Closed – Page 100

Saigon on Fifth

April 23, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Saigon on Fifth has closed

You know how sometimes you drive past a locale, noticing the new signage, making a mental note to make sure to try the location out….then immediately forgetting about it? Well, this is what happened with Saigon on Fifth.

Until Calvin sent me an Email mentioning His visit to Saigon on Fifth. Geez, (immediate slap to the head) how could I have forgotten. The location on the corner (sort of) University and Fifth has been a kiss of death for various restaurants. First a Rubio's went down in flames, then a pizza joint called Me N' Ed's lasted a few years. Since our office is within walking distance I decided to head over for lunch on a recent afternoon.

I walked in and, oh my, the decor! I must say, I've never been in a Vietnamese Restaurant that looked quite like this. Very nice and upscale, though I must say that the first thought that entered my mind was "well, somebody has to pay for all of this….."

I looked at the menu, and knew instantly who pays for all of this………guess?

The very nice Server took my order, and soon enough my food arrived, starting with the Spring Rolls ($5.95):

Now I expected maybe a bit more shrimp, or a really refined spring roll, but these were very small, and there were only two small "rolls". There was a bit more pork then usual, but because the rolls were kind of short on vermicelli and lettuce, the pork made the rolls seem very dry. I can get better from Vien Dong market for like 3 bucks for 3.

Now, I had also wanted some nice strong Vietnamese Coffee, but was told they didn't serve coffee, which was fine with me. But just to illustrate the level of service(maybe a bit too attentive), they managed to brew me a nice strong cup of Vietnamese Coffee, which with a touch of condensed milk, really did hit the spot.

Just in time for my "Combination" Pho' ($7.95):

I had never thought that I'd see the day, 8 bucks for a bowl of Pho'! It arrived in a pretty cool, but kinda small "casserole" bowl bolted into a wooden frame. Style points for the presentation, and for being served piping hot, but minus points for the garnish, consisting of a slice of lemon(!!!), a small amount of bean sprouts, and the most pathetic looking sprig of basil I've ever been served. To be fair, I asked for, and was given more basil.

Also minus points for 3 tough, rubbery meatballs.

As well the too thickly cut, and semi tough meat. Also, the "combination" at Saigon on Fifth is meatballs and beef. So no tendon, no brisket, no tripe, nada! So safe……

The amount of noodles was about half of a usual bowl of Pho' as well. What was really interesting, was the broth. For a restaurant that seemed to want to "safely introduce" Vietnamese cuisine, the broth had quite a bit of oil. Enough to coat the back of my spoon! Other then the oil content, the broth was a medium to light Pho' broth with a mild anise flavor.

Let me say that the service was very good, though maybe a bit over-attentive, but that's to be expected at a new restaurant. Other individuals that have eaten items like the Lemongrass Chicken, and other items, have said that the dishes are good, though the portions small, and rather over-priced. Rather then to go into any more detail about my meal, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

In fact, I think Calvin says it well: "The kind of dimly lit, classy place you could take your boss for something exotic without risk. Nothing funky, nothing chewy, nothing to offend your blue-haired aunt. Service is fawning, but they're still working out the bumps. Pho is rich, but so tame." Calvin should probably do the writing for this blog, he can describe the entire restaurant in less then a paragraph! Calvin, you da' man!!!

Saigon on Fifth
3900 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Road Trip: Kingswood Teppan Steak House – Rowland Heights(Los Angeles)

April 18, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

***** Kingswood has closed

Since it was pouring rain, and fairly cool, we thought a nice Hot Pot (Huo Guo) dinner would "hit the spot". We thought about the really popular Little Sheep Restaurant on the corner of Azusa and Colima, but opted for the tried and true Kingswood Restaurant on Gale Avenue.

Kingswood is one of those restaurants that seemed to have been in the same location forever, and is really popular with families. Half of the restaurant is set-up for "Teppan-yaki" style cooking, while the other half of the restaurant specializes in Hot Pot. On this evening we got a rather late start, and there was a crowd of people waiting for tables at Kingswood; but instead of finding a less crowded surrounding, we decided to wait for a table. We were told that there was a 20 minute wait, which turned into 30 minutes, which eventually ended up being about 45 minutes. I think it's the combination of wonderful smells and the very nice and apologetic service that made us "stay put."

