**** White Rice Morena has closed
Back at the beginning of the month, I noticed that Fusion Eats had closed. After reading this post on Eater, I realized this location was going to be an outlet of White Rice. As I was driving past this weekend, I noticed that the sign was up for "White Rice Morena" so I decided to drop by.
Of course, the issue with this strip mall off of Linda Vista is the crazy parking….finding something that is only 10 minute versus 20 minute, versus and actual parking spot. No wonder places don't last here. Anyway, I found parking and walked on over. The place was empty with no hours posted, so I asked the really nice young ladies if they were open. And received a very friendly "yes, welcome, come on in" almost in unison.
Other than the posted menu, strategically placed plants, and some art the looks of the place was quite austere. Which is why I wasn't sure it was even open.
My first instinct was to go with the dish I had enjoyed the most during my visits to the Adams Avenue location, the Tocino Manok. But instead, I decided to try out the Lechon Kawali ($15) and at the last minute added a side of sisig (not on the menu $10). The cheerful young lady took my order and it was a short 15 minute wait for my order.
Arriving home, I quickly unpacked things and immediately went for the item I found the most problematic on my previous visits; the rice. Sadly, it was basically the same; hard and dry.
As for the rest? Well, the egg was a bit overcooked, but passable. I really like the pickled veggies, which have a nice sour-mildly sweet-salty balance. And the lechon was quite good, the skin which had a nice bubbly-fried appearance was a pleasant crisp to crunchy, the flesh tender and porky. Not bad.
As for the Sisig? Well, last time it was hard and rubbery.
While this version was still chopped too coarse for my liking and I thought it could use more chilies, the texture was fine, as was the amount of sourness. I think I'll stay with the lechon and try the Tocino Manok if I return. Now if "White Rice" could get their namesake item straightened out….
I do think that White Rice is an upgrade over Fusion Eats and can see them doing quite well with the USD folks. Hope it works out.
White Rice Morena
5299 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 8pm
Sat – Sun 10am – 8pm
As you can see, the Missus was all about the tamago on this day. This bowl had a lot of "stuffs"; scallion, spinach, bean sprouts, cabbage. The best item in the entire bowl was the menma which had a wonderful texture and the earthy-soy sauce tones were on point. The two slices of "chashu", I use the quotation marks because the two thin slices were not pork belly, it was lean and tough. 
Ramen was the first to arrive. The broth is indeed lighter, though there were some nice globules of fat in it. I thought it was on the overly salty side and pretty one-dimensional in flavor, though that might be written off to the sodium overload. The chashu; which had a nice "fat cap", was thinly sliced, with a wonderful soy-porkiness to it and very tender. The tamago was also nicely cooked and marinated but was ice cold, a pet peeve of mine.
This version came with a small "pile" of veggies – mostly bean sprouts, some carrots and spinach, etc…..for what seems to be a two dollar upcharge that's not really worth the price. The shio broth seemed even lighter than the shoyu version, less rich, but not as salty. For some reason, there was a pungency like that of white pepper that resonated with me. I preferred this broth to the shoyu version.
Apparently some noodles were stuck together during the cooking process and melded into a hard, inedible ball of gluten madness. Oh man, what a bummer. I showed this to the young man working who was speechless and told me "sorry" and then walked away. Soon someone else brought me my check! So, perhaps I was in an alternate universe at that moment having lunch at Kita-"
I enjoyed that the bread was airy, crusty, and slightly yeasty. The bright and acidic pickled veggies pared well with the good amount of cilantro which was mostly leaves…having a banh mi full of cilantro stems is a pet peeve of mine. There were two slices of sinus clearing jalapenos in the sandwich. I enjoyed the savory, slightly sour, nem nuong, which also had a nice slightly chewy-meaty texture.
The building, signage and interior has remained the same and survived Covid-19.
I chose (as always) the wonderful, vegetable filled minestrone soup as my side
to the 1/2 eggplant parmesan sandwich ($9 on the board at the door specials). This is a favorite order, served on a wonderful toasted Italian bread-the tomato sauce, crisp fried, breaded eggplant and melted cheese is a blend of comforting flavors and a texture filled meal. 
The Mister ordered the baked (cheese or meat) ravioli from the menu at the door ($9). The serving comes with the bread, as well as a choice of meat or meatless sauce as well as the optional mushroom topping (of course He wanted that!). He also ordered a side salad ($2); quite large and we shared it. Great, tasty ricotta filled ravioli, meat sauce, fresh mushrooms. Just perfect.
The menu at the door also offered an individual size white pizza ($8). We had to. Quite large for an appetizer (we thought of it that way) (there were leftovers) and exactly the way I like pizza- simple with a thin, somewhat crisp dough and toppings which conveyed the flavors of the cheeses.
