Minh Ky Restaurant

Minh Ky is a small Chinese-Vietnamese Noodle and Soup shop located on the corner of El Cajon Blvd and Menlo Avenue. In fact, Minh Ky shares the same strip mall with A-Chau, and a Vietnamese Market.

About 12 tables are lined against the walls and through the middle of the spartan interior of Minh Ky, and Chinese or Vietnamese music is a always blaring away. The one thing Minh Ky could use, is a revolving door for the steady stream of people entering and exiting the Restaurant.

I normally pay Minh Ky a visit during weekend mornings when I'm in the mood for some soup. Minh Ky is a good choice since they open at 8am on weekdays, and 830am during the weekend. And as strange as it may seem, I do enjoy a nice bowl of Combination WonTon Soup($4.75):

The Combo Soup, comes with a good portion of veggies, fishcake, shrimp, char siu, chicken, and most of all won tons. Today's soup had 10 Won Tons in it! The fillings of the won tons at Minh Ky are pretty dense pork meatballs with a slice of shrimp; and are almost like siu mai in texture. The broth is a clear and mild chicken broth, I usually add a touch of soy sauce and some white pepper. Overall, a pretty good start to a Saturday for me.

There is a really amusing thing that happens to me at Minh Ky. Because most of the clientele is Vietnamese, I kind of stand out. And because I only eat here during the winter and spring, there is a "cycle of familiarity" that occurs during my initial visits. It usually starts with "Are you Korean?" And a short and fun conversation normally takes place, where I explain I'm Japanese, and so on..... It happens with most of the Employees, one by one. "But you look Korean......" And sometimes ending in "so you don't speak Japanese" with a smile and a short negative shake of a head.

Once in a while I'll get the Won Ton Egg Noodle Soup($4.25):

Again, a simple broth, lettuce, nappa cabbage, green onions, char siu, won tons(8), and thin crunchy egg noodles. A decent bowl for the price.

On this visit, the Young Lady found a novel way of taking my order. She was filling chili oil containers on a adjoining table and saw that I was ready to order. She proceeded to lean back on her chair, balancing on two legs, with a container of chili oil, smiling and turning to me said "combination won ton soup?" Okay, call me a creature of habit! "Um, no just wonton egg noodle soup, today." Show them who's predictable..... And a free acrobatic/gymnastic show to boot!

On a recent visit, I even opened the menu past the first page and went over some of the 225+ dishes, and ordered the Combination Crispy Noodles($6.25):

I should've stayed with the soups, the thin egg noodles were over fried, powdery and brittle instead of crunchy. The beef was really tough, and there was too little of the sauce, which was very bland. I'll stick with the soups.

It just so happens that Minh Ky is also a favorite of Howie of A Foodie's Eye View of San Diego's Restaurants. When I Emailed Him and asked what he enjoyed at Minh Ky, Howie stated: "I pretty much just order the rice porridge. It's far and away my favorite porridge in SD. I always get it with the Chinese donut. It sounds boring, but it's more flavorful than most Chinese congee. The broken rice, ginger, & fried shallots really help it. Great comfort food." So it looks like Jook and Youtiao for Howie. Thanks for taking some time to reply to my Email Howie. In appreciation, I'm starting a new category, called "What Howie Eats", I'll include places we've discussed, and any recommendations that Howie has.

Some notes on Minh Ky: The strip mall that Minh Ky is located in has one of the worst parking configurations in San Diego. One of the aisles has no outlet, you have to back out of the parking stall, which leads to some interesting situations. I've seen a car trying to back out, while a car is waiting for the parking stall but because of the single aisle, the waiting car is essentially blocking the exiting car in. Nothing like a nice little showdown between two 3-4 thousand pound vehicles to start off the weekend! Many times vehicles will exit right over the sidewalk, straight onto El Cajon Boulevard. I usually park in the back, though you'll need to avoid the large potholes and abandoned furniture. The back parking lot can also be quite scary at night. I usually order "tea" with my meals and they serve me a whole pot, and I've never ever been charged for it.

Oh, and as I was at the register paying...."Are you Korean?" You gotta love it!

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Comments

[howie]

Woohoo! I've got my own category now! I'm touched and honored.

