Revisits: Bun Mam from Thuan Kieu and Sab E Lee 2

Com Tam Thuan Kieu (San Diego):

The dry cleaner lady told me that Thuan Kieu had changed the recipe of the Bun Mam here, probably my favorite dish at this restaurant. It made me a bit worried as I actually enjoy it....but she did say it was even better now and the cooking was more polished. So I just had to see for myself.

It's still priced well at $7.50. The portion size is fairly large.........

First thing I noticed was that this wasn't quite as funky and the previous version. It also was a tad sweeter and more tangy. The flavor is still a "umami bomb". I think they've cut back on the fermented shrimp sauce and added a bit more tomato. It was also a bit more spicy than I recalled....or perhaps my tolerance is bottoming out?

I didn't like the way they prepared the bun, it was "water-logged", H2O still dripping off the noodles which were also over-cooked.

There were two thinner cross slices of fish, rather than one. And a whole lot more pork belly that I recalled. The eggplant was very tender, almost buttery. This was also a bit of a change since it was usually a bit undercooked.

And I guess that whole funkiness issue is relative as well. For the two women who stopped and sniffed the air and the one kid who actually whiffed his armpits when I walked past you at Nijiya after my meal. It was just me....'ol Mam Tom breath..........

Com Tam Thuan Kieu
4712 El Cajon Blvd Ste A
San Diego, CA 92115

Sab E Lee 2:

Man, I think it's been almost two years since I've eaten here. The Missus has gone with Her friends, but I've just been too darn lazy.....terrible excuse, I know. The weather this past weekend just seemed right for Thai and the Missus was craving the Signature Fish.

Nice to see that not much has changed.

The Signature Fish was nice and crisp.....

Though it was smaller than I remember for $15.95 and a tad overcooked. Still, the Missus wasn't complaining.

The Shrimp Plaa was nice and refreshing. Though thinking my heat tolerance had gone down a bit I only ordered a '7' which was too mild. I'll bump it up next time.

Of course, we had garlic rice as well.

Overall, this was a nice light meal....well, perhaps my breath wasn't that great after chowing down that rice.....hey, I guess there is a tie in between these two meals, huh? Not that I'm especially proud of noticing it.......

Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071

 

Comments

[TFD]

You are brave. I wouldn't dare eat mam nem or any thing with mam unless it's dinner at home. Hahaha. The bun mam definitely beat garlic rice.

[kat]

at least sab e lee2 prevailed :)

[Kirk]

Hi TFD - LOL! I'm not sure if it's bravery....or stupidity.....

Hi Kat - Yes, in the end it did.

[Carol]

It's been about a year since I've been to Sab-E-Lee 2. We love the food but I, too, get lazy about going. Glad to see the food is still good there.

[Faye]

Hi Kirk - how come you don't go to the Original Sab E lee in Linda Vista anymore (I don't remember if you told me). Is the menu at Sab E Lee2 worth a drive out to Santee? All your pics of the food there seem like it is!

[ed (from Yuma)]

That bun mam really looks good. So what does mam mean??

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Not quite as good as it was, but it's still good.

Hi Faye - We still go to SEL, but mostly for take-out. In fact I posted a photo here recently:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2012/04/revisits-spicy-house-latin-chef-and-2-others-you-might-know.html

Hi Ed - I believe something along the lines of preserved/fermented sauce, but I'm thinking it depends because Vietnamese is a six tone language.