Saturday Stuffs: No Moa Da' Kine's National City, What's this about Drive-thru Banh Mi, A Surprise at Sammy's, and other "stuffs"

Just some Miscellanea for the weekend:

No Moa Da Kine's National City, La Dat:

I've been thinking about doing another plate lunch week, and it seems that I always do at least one post on Da' Kine's. After all, they've been around over a decade. So, back in July I had a plate lunch at Da' Kine's, and decided to drop by one more time a few weeks ago. And to my surprise, this facade:

Was replaced with this:

Wow, so this is the third Da Kine's to close. Only the new Liberty Station location is still open. Oh, I did have lunch here, but you'll have to wait for that post. This is what I had at Da' Kine's in July:

I'm still contemplating plate lunch week....but all the Teriyaki - Hawaiian BBQ, blah, blah, blah, gets to be the same after a while. Maybe I should just intermingle them.....what do you think?

Nani Moku Hawaiian BBQ
1635 Sweetwater Road
National City, CA 91950

What's this about drive-thru Banh Mi?:

A few weeks ago, "22cards" (thanks for letting me know), reported that Cali Baguette Express's long awaited Banh Mi Drive-thru was open. And not only that, but they were now open 24 hours a day! So that very Friday, the Missus and I headed out to Cali Baguette Express, at about 930pm, and found the place completely dark, totally closed, not a creature was stirring. We were so disappointed, we headed straight to Golden City and had Peking Duck...talk about depressed.

Determined to get to the bottom of the "drive-thru" mystery, I took a serious detour, and hit up CBE at 630 am a recent morning. and indeed all the "signs" were in full display. It does say Open 24 Hours, looks like the Drive-thru is from 9pm to 6am, which would have been right in the ballpark. So I ordered a Banh Mi Trung ($2.59), and asked the young lady about the drive-thru. I had a bit of a problem understanding, but I believe the gist of it was, the store closes at 9pm, with only drive-thru service from 9-midnight Sunday-Thursday, and 9pm thru 6am Fridays and Saturdays.....I think. Maybe someone else will have more info.

  As for the Banh Mi, the bread was better on this occasion than my previous visits. Warm, decently crusty, with some chew. The egg wasn't dredged in Maggi, which is what I've gotten at a few places. It was not bad....of course it could have just been that I love Banh Mi Trung...especially when I'm starving.

Sure beats one of those egg mc-something's any day of the week.

Cali Baguette Express
5215 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego CA 92115

A Sammy Surprise:

I haven't been to Sammy's in a while, but on my last visit, not being too hungry, I just had a few pieces of Nigiri.

No big deal, right? Except for one thing; knowing that I don't really use the usual rehydrated-dry-wasabi-powder-that-is-Coleman's-mustard-in-disguise, Sam told me to try what he placed on my plate. It was real wasabi.....actually wasabi paste, probably from Pacific Farms. It's still not as good as fresh ground wasabi...but it's much better than the "other stuff". I'm not sure if Sam was just trying it out, or if he's going to carry it from now on.......so it'll be interesting to see.

Sieu Sieu BBQ Reopens:

I dropped by Barbecue's Galore, and noticed that Sieu Sieu BBQ had opened in the  former Maui Maui Hawaiian BBQ location on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. I'm not quite sure if this is something to be very happy about. When we first moved to San Diego, we visited Sieu Sieu at it's old location on Linda Vista Road a few times.....and had some of the worst Chinese BBQ I've ever experienced.

Dry roast pork and Char Siu, and some of the most bland Roast Duck I've ever had. But as I was walking past the place, I noticed how busy they were.....full of Chinese! It could be that they were all just checking things out. But maybe we should be too!

Sieu Sieu BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

I hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Comments

[Dennis]

If Cali Baguette Express would only accept credit cards.. I would often find myself driving past knowing I didn't have cash on me (which is maybe most of El Cajon Blvd eateries). But being open until 9pm is still impressive for a Banh Mi place I guess. :)

[Fred]

I shall try Sieu Sieu at my next opportunity!

