Closed – Page 97

Rannoosh

May 11, 2006 mmm-yoso Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

*** Rannoosh has closed

It's seems like the Hillcrest area restaurant scene has gone through quite a flurry of changes recently, with everything from plate lunches(an L&L opened recently) to Vietnamese eateries opening in the area. Even the long standing Jimmy Wong's Golden Dragon is now Golden Dragon Asian Bistro, featuring Asian influenced dishes. Rannoosh is one of those recently opened restaurants featuring Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine.

The interior of Rannoosh has been done up with rich looking fabrics and drapes adorning the plush but dark interior. If you look carefully you can see the Hookah Pipes on the counter.

You get a little bowl of what I was told were pickled beets and olives delivered to your table. As JS clarified in the comments these are actually turnips, with beets added for color. I'd seen these at North Park Produce sold in jars, and the label said they were turnips, but the Young Lady insisted that they were beets. The pickles were on the bitter and sour end of the flavor spectrum:

There are a few olives hidden under those pickles.

On a recent lunchtime visit the Missus ordered the Lamb Kabob Sandwich($8.95):

The sandwich comes with your choice of green or potato salad. Here's a better look at the sandwich.

There were only four small cubes of lamb in the sandwich, along with a mild garlic spread, pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes. The lamb was very mild in flavor, and was completely obscured by everything else. The green salad had a simple vinaigrette, dotted with sumac and other herbs. The pita is unremarkable, seemed to be store-bought.

I ordered the Chicken Shawarma Sandwich($6.95):

There was a large portion of moist and tender dark meat chicken, though somewhat mild in flavor, was still quite good. I swear I tasted fenulgreek, but can't be sure. This was a very nice and satisfying sandwich, though one couldn't help but compare it to the Garlic Chicken sandwich at Mama's. If I were to do a comparison, I'd say the flavors(especially the Garlic Paste) at Mama's are much stronger, but I'd rather have the Chicken at Rannoosh. I wish something along the line of the bread at Mama's(made to order on the Sajj) were used at Rannoosh. If you order a sandwich for lunch I'd say that the creamy and tasty potato salad is the way to go.

Needing to get out of the office on a recent lunch hour I walked over to Rannoosh for lunch. This time around I ordered The Basterma (cured, air dried beef) Sandwich($6.95):

The First time I ordered this, the Young Lady wanted to make sure that I knew that the beef is not cooked, just air dried. The slices of cured beef; think between pastrami and beef jerky, is placed in a pita, with tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumber. I've had the Armenian version of Basterma, which seemed to be cut alot thinner. This version was cut maybe a bit too thick. On each bite you risked pulling the entire slice of beef out of the sandwich.

If you enjoy the salty, more intense flavor of cured meat you may enjoy this, though the meat can be tough. I asked what the beef was cured with and was told, mainly salt and paprika, and a few other seasonings. You can even see the "cure-ring" on the slices of meat:

Last but not least an appetizer portion of Falafel($5.95). Because these are formed and made to order, they always arrive after my sandwich, but let me tell you, they are worth it:

Having had Falafel ranging from teeth cracking hard, to so gritty and dry it felt like you were eating a handful of sand, let me just say these were Delici-yoso!!! The exterior were a perfect crunchy, and the interior of the Falafel were, dare I say, almost creamy with just a touch of "grit". The Falafel had a perfect amount of "zing", though the tahini based dip was very weak. Who cares, I didn't need it anyway. I could eat these often. In fact the Lady working noticed how much I was enjoying these and told me to try the "Stuffed" (with onions and pine nuts) Falafel next time around.

I'll be back to Rannoosh, maybe for dinner, definitely for falafel. Entrees range from $9.95 to 25.95. Rannoosh seems to do more dinner business then lunch, and the turn around for lunch may be on the long side, so plan accordingly.

Rannoosh
3890 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Bolsaa Vietnamese Restaurant

May 10, 2006 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Update, Bolsaa has since closed. And is now the Crab Hut.

