Revisits - Pho Duyen Mai and Tiger! Tiger!

A couple of revisits for a Monday.

Pho Duyen Mai:

**** Pho Duyen Mai is under new ownership 

In the comments on my last post Pho Hut & Grill, "Alan from Clairemont" mentioned that Pho Duyen Mai had gone downhill. Which was sad news for me; since when our office was in the area, was a fairly regular stop. So, this past weekend, with temps finally getting to normal for this time of the year, I decided to drop by while running errands. Pho Duyen Mai opens at 9am....which is not bad.

I got there right at 9 had a seat and was given a menu.....it was just too early in the morning for me to go with dem' bones; so I just took the easy way out and ordered the Dac Biet. Which arrived within minutes.

I quickly noticed that the basil was starting to brown; not a good sign of quality control. Though unlike Alan's visits, there was a whole half lime on the plate.....a darn good thing, as the broth was even more overly sweet and salty than I recalled. I needed a good amount of lime to attempt to balance the broth, which was even more defatted then I remembered.

On the good side, the rare steak was still nicely rare when the bowl hit the table, the tendon was adequately tender, the other cuts were ho-hum, the flank like cardboard and tripe was MIA.

The noodles, while in a clump wasn't over-cooked and still had a nice stretch to them.

So, the verdict? The broth at Duyen Mai has gotten much more salty and "sweeter", while losing what little richness there was. Not a complete fail, but it seems like the place has slipped a bit. Not a good sign in the vast pho wasteland that Clairemont/Kearny Mesa has become.

Pho Duyen Mai
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Tiger! Tiger!:

**** Tiger! Tiger! has closed

Hard to believe it's been over six months since we were last at Tiger! Tiger! Our visit was just a last minute decision....we just couldn't figure out where we wanted to go.

Not much to say; we ordered the usual, the Bratwurst, which I've posted on a couple of times.

And of course got the 1/2 order of the Charcuterie Board. The Missus loved the chicken and pork liver mousse.

It almost always delivered; except the bread was too hard and chewy this time around. Still, that smokey, porky, terrine was wonderful.

And of course, we always think of Sammy, when we're sitting outside. We miss you!

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104 

Comments

[Derek R]

Did you see that Pho T Cali off Convoy is closed for renovation/a change of ownership. Looks like a modern Vietnamese/pho concept place by the folks who own Phuong Tran. "PT Eatery."

[Derek R]

And as someone who has spent the majority of their life in SD (98%) - I really miss the consistently good pho in Denver. I have no idea how SD can get it so wrong so often =/

[kat]

bad pho :(

[Kirk]

Hi Derek - Yes, I saw that when driving by; didn't have time to stop though....I'll do that shortly. Thanks for the heads-up. As for the state of pho in San Diego??? Not so good these days.....

More like "sad pho" Kat! Not up to par.....

[Junichi]

I wonder if it's just bad chefs or catering towards local tastes.

[Kirk]

I think it's catering to local taste Junichi because a majority of pho shops make their pho this way nowadays.

[Faye]

I have been itching to try dem bones at Pho Duyen Mai since reading about it in that post! Were they still on the menu? Do you think they use the broth from night before (for early customers the next morning). I was wondering if that was what accounted for the extra salt/sweet taste of it.

[Kirk]

Hi Faye - They still have the rib bones available as a side order; look for it posted on the cashier counter. I know many Pho recipes has rock sugar or something similar as an ingredient. Unfortunately, I think most places use regular white sugar, which combined with MSG and charred onions/shallots can make things really sweet