Closed – Page 101

Ko Hayang Jip Part I

March 22, 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.

One of the really nice things about having a food blog are the recommendations that I get. Recently, I received an Email from Calvin informing me that a new Korean Restaurant had opened on Convoy St. Having exchanged Emails with Calvin in the past, I knew Him to be a very knowledgeable and credible source. So on a recent wet and cold evening we made our way to Ko Hayang Jip (aka Ko Hyung Jip).

The interior of this Mom-and-Pop restaurant was small, yet somewhat "cozy."

Looking at the cover of the menu, I had to laugh at the Homer Simpson-Dilbert looking character on the cover.

After looking over the menu, we placed our order. And then the panchan began to arrive, 8 plates all told.

The panchan consisted of many of the usual suspects such as moo(daikon), namul( marinated bean sprouts), and baechu(napa cabbage) kimchee. But there were also a few items that I hadn’t seen before.

The hit of the evening were the marinated lotus root with a slightly sweet-soy sauce-light sesame oil flavor and in spite of being marinated, the lotus root was still quite crunchy.

We started with the Gum Mandu($6.95):

The Mandu were really not very good, oily, bland filling, and the wrappers hard and thin. They reminded me of the frozen gyoza that you buy at Nijiya. The Jap Chae($8.50) arrived next. At first I was disappointed at the small portion size. But the Jap Chae was pretty good, and not oily in the least bit.

Even though the signage says Ko Hayang Jip features Korean Barbeque, we saw something on the menu which we haven’t had since we moved from Los Angeles. Black Goat Casserole (Black Goat Meat w/Vegetables and Broth) for Two($28.50). A portable stove was brought out, and a wide pot was brought out and placed on it.

Once bubbling, we mixed the greens into the broth, and starting eating. The broth was very warming and spicy, but not as spicy as it looked. There were chunks of slighly gamey, but not too fatty goat meat, onions, and other veggies in the broth. The greens were crunchy with a slight peppery bitterness that cut through any heat that the broth had. So hearty, healthy, and delici-yoso!!! Served along with "Black Rice" this was more then enough food for us, and we had quite a bit left over for lunch!

So good, on a cold and rainy night. Coincidentally, that night I received an Email from Calvin regarding Ko Hayang Jip. Here’s what he wrote about the Korean Barbecue:

"We got the standard bulgogi, which they cooked at the table on a hot iron griddle and later kept moist with broth. I also got the chicken bulgogi variant, which came on a platter pre-cooked. Both were a tad underflavored compared to Boocho, but tender and yummy."

Thanks for the recommendation Calvin!

We knew we’d be back soon, but didn’t realize it would be the following night!

To Be Continued………..

Ko Hayang Jip
4373 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Porkyland

March 20, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

With a name like Porkyland, well…..the food better be good! Located in Barrio Logan(and also La Jolla – go figure!), on the corner of Logan Avenue and Sampson Street, and right down the block from the landmark that many consider to be the "heart" of San Diego’s Latino Community, the colorful Chicano Park, resides Porkyland Restaurant and Tortilla Factory.

Once in Porkyland (The Happiest Place on the Planet?), you’ll notice that the kitchen area takes up over half of Porkyland’s space. The menu is limited, but still has a pretty good variety of the "usual suspects."

I did have my mind made up, and with the help of the very friendly Young Lady, I placed my order. I originally ordered a pound of Carnitas, but the Young Lady, told me that for $8.99, I could get the "Carnitas Special." Which consists of a pound of carnitas, fresh tortillas, beans, cilantro, and onions. this being a mere 50 cents more then the price for a pound of carnitas she won me over. Of course, she then had to ask me, with a giggle, if I’d be eating this here! I think she was joking………

For those who are used to the roasted then deep fried, greasy, and salty carnitas; these will surprise you. These carnitas are very tender, and the flavor is slightly smokey; rich, yet not greasy or overly salty in the slightest. Though the carnitas at Carnitas Michoacan have a much more assertive flavor, these are soft and mild, yet you know you are eating "oink".