Finally, our table was ready, and we were seated and handed the menu.

The premise is simple, you order your broth; in this case we went for the Yuan Yang Guo, where the pot is separated into two parts. One half is usually a "plain" broth, that usually has herbs, stock, and other flavorings. The other half contains a spicy and numbing broth. You then order a variety of meats and vegetables for dipping and cooking in the broth. You are usually provided some dipping sauce, in this case there was only one; a "Sate" sauce, that was very disappointing in flavor, and really didn't go well with the food cooked in the broth.

Items we ordered included frozen tofu:

Freezing, then thawing tofu gives it a spongy texture. Making it that much better for absorbing flavor.

Fish:

The fish was very dry, and would flake to pieces in seconds when placed in the broth. Just plain lousy fish.

Golden (Enoki) Mushrooms and Spinach:

We had 2 orders of lamb:

The lamb was pretty good, though not of the highest quality.

"Special" (Prime) Beef:

Though twice the price of "regular" beef, it was worth it. Melt in your mouth tender; an excellent cut.

The item we probably enjoyed the most wasn't dipped into the hot pot. It was the Fried Bread:

A dense, but still light and slightly sweet bread that is first steamed, then fried. Delici-yoso!!!

The meats and vegetables are really only half the story in a Hot Pot Restaurant. The other half is the broth. In this case the "plain" broth, was just that, very, very, plain. The broth really did nothing to enhance the meal, even though there were fishcake, fishballs, and other items in the broth, it was very bland.

The spicy broth, was just that…..

Just spicy hot, but not numbing, and also lacking in the slightly "herbal" taste that I enjoy with this type of broth.

Overall, we were slightly disappointed in our meal.

But were not disappointed in the price. All of the "stuff" we ate, came out to a shade over forty dollars, which I thought was very reasonable, no wonder there were so many large groups. And to be fair, the service was outstanding, very kind and apologetic, and the Servers took time to help and explain, even amid the chaotic crowds. As we were leaving(about 9pm), Kingswood started emptying out, and things were starting to settle down. I think next time we'll be having Huo Guo at Little Sheep.

Kingswood Teppan Steak House
18900 E Gale Ave #B
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Road Trip: Dumpling 10053 – El Monte(Los Angeles)

April 17, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Dumpling 10053 has closed

After a satisfying lunch at Manie’s Restaurant, we drove around the neighborhood, and decided to drive down to Pasadena, where the Missus managed to scratch Her shopping itch at Anthropologie. As we headed back to the car it started pouring, so instead of dealing with the parking lot that is the 210 Freeway, we decided to take Colorado Boulevard, made a right turn on San Gabriel, and a left on Valley(of course). All the while ogling all the restaurants we passed.

As we passed through El Monte my stomach started rumbling so we decided to make a stop at Dumpling 10053 for a “small snack”.

Now, the Missus who is from Shandong province would never, ever have Jiaozhi at a restaurant, since She can whip up a few dozen on short notice, or perhaps if She’s in the mood. Plus my Mother In Law makes really great dumplings. But once in a while the Missus will humor me. Dumpling 10053 is one of several Chinese dumpling/noodle houses that gets regular mention on Chowhound.

Even though it was 230pm on a rainy afternoon Dumpling 10053 was nearly half full.

Not being very hungry, I “just” had two orders of boiled Jiaozhi.

I had an order of the “3 meat dumplings”; Pork, Crab, and Sea Cucumber boiled dumplings (10 pieces – $5.95):

I thought the thickness of the wrapper was perfect. I’m not into really thin wrappers, for me, the wrappers are a good 50% of the dumplings, adding texture, and helping to “temper” the flavor of the filling. The texture of these wrappers were a different story, I felt they didn’t have enough “chew and pull”, being a bit on the brittle side, and too easy to tear.

The plump dumplings’ filling was excellent. The pork and crab melded together to add a rich, sweet and salty flavor. The use of Chinese celery in the dumpling also added a nice texture and flavor; something we made note of, I think we’ll try to use them in a future batch of dumplings. Simply dipped into a vinegar – soy sauce mixture, the dumplings were very good. I’d be happy to have them again!