Yep, you read that right; it’s Bolsaa with 2 "aa’s" at the end. Not to be confused with Bolsa on Mira Mesa Boulevard, though I’ve been told that there is a connection. This Bolsaa is located in a strip mall along with several other restaurants on Convoy St.

About a year and a half ago, I had a decent bowl of Pho’ Ga (Chicken Rice Noodle Soup) at Bolsaa, and then had forgotten all about the place. Recently, on a trip to Balboa Tofu House I saw the Bolsaa sign and made a mental note to revisit Bolsaa. And so here I was……

The interior of Bolsaa is alot larger then the tiny storefront would indicate, and is quite clean. There’s also the requisite bar area, that almost all Vietnamese Restaurants seem to have for the express purpose of hiding the cash register.

The restaurant also never seems to be full, no matter what time of day I’ve visited.

On this trip I ordered the typical Pho’ Bo(Beef Noodles Soup) Combination(Rare Steak, Brisket, Flank, Tendon, and Tripe) Extra Large($5.75), compared to the Combination Large($5.25), or just the Combination ($4.75), for some reason I see some humor in this, though I can’t quite understand why. As is the norm, the garnishes arrived first:

I thought the amount of Basil was perfect for my tastes, though the bean sprouts were lacking. What to do about the lemon wedge??????

The large bowl of Pho’ arrived steaming hot to the table.

The rare steak was perfect, thinly sliced, and soft. The rest of the meat items didn’t fare so well, most were dry and tough, and the amount of tripe was negligible. The noodles weren’t in a solid clump on the bottom and were about as good as they could possibly be, not mushy, and not too chewy. The broth was on the light side, and very generic. The oil level was low, and the only very distinctive trait I could really get a handle on was how "salty" it was. It got to the point where I finished the noodles, but couldn’t bring myself to finish up the broth. Who knows, could be a glitch, but man was it salty.

On a recent morning I did manage to make another visit to Bolsaa, and this time decided on a change of pace and ordered the Chicken with Lemon Grass and Hot Pepper($6.95). The dish was delivered on two plates, first, a really "healthy"(or depending how you view carbs, unhealthy) portion of rice:

Then the good size portion of chicken:

The dark meat chicken had been cut into cubes then stir fried with onions. The sauce had a slight sweet-soy/fish sauce taste. There was almost no spiciness or heat, and the dish was on the oily side (even for me….). I honestly felt that I could do better at home. Pass on this one…..

I’ll probably visit Bolsaa again in the (maybe not so near) future. Though I’ll probably have the Pho’ Ga, or check out the Pho’ Bo, just to see if the bowl I had was a glitch.

Some Notes: I’ve been to Bolsaa four times over the years, and it’s always been a pretty quiet, not too crowded restaurant. With current construction in the mall, the parking spaces are always being reconfigured, and during certain hours parking is at a premium. The menu at Bolsaa in not as large as other Vietnamese restaurants; of course it’s all relative if you consider 120+ items to be a smaller selection. So at least Vietnamese Menu Paralysis won’t take over!

Bolsaa Vietnamese Cuisine
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Open Daily 9am – 10pm

If I can get my "act" together, I’ll probably do my Pho’ Retrospective post some time next week.

La Posta Taco Shop – And a Quesadilla with an Identity Crisis

May 7, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** La Posta has closed

In my line of work, I sometimes have to work some odd hours. They usually include the words "weekend", "midnight", "Four AM", or something similar. A recent Sunday morning was no exception. Totally buzzed on caffeine, and starving at 530 am I sorely needed some sustenance. But where to go at 530 Am on a Sunday morning in Hillcrest? Well, without question, it's La Posta for some greasy Carne Asada. Just eating a Carne Asada or California Burrito here will make you feel alive….or dead.

I would say that if you lived, worked, or frequented the area within the last 20 years or so, you'd recognize the sign immediately.