[kat]

I wonder how much Sam paid for the wasabi? In Hawaii I heard it was $79 a pound. In Japan, it is 780 yen a piece (about US$7.80)....

[Jaden, Steamy Kitchen]

can't wait for banh mi drive thrus to get popular! i choose that over hamburgers any day.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Good info - but a lot of teasing in this post, Kirk. How good will the new plate lunch place be? What are the drive-thru hours? Is Sammy really using real wasabi as a regular thing? What about the Chinese BBQ? This is almost as bad as the old Saturday serials at the movies when I was a kid (yeh, I'm that old).

And why does Yuma have a drive thru vegan restaurant and still no pho or banh mi? Life ain't fair!

[Passionate Eater]

I was fooled for a moment--when I read the post title, I thought you were going to talk about Sammy, one of my favorite boyz! Wow, I can't wait for a pho drive thru next!

[nhbilly]

You were definitely busy eating ;-) I actually had fresh wasabi for the first time ever at Nikko in Costa Mesa. I was very refreshing and very different than paste wasabi for sure.

[Kirk]

Hi Dennis - It is usually better to have cash at most of those places. I can't wait until I can figure out exactly what is up with the hours and drive-thru.

Hi Fred - It looks promising! Let me know what you find!

Hi Kat - I think the wasabi paste costs about $25 for a bag. Wasabi at the Japanese Markets can cost up to $129/lb here.

Hi Jaden - Yes, I agree 100%.....drive-thru Banh Mi...it's almost a dream!

Hi Ed - Serials...isn't that what you eat for breakfast??!!? ;o) Well, I've got to do something to keep you coming back, right?

Hi PE - LOL! The only suprises that Sammy has for us nowadays....well let's not go there right now! ;o)

Hi Billy - Yes, I guess I was......watch out, fresh wasabi will spoil you!

[cheesecheese]

Nice "stuff" list. Just to add another stuff to your radar, I was biking on Miramar Rd today in Mira Mesa, and I saw a large sign saying something like Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant to open soon. This was just east of Carroll Road.

[Kirk]

Hi Chi - Thanks for keeping your eyes peeled for me!

[janfrederick]

Oh wow, my first plate lunch place changed/closed. Curse of L&L I tell yah! And what's this about REAL wasabi? I thought real wasabi was the powdered stuff. Now I'm intrigued.

[Kirk]

Hi Jan - Real wasabi is avutally from a root from the same family as Horseradish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasabi

It is very different from most of the rehydrated powdered stuff(there is "real" powdered wasabi) that most sushi bars use, which is a combination of horseradish, mustard seed, and green food coloring.

[Fred]

Regarding a Plate Lunch Week, perhaps in lieu of that you could do a Plate Lunch Battle similar to the Battle of the Bertos. That would get them out of the way all at once.

[Kirk]

Hi Fred - Thanks for the suggestion....I think I'll just do one here and there......if I did one of those "battle" ones it'll be so darn long....and I would have to make sure to get the same thing everywhere...

[Sandy]

I wonder if Da Kine's is concentrating more on catering? I haven't been to the Liberty Station restaurant, but maybe I'd better hurry at the rate they're closing!

Speaking of Da Kine, has anyone tried the Indian restaurant that replaced the one in Mira Mesa?

[Kirk]

Hi Sandy - Could be...maybe Nelson is just a bit tired. As for Annapurna; FOY Liver sent me an email saying the food was pretty good. I need to check it out when I have a chance.

[Lloyd]

TIRED?? Are you kidding me? The same thing that happened to the PB restaurant is exactly what happened to the National City Da Kines! Read my last post! You want the truth? Try doing business with him or even loaning him money while you listen to his "sad" stories of how HE got screwed! Ask anyone that has!