I usually chose not to "defile" good carnitas with too many "accouterments", and prefer just some onions, cilantro, and a good hot sauce, on one of the steaming hot fresh tortillas. Delici-yoso!!!

The fresh tortillas were decent, with slight elasticity, and not brittle in the least. But not even close to those I had in Yuma, which had a nice rich corn flavor. The beans were good, slightly chunky, and not too salty or greasy.

Price wise, this was a bargain, about a dozen fresh and hot tortillas, a pound of carnitas, a container of beans, for $8.99. Enough for the four of us (Me, the Missus, Sammy, and Frankie), with a bit leftover.

The menu at Porkyland also features Rolled Tacos, Carne Asada, and even Salads(at Porkyland!!!), by if you make the effort to get there, you might as well get at least a Carnitas Burrito!

Porkyland Restaurant
2196 Logan Ave
San Diego, CA 92113

Pho Viet Cali

March 19, 2006 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Pho, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Pho Viet Cali has closed

Ok, let's see we got Pho' Hoa Cali, Pho T Cali, just plain Pho' Cali, and now here's Pho' Viet Cali! What we actually have here is a whole lotta' confusion. So much confusion, that I really don't even remember what brought me back to this Mira Mesa Strip Mall. But like Ed from Yuma says(I'm paraphrasing, of course), "I can't remember very much from a month ago, but I remember just about every meal I've had in the last 10 years!" It helps that I carry my handy-dandy camera around as well.

Viet Cali is located right next to Sorrento European Bakery, and the Plaza Sorrento Food Court that Amarin Thai is in. The interior of Viet Cali is what I call generic "Formica Pho' in design. Clean tile floors, generic tables with "numbers", large "bar", that is used as a counter, and of course the requisite cash register counter. And like many of these types of restaurants Viet Cali is alot smaller then it looks like from the outside.

Despite the seemingly generic beginning, Viet Cali was the scene of a first for me. The first time I've ever paid more than 6 bucks for a bowl of Pho'. Yep the Large Pho Dac Biet (combination), was $6.15. But first here's the garnishes:

Pretty skimpy, and no Ngo Ngai, only 2 slices of Jalapeno. The Pho' arrived piping hot, topped with a good amount of green onions and cilantro. The broth was very much the generic broth, and nothing in the flavor of the broth stood out. The most interesting item in the Pho' were the presence of "meatballs" which were nice and "meaty". The rare steak (6 slices) were also quite quite tender and not in the least bit dry. I did think that this was probably the largest amount of "meat" I've had in any bowl of Pho' to date. Check out the "clump" of tripe:

Unfortunately two of my favorite "cuts", the brisket and tendon, were pretty scarce. Speaking of clump; as I am finding is pretty much the norm, the noodles were located in a large solid clump in the bottom of the bowl.

Luckily they weren't cold, and still had a very nice "pull" to them. Though this is a pretty expensive bowl of Pho', there is a bit more meat then the usual bowl, and I enjoyed the meatballs. But other then that, the broth, noodles, and overall flavor didn't set this bowl above those bowls of Pho' over a dollar cheaper right down the road in Mira Mesa.

I also noticed that I was the only Asian eating in the dining area, but many Asians dropped by to pick-up take-out orders, consisting of mostly Banh Mi. This past Saturday, I had a pretty late start, and all of the places I wanted to eat at on Mira Mesa Boulevard were either filled, or had people waiting outside. So I decided to grab a Banh Mi at Viet Cali. I choose the Banh Mi Thit Nguoi, at $2.95, it was a bit more expensive then the sandwiches I've had in the past.

On the positive side; the bread was nice and crusty, and the pate, head cheese, and pork sausage was fine. Also, the cilantro in the sandwich consisted of mostly leaves and thin stems removing the irritating "stringy" and tough texture. On the negative, there was a large slather of mayo on the bottom of the sandwich which overpowered all the other flavors. The portion of pickles was very small to render them inconsequential, ditto for the cucumbers, not only affecting taste, but texture as well. I also lamented the lack of hot chilies in the sandwich. The sandwich was also on the small side, about 7 inches long.