I believe the La Posta sign is as significant a local landmark, as say, the Hillcrest sign, or the sign for Jimmy Wong's Golden Dragon. A key phrase in the signage is "Open 24 Hours". Those who live in San Diego know, that though things are getting better, late night eating(somehow I can't bring myself to use the word dining, and La Posta in the same sentence)options are very limited. The best time to grab a bite at La Posta, is undoubtedly between 1 AM and 5 AM on a Saturday or Sunday morning. You'll get the full effect of the "ambiance" and the interesting cast of characters, many of whom you never thought lived in San Diego, or Earth for that matter. On a recent Sunday morning, I just missed the "late-early" crowd at La Posta, which left me feeling disappointed; sort of like arriving at the Opera after the Fat Lady has sung.

Bummer! I'd missed the free entertainment. A person once described the after midnight crowd at La Posta in a single rambling sentence that included, "Goth's, Grungees, Gays, Gargoyles, and the bar scene from Star Wars!" Not this morning though, all that was left was the eye stinging light, and a really tired looking guy cleaning behind the counter.

If there one dish, other then the standard San Diego taco shop fare, that is interesting, it's the "Special" Quesadilla($5.59). So what's so interesting about it? Well, it starts out like a jumbo quesadilla with two large flour tortillas, that is heated on the griddle, along with some Carne Asada. Here's a peek into the world of La Posta:

A layer of cheese is placed between the two tortillas. Sounds like a normal quesadilla, right? Well that's where we take a sudden left turn. The "quesadilla" is then moved to the counter where the large serving of Carne Asada, lettuce, guacamole, and Salsa is placed on the tortilla, and it is folded up like a burrito! I think it it weighs somewhere in the range of 2 pounds. It's pretty large, in fact, I've often thought it's as big as my shoe, so I thought I'd do a comparison.

Not quite there but pretty close. On this morning the carne asada was too salty, and had a bit of a "stale" taste. Probably because it had been sitting for a while, and the kitchen was kind of winding down. I couldn't finish but half of the quesadilla turned burrito. I also don't care for the watery hot sauce that La Posta serves up.

Overall La Posta serves up the type of food that really "tastes better when your drunk, tired, starved", or otherwise craving a greasy calorie-bomb. And we all have those moments. One thing for sure, you won't say the food at La Posta is bland. When the carne asada is fresh and not too heavily salted it is pretty darn good as well.

During a recent lunch hour I was waiting in line for a Carne Asada burrito, when a Young Man in scrubs turned to me and said, "You know, the food here is okay, but it sure tastes better at 4 am!"

Amen, brother!

La Posta De Acapulco #8
3980 3rd Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Saturday Snack – Ono’s Cafe

May 6, 2006 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego

*** Ono's has closed

A while back I heard of a small coffee/tea/dessert shop in the Bonita area called Ono's (love the name) that supposedly served Malasadas. Yep, Malasada's.

Now nothing can make an Ex-Pat Kama'aina as homesick as the thought of hot and fluffy Malasadas from Leonard's Bakery in Honolulu. For those who don't know what a Malasada is; think of it as a Donut without a hole, fried to a nice golden brown crisp on the outside, with a light and fluffy interior. Served piping hot, there is nothing that quite compares to it in my book. Though Portuguese in origin, Malasadas has long been an Island favorite. So naturally, this made Ono's a "must-try".

Ono's is tucked away behind a branch of Well Fargo on Bonita Road. Though hidden from the street, once in the parking lot, you can't miss the "statue".

The decor is a tasteful Asian-influenced tropical, with "New Age" Asian instrumental music piped in. On this day the Cafe was quite full, with people having tea or coffee, and various desserts like Kahlua Cheesecake.

I did find a sign for Malasadas, 9 for $3.50! Now that is very, very inexpensive. I placed my order, and was told that it would be an 8 to 10 minute wait. Soon enough, a small white package was delivered to me. I opened it as soon as I got to the car.

