Chow Noodlehouse

**** Chow has closed

I'd been thinking about trying out Chow Noodle House for a while, but have been hesitating. You see, when we first moved to San Diego in '01, this was the location of the reincarnated Celadon Restaurant. And the young Owner, Alex Thao, at that time still a student at San Diego State, was a thoughtful and energetic young man. His father had Owned the original Celadon, now the location of Hash House, and after deciding to retire and close the restaurant, the ambitious Alex had talked his father into reopening Celadon, and turning over the keys to him. The space that Chow now occupies once held a Thai Restaurant called Thai-phoon, or something like that. I won't go into the food at that restaurant, but I think the name more than describes it. Alex is a smart Guy, he kept the original chef on staff at Celadon, and we thought the food to be pretty good. We'd often run into Alex's Mom running the front of house, and Alex would always come by and chat. Over time the food went on a downhill slide. It seems that the original Chef, Songsri Thammasuckdi, who, I was told, once cooked for Thai Royalty, decided to retire. About the same time, Alex Thao became quite the Restaurateur, first opening Rama in the Gaslamp, then moving Celadon to newer digs, and opening Chow Noodle House in the former Celadon location. Which brings us to the here and now.

 

The interior is simply modern, neat and orderly, if perhaps a bit on the "cold" side.

The menu though simple in concept; noodles, salads, and other similar items, is a challenge. Chow has chosen to straddle 4 different Countries. The menu consists of everything from Pho and Bun, to Yakisoba, to Chow Fun and Pad Thai. It is hard enough doing one cuisine justice, but four?

Back in January, I decided to check out Chow for lunch. The very nice young lady ushered me to a table, and after looking over the menu, I chose the Drunken Noodles(with chicken - $8). I thought this would be a nice dish to try since I enjoyed the version that Celadon used to make. Something in the back of my mind made me order it "spicy", something I'd never do at say, Yai Restaurant. Come to think of it, they serve it to you, their way, and don't even ask you how spicy you want your food. I kinda like that.

I was first served a bowl of a pseudo, egg drop soup. I say pseudo, because the one very strong flavor in this was that of Kaffir Lime Leaf. To me this wasn't a bad thing, because at least it had flavor.

Considering that I was paying the "Hillcrest premium", this didn't look too bad. On the good side, the noodles were cooked adequately, and the chicken wasn't dry as I expected. On the bad, this was cloyingly sweet. I expect my Pad Kee Mau to be on the sweet side, but this was really much too sweet. Also, it was not spicy in the least, not at all. It was hard to make out any flavor beyond the sweetness of the dish.

Another day, I was having lunch with an acquaintance, and decided to order the "Vietnamese" Grilled Beef Salad($10):

The "lemongrass grilled beef" was adequately done, but it had no lemongrass flavor. The menu says hothouse cucumbers, but none were in sight, not a big deal, at least there were some cherry tomatoes mixed in with the shredded cabbage and carrots. The dressing was very bland, I'd have killed for some Nuoc Mam Cham. Funny thing, this was one of my first meals out after returning from vacation, and I couldn't help but think.....160,000 VND!

Recently, I decided to give Chow one more shot. This day, being a bit brighter than most, I noticed that Chow was showing some signs of wear and tear.

This time I ordered the Beef Chow Fun($11 - I just noticed that I spent more and more $'s on each visit). I didn't quite know what to expect, perhaps a nice version of Thai style thick noodles with gravy, maybe I'd get a decent Chow Fun.

Chow Fun with Gravy does not mean mushy noodles. The noodles were horribly over-cooked, and improper cooking temperature made them greasy as well. Though the fragrance of ginger wafted up from the dish, it was all I could really make out. This was very bland. At least the Gai lan tops were cooked properly. The meat was cut too thick, and didn't match the thickness of the noodles, a no-no in Chinese cooking.

At this point, unless anyone has a really stellar recommendation for Chow, I think I'll pass for a while. It seemed like everything started at mediocre, and went down hill from there. I will say this, though my Server was different on every visit, I had very accommodating service. Also, I was never charged for my Diet Cokes.

This leads me to a conversation I had with the young Alex Thao, way back in maybe 2002. Just back from a visit to Thai Town, I inquired about dishes using ingredients like Thai Eggplants, Jackfruit, or even Gapi(Thai Shrimp Paste). His response was that using the unfamiliar in San Diego is "economic suicide" and those dishes would just take up menu space and never sell. I guess he's right, after all, the Thao Empire is now so large it calls itself the "Celadon Group".

Chow Noodle House
540 University Ave
San Diego, CA

Read Alice Q Foodie's post on Chow here.

Read Gil's post from what We Dig here.

From the no good deed goes unpunished files:

So, I'm walking after lunch, and see an Older Woman using a walker, dragging a shopping basket, muttering to herself while crossing the street. I notice that a shopping bag full of "stuff" fell from the cart while she was crossing the street. So, I run into the cross walk, get honked at by some "gangsta's" in an Escalade who in addition to throwing a Big Gulp Cup at me, obviously cussed me out...luckily, they were screaming at me in "gangsta" so I really couldn't understand what they were saying. Thankfully, I managed to pick up the bag, caught up with the woman, and handed it to her. Unfortunately for me, she was grappling with whatever demons are haunting her, and proceeded to scream profanities at me. And if that wasn't enough, she started spitting at me! Needless to say, I dumped her bag into the cart, and beat a hasty retreat. Goes to show me...you never know what'll happen to you on the corner of 5th and University........