This Banh Mi was not bad, but the version at Kim Chan was much better. And about $1 cheaper.

Pho' Viet Cali
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd. #113
San Diego, CA 92121

Hours – Mon-Sat 830am-9pm
Closed on Sunday

Island Boy Grille

March 14, 2006 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

*** Island Boy Grille has closed…..

You could say Island Boy Grille and I have had a star-crossed relationship. No matter how hard I tried I could never make it into the front door of Island Boy. When I was doing consulting work in San Diego in the late 90’s I’d heard of two "Local Kine" restaurants. One being Da Kine’s, and the other being Island Boy Grille, at that time located in the Gaslamp Quarter. But try as I might, I was never able to make it to Island Boy Grille, the one time I tried, I couldn’t find any metered parking, and wasn’t about to pay $5 or more for parking to grab a plate lunch. Once we moved to San Diego, I tried to find Island Boy, but had found that the Gaslamp location had closed down. I did find out that there was a Sorrento Mesa location, so I checked out my Thomas Guide (what we used before Mapquest), and drove up. But alas, it was a Saturday, and they were closed on weekends. On another occasion I drove up after work to find….them closed. They had changed hours and were no longer open until 630pm.

Finally, I recently took a vacation day, and had an opportunity to make to Island Boy Grille during their regular business hours, which are 11am til 230 pm. Talk about Lunch Wagon hours! I arrived at about 1pm and looked over the menu.

During which time the Gentleman behind the counter impatiently waited for me to make up my mind. Talk about pressure, I felt forced to blurt out what I wanted. Funny thing is, right next to the menu is the usual "Please Be Patient" sign; I guess patience goes only one way in this case.

I placed my order and took a seat, and had time to admire the cool Primo Beer memorabilia.

I had ordered the "Wasa" Plate($8.99), essentially a mixed plate with two menu items. The plate comes with rice (of course!), a green salad, and a choice of one "side". I ordered Chicken Katsu and Grilled Teriyaki Chicken as my entree items.

I had forgotten to tell them to not include the pineapple ring on my teriyaki chicken. Those pineapple rings bring back all those negative connotations of when Hawaiian Food was ham with a pineapple ring on the top. Anyway, the Grilled Teriyaki Chicken was very dry and leathery, and was not well marinated, as it also was quite bland. I felt like the chicken was sitting around in a pan for a while. The Chicken Katsu was fine, moist and tender, but because the "katsu sauce" was applied when the plate was put together, the panko crust was soggy by the time I managed to eat it. (20 minutes) This doesn’t really make sense since a container of katsu sauce was included with the plate.

Thankfully, this was Japanese-style Katsu Sauce, not the lousy, gloppy sweet sour stuff that many Hawaiian Barbecues serve.

The best item on the plate was the "side" I ordered, the Chicken Long Rice:

Though short on chicken, the long rice(bean thread) was well flavored. Nice poultry flavor, with a mild ginger taste.

I of course also ordered a Loco Moco($6.95):

If you are a regular reader; you know of my love of Loco Moco’s. I’m also sure you would like to know how this "Loco" measures up. Even though Bruddah James of Big Island Grinds is in the process of modifying His Loco Moco Scale, I’ll use my tried and true "Modified Rubio Scale."

BURGER: The Good; hand formed and grilled patty. The Bad; very dry and bland, also tasted "old" like it had been sitting around for a day or two. 2.0

EGGS: I really "dug" the heart shaped styling, but the eggs weren’t seasoned and were overcooked, with the yolks solid. 2.0

RICE: Good, and cooked perfectly. Sorry to say this was the best part of the loco. 3.0

GRAVY: Nice and dark, but almost totally tasteless. 2.5

STUFFS: The macaroni salad wasn’t bad, the green salad along with the dressing was unremarkable. 2.5

TOTAL: 11.0 Funny thing, this was almost a splitting image of the Loco at Da Kine’s, though the portion size was larger(and priced higher).