Though the donuts were golden brown, and smelled heavenly, these looked more like donut holes then Malasadas. I guess that explains the price. As I took a bite, I noticed that the interior of this small donut was cake-like and pretty dense. Overall these tasted pretty good, since they were served hot and fresh.

The texture was somewhere between a Malasada and Andagi, the dense Okinawan "donut". These really weren't Malasadas in my book.

Even though I was expecting Malasadas, and these didn't fit the bill, they still tasted good when "hot". Though I wouldn't go out of my way to visit Ono's in the future, I'd probably drop by for a cup of coffee or some dessert if I'm in the neighborhood.

Notes: Service was friendly and efficient. There are a number of desserts, smoothies, and other drinks available.

Ono's
4154 Bonita Rd
Bonita, CA 91902

Shaka Hawaiian BBQ – A Rice-aholic Relapse

May 3, 2006 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

*** Shaka Hawaiian BBQ is now called "Mahina’s"

Now I must admit that I’ve finally fallen off the wagon…..you see we’ve been trying to cut down on our rice consumption. First we cut down our portion sizes, which all led to our going several meals without rice. Now for the Missus, this was not a substantial change. She hails from Northern China, where dough is king. But for yours truly, born and raised on white rice, it was a very significant change. On a normal day, it wouldn’t have been unusual for me to have rice three times a day…..but that has all changed. Call it "Chinese mind control" if you will( courtesy of the Missus), but whatever the reason it has worked. Until now…….

It all started with a record 6 days without rice. We began on our last day in Rowland Heights, and Dim Sum at Happy Harbor, followed by several days of salads(yep you heard right) for lunch and sandwiches for dinner, followed by a couple of days of steamed buns and Xiao Long Bao. By about the fourth day I felt a bit odd, as if a piece of "me" was missing (it was probably the "mi fan"). On the fifth day I was just craving rice, but doing my best to fight it off. Until on the sixth day, some steamed buns in the microwave, I was going over my old Emails. Now one of the really great things about having this little ol’ food blog is that I get recommendations all the time. So I reread an Email about a new "Hawaiian BBQ" in Pacific Beach sent a few months back by Campy, followed by one by Mizducky. A few Emails past that is one from Howie mentioning the same Hawaiian BBQ. Aargh! What’s a rice starved "local boy" to do?

So I drove with a severe sense of urgency down Garnet avenue. All the while thinking of Rice! Rice Hash! Rice Gravy! Rice A La King! Gallons of Rice Soup!(guess where I stole this from) And arrived at the corner Garnet and Fanuel. You really can’t miss the sign:

Nor the very bright storefront. Is orange the new "in" color, or is it because manufacturers are overstocked? It seems that every other restaurant I’ve been in recently has been orange.

Now nothing against the colors, but if I had used these during finger painting class, I would’ve gotten an ‘F’. That said, the small interior of the restaurant was very clean, and ORANGE……

By the time I made it to the counter, my mouth practically foaming, I almost fainted…..the first thing I saw were the "Atkin’s Low Carb Plates"!($4.99 mini/$6.99regular) By this time I was so starved for rice that I felt any protein served on my plate would be like a garnish(think parsley sprigs) for my RIIICE! So I asked the very nice Young Man at the counter about something called a "Shaka Pac" and a "Shaka Bento", and he proceeded to go over the contents, but he left out one thing. "Does it have RICE, man! Lot’s of RICE!" "Ummm, yes, of course, unless you don’t want…" "NOOOO, NO, I’ll take it!"

