A couple of early weekend meals since returning from vacation.
Mien Trung:
MT was actually my first meal after returning from our trip. Our flight arrived quite late; the Missus had to work the next morning, the weather had cooled and I was craving some Bun Bo Hue from Mien Trung.
The fellow....we've been coming here so long, I remembered when I used to refer to him as the "young man", made me feel quite guilt when he said: "it's nice to see you....you only come by once a year these days...."
Anyway, I got the #1; the regular sized bowl.
Scalding, spicy broth, bright lemongrass flavors, a slight funkiness from the shrimp paste; slippery noodles with a nice "pull" to them. I do wish they'd start adding banana blossom back to the veggies; though it was fresh and plentiful. The thinker sliced meat was flavorful and toothsome; I did wish the pork hock had a bit more meat and connective tissue and perhaps the tendon was a bit more tender. But this did hit the spot.
As usual, I wore dark clothing to hide the red dots on my clothes from slurping those noodles. And without fail; I always think about our good friend; Ed from Yuma, who would without fail always wear some light colored shirt when we ate here. He's always leave, smiling, happy, and with a nice little scattering of random red dots from the broth on his shirt. We miss you Ed!
This was a nice bowl on a chilly, damp day.
Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111
Café Dore:
**** Cafe Dore has closed
Ah yes, one place that's still "old school"; Cafe Dore. Man, remember those days when they had the "video game" machines in the back? Except there were older Vietnamese Gentleman "playing" on those "video machines".....hmmm.... Well, those days are long gone. I recall when the older men used to smoke in the place. On one visit, somebody came to "inspect" and pointed at the "No Smoking" signs posted.....and the guys all looked confused and acted like they didn't understand....and since the signs were posted in English....well, maybe that hasn't changed as two guys were smoking in the place when I arrived. Though I did notice when folks start coming in; the smokers will head outside.
And neither has the about 12:1 ratio of men to women customers in the place. Most women just come in to do take-out orders.....though perhaps this is because I usually visit rather early in the morning? Perhaps most of the old-timers finish up and leave by lunch?
One thing that hasn't changed is the 7am opening and with the Missus having to work early on a weekend morning and waking me up.....well, I was hungry and wanted some noodle soup. Also, my Dry Cleaning Lady, had mentioned that Café Dore had started serving Mi Quang, so I wanted to check it out.
I arrived, sat at a table and was given a menu....right on the top was "Mi Quang Dore".....I guess their version of Mi Quang.
The broth wasn't bad; it had a nice tongue feel, though it was on the "sweeter" side. I made good use of the nuoc mam to bump up the flavor.
I really enjoyed the veggies....finally, some banana blossom! It was fresh through and through. Though the cracker was on the stale side.
Unfortunately, the noodles were on the overcooked side and there were quite a few smaller pieces of noodle floating around.
The selection of "proteins" was interesting; there was a good amount of chewy pork intestine, which was kind of bland....quail eggs; obviously canned. I didn't have high hopes for the two large shrimp; but it was cooked perfectly, very moist, and slightly sweet.
I quickly noticed that no one else was eating in the place and all eyes were focused on something.
That something was the Lottery Drawing on the screen.
As soon as that was over; half the guys in the place either left or went outside to have a smoke.
I finished up my tea, went to the register and paid for my Mi Quang.
While it wasn't bad; I don't think I'll be having this again. I'll probably go back to my old ways.
For me; Café Dore is an interesting slice of life, something totally different from hipster-rich San Diego. It just seems real and totally reminds me of Vietnam, be it ever so humble. Though without those little plastic "kiddie chairs"!
Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
one out of two not bad...
Posted by: kat | Monday, 03 December 2018 at 09:15 PM
That's a no for me on the mi quang. Everything except the shrimps was just wrong. That's too bad.
Posted by: TFD | Monday, 03 December 2018 at 09:53 PM
Seeing you to go Cafe Dore makes me crave their pork belly and a yolky egg...
Posted by: Derek R | Monday, 03 December 2018 at 11:48 PM
Mien Trung came throguh nicely Kat!
Yeah, that was kind of a bummer TFD.
The Banh Mi Ba Chi and Op La! Good stuff Derek!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 04 December 2018 at 07:00 AM
Just went to MT on Sunday for lunch. The place was packed! The BBH was spicy!
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 04 December 2018 at 09:39 AM
Perfect for this weather Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 04 December 2018 at 10:14 AM