In the end I felt like all of the energy expended in my quest to have a plate lunch at Island Boy Grille was for naught. But I’d never had known if I hadn’t tried, right?

Island Boy Grille
10066 Pacific Heights Blvd
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours: Mon – Fri 11am-230pm

For those that don’t want a somewhat irrelevant and silly story; it’s time to leave.

Way back when, a group of "us Guys" had just finished an evening of libations and other "activities" at an establishment called "Steel Wings", does anybody remember this place?(I’m really dating myself here) We were having our "post-club" breakfast at McCully Zippy’s, when my Buddy spotted a Young Lady he had been vigorously pursuing at the nightclub sitting at a nearby table. He caught his breath as She smiled, stood up, and starting walking up to us. As she reached our table, she stuck a cigarette in her mouth, and in the worst, fingernail on chalkboard, loud high pitched squeal, asked my friend:

"AAAAY, YOU GET ONE MATCH, HUH?"
As my shocked and speechless friend nodded that he did not. She turned and walked away and concluded the one way conversation with:
"KAY ‘DEN, LATA’S"
Then unsteadily turned to her friends, and said; "AAY, TIME TO BAG OUT….."
I almost fell out of my seat, but I was mesmerized by the cigarette wobbling up and down in her lips as she spoke. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how she could talk so loud and keep that unlit cigarette in her mouth. I felt soooo bad for my Buddy, as I watched his "dream" crushed before my eyes!

Just goes to show, that sometimes the pursuit of a goal is just not worth it!

Dede’s

March 9, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

*** Dedes' has closed

Before there was Ba Ren, we used to go to Dede's fairly regularly for Sichuan Food. Though if we really wanted Sichuan Food we'd still do the 100 plus mile drive to Chung King in Monterey Park. But of course Ba Ren changed all of that. But that's not to say the food at Dede's is bad, it's not. Just perhaps not to our taste.

I believe that "Dede's" inherited their English name from the previous business that occupied the space; a Tea and Boba joint. The Chinese name of Dede's indicates that Chongqing style Sichuan food is served here.

We decided to drop by Dede's, to see what had changed in the last 2 years since our last visit. The colorful interior of Dede's belies it's Teahouse past:

On this afternoon Teresa Teng(the late Deng Li-Jun) videos were playing on the big screen television. We also noticed that, many of the "specials" on the placard had taken a larger turn away from Sichuan Cuisine.

Though all the old favorites are still there:

On this visit we ordered the Spicy Fish Slices with Golden Mushrooms($8.50):

This interesting dish was like a combination of two classic Sichuan offerings, the Water Boiled/Boiled in Hot Sauce and Pickled Pepper type dishes. This was a nice hot, but not numbingly hot dish, though the amount of oil was fairly low. Battered and lightly fried fish lay on a bed of Enoki Mushrooms and was covered with "Hot Sauce", Zhacai and other pickled vegetables were also featured in this dish. Good, but not great.

I also ordered one of my favorite Sichuan snack type dishes Spicy Cold Noodles($4.99).

This was pretty horrible, a failure from all angles. The noodles tasted like they were uncooked store bought noodles, very hard and brittle. The sauce lacked sugar, and almost tasted like just Black Vinegar. Usually there would be at least a mild sesame paste flavor as well, but not this time. Not even a bit spicy to me as well. The peanuts were half peanuts, and not coarsely chopped. This was just bad eats!

Luckily, we ordered my favorite dish from Dede's; Cumin Flavored Lamb($8.50):

As far as I know, this isn't a Sichuan dish, but it's still good eats. Fragrant, slightly nutty cumin dry fried with thin slices of lamb and onion, and topped with cilantro. Delici-yoso!!! You can tell that high heat was used very successfully in the creation of this dish by the lack "oil" that would be created if the lamb was stir fried in a conventional manner using inadequate heat.