I got the Shaka Pac($7.99):

So how was it? Well the rice was delicious! Oh, the other stuff? Well this "bento-like" plate had two pieces of butterflied pieces of shrimp coated with panko then deep-fried and lightly salted. Very good, not oily, light, and crunchy. Alas, the BBQ Chicken, was much the same as most of these Hawaiian BBQ joints make them nowadays. That would be under marinated, tough, and relatively bland. Where’s the marinade, bruddah??? The BBQ Ribs, were surprisingly soft and tender, though again not marinated enough. Sufficient food for the price, though it sure won’t make me forget about a Zip Pac or a Surf Pac.

I also ordered a Mini Chicken Cutlet($4.99):

First off, I thought the portion of rice was kinda small – though it could’ve been my rice withdrawals "speaking". Totally routine breaded chicken, with "insta-gravy", though the gravy did have enough salt and pepper in it. The macaroni salad tasted almost exactly like the version I had at Hawaiian Express BBQ except with a bit more mayo. Terrible, too much pickle juice, not enough mayo, just not enough. I did think the portion size was on the small side.

Shaka Hawaiian BBQ along with Lau Lau, Kalua Pork, Chili with Rice, and Loco Moco, also serves up a few other interesting items; such as a "Shaka Moco", basically a Loco Moco with Spam and Portuguese Sausage and Pineapple Chicken (I’ll pass).

One last note on the service. Kudo’s to the Young Man working the counter, he’s fantastic. He would follow up with every table to make sure that they enjoyed their food. I’m sure it made everything taste better. When he thought I’d been waiting too long for my take-out, he came on up to me with a cup and asked me if I wanted something to drink. Just think if I were to add caffeine to my already severely carb depleted state? (He even asked if I wanted a Hawaiian Sun drink)But I thought it was a nice gesture, what a great Kid!

So, I guess I’ve fallen off the wagon…and staying there. Though I did once go something like 4 weeks in Columbus, Georgia without rice(I finally went to a bad Chinese Restaurant, and they served Uncle Ben’s…….), I don’t plan too many riceless days.

Hey, pssssst:

Anyone?

Shaka Hawaiian BBQ
1315 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

also

Grossmont Shopping Center Food Court
5500 Grossmont Center Drive
La Mesa, CA 91942

El Borrego Restaurant

May 1, 2006 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

**** As of 12/28/2025 El Borrego has sadly closed

A few months ago we noticed a new restaurant opening on El Cajon Boulevard. You really couldn’t miss the colorful paint and signs. And finally this past weekend we made our way to El Borrego Restaurant.

And the clean and bright interior was just as colorful as the exterior.

As were brought our menus, a smiling (and very tall) Young Lady came over to our table, and welcomed us. She also asked us “Do you like lamb?” When we answered with a very positive “yes”, she said, “Then I think you’ll like us!” She then proceeded to go over the one page menu, that featured, what else? Lamb! The Young Lady whose name was Rodnia explained that Borrego style Barbacoa was the specialty of the house. She explained that the standard Barbacoa was lamb steamed in a “vaporera”. We placed our orders and soon enough our Tamarindo and Horchata arrived along with the “condiments” for our order:

The condiments were accompanied by a salsa verde, and a red salsa. Rodnia also gave us a taste of the Lamb Broth:

A nice and hearty dark brown broth, full of flavor. Strips of Barbacoa, garbanzo beans, and rice dotted the consomme’. With a squeeze of lime this was very tasty, and really made us look forward to our food which arrived in a few minutes.

First to arrive was the Mixiote($10).

This seemed to be a seasoned Lamb Leg wrapped in a parchment like paper (papel de mixiote?). We stripped off pieces of lamb and proceeded to make tacos with the fresh tortillas and condiments.

First off, we noticed that every table used the salt shaker provided and took this to be the “norm”. The salt was needed because, though the lamb was rubbed with seasoning, the meat didn’t seem to have been salted. As good as the Mixiote looked, we both thought that the “rub” took away all the “wildness” from the lamb. I also found out that the salsa verde had quite a bit of “zip” to it.

We also ordered a half pound of Barbacoa($9).