The Rock Cod boiled dumplings ($6.95 – 10 pieces):

I was pretty excited about trying these since I’ve read about them for a while. The wrappers were the same as the previous order of dumplings. But I really didn’t care for the taste, which I liken to a pretty lousy fish ball, and with a mushy, grainy texture. The Missus couldn’t finish one. I tried one using the standard vinegar soy sauce “dip”, which made it taste like a sour fish ball. The Missus finally told me to sprinkle the dumpling with white pepper, then dip them into soy sauce, which made them more palatable. I still only finished 3 of them; and if/when I return, I think I’ll avoid these.

If I make a return visit, I think I’ll try the steamed beef and pork dumplings. We watched an old Gentleman scarf down 4 orders of these dumplings while we ate ours.

The service at Dumpling 10053 was typical San Gabriel Valley, detached and perfunctory, but not rude, nor were we rushed. I walked back out into the rain satisfied from eating those “3 meat dumplings”.

Dumpling 10053
10053 Valley Blvd.
El Monte, CA 91731

Road Trip: Manie’s Restaurant – Rowland Heights(Los Angeles)

April 16, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Manie's has closed

Disclaimer: Those who are depressed about prices in San Diego should probably NOT read this post.

During our last trip to our old neighborhood we spent a good amount of time around Hong Kong Plaza. We used to live right up the block and would walk on over to Hong Kong Plaza almost daily. During our last trip we passed one of the restaurants that had been there for a long while but for some reason we had never taken the opportunity to eat in. What really caught our attention was the signage:

The large crowd on that evening was pretty impressive, the prices caught my eye, and when the Missus told me it was a Sichuan Restaurant, and started naming the dishes on the poster, I was sold. So this past Friday, I took a day off, and we drove up to Rowland Heights and got to the restaurant just as they opened at 11 am.

After looking over the menu I noticed something and asked the Missus, who checked with the Server, who mentioned that the Chef was from Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. I had never had Chengdu style Sichuan which I heard was a bit different from Chongqing style Sichuan, so needless to say I was very excited.

We placed our order and was served some clear soup with a pork bone in it. Not great, but pretty good and mild.

Smoked Duck with Chilies ($5.95 – all prices are lunch prices):

This take-off on the classic Sichuan Chili with Chicken, was probably the best rendition of any type of this dish I've ever had. The wonderful, crisp, sweet-salty-smokey duck was stir fried quickly with dried red chilies, green bell peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and garlic, creating a very flavorful dish with great textures. As hot as this dish may seem, we found it to be more "numbing", then burning hot. There was alot of Sichuan peppercorn in the dish, creating that wonderfully addictive numbing sensation. Very delici-yoso!!!!

Pork Meatballs with Cellophane Noodles($4.95):

The Missus selected this dish off of the specials listed on the wall. I've had this type of pork meatballs with a brown sauce, where it has been silken and rich, and have felt almost decadent when eating these simple meatballs. These were not like those however. The meat was dry and grainy, and I thought the sauce was very bland. The Missus enjoyed the noodles though.

Fuqi Feipein – the famous "Husband and Wives" dish ($5.95), of course I could not go without trying one of my "baseline" Sichuan dishes:

This was another disappointment, very bland. This version was all beef brisket, no Sichuan peppercorns, no peanuts, no tendon, no tripe, no Chinese celery, nothing to help give the beef any flavor. Probably the worse version of this dish I ever had, just having chili oil alone on not very high quality beef made the dish feel greasy.

Chicken with Three Chilies($4.95):

Almost the same dish as the Smoked Duck dish, with some green onion and onion. Much milder then the duck, but very tasty. Watch out for those bones though. Again, not overly spicy, but nice and numbing.

Chung-Do (Chengdu) Cold Noodle($3.95):

I really love Sichuan Cold Noodle dishes. Chungking Restaurant in Monterey Park and Ba Ren make my favorite versions of the dish. Finding this dish on the menu also clued me in as to the origins of the Chef, as it was on the menu as "Chung-Do" style. I really didn't enjoy the noodles dish at first, I thought that it wasn't spicy enough, and used too much vinegar. But after eating a bite of the duck and chicken, then having a bite of the noodle, I discovered how refreshing and palate cleansing this dish was. When eaten in that context, this was very good.

But wait; we weren't finished yet! The Missus ordered the Sticky Rice Cake($3.95):

Called something along the lines of "Liang Chi Ba", this was very, very good! I'm not big on desserts, but this combination of peanut and sesame paste over gooey sticky rice has changed me. What a great way to end a meal.

