There wasn't too much we missed in the way of food while in China. We did miss Ba Ren, which I'll explain in a later post, but as a whole, there was nothing we really craved until back on Oahu..... which is about when we started mentioning Sab E Lee (now called The Original Sab E Lee), and Sab E Lee 2 (aka just plain Sab E Lee, or Sab E Lee Santee).
The Original Sab E Lee:
Unfortunately, for folks looking for some really great new stuff..... we've been here so many times that we tend to stick with our favorites. One of mine, is the Spicy Raw Beef Salad, aka Koi Soi or Koi Nua. Since Kobe sold the place off, some of the newer folks will ask me how spicy I want things, which is usually an '8' or '9' on the heat scale. One strange thing, not eating here in 6 weeks or so must've thrown off my tolerance. Man did this get me sweating.....
The Missus's favorite is the Salted Fish Fried Rice.
I was once asked by someone to describe the smell of the salted preserved fish...... the only thing that came to mind was having the person imagine what "fish cheese" would smell like. A briney, pungent, savory scent, which really gets our (maybe not you) stomach rumbling. Along with the scent of wok'd rice, it may not be appropriate for work, but it sure tastes darn good, if perhaps on the salty side.
Ok, I said mostly photos......
The Grilled Duck Larb:
The Bamboo Shoot Salad:
The Issan Sausage:
All of which I've covered in many posts from back in August of 2008 until now. You can find all the links on our "rotation" page.
Here's something that I haven't posted on before; the Beef Tendon Soup.
This is one of those cases where citrus enhances the heat, pegging it up a few notches. The soup is chocked full of tendon and meat cuts, with some tripe and other offal thrown in for good measure. I'd recommending sharing this with a few people as it can get rather tedious eating the whole darn bowl yourself. A small bowl or two is just perfect.
The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111
Sab E Lee 2:
I gotta say, even though we don't get 'round these parts very often, Kobe always treats us like friends. Many of the dishes are closer to Bangkok style Thai, but the Issan dishes still pack enough of a punch.
So here are the photos, starting with the Plaa Shrimp, a quickly seared shrimp salad, with a familiar, bracing, yet refreshing fish sauce based dressing. Just as good as the first time we had it.
Here's the Spicy Raw Beef salad for comparison.
Even at a '9' level, not nearly as spicy as the Linda Vista location. Much more roasted rice powder is used, adding a nice level of nuttiness. I believe this dish has gotten better over time. So which do I enjoy more.... it like asking me to pick my favorite "mutt".... Sammy or Frankie.... I love them both, but differently.
Speaking of better over time..... on this visit, the Garlic Rice was positively addicting.
The Thai Basil is more finely chopped, which means the flavor is spread throughout the rice. More pepper is used, and even more garlic......
Sab E Lee has consolidated the Pinecone Fish (seen here) and the Three Flavor Fish (seen here), into one dish featuring both sauces on the side, which I think was an excellent decision.
Light and crunchy panko crusted exterior, gives way to moist and tender white meat. It has been perfectly fried every time we've had this style of fish at SEL. This was the dish the Missus was missing. We really need to get out here more often!
Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071
Our previous posts on SEL2 can be found here and here. And some chicken here.
hi kirk - i'm so glad the SEL2 combined the 3 flavor fish w/pinecone fish. loved both dishes but now the sauces will be together. yay! at SEL original loc, i love the #48- the issan sausage. funny, i was just here recently with my gbf and we had that plus the bamboo shoot salad. he didn't really like the salted fish powder on it. their 3 was also very hot!!!!
Posted by: caninecologne | Thursday, 08 July 2010 at 09:23 PM
Hi CC - Most folks either love, or hate that bamboo shoot salad.... The food at the LV location is about 30% spicer than Santee, at least to me.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 08 July 2010 at 09:44 PM
I'm jonesing for a SEL visit tonight. Do you prefer the original or 2nd location more?
Posted by: Liz | Friday, 09 July 2010 at 09:09 AM
Hi Liz - I prefer the LV location for more the various larb, and spicer dishes. I like SEL2 for more refined, and Bangkok style dishes. The Missus prefers SEL2. I hope that helps!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 09 July 2010 at 10:14 AM
hi kirk - i'm kind of in the middle with the bamboo shoot salad. i don't hate it, but it's not my most fave thing either. i just got it to have variety with my friend. plus, i like the stringy cut of the bamboo shoots. i kind of want to go to SEL2 just to have that fish now!
Posted by: caninecologne | Friday, 09 July 2010 at 06:55 PM
Hi Kirk I've been thinking for a while now that I need to revisit SBL-2 soon. Thanks for the reminder!
Posted by: Dennis | Friday, 09 July 2010 at 08:58 PM
Hi Kirk,
Thanks for the reboot on SEL. I've been wanting to go back there. This week for sure.
The vacation pictures are terrific
Posted by: stephen | Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 01:15 AM
Hi CC - The Missus said the same thing about getting that fish after seeing the photo!
Hi Dennis - I need to get back there again soon too!
Hi Stephen - I'm glad you enjoy the vacation photos.... there are a ton more to come.
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 11:09 AM
glad you were able to get your sab e lee fix :)
Posted by: kat | Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 11:23 AM
dang, everything looks great!
have you been to jitlada in LA? i know the foodbloggers are gaga over it, but frankly, i don't trust their taste like i trust yours, mainly because they don't seem to be able to convey how the food tastes--just tons of superlatives and non-specific adjectives.
Posted by: santos. | Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 10:11 PM
Hi Kat - SEL was what we wanted when we got back.
Hi Santos - We went to Jitlada years ago, and weren't impressed. But that was before the all the "special menu" and "off menu" items.... There are folks who tell me that the food there is very special....
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, 10 July 2010 at 10:50 PM
"special" makes me think of my dog who is a couple sandwiches short of a picnic (but quite loveable :)). i was looking at photos of the food and to me it doesn't look as good or as fresh as the delicious dishes posted here. i'm wondering if it is something like royal cuisine or stuff usually reserved for special celebrations. which is fine every once in awhile, but give me the black egg pow at yai any day!
Posted by: santos. | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 01:56 AM
Hi Santos - I think many of the dishes are "Southern Thai" which is a lot richer and heavy, probably due to the Muslim influences, as well as a lot of Seafood. Issan-style uses much mroe vegetables, and is less oconut ilk and curry oriented. Now you've got me thinking about Black Egg Pow again....
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 07:58 AM
The panang curry at the original Sab-E-Lee is the best panang curry I have ever eaten.
Posted by: Ree Miller | Thursday, 30 June 2011 at 03:24 PM
Hi Ree - I'm glad you enjoy it. It also says something about the state of Thai food in SD. The folks at SEL aren't really from the region that specializes in Panang Curry.... it's really not even one of their top dishes.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 01 July 2011 at 09:18 AM