Now with a touch of salt, these made wonderful tacos. The combination of flavors and textures that the onion, cilantro, tortilla, and lamb provided made for a very rich and tasty taco. I showed extreme restraint by only eating 6 of these.

We enjoyed our meal enough to ensure that we’ll be back. The only item we really didn’t care much for were the tortillas, very mushy and bland, but at least they were fresh.

The people at El Borrego were very nice and friendly, they seemed intent on making sure that we enjoyed meal, and obviously took great pride in the food they served, shown by the amount of time they took in explaining each dish in detail(Of course we kind of stood out). In this day and age when it seems that many restaurants just want to serve you food, really not caring how you enjoyed it, and then get you out the door, the amount of pride that Rodnia and the others at El Borrego have in what they serve was refreshing. I think I’ll have a large bowl of the Lamb Soup($3.75), and a Nopal Salad($1.50) next time, along with the barbacoa of course.

El Borrego Restaurant
4280 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Huo Guo at Ba Ren

April 29, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

I almost feel guilty about doing this post. I mean, I feel like I’ve done Ba Ren to death. But after an average experience at Kingswood, and a fairly chilly(by San Diego standards) April morning we decided to drop by Ba Ren for "Yuan Yang Guo", the "split" Hot Pot.

The Hot Pot is very hard to find on the menu at Ba Ren, so if you don’t speak Mandarin, this is what I suggest: Walk to the counter where the menus are, and pick up the Hot Pot order sheet and bring it to your table.

There are 3 broths available, the clear broth, the spicy, and one with pickled vegetables(we’ve never tried this). And you check off the ingredients for your hot pot. Meats range from frog legs to shrimp. And vegetables from Napa Cabbage to Baby Bok Choy.

Next your "condiments/sauces" arrive:

Clockwise from the top; fermented bean curd, sesame paste, fermented shrimp paste, and our favorite, leek sauce. The Missus uses almost half the container of Leek Sauce! I just use a touch of fermented shrimp paste with my leek sauce.

A portable stove is brought to the table along with a pot that has a divider in the middle. One side holds a "clear" broth, loaded with various herbs and spices.

The other side contains a red, spicy broth.

Though the broth looks really spicy, I didn’t think it was especially "hot". The stove is turned on, and all of the ingredients starts arriving.

Here’s a round-up:

2 Orders of Tofu – just regular tofu, not frozen. Still very good in both broths.

Vermicelli noodles, kind of hard to keep track of in the broth. So the strategy is to place it in your "basket" first, then lower into the broth:

The fish (flounder) is pre-marinated with corn starch and wine, and will stay moist and intact when placed in the broth. So tasty, this one belongs in the clear broth.

Golden (Enoki) Mushrooms:

Spinach:

Napa Cabbage. Here’s a hint for the Napa, let them cook for a while, they will end up soaking in all the flavor.

2 Types of Lamb – first the "Fatty" Lamb:

The the "regular" Lamb. I enjoyed the regular lamb more, the fat on the fatty lamb became rather tough after cooking. The lamb tastes great in the spicy broth.

Finally, the "premium" beef. We didn’t enjoy this as much as the Beef from Kingswood, I thought it was cut too thick.

Whew, this was alot of food. Both broths were excellent.

When we had eaten our fill, we placed everything in the broths to cook. Once that was done, we turn off the heat and let all the herbs sink to the bottom, and ladle out some "soup" to finish.

For a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in Huo Guo, that Hot Pot here is very good.

Also, one final note – the base for the MalaGuo is available for purchase if you want to make your own spicy hot pot at home. We’ve done it before, and it can be fun. Maybe we’ll do it in the future for a post.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

The Mystery “Huo Guo” Contest

April 26, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

*** Here’s the five winners:

1 – Liver Bomb
2 – Becky
3 – Calvin
4 – Happy
5 – Robert

I’ll get you GC’s out next week.

Oh, what’s the restaurant – believe it or not it’s Ba Ren. A report is upcoming.