Dede's offers an alternative to Ba Ren; most of the dishes do not use quite the same amount of oil, and is not as spicy. We do think that the flavors at Dede's are not as complex as Ba Ren's. There is also a lack of the layering of heat that we appreciate, and Ma-La(numbing hot) is lacking in many of the dishes. All the "usual suspects" of Sichuan food are available, and we've tried most of them; Rice Crust dishes, Dishes Boiled in Hot Sauce, ChongQing Red Pepper dishes, as well as Cold Dishes like Fuqi Feipein. We also noticed that in the last few years Dede's has added Sichuan Hotpot(Malaguo) to their menu, with a Buffet available at $20 per person.

Dede's Teajuice City
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

I Finally Got Around To….Original Tommy’s

March 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Burgers, Hot Dogs

**** After a long run Tommy's has closed

Well a sign is worth a thousand words:

Especially if you live in SoCal. "Tommy-burger" has a real following here in SoCal, you either love it or hate it. As with most burgers of a similar vein, there are stories of the effort that people will go through to get a "Tommy's chili or burger." We had a "Tommy's" right down the street on Fullerton when we lived in LA, and I had a friend come and visit….He had to have Tommy's for breakfast…for 3 days straight! That's right, Chiliburgers; it ain't just for breakfast anymore…..

Tommy's has finally opened here in San Diego, with little mainstream fanfare, but alot of "rumbling" on the Internet. Those who love Tommy's must first profess unrequited love for grease, but delici-yoso grease. The Missus loves Tommy's chili. Alas, the chili does not love Her back, it gives her heartburn! Her inability to painlessly digest Tommy's chili will then make her look upon the chili in a negative light, with the liberal use of that horrible culinary four letter word; "lard". As in "it must have lard in it…." I, on the other hand do not suffer from any immediate adverse reaction from Tommy's, thus to put it into the words of the Missus, "Next life, you be me, Ohhh-Kay!"

I finally got around to Tommy's on a recent weekend. In order to "earn" my Tommy's, I first swept and mopped the house, scrubbed and cleaned the bathrooms, raked the backyard, did 6 loads of laundry, and other various sundry tasks. All self-imposed. As I entered Tommy's the first thing I noticed was that even though it was 3 in the afternoon the dining area was pretty full. The second thing I noticed was that there were several "Guys" eating a Tommy Burger with a fork and knife! Say what! Hey, fork and knife Guy, be a man! You eat the burger like a burger, with no regard for personal hygiene, with your hands. Overwhelmed by my presence in a real Tommy's in San Diego, I had problems even deciding what to order. Yeah, I should have a problem at a place called Tommy "BURGER". I eventually just ordered a #2 combo($5.70):

A double chili cheeseburger, fries, and a drink. I of course ordered the burger the way I wanted it – no pickles, extra onions….but received my burger with pickles anyway. Not that it made any difference. I felt like my burger was a little short on the chili though! The chili on a Tommy's is a gloppy, fairly mild chili "con carne", that has a texture similar to refried beans. I enjoy the acid that tomato provides on the burger, though I wished I had a bit more chili. I hope you enjoy the sheen of grease reflecting off the burger photos:

Though I don't crave Tommy's like many Angelinos, I enjoy a Tommy Burger every once in a while.

The fries I received sorely missed chili, cheese, and onions:

I felt I was committing a crime by eating these without the requisite "parts". I'll make sure to correct this next time!

There's a part of me that believes that burgers have supplanted hot dogs as being the quintessential American food, though that may be heresy to some. But think about it, be it White Castle, Krystals, In and Out, or Fatburger(my fave, though San Diego's Fatburger's have been mediocre); we all have our favorites. I still have fond memories of my beloved W & M Burger. Be it sitting in the car, on the curb, or wondering what wine to match with a Tommy's, burgers have become an obsession for many. I distinctly remember the first time I had a Tommy Burger, though I don't even express a great fondness for them. So strangely enough, Tommy Burger is on that "first time I tried list" along with Foie Gras, Peking Duck, Escargot, and other items….go figure!

