….dental floss anyone?? Kirk knows of the plans I had for Thanksgiving that are now on hold, and how upset I was, especially with the latest cast. I appreciate all of your kind notes hoping for a speedy recovery. It probably won’t be, but hopefully I won’t need surgery.

So, that’s it, mystery over…and in summary, go with the fall, don’t try to stop yourself with one hand…it doesn’t work.

Is It Soup Yet? Guess the Restaurant – It’s Fortune Cookie Express

November 16, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I haven’t done one of these in a while. I recently had a pretty good bowl of soup, and thought "hmmmm, maybe it’s time to give away some coffee".

So here we go, I’ll post a few photos. Email me the name of the restaurant, and I’ll Email the first 7 correct answers a free cup of Peet’s. Now that it’s getting a bit cooler, doesn’t a cup of Peet’s sound good?

Okay…..the name of this Chinese Fast Food Restaurant is:

As much as I hate the name…it’s Fortune Cookie Express, hidden behind other businesses on Balboa avenue. And most of the usual Fast-Food suspects are in view from Chop Suey to Beef Broccoli.

It’s one of the last places on Earth that I’d be eating….but the Chow Ma Mein was recommended by the Twins at Sandwich Emporium. Turns out that you won’t find it on the regular menu….but if you check out the photos on the side wall you’ll see the a photos of "Chowmamein".

Looks pretty spicy, huh?

The Chow Ma Mein, seems to use all those Chinese Fast-food components…the thin cut stir fry refugee veggies, fast food chow mein noodles, the sliced beef, etc….

Though I enjoy the fried garlic, and the 5 pieces of shrimp, the Chow Ma Mein is a bit on the oily side, but for $3.99, who’s going to really complain. The Chow Ma Mein is nice and spicy, though lacking in much other flavor, and will fill you up…….

BTW, there was one correct guess! Kudos to Kimmie!

Fortune Cookie Express
5931 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Madness

November 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

Wow, it's Wednesday already. Here are a few midweek odds and ends.

Kayaba

One half of the new food stands in the Mitsuwa Marketplace has revealed itself.

From what I understand Kayaba will be doing Soba, Katsu, and the like. I'm hoping for a Santoka Ramen as well. One can always hope……

The Missus had a hankering for Una-Don, so I purchased some Unagi from Nijiya, but decided to make my own quick and dirty Nitsume(Eel sauce). We've purchased the bottled stuff, and found it either to be too salty, or too sweet, or having strange flavors. So I decided to try a slight modification of an interesting recipe I found in DK Kodama's Sushi Chronicles from Hawaii, which I purchased on my visit to Sansei a few weeks back. The recipe is pretty easy, and after seeing the amount of Sake in it I had my doubts, but it turned out to be quite good. Maybe a tad on the sweet side, but not bad at all.

The recipe uses some short cuts, like hondashi…which worked out well, since I didn't happen to have a whole bunch of Eel trimmings lying around. The recipe also calls for the Hondashi to be boiled…which made it a fishy-bitter during the first pass, so I cut the amount in half, and added it right before the reduction process, and it worked. I'd been taught never to boil anything after adding Hondashi, but in this case it worked during the low boil. Purists may just want to skip the recipe, if it hurts too much.

Easy Unagi Sauce(Nitsume)

2 Cups Sake
1/2 Cup Mirin
1/2 Coy Sauce(Yamasa or Aloha)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp Hondashi

1 – Mix all ingredients except Hondashi in a pot. Bring to a boil stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low and add Hondashi.

2 – Reduce mixture by half to a light syrup.

3 – Store in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate. According to the original recipe this will keep for up to 1 month.

I still don't quite know what to do about the Missus's other current obsession:

Have you ever known anyone who craved brussel sprouts???? With Nitsume??? And Rice???

One last item – mmm-yoso's very own Cathy Doe has been recovering from illness, so I'd like to make sure to tell Her to hang in there, and get well soon. She's still posting too..what a trooper!

Chopstix Too

November 14, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

About a week or so ago, I mentioned that Chopstix Too, a sort of "Casual-Fast" version of Chopstix had opened in the same strip mall as Mitsuwa Marketplace. Talk about setting yourself up for success.

So I finally walked on up to check out the menus attached by clothespins to chairs….and sheesh, talk about cheap grand opening specials! Bargain-City…..

