**** Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe is now Banh Mi Express
My recent visits to Paris Sandwiches had me wondering about Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe. I've actually thought the Banh Mi at Phuong Nga to be pretty good when compared to all those pho (faux) banh mi places these days. I do wish the shop had weekend hours as it would be a decent breakfast stop when doing my "Saturday rounds", but as is, they are only open from 8am to 3pm Monday to Friday. I made some time to visit during a weekday morning to see what was going on here.
I strolled on in and ordered the Dac Biet – #1, $6.99 which is par for banh mi these days. Within minutes, my sandwich was ready and I sauntered on back to the office. It did feel a bit hefty.
And yes, it was quite full of Cha Lua, Thit Nguoi…… What I think banh mi purists' will appreciate, I'm looking at you "Billy" is that Phoung Nga still includes cucumbers in their banh mi, a rarity these days. The bread, as usual is a bit heavily baked (onsite), making it more hard and crusty than having a nice balance of light, crusty-flaky. But these days, this is almost a blessing, as much of what I've had is soft and doughy. There's a good amount of pickled veggies, the jalapenos were present, but not overly spicy on this visit. This was a nice lunch for me.
It is my favorite banh mi in the area.
If you know of something you think is better, and no, it ain't Cali Banh Mi, please let me know!
Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 8am – 3pm
Closed on Saturday and Sundays
Man, this location of Boston Market had been here forever! I decided to walk on over to see what was up….hoping that perhaps an interesting eating establishment was coming to this location. I should have known better. It's a chain swap out. At least it's California Fish Grill which claims serve only "Responsibly Sourced Seafood". You can read about 
I ordered this at a heat level 4 (on the scale of 1-5) and it was adequately spicy. Though I'd return with friends a week later and we ordered heat level 5 and it wasn't as spicy as this. Of course you can instantly see this is missing the salted crab and the tomatoes are just wedges that haven't been poroperly "briused" in the "kruk". This was slightly funky, not a savory as we enjoy and the liquid was kind of watery.
Like before, the sandwich uses a yeasty Telera roll. The pork was more seasoned than I recall, the pork was quite chewy, which is in line with 
I would also vote to have more camote, as it makes little impact on the sandwich.
And just wandered around. I ended up buying more Tarbais beans in the shop/deli above….yep, 35€ a kilo and I bought another half kilo.
The red brick building with the black awning, next to LLL Reptile on East Grand between North Kalmia and North Juniper. It's pretty easy to spot. 
There is plenty of indoor seating as well as quite a few outdoor tables.
Step inside and the menu is on the wall. There are paper menus also. Order, pay and your food will be brought to your table.
The first item that caught our eyes, top left-Original Poutine ($8.99). Fresh cut fries, brown gravy, cheese curds. We had to. The fries were skin on, definitely made here. Not too crisp, but hot and thoroughly cooked, covered with the not-salty brown gravy and cheese curds, which melted in the heat of the fries. The cheese was plentiful and stretchy and a really great part of each bite. There were leftovers which reheated quite well in the fry pan at home. 
Pretty much the center of the menu board, the Cuban Torta ($16.99) wa our agreed choice. A toasted Torta roll slathered with mayonnaise, filled with adobada, pulled pork, ham, provolone, a fried egg, pineapple, and pickled jalapeño.`
You can see it all here. Each meat (plenty of meat in this sandwich) was fresh and offered a discernible variety of flavors. Then there were textures-the egg was runny, adding a richness and the sweet slice of lightly crisp pineapple was very complimentary to all of the porky goodness. Even the light crunch, slight saltiness and light heat of the pickled jalapeño helped bring it all together with each bite. We each had leftovers of our respective halves.
Looking over to the bottom right of the menu-Beignets ($7.99). Oh yes, this would be a dessert day. We were asked if we wanted the deep fried dough to come out with our meal or would we like to wait, since everything is made to order here. We said we were not in a hurry and later were asked if they should start on the dessert. 
Calling this a "bowl" is a definite misnomer as it's pretty hefty. There's the standard green salad with a sesame dressing plus some fairly standard and kinda mushy and pretty salty japchae. The rice was nicely done and the portion size seemed a bit larger than before.