And there ain't nothing wrong with a Tommy's once in a while…….

Original Tommy's
7415 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Postscript: I've been assured that there ain't no Tommy Burger, like the one served at the "Original" Original Tommy's at Beverly and Rampart.

Vientiane Food To Go

March 6, 2006 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants

*** Thai Garden Restaurant (Serves Lao Food) is now at this location.

*** Vientiane is now Imperial Thai Cuisine. You can find a post here.

*** I've posted an update on Vientiane on March 15th ***

I had heard about a Laotian Restaurant called Vientiane from one of Sam's (of Sammy Sushi) Assistants. After a brief discussion and some Otokoyama he gave me directions to Lao Plaza on the corner of Imperial and 47th Street.

Blink and you'll miss the very non-descript building, that is Lao Plaza. If you manage to snag a parking spot you'll see the sign.

There it was, Vientiane Food To Go. I believe Vientiane is also the Capital of Laos. This small building holds a few "stalls" that sell everything from sunglasses to jewelry, to Laotian video rentals. The people here were also extremely "camera-shy", so I refrained from taking photos. We did get the "you're not from around here are you" feeling as we walked past the various stalls.

At the South End of the Building there is a small doorway, walk through the doorway and you enter Vientiane. To your right is a kitchen area, and we could smell the scent of soup simmering. In the middle section is a refrigerator, which is a snack and drink stand. To the left is a simple window, with various fried and hot table items. The dining area is a bit worse for wear, with Laotian Music Videos playing on the television mounted above the doorway.

I was totally lost trying to read some of the menu. I know that "Tom" are soups, as I believe "Keng" are, but as to the details, I really wasn't sure.

Luckily, the Lady working the window was so very nice and helpful. And after brief discussion we placed our order, and the lady started working on Her Mortar, preparing our Papaya Salad.

The Papaya Salad was very spicy, the papaya fresh and crisp. What I have found with Laotian style Papaya Salad, is that the sauce for the salad is very dark, and the fish sauce flavor is fairly strong. This was no exception. There was a small amount of salted blue crab at the bottom of the salad. Not bad, I'd have this again.

We also had two orders of "Sticky Rice":

To go along with the Fried Quail, that looked like they were about to up and run right off the plate.

I love steamed sticky rice, somewhat nutty in flavor, though the quail was on the dry side and fairly bland. I think I'll try the Beef Laap here next time.

The Missus also got some Fried Rice with Sausage(very delici-yoso!!!) for later, and a drink, all for $15, not bad!

My experience with Laotian food has been limited to Papaya Salad, Laap(yummy Beef Laap), and Laotian Sausage. But I'll be trying a few more dishes at the various Lao Restaurants in the area.

Some Notes: The Lady working "Food to Go" was so nice and helpful. The neighborhood can seem a bit scary, but we've never encountered any problems and you'll get a neat little cultural experience walking among the stalls in Lao Plaza. There is additional parking in the rear of the building.

Vientiane Food To Go
Located in Lao Community Plaza
110 47th St
San Diego, CA 92102

Intersection of 47th St and Imperial Ave

Brians’ American Eatery

March 2, 2006 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner

*** Brian's has closed

The Missus isn't really a "breakfast person" in the conventional sense. That is, She sometimes craves breakfast for dinner. And on a recent evening She had a craving for Wheat Germ Pancakes from Brians'. And Brians' serves breakfast all day.

Yes, it's called Brians', not Brian's, after the two Owners, who are both named Brian. I did a quick "handbag check", the Missus had rotated out the "Dior" and replaced it with a Fendi, so hopefully the Dior curse hadn't followed us. We drove up to Brians' which is located on busy Washington Street in Hillcrest, and is one of those popular and sometimes very crowded neighborhood diners.