Okay, so I’m sold, I’ve got to check this out. At this time of the morning 11am the place is empty, yet bustling. Seems like the employees are still getting used to the surroundings. The interior is pretty fast-foodish, with simple booths and tables, and a sushi bar crowning the cavernous interior.

I didn’t bother opening the menu; I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki & Tempura Combo($4.95 – Grand Opening price – $5.95 regular):

The special came with a bowl of so-so miso soup, a green salad with Asian-style dressing, rice, some chicken(dark meat) teriyaki, with a sauce that was less sweet than the usual American-style teriyaki, and3 pieces of tempura. The tempura was not bad; it was not as crunchy, nor did it have the lacquered texture of the version at Chopstix. Pretty fast-foodish, but well worth the $4.95. It’s much better than picking up a pretty much cold bento from Mitsuwa or Nijiya.

But that’s not all…..there’s a "To Go Only" menu, that has specials like Curry Bowl($3.50), Chicken Katsu Bowl($3.95). Wait a second, Chicken Katsu Bowl for under four bucks? Sheesh…Bargain City!!

So being the sucker for Chicken Katsu that I am, I ordered the Chicken Katsu Bowl($3.95).

But wait, I’m not done….because it was inexpensive, I also ordered the Fish Katsu($3.95):

It’s hard to tell which is which, huh? This was a styrofoam soup sized bowl, with a nice amount of rice on the bottom. A layer of shredded cole slaw mix(shredded cabbage), and few pieces of broccoli acted as a buffer for the fried product. Honestly, it was a bit on the greasy side, but still will fill you up. The other item that I didn’t care for were that first off, teriyaki sauce was used instead of katsu sauce, and the whole thing was slathered with spicy mayo, like what is used for those spicy rolls. As if the dish needed any more fat! Is this worth $3.95…you bet, but next time I’ll order it without any sauce(or mayo), and use some of those leftover katsu sauce packets.

I’m sure that I’ll do another post on the regular menu items in the future…sort of a Chopstix Too, part too…he-he-he, sorry couldn’t help myself.

Now comes the fun part, it was bound to happen! Cathy and I ate at Chopstix Too during the same week. So you get a "double post", a two-for-one special so to speak. Actually, I’m letting Cathy go so She won’t serve me with a food stalkers warrant from the Food Police! LOL! So without further ado, heereee’s Cathy!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk isn’t even taking a break off from posting. We both went to Chopstix Too-didn’t even see each other- and have pretty much the same observation of pretty much everything on the menu…here’s the rest of it.

Hi Everyone…I just want you to know I think the Mister went to Chopstix Too *before* Kirk did (The Mister works within walking distance)…for lunch…and that evening he brought home some of those "Grand Opening Take Out Only" specials.

The crunchy roll served with salad ($4.95) (Crunchy Roll is pretty much that fake krab stuff and avocado..its larger than most rolls..wrapped in seaweed and the rice and rolled in tempura leftovers…crunchies…topped with a sort of katsu (sticky sweet) sauce and the spicy mayonnaise).

This is a meal in itself-crunchy roll is quite large. The same one Chopstix has been having on ‘special’ forever. The salad is light, crispy and topped with the "Asian salad dressing" that is standard-more or less vinegar and sweet..no garlic or ginger.

He also brought home the Spam sushi ($3.50) made with avocado and pickled radish. It was nice. He also brought home some of the generic bowls Kirk apparently got (after perhaps stalking The Mister…) One of these is the calamari katsu, which held up quite well in the traffic home. The other is the chicken katsu, which was tasty but not crispy (the calamari was on a bed of shredded cabbage to maybe keep the steam from the rice from softening the crust). {ooh, I just looked at the photos and two are the same…that’s how well I could tell the bowls apart}… and then there was the tempura bowl:

The tempura coating does not fare well inside a bowl with steam for about 15 miles in rush hour traffic. There is a shrimp, carrot, zucchini and pumpkin..the veggies and shrimp were good, still crispy, not mushy…but the coating was not as much fun as you get with fresh tempura inside the restaurant….by fun, you know, crispy, light, airy…making you think it has no calories…

So, we decided to meet up for dinner, off of the "regular" menu one day. This is probably your first view of the building, when you take the exit off of 163:

Its kitty corner from Mitsuwa, in the same parking lot, attached to the Taco Bell. Originally that half of the building was a Sarah Lee Outlet Store, where I happened to be one of the first, and a regular customer.