So what's the damage for a six course lunch with tea and rice(which we never touched)? Thirty-two bucks! With leftovers for at least one or two more meals!

You can tell by the photo what we cleaned up, and what we took home!

Overall, we did find that the dishes at Manie's used more Sichuan Pepper then Chili Peppers, and was more numbing then "hot". This goes along the lines of what I've heard about Sichuan cuisine. Chongqing style is much more spicy and hotter then Chengdu style, which is milder, but more numbing. The other variable that comes into play is, that though the Chefs come from Chengdu, Marnie's (something like Luong Chau Shou in Chinese) is Taiwanese owned, which could change the food. Nevertheless, the food was a bargain, and some of the dishes were excellent.

Manie's Restaurant
18438 Colima Road #106 (In Hong Kong Plaza)
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Yoso-Silly – LA Roadtrip: Hong Kong Fishball House and a Very Special Dish

April 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, yoso-silly

*** Hong Kong Fishball House has closed

*** You know……tastes change; and I now find this stuff kinda bland, who’d have thunk???

We just got back from LA, so I thought I’d do a short post. Elmo from Monster Munching mentioned a very special dish during the course of a comment on my post last Saturday.

The special place that sells this dish is the Hong Kong Fishball House, and is covered in detail on Monster Munching.

HK Fishball House specializes in very, very, reasonably priced(usually under 3 bucks) soups and other snacks. But there was a special snack that the Missus just had to try…….

How could you resist the temptation of Fried Pork Rectum, and only $2.25! So while I waited for my frozen Xiao Long Bao from Yi-Mei Deli, the Missus waited for Her Fried Rectum from the Fishball House – why does that sound so wrong? It didn’t help any, when the Gentleman frying what is actually Pork Large Intestine told the Missus, “Oooh, this smells so good!!!”

So what did it look like?

Nicely fried and seasoned with salt and green onions.

So how did it taste?

I think it’s an appropriately named dish…….after all the large intestine is attached to the?????

The initial taste was a fairly pleasant sweet and salty flavor, with a crisp and “spongy” texture. But as you kept chewing the hard to describe, very earthy and strong “intestine” flavor came through, along with a slightly unpleasant aftertaste that lasts for a pretty long time. The intestine also left my mouth with what felt like a slimy film. Definitely an acquired taste, and I don’t think I’ve been exposed enough to similar flavors to appreciate it. I’ll stick with the fried calamari!

Hong Kong Fishball House
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Han Bat Restaurant

April 10, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

**** Han Bat has closed

A while back, knowing how much the Missus enjoys Korean Black Goat Casserole, Calvin told me about Han Bat. Calvin said he noticed signage in the front of the restaurant mentioning Black Goat Soup. So we made a trip to Plaza Del Sol, and Han Bat.

Han Bat is a fairly small, Mom and Pop type operation, with a brightly colored and well lit interior. In what was a ominous sign, Han Bat was also totally empty, on a Friday evening!

The limited menu had about 20 items, all of them some type of soup or casserole. We saw several Black Goat soups and casseroles, and attempted to order, but was told that they were out of goat. When I asked when they’d have goat again, I got a shrug of the shoulders. So no goat. In one instant, twenty percent of the items on the menu weren’t available. We did find something interesting, and placed our order.

The Lady dropped of our panchan, which consisted of only 4 little plates of very routine panchan. Nothing earth-shattering, and a little on the chintzy side.

Since they were out of Goat, we ordered the Duck Casserole for two ($26.50):

A portable stove was placed on the table and a smallish sized cast iron pot of broth and vegetables was heated. First off the broth had a very high oil content, as you can clearly see by the distinct yellow color. Strangely enough, as rich as the broth was, it was lacking in flavor, and spice. The Missus kept adding sea salt from the little jar on the table to Her broth. The duck meat resembled tough slices of beef with gristly, tough, fat. The Missus couldn’t bring Herself to eat it, but it was fine to me, though really lacking in flavor. I ended up using all the dipping sauce for the duck and vegetables.

Though we got charged $2.00 for tea, served in a small beer glasses, we never got refills. Even when we asked….