I’ve been getting into the habit of posting "incomplete" entries recently, which is just totally unacceptable by my standards, and for this I humbly apologize. In order to "teach myself a lesson", I though I’d do a little contest.

Someone emailed me recently after our visit to Kingswood, lamenting the fact that there was no decent "Huo Guo"(Hot Pot) in San Diego. Well, we think that you can get a good Yue Yang Guo in San Diego, and here’s the proof:

So where is this from? Well, that’s the fun part…..you tell me! The first 5 unique(1 IP address per) persons to Email(not comment – but Email) me the restaurant here in San Diego that serves up this herbaceous Hot Pot, will get their choice of a $5(US) Starbucks or Peet’s gift card. (Don’t shoot me DCCF, ok – I needed something I could mail anybody)

So just email me your guess and preference of Starbucks or Peet’s card, and if you are one of the first 5 correct guesses, I’ll send you a reply email asking for a name and mailing address(so no bogus Email addresses this time). Easy enough, right?

Bonus points for you(just points…) if you know what that is above. And here’s some supporting photographic evidence.

I’ll reveal the restaurant tomorrow, along with the 5 winners(I’ll use your "handle", in case you’re shy…..).

Good Luck!!!

Golden City Part 3 of 3 – Dinner and Coming Full Circle

April 25, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Golden City has closed

*** As of July, 2006 Golden City is under new Ownership – posts on the “New” Golden City, can be found here and here.

Waaay back in September of last year Golden City Chinese Restaurant reopened in a new location. At first I was over-joyed at having one of my favorite inexpensive Chinese Restaurants open their doors again. I was somewhat embarrassed at being the first customer at the new locale. And as is somewhat normal for any new restaurant, the food was a bit of a let down. About a month later the Missus and I had sampled the late supper specials in Part II. Though the prices were still very reasonable, the food really was just a “shadow of it’s former self.”

So, a few months back the Missus and I decided to drop by Golden City and sample a few dishes from the “regular” Dinner menu. We started with the Fish, Preserved Egg, and Cilantro Soup($8.95):

We’ve had this soup before, and when it’s made well, the clear broth is well flavored and comforting, with the cilantro adding a very clean taste. On this occasion, the soup was on the weak side, though the fish was very moist and tender. There wasn’t very much preserved egg in the soup. We were slightly disappointed at this dish.

The Peking Duck($18.00 – 2 courses):

The Peking Duck at Golden City is priced right. And though the duck was not as high in quality and flavor as the $18 Peking Duck Special at Pearl, an everyday price of eighteen bucks isn’t bad. The buns and duck were a bit on the dry side. What the missus really wants is the minced duck meat with lettuce. She enjoys that much more then the duck skin. Duck meat is stir fried with water chestnut and other items, and provides a nice rich dish when wrapped with lettuce. Whatever we take home usually ends up in a fried rice the next day.

I had intended to end the post here. But I thought it would be fun to try the exact same dish as my first visit again to see if the kitchen had now hit stride. On entering, I noticed that some of the furniture had been moved around.

I again ordered the Pork Chop with Spicy Salt($6.25 – prices had gone up 30 cents), that started with the Hot and Sour soup:

I’ve always enjoyed the Hot and Sour soup at Golden City, but today it tasted a bit off. I also noticed frozen carrots, and some corn(egad!) in the soup as filler.

The Pork Chop arrived a few minutes later, along with the same lousy egg roll.

This time the Pork Chop was fried to a nice crisp state with a moist interior. The garlic wasn’t burnt and overall this was a pleasant dish, a definite improvement over my first visit.

Though we still think that Golden City is a mere shadow of it’s previous “self”, the prices(especially the late supper menu) are fairly reasonable, and the service has always been good. Golden City is also one of the few restaurants open until midnight in the area.

Part I of this post can be found here.

Part II can be found here.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Open Daily 11am – Midnight

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