We seem to have sat in the exact same booth as Kirk did, with that view of one of the two flat screen TV’s in the place… The regular menu looks more like this: Its a little bit different from the regular Chopstix menu, with lots more sushi items. You may notice the "miso butter corn ramen". We asked our polite waitress what it was. She said:’its miso with butter and corn and ramen noodles’. Maybe next time.

We opted for a few "standards", to test the kitchen:

The seaweed salad, ($3.50) nice and fresh…not much different than elsewhere. The mabo ramen ($5.95) seemed to have a richer broth and was excellent. I really like fresh ramen noodles.

I opted for the Seafood Katsu ($8.25). Served with miso, salad and rice. Three shrimp, two pieces of fish and two pieces of calamari, all lightly battered. I liked all of it. The shrimp is made from shrimp paste and is larger and denser than just a single piece of shrimp would be…and there is still a tail attached…which I always eat anyhow…its fried, crispy…fiber…

The grand opening specials will probably stop at the end of November…or not I suppose. The Mister and I went to the original Chopstix and with our bill, we got a coupon for a free California roll with purchase of any meal at Chopstix Too. Its a smaller California roll (6 pieces) and the coupon was stamped with an expiration of November 30.

All in all, Chopstix Too is the same as the original Chopstix, with an added sushi bar and *much* better parking. The Grand Opening Specials make it worth the trip also. I saw quite a few people with "to go" foods just eating in the parking lot….besides all the people following me around in general….ahem!

Chopstix Too 4380 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 (858) 565-1288 open 7 days 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Closing hours may change.

Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant

November 13, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** An updated post can be found here.

Right at the outskirts of Pacific Beach is Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant. You really can't miss the sign.

Though if you drive a bit too fast you'll zoom right past the restaurant and the small 8 stall parking lot. I'd been told that the Owner of Pho Sao Bien is the son of the Owner of Pho Hoa Huong. But whereas Pho Hoa is all business and bustle, Pho Sao Bien has a more peaceful and laid back "vibe".

The interior of the restaurant is bright and clean, and taking a page from those Asian restaurants with a customer wall, Pho Sao Bien has it's own "Wall of Fame".

This being Pacific Beach, I expected the prices to be a bit higher, but was still a bit taken aback by the prices, most everything was over $5.65. Still this is PB, not Mira Mesa where paying over six bucks for a bowl of mediocre Pho would be hard to understand, when you could get good Pho for under five bucks right down the street.

The one item I was told that I "must" have here were the Cha Gio (Egg Rolls – $6.25). Yep, it's Egg Rolls for over six bucks…these had better be good. What I got were 6 huuuge Cha Gio, that needed to be steroid tested:

These large Cha Gio were wrapped with the thin type of rice paper that bubbles up and gets very crunchy when fried, but due to the amount of filling they start getting soft pretty quickly…so fried lip be damned, it's full speed ahead with these. The Cha Gio filling didn't have very much filler, and I could only finish two of these. This reminded me of something that would be made when suffering from "dumpling fatigue", that happens when the Missus gets tired of making Jiaozhi after making 3 dozen or so, the dumplings start getting more and more filling…The Missus's Mother still can't figure out how She manages to get so much filling into a dumpling!

The Nuoc Mam Cham was mildly sweet, and overall this wasn't a bad dish. Is it worth over six bucks…I dunno, but this could be a meal on it's own.

During that time my garnishes arrived for my Pho:

Pretty skimpy, I ended asking for more basil and bean sprouts.

As for my Pho, I had ordered the Pho Dac Biet("Special" – X-Large – $6.50):

Since there was a connection between Pho Sao Bien and Pho Hoa, I expected a very dark and beefy broth. So much for expectations…the broth was medium dark in color, with a mild amount of oil. The flavoring pulled more toward a clove and anise flavor, not bad overall. The noodles were not the usual clump in the bottom, but loose, and of the thinner variety. There was a good amount of rare steak, which was soft and tender. There was just a scant amount of tripe and brisket, 1 piece of tendon, and 1 piece of flank, not much overall, I'm guessing in keeping with the clientele in PB.

In spite of the price, would I eat here again? Well considering that the nearest Pho is at least 6 miles away…..who knows? And if I'm craving for jumbo Cha Gio, or the Missus wants some Bun Cha Gio with Cha Gio suffering from Elephantiasis….you get the picture.

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