We have always had very friendly service at Brians', and today was no exception. Since it was still fairly early for dinner, and the sun was out, we decided to sit on the patio.

The Missus ordered Her Wheat Germ Pancakes, but they were out, so She had the Whole Wheat Pancakes instead($5.99).

The full stack of whole wheat pancakes consist of 3 plate sized ground wheat pancakes. The pancakes were slightly nutty, and not overly sweet. The texture was slightly dense, but not as "chewy" as regular pancakes tend to be. With whipped butter, and maple syrup, the Missus stated that these were delici-yoso!!!

I've had a few dishes at Brians', and have found that the portions are always generous, but it's been hit and miss. Though today I decided to pull out all the stops, and order something interesting from the menu.

Yep, I got a Frankie Burger($9.89)! A 1/2lb burger topped with bacon and jack and cheddar cheese. But most of all it's got peanut butter on it! The menu says; "Don't be afraid!"

I'd say that you'll either immediately like or hate this burger, there's no middle ground. Though I'm not a peanut butter lover, I enjoyed the burger. The not overly sweet peanut bitter added a nice creamy richness to the burger, which was pretty darn good on it's own; seared on the outside, moist and tender in the interior. The peanut butter balanced out the saltiness of the bacon and cheddar cheese. The acid from the tomato helped cut through the richness.

The burger came with two sides and I chose fries:

The "natural style" fries, were "bleh", okay, but they got real soggy very quickly and needed alot of ketchup.

I also got the potato salad.

Red potatoes with a light coat of mayo, the salad had a huge amount of "pickle juice" that would have been off-putting on it's own, but in this case, the vinegar helped cleanse my palate of the peanut butter-cheese-bacon richness. I don't think I'd enjoy these as much with anything else. After eating all this I was stuffed silly!

I have always enjoyed the service at Brians', I also like the no-nonsense stuff. For instance we ordered coffee, and of course had ice water. And instead of having to flag someone down for refills they always leave a pot and a pitcher for our refills.

There are items on the menu at Brians' that I do not enjoy, but overall I consider Brians' to be a pretty good neighborhood diner, and the Missus loves those pancakes.

Brians' American Eatery
1451 Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Postscript: In case you're wondering why I ordered a Frankie Burger, it's because of our own little "Frankie Burger" – meet Frankie(burger….):

Pho’ Cali

March 1, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Pho Cali has closed

No it's not Pho' Hoa Cali, nor Pho' T Cali, nor related to any other Pho' something Cali's in San Diego. It's just Pho' Cali.

Around the time of the Tet Festival we started noticing all these little signs on almost every corner announcing "Now Pho' in Mission Valley!" As if this event was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I mean really, there are two Pho' places right up Ulric Street in Linda Vista, Pho Hoa Hiep and Pho' Hoa, not ten minutes away. Well, call it great marketing if you will, but a few weeks ago, I decided to pay Pho' Cali a visit.

I was impressed with the bright and clean interior.

This being Mission Valley, I was prepared for the higher prices, so about a buck more for Pho' didn't bother me. But don't turn the page of the menu; the Banh Mi here is $4.99!

Being the creature of habit that I am I ordered the Pho' Dac Biet(Combination – $5.99). In this case a bowl of Pho' with rare steak, well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe. I ordered, and the garnishes arrived.

The most skimpiest amount of garnish I've ever seen! One sprig of basil! There was however, one leaf of Ngo Ngai. It was tucked away under the bean sprouts, in almost an apologetic manner, as if embarrassed to be associated with such a meager amount of bean sprouts.

I will say that the Pho' Cali served me the fastest bowl of Pho' I've ever had; it arrived at my table in less then 5 minutes after I ordered. Almost beating my ice water and garnish.

