Since it's still fairly cool out; here are a couple of places I haven't been to in a while.
Man, has it been three years since I last visited? I'd actually kinda forgotten about this place. I noticed that they were tearing up the parking lot and saw Pho Fusion open. I had thought the pho wasn't too bad; at least for "pho not to offend" on my last visit, so I decided to drop by and have a bowl.
The place was empty during my visit; probably the combination of all the construction and the time of day of my visit. Late afternoon on a weekend.
I started with the Popcorn Chicken which I thought wasn't too bad on my last visit.
And it still wasn't bad at all. Crunchy, well seasoned dark meat chicken. I believe the popcorn chicken here is better than, well the now closed Popcorn Chicken down the street.
As for the pho; well, I got #14; brisket, flank, marbled flank, tendon, and tripe. I was provided with one sprig of basil and a ration of bean sprouts. In all honesty, I didn't expect much more. At least it was fresh. The clump of noodles were decent, not over-cooked. The broth on this visit was way too salty, and sigh; like much of the pho in San Diego these days on the sweet side. Not a hint of beefiness nor anise. The proteins were fine, the tiny sprig of tripe had a soapiness to it; the brisket was tender but flavorless, the tendon was decent, not overly chewy, but not soft and buttery either.
Like I said; "pho not to offend". Still, I'd take this over what I last had at a couple of other places in Kearny Mesa.
Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
Pho Hoa Huong:
So, the next morning I went on some errands and passed by Pho Hoa Huong at around 730am and the open sign was lit. My understanding is that they open at 8....but no, the place was open. So, since I hadn't been here in a while and, it had been even longer since I'd had pho here, I thought "why not"?
Strange, PHH used to be known as one of those "old school", perfunctory, menu slapped on the table, guy hovering over you for your order kinda place (remember - the "Fastest Pho in the West"?)....in fact the woman working was very nice told me to sit wherever I wanted and brought over a men and laid it on the table. On my last visit, I noticed what I thought was a "a softer, kinder Pho Hoa".
The place still looks quite "old school". I went with good ol' #4, which now cost $8.10 for a regular sized bowl.
Damn, when was the last time I actually had such a generous plate of basil, sprouts, and ngo gai? Well, at the other "old school" pho shop; Pho Hoa.
I'm not sure if I'm turning soft in my old age; but this was a decent bowl. The broth looked much too light, but it wasn't too salty, nor too sweet, had a mild beefiness, anise tones, and a mild hint of onion.
The noodles were prepped well, not too chewy, not mushy.
I wasn't a big fan of the flank which was too hard, but the tendon was decently tender and the tripe was nice and crunchy without any off flavors.
The woman who was my Server was very nice and smiled; the Gentleman manning the register asked me how I enjoyed my meal. Man, this sure ain't the Pho Hoa Huong I remembered. If this is the way things are now; well...all hail the old school pho shop!
And, I still got out in less than thirty minutes!
Pho Hoa-Huong Restaurant
6921 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111
Pho Hoa-Huong! I once timed them with a stopwatch and they clocked in at 90 seconds from order to food hitting the table. My coworker was very amused.
I haven't had pho that fast or old school in Seattle; the places in my lunch range are very kinder and gentler and slower and expensive.
Example 1: https://www.yelp.com/biz/i5-pho-seattle-seattle-2 (I don't know how they justify these prices for that food)
Example 2: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wicked-chopstix-seattle-3 (this one is popular with MrsZ and YoungerZ)
Posted by: MrZ | Monday, 13 May 2019 at 09:18 PM
that was a nice amount of basil!
Posted by: kat | Tuesday, 14 May 2019 at 01:14 AM
Looks like "pho not to offend" Mr Z! Nice to hear from you; hope all is well.
It was Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 14 May 2019 at 07:12 AM
Pho Hoa LV is still my favorite bowl in that area. My go-to hangover or cold cure.
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 14 May 2019 at 09:21 AM
They sure delivered for me this time around Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 14 May 2019 at 09:55 AM