It really did seem that Han Bat was in full cost-cutting mode. Maybe someone else can tell me how good their Black Goat is, I don’t think we’ll be back. We’ll stick with Ko Hayang Jip.

I actually went home and made tacos.

Han Bat Restaurant
4690 Convoy St Ste 108
San Diego, CA 92111

PWTSDS: Umenoya – And other Sunday Silliness

April 9, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

After some thought, I’ve started a new category of posts. I’ll call the these PWTSDS (sounds like putdz). There are just some eating establishments where I’m unable to take photos, usually from lack of adequate light. So I’ve come to call them my "Posts Where the Sun Don’t Shine" or PWTSDS. There have been many potential posts that have been discarded due to terrible photos – Parallel 33 and Balboa Tofu House come to mind. But I thought I’d do the ones that are somewhat salvageable. Please understand that the real PWTSDS is me, for being unable to take even remotely decent photos, and do not reflect upon the quality of food and service of the restaurants I’m eating at.

Most of my PWTSDS photos have long been discarded. But for some reason I still had a couple of photos from Ume No Ya Japanese Restaurant on Miramar Road. I don’t really know how this place manages to survive, it’s pretty difficult to find, blink your eyes and you’ve passed it. The location is kind of strange as well; next to a Truck Accessories shop and in the same strip mall as a ~~stri~~, ummm "gentleman’s club". The interior of Ume Mo Ya is quite dark, with Japanese posters, and other "stuff" adoring the walls, and a small television always tuned to the eternal infomercial channel. But the wonderful smell of shoyu and mirin is always floating in the air.

The food at Ume No Ya is strictly homestyle Japanese. If you’re looking for sushi and other items you’ll be best off trying elsewhere. The only Server I’ve seen here is a Little Old Lady, so if there are several patrons, the service might be a bit on the slow side. I’ve never had dinner at Ume No Ya, but I’ve had lunch there a few times, and the dishes can be hit and miss, but are very reasonably priced, usually between five to seven dollars(US). All lunches come with the "de riguer" green salad, and miso soup which often a bit on the salty side. I’ll usually get the Katsudon ($5.00):

Simply done; a deep fried pork cutlet and egg over a bowl of rice, with some dashi-soy sauce-mirin type broth poured over it. Nothing fancy; I’ve had it on days when the broth was much too sweet, or too salty, but it’s never been terrible. The portion size is decent, and Ume No Ya can be a nice change of pace from the other restaurants in the area.

The one thing that always gets me when I have lunch at Ume No Ya, is when exiting, from the dark dining area, you open the door, and "Wham!!!"

The bright sunshine always blinds me…..and I have to stumble around, luckily, the parking lot only holds about 10 cars.

Umenoya Japanese Restaurant
8650 Miramar Rd Ste B
San Diego, CA 92126

Some Sunday "stuffs":

Doesn’t "Poulet Sel et Poivre" sound so very refined? What is it? Ha, you’ll love this, it’s Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings! This goes to prove what I’ve always believed; it always sounds better in French. Lately, one of my favorite Food Blogs has been Emily K’s "What’s For Lunch" emanating from Paris. There you’ll find some very interesting "lunches" and even the Poulet Sel et Poivre. I just love the Chinese Restaurant named, "Delices Celestes". I’m telling you, it always seems to sound better in French. I wonder what would happen if I dropped by Royal Mandarin and asked for some Poulet Sel et Poivre?

Amanda, on Her Food Blog Too Many Caesar Salads recently featured a few pages from vintage recipe booklets and cookbooks. My favorite is something called Spork. Seems that one man’s Spam, is another’s Spork……..

I’d also like to congratulate Robwonton on the birth of his daughter Maya.

I recently had the pleasure of some wonderful company for dinner, Ed from Yuma, Howie from A Foodie’s View, mizducky who often posts on eGullet, Gayla who often posts on eGullet, as well as Chowhound, Calvin who often gives me great restaurant rec’s, and his friend Diane, all sat down and broke bread (more like shells) at Saigon Restaurant. I must say, the food on this occasion took a back seat to the fun and lively conversation. Thanks for a great time everyone. What a great group of people!