I started my Pho' eating ritual; first tasting the broth before adding anything to it. My observations? Nice amount of oil, yet the broth was not very rich, with a slight anise flavor and mild garlicky undertones. Not bad, not good, and pretty generic. There was a fairly small amount of meat, and I didn't find any well done steak. The rare steak, though sliced nice and thin, was tough, as was the tendon. The brisket had no flavor. I even almost chipped a tooth on a tiny piece of bone.

The worst thing was the giant clump of noodle on the bottom of the bowl:

This was why the Pho' arrived so quickly! I separated the noodles, and found that the noodles in the interior portion of the clump was cold! A big no-no. Also, the noodles were mushy, and had no "pull" to them. This was the second worst Banh Pho' I've ever had. I never finished the noodles, though I did a pretty good job on the broth, which tasted much better as the flavor from the garnishes, green onion, cilantro, and sriracha I added started to fuse together.

In the end, the best thing about Pho' Cali was the pond right outside.

I don't know if you'll notice. Normally, I'd visit any Pho' Restaurant at least twice before posting. In this case I see no need to do that. I guess Pho Cali is pretty great compared to the "Chain Restaurant/Fast Food Purgatory" that is Mission Valley. But I'd rather just drive up the street to Linda Vista.

Pho' Cali
1400 Camino De La Reina #105
San Diego, CA 92018

Open 9:30AM- 9:30PM Daily

Finally: Lee’s Garden

February 27, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Lee's Garden has closed

As indicated in My previous post, we were searching for Lee's Garden when we got side tracked by Ly's Garden. And after that very inexpensive lunch, we traveled a bit further down the road, and came across Lee's Garden, though the signage really didn't make it easy…..

Nor did the rather battered storefront, Lee's just looked alot more rundown then I remembered, how sad:

We decided to eat at Lee's this past Sunday, and arrived at about 4pm for an early dinner. We were walked to our seats immediately by a very friendly Gentleman. We passed one of the other tables and noticed that the Vietnamese Family there were eating 4 different versions of clams, so I made a mental note while we were seated. As is typical for these Vietnamese/Chinese Restaurants, the menus are huge, and analysis paralysis set in:

After what seemed to be a very long period of indecision, we placed our order. Starting with the Clams with Basil($8.95):

These clams seemed to be cooked a bit too long, the clams somewhat tough, and many of them really "gritty". Also, many of the clams had fallen out of their shells and settled into the bottom of the earthen bowl, making this into a search and destroy mission. This led the Missus to state; "I swear, there are more shells than clam meat in this dish, I think we're being ripped off!" I of course disagreed, but felt strangely aware of what seemed to be an abundance of empty clam shells….. This dish was flavored with a good amount of basil, and some jalapeno peppers, but seemed a bit flat in taste. I think it was the lack of garlic in this dish, in addition to perhaps some sweetness to balance out the anise like flavor of the basil.

Seafood Hotpot with Duck Feet(leg – $11.95):

See that kind of yellow/brown strip of meat to the right of the pot? I think that's duck "meat", but I'm not quite sure. I almost never take a salt shaker to my food, but in this case I came pretty close. The dish was very bland, and insipidly boring. Even the shrimp had no taste, the only item in the pot that had any flavor were the shiitake mushrooms.

The best dish of the evening was the Fish Fillet with Black Peppercorn($7.95):

The slightly sweet, salty, gooey sauce, full of pungent black pepper was oh so good. The fish, on the other hand was not. First off, the fish was dry, now I believe that one of the real benefits of battered and fried fish is to keep it moist. But in this case, the fish was dry as if overcooked, probably due to lack of freshness. Also, the batter did not keep any of it's crispness, it seemed to be either under fried or fried at the wrong temperature. Too bad, this could have been a really great dish.

As we were leaving, Lee's started filling up, and everybody seemed to be getting the clams, so I'm guessing it's one of their more popular dishes. We did enjoy the excellent service, and the prices weren't too bad, but I don't know if we'll be back anytime soon.

Lee's Garden
4055 54th St
San Diego, CA 92105