Comments

[Stephen]

Hi Kirk. Thanks for the review. Sorry it was a bad experience. I've been wanting to try that place, but know now not to waste my money. I tried Rama a couple months ago. I thought it was good, a bit expensive, but I dont have a lot of experience with Thai food. That's a pretty awful experience with the bag lady. Bummer.

[farah]

sorry about the bag/crosswalk/gangsta yell/walker lady -- YIKES! how nice of you to do that :)

at least there was a plus to all of the bad reviews -- free soda :)

[Jennifer]

Hey, I am sorry to hear your bad experiences with Chow. We went about 5 times when it first opened and had great experiences both with the food and my new favorite cocktail, the "Dirty Chow" which is basically olive juice and sake. Though now looking back, the service and the food deteriorated with every visit until finally the menu had changed and no longer included my two favorite dishes. My spouse's two favorite dishes were gone as well. Sad, because it's easily walking distance and I had such high hopes.

[Kirk]

Hi Stephen - It was not a bad experience....it was very mediocre food. That lady made me feel very sad.

Hi Farah - Yes, the free Diet Coke was nice.

Hi Jennifer - Like I told Stephen, mediocre food does not equate to a bad experience. It is just lousy food. Service was very nice. Not that I'll go back.

[kat]

yipes, bad food, bad experience with the lady...reminds me of when we told someone that their backpack was wide open, she looked at us like, "so?"...sad :(

[liver]

5 of haldol, im, STAT. Then, after Alex has calmed down, use what's left in the vial on the gangstas and the shopping cart lady.

[Omar]

Shame about Chow. I see "noodle" in the name and hold out great hope. Perhaps we should pool our money and buy airfare for a really good Asian noodle cook. He/she can stay at my house...

Best,

[janfrederick]

Man, I ALWAYS know what's coming when you start out a post by saying how nice the service is. Kinda like a hint. ;)

[penny]

oh BAH! i hate it when people try to pass off bad food just cause it's in a 'nice' neighborhood. sorry to hear about your scary experiences Kirk.

[Carol]

Well Kirk, I think you gave Chow plenty of chances.

Gangstas and schizo bag ladies, lol, sorry but I had to laugh a bit only because I know what you were going through. I've had my share of those experiences.

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - he-he-he...no good deed goes unpunished!

Hi Liver - LOL! You crack me up!

Hi Omar - Good luck, with current immigration laws.....

Hi Jan - Ah, you read me well.

Hi Penny - It seems that the concept was created before any thought was put into the food. And the flavors are geared to what they believe the masses will want. Nothing wrong with that; but it's not for me.

Hi Carol - In retrospect, I thought it was funny, which is why I included it as a little post-script.

[nhbilly]

The ending was great!

[David]

My wife and I tried Chow a few months ago. We dine regularly at the various Thai restaurants on or near University Avenue and didn't like Chow at all. The menu, the service, and the praparation leave a lot to be desired. I guess we just prefer the Amarin Thai or Lotus Thai approach better. And the new Celadon on Fifth looks too much like a nightclub for our taste. By the way, the "old" Celadon on University was our favorite.

[the office goat]

I think the gangstas were trying to tell you the bag lady had dropped her Big Gulp cup a block earlier and were asking if you would kindly return it to her, since she swore at them when they tried.

[Gil]

Hi Kirk,

I think you are right, it has gone downhill and we tend to only go there when we are in need of some quick takeout and don't want to drive all the way to Amarin or aren't in the mood for Mandarin House on 5th.

It is too bad though, because I really like the concept and if it was executed better it would be great to have something so close.

Gil

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - Looking back, it was kinda funny.....not at that moment though.

Hi David - I don't think that Chow would try to define itself as a "Thai Restaurant" per se, but it should still be able to serve up good dishes regardless.

Hi TOG - LOL! I'm glad you're able to translate.

Hi Gil - Sounds like they did things pretty well in the beginning....but concept over cuisine will never last.

[LisaM]

Hi! Been reading the blog for a while but have never commented...I was wondering if you have ever tried Saigon on Fifth...it's around the corner from chow and so good! Its very well done and a very classy space that is not too pricey (especially for Hillcrest). I would love to hear your review of it, because you seem to have such extensive knowledge and experience with Vietnamese food. Favorites for me include the tamarind soup and baked eggplant.

[Kirk]

Hi LisaM - Hello to you as well, and thanks for taking the time out to comment. I've been to Saigon on 5th four times, but have not really been satisfied with the food there. I think it's under-flavored, and over priced.

[santos.]

hey kirk, chow doesn't ask you how spicy you want your food? or yai? yai asks now. i tried the spicy spicy the other day, they tried to dissuade me. it was mind-numbingly awesome :)

sorry about your thwarted good deed!

[Kirk]

Hi santos - I meant Yai...we've never been asked how spicy there.