Noodle soup when it's 88 with 80% humidity? Yeah, I guess so. At least that's what I had this past weekend.
Da Nang Food to Go:
**** Da Nang Food to Go has closed
My first choice was for some Beef Sate Noodle from Minh Ky, which was standing room only....at like 9 in the morning. My second choice was for some Bum Mam from Nhu Y, but all those guys having coffee and the parking lot was full. It had been a while since I last visited Da Nang and the parking lot was empty....
As was the dining room.....
I really wasn't sure what to order....but then I recalled that CC's post and the Mi Quang, which was still $5.95.
While not in the league of, say Huong Giang, this wasn't bad at all. Mi Quang isn't supposed to have a ton of soup, so this filled the bill. The broth was a little too light for my taste. There was a ton of turmeric colored noodles. The shrimp, which looked kind of dubious at first was nicely cooked, still moist, the pork had good flavor, though it was on the tough side. I wish there were more "herbs"
Hard to complain for $5.95 though.
Da Nang Food to Go (aka Quan an Da Nang)
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Pho Sao Bien:
Sunday was a crazy day, wasn't it? Things looked bright and sunny early on; but by 3pm.....well, the clouds moved in as did the record rainfall. The temps stayed high....and it became a sweatbox at home.
It had been a while since I'd been to Pho Sao Bien so I decided to check them out again.
The place had been freshened up a bit over the years, but looked pretty much the same.
The guys working here have, for the lack of a better description, sort of a laid-back, stoic kind of thing going on.
In the early days PSB made some pretty good Cha Gio, but a few years later things seemed to have gone downhill. Not sure if the latter visit was just a fluke, I got the Cha Gio......
Let's call this set of photos the "Cha Gio go on a diet"?
2006:
2009:
2015:
Unevenly fried so that portions of the wrapper was hard and gummy, the rest of it just plain hard instead of crisp. The filling is now almost all filler. The nuoc mam cham watered down. How sad. I could only manage to try to eat two.
I hadn't had the pho here in almost 9 years, so it was time for a repeat, right?
In keeping with my previous pho encounter here; the garnishes were quite skimpy.
Lordy, lordy, where to start? How about the good news? The tendon, tripe, and flank were pretty darn good. No off tastes, the tendon gelatinous and tender.
The rest just wasn't to my taste. Other than being on the salty side; the broth was really, really, weak and bland. It was also cloudy and there seemed to be an abnormal amount of scum in it. The noodles were also over cooked and mushy. I tried all kinds of stuff to bump up the flavor. But nothing really helped. Finally, I did something I haven't done in 25 years........gasp....I added Sriracha and Hoisin..... I never thought I'd have to resort to this.
I've had a whole lot of pho in my time. I never thought I'd see the day......
To add insult to injury....it didn't help.
Pho Sao Bien Vietnamese Restaurant
1958 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
:(
Posted by: kat | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 01:55 AM
Hi Kat - That mi quang wasn't bad....but that pho...yeeesh
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 06:38 AM
Isn't it generally humid in Vietnam? :)
Posted by: janfrederick | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 07:41 AM
Yes Jan...but we're not in Vietnam. And it was never this bad when we were there.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 07:43 AM
88 80, come on that's awesome.
Posted by: nhbilly | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 09:49 AM
Actually Billy - That's awe....full! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 10:12 AM
Man you are a trooper. I made cold soba noodles to cool me down. Pho never crossed my mind!
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 12:04 PM
That's funny, anyone who reads this blog knows that sriracha and hoisin in pho is like heresy for Kirk. That must have been a really bad bowl of pho.
Posted by: Jason | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 04:38 PM
Zaru Soba sounds great Junichi....I'm not sure why I decided on pho.....and I paid for it.
Oh Jason......I felt so "dirty" afterwards....like I needed a shower or something.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 21 July 2015 at 05:04 PM
Gross if the pho had scum in it. Yuck.
I like the mi quang at Da Nang. The guy working there is super nice.
Posted by: caninecologne | Wednesday, 22 July 2015 at 03:19 PM
Hey CC - Yeah, the pho just wasn't very good....as for mi quang, it's probably the best in SD....though you should give the stuff in Little Saigon a try.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 22 July 2015 at 09:17 PM