The thing I like about Minh Ky is that the food tastes homey. It seems like something my mom would make (in the good way).

And, yes, the parking lot is terrible on the weekends. I usually park on the street a couple of blocks down.

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

The food there looks pretty good, especially the won ton noodle. The prices seem great too...

BTW...do you look Korean? LOL!

[clare eats]

Casey saw that and decided we have it good for soup prices LOL

I can't wait to be back in Syd and get a decent asian meal!!!! Yippeee

[Jo]

::grins:: Yea Kirk, do you look Korean? Hey Mills! You ARE Korean... what's your opinion?

[Pam]

Hey Kirk, are you Korean?

Ha ha, just kidding! You (and Howie) just reminded me that I'm long overdue for some porridge and Chinese donuts. Yum!

[Kirk]

Hi Howie - that's as good an endorsement as any - "Just like Mom used to make".

Hi Reid - Yes, the prices here are pretty reasonable.

Hi Clare - Sounds like you can eat alot of soup, for not alot on money in Sydney.

Hi Jo - It could be that I look Korean to Vietnamese??? LOL!

Hi Pam - Do I look Korean? Let's just say that I don't want to be an insult to all my Korean friends.....

[Jo]

::chuckles:: I don't know man... Ya got me on that one. Although, on a more sober note, there are certain very subtle differences in appearance. I personally notice it more in Euro types. Spainiards don't look quite like Italians who don't quite look like French, etc. The greater the distance between places, the greater the differences. ::ponders::

[Rachel]

I don't know kirk!!! I haven't seen you yet :) I would like to say I can make a safe guess in looking and speaking to a person whether they were korean or japanese or chinese. The sad thing is most Australians especially out here in the country can't tell :) Most of them think Singapore is part of China too.
Anyway I think those are pretty good prices for soup. Not sure where Casey and Clare eat in Sydney as I'm a bit out of touch there. If you want a combination soup here at the thai-malaysian-chinese-australian (and thats proudly proclaimed on their signage too!) it is $8.80
But I agree with you Kirk, some mornings there is nothing like soup or jook to start the day :)

[Jo]

I adore jook. So does Dee. I flavor mine with a bit of chicken then add chopped boiled egg, green onions, and lemon juice. Lip smacking good particularly on cold mornings.

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - Jook is indeed comfort food - especially when it starts getting a bit cold.

Hi Jo - Yep, jook on cold mornings is really comforting - but sometimes after eating jook, you just want to go back to bed.....

[Jo]

HA! Ain't that the truth. Actually, that may be why I tend to like it best when I feel something coming on. The best way to kill something off is to put it to bed immediately and sleep it out. Starting the "nap" with a healthy, hot bowl of jook is perfection.

[clare eats]

hmmm
except that he was working it out on what we pay in USD. I don't know about that LOL

[Rachel]

Well Jo I think if I feel something comming on now I eat some kim chi. It will be enough to kill anything ;) Esp Kimchi chige which I think is a kimchi and pork hotpot with soup. So I'm sure you'll give it a whirl right?hehe *rubs hands in glee*

[kirk]

Hi Jo - Yep, nip it in the bud....

Hi Clare - I use XE.com to convert, and $4.75US, comes to $6.32, FWIW!

Hi Rachel - I thought it was really funny, when those articles came out saying that KimChee would prevent bird flu - guess I'll never get bird flu! LOL! Kim Chee cures everything. :o)

[lela]

i am curious are the egg noddles chewy or mushy?

[Kirk]

Hi lela - The egg noodles are a crunchy-chewy...mushy is a big no-no. Minh Ky is known for having pretty large portions relative to price.

[caligirl]

i used to frequent minh ky until the waitress kept getting my order wrong. she also would insist that i "probably wouldn't like" something whenever i tried to order something new... so i stopped going there. i guess it was a mixed blessing since it forced me to venture out into other restaurants. their soups are/were by far the best they have to offer. always fresh and flavorful.

[Kirk]

Hi Caligirl - Don't you hate when people say, "you no like....". There are a couple of places where I'll order the same item, but it's different everytime. It has become kind of a joke.

[teddy]

after a 5 year hiatus, ive recently come back to this cozy, hole in the wall. the soups have always been simple, yet good. i opted for the sate beef chow fun this time around... excellent