Finally to get your work week underway – here’s an interesting bit of "Engrish" from Nijiya Market:

Don’t ask me what part of the pig this came from……

Asia Cafe Part II

April 3, 2006 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** Asia Cafe has closed

*** Return visits to Asia Cafe can be found here and here.

The day after a fun and interesting meal at Asia Cafe, we decided to drop by the restaurant again and grab some take-out. This time we were after a few of the more well known Laotian-style dishes. So I went in and ordered a few.

Green Papaya Salad(medium size-$4.00):

A nice size portion of sliced green papaya and tomatoes. We ordered the heat level at medium, but it was pretty mild. I thought the salad was much too fishy and briney for my tastes, much stronger then the version we had at Vientiane. Also, it was missing the wonderful flavor that peanuts bring to the dish, we had noticed a little jar of peanuts at each table, but apparently if you ordered the papaya salad "to go" you were on your own. I didn't care for it, but surpisingly the Missus enjoyed it, and scarfed it down! For those who have not had this style of Papaya Salad, please be aware; much more fish sauce is used, and not as much sugar or lime juice, making for a less sweet and more salty and "fishy" salad.

Beef Laab:

A very nice rendition of a classic dish, chock full of herbs, not dry, but not watery. The rather mild flavor let the texture of the slices of beef and tripe stand out, while letting the flavor of the herbs take a front seat. Beware the green peppers; they are very hot! The Missus didn't enjoy the slightly bitter flavor of the tripe, but that didn't bother me in the least. The overall flavor was on the mild side, but I enjoyed being able to taste all of the herbs.

The Missus had me ask about about the wonderful Laotian "Fried Rice" dish that she enjoys so much. So I described the dish to Johnny, who informed me that it was called Nem Khao. When I asked Him if they served it here, He told me "We'll make it for you, no problem!"

This wonderful dish of rice, fried garlic, pork, sausage, and other goodies, rolled in a lettuce leaf was delici-yoso! Slightly salty, with a nice nutty flavor, a very simple yet complex dish, and throughly enjoyable.

I needed one more dish, and Johnny recommended the Laotian "Beef Jerky":

I'm sorry that my photo doesn't do this dish justice. Wonderfully marinated and seasoned beef, slightly salty, slightly sweet, this was wonderful. The way to eat this is to have a piece of jerky in one hand, and a handful of sticky rice in the other.

So good! Since I went on recommendations and ordered items that weren't on the menu(as far as I know), all I can tell you is, that all four dishes and sticky rice for two(it's alot of rice) was $24.

Some Notes: There isn't a whole lot of parking in the small lot, though we never had a problem finding parking. The service is very helpful, both Johnny and Scotty want to make sure you enjoy your meal. Scotty told me that there are many dishes and daily specials that are not on the menu; we spied a fried fish with herbs and lettuce dish that another table was enjoying.

Asia Cafe
4710 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102

Asia Cafe Part I

April 2, 2006 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Asia Cafe has closed

*** Part 2 of this post can be found here.

Set on the gritty corner of 47th and Market Streets, right behind an Auto Repair shop is Asia Cafe.

Asia Cafe had been on my "list" for a while, but after driving past the strip mall one Sunday morning, I had my doubts. No, it wasn't the bars on the doors and windows, or the location behind the auto repair, nor the somewhat rundown appearance. It was the 2 people sleeping on the sidewalk, and the other people who were hanging around that made me feel nervous. But this past weekend, we decided to give Asia Cafe a shot. The only thing I could think of when we entered Asia Cafe, was "what took me so long?"

The fragrance of garlic and herbs floated in the air through the small restaurant. From all of the discussion going on in the restaurant, it was pretty obvious that all of the customers were "regulars", a very good sign. We sat at a table and a Young Gentleman brought us a menu. The Young Man's name was Scotty, and he told us it was his Mom cooking the food in the back. After fumbling around the menu, we made our selections with the help of Scotty.

A soup called Kao-Lao($6.00):

A fairly lite lemon infused broth, with cilantro, fried shallots, green onions, and garlic(yum). There was alot of beef slices, some tripe, and a ton of meatballs in the soup. I enjoyed this much more then the Missus, who didn't care for the meatballs which she said were rather rubbery. Of all of the dishes served, this one most closely resembled "home cooking."

Scotty had recommended the Yum Asia($6.50):

Scotty also had this made in a "special" way for us; he had this wonderful refreshing seafood salad served on a bed of cellophane noodles which soaked up all of the delicious fish sauce-lime juice-lemon grass-sugar-sweet chili sauce "dressing". Mint, basil, and peanuts gave the dish that extra "zip". All the seafood was prepared in an excellent manner. A wonderfully flavored, yet balanced dish, not too sweet, not to salty, not too spicy, just good eats.

Black Tiger Shrimp($6.50):

Perfectly prepared shrimp in a garlic and black pepper sauce, topped with cilantro. But totally pedestrian compared to the Yum Asia. Unanimously unremarkable.

The Seen-Nam-Toke($5.00):

As we were eating the Yum Asia and Shrimp, the wonderful smell of meat "grilling" filled the restaurant. When the dish arrived I was rather surprised, I had though this was a salad, but instead, it was a perfectly cooked, well seasoned medium rare steak. Obviously quickly marinated in lemon juice and fish sauce, the steak was beautifully caramelized. I realize, that the cut of steak was not the best, but the slices were pretty tender and the flavor was excellent; I barely needed any of the dressing. I could eat this almost every day. I was impressed, it's not easy to make, a two-dollar steak taste like a hundred bucks!

The Missus never really cared for sticky rice other then for desserts, so she ordered steamed rice, I on the other hand love sticky rice, and made sure to get an order($2.00):

The sticky rice was served steaming fresh, still slightly moist, and very fragrant. In fact, the Missus had never had sticky rice served perfectly cooked, and she enjoyed it so much that she put a pretty big dent in it! The steamed rice sat uneaten; I think She's changed Her opinion of sticky rice.

Overall, a good fairly inexpensive meal.

The Missus also purchased this for dessert:

It's a large bag of Fried Bananas($5.00). Unfortunately, Asia Cafe doesn't make these with sugar. No problemo, when we got home the Missus made some simple syrup, and coated the fried bananas with the simple syrup, and let them dry out a bit, and had a nice dessert:

While munching on Fried Bananas we talked about how enjoyable our meal was, and also how friendly and helpful the service was. We also decided to return the very next day, for a few more "traditional" Laotian dishes.

To be continued…….

Asia Cafe
4710 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102

Ko Hayang Jip Part II

March 23, 2006 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Update: Ko Hayang Jip is now Go Ba Woo, but the menu and the food seems to be the same.

We were mulling over heating up our leftovers from our previous night’s meal at Ko Hayang Jip, when we decided that it would be to our benefit to gather even more leftovers….. So we found ourselves back at Ko Hayang Jip. We had made mental notes of a few items that we wanted to try, and so placed our order. Being a real Mom-and-Pop operation, the Lady who I’m assuming is the Owner, recognized us immediately. Also, I don’t think they get very many non-Korean customers. As with the night before we were given 8 plates of panchan.

No lotus root this time; but at least we got the green peppers, I don’t know the Korean name for this, but we call it Shishito Peppers. Makes a really good panchan.

I also enjoy the potato salad. This version has quite a bit of boiled egg in it; but very creamy and rich tasting.

The Missus ordered the Spicy Beef Soup($8.50):

The broth was similar to a slightly beefy and not as spicy jjigae style broth, very velvety in texture, and not as spicy as it looked. A boiled egg, gosari(fiddlehead fern), dangmyeon (sweet potato starch noodles), and a few thin strips of beef stood out. The Missus thoroughly enjoyed Her soup, though she’s not a big fan of the Korean style "mixed"(black and short grain) rice that is served here. She even asked for white rice, but was told that they only serve this type of rice here. Also, she was told "it’s good for you".

I ordered the Dol Sot BiBimBap($10.50):

This version was served on a hot cast iron plate, with a small portion of bulgogi, mung bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, and other vegetables, all topped with a sunny side up egg. We both thought the portion size was quite small, and the overall taste was pretty much on the bland side; I ended up using up the entire dish of Gochujang provided. I much rather have my BiBimBap served in a hot stone bowl which forms a really nice crust; we weren’t too impressed with this.

Overall, Ko Hayang Jip provides a pretty good alternative to all the other Korean Restaurants in town. The ingredients are fresh, the prices in line, if not a bit more inexpensive, and I also noticed that except for the Mandu, all the dishes were not oily at all.

We didn’t have the chance to try the Korean BBQ at Ko Hayang Jip, but Calvin was kind enough to provide a photo for our viewing enjoyment: