My apologies regarding the "pause" between posts. The Missus and I went on a short road trip and when we returned......well, work has been crazy. You can figure out why, right? Anyway, we're dialing back "dining in".....so....
After all our meals from Sovereign Thai, the Missus has been wanting Thai food.....the recent hot spell has also figured into the equation. I had been trying to get the Missus to try the food from Soi 30th for a while. And after doing three round of takeout from Soi 30th; with the focus on the pork belly dishes, which I think they do well......the Missus has another "go-to" for takeout.
One thing the pandemic has done was to really bring online ordering to the forefront and Soi 30th is no exception. Ordering has been quick and easy and my order has been ready to go all three times I've utilized it.
Here's a roundup of dishes......
My favorite, by far is the Larb Moo Krob, pork belly larb ($13).
The fried pork belly is never greasy here, it's crisp, with a bit of toothsomeness to it. There a decent amount of rice powder and the nice zip of lime......I order this spicy, though it's never overly spicy.....no, it's not Issan cuisine. It's a nice rendition of larb and a favorite of ours....after all, it's fried pork belly...nice and swiney. This is both filling and refreshing.
Speaking of Pork Belly, the Missus enjoys two of the very "Chinese-like" vegetable dishes with pork belly.
I think the Chinese Broccoli (gai lan) with Pork Belly ($14) is one of the best items on the menu here.
Nicely fried pork belly, the gai lan is crisp, there's hint of garlic, and of course the Missus loves that fried egg.
We also order the Morning Glory (ong choi) with....well...pork belly ($14).
The Missus really enjoys this....there's a light amount of soy, the ong choi is crisp and not overcooked....with that grassy-pleasant chlorophyllic flavor coming thru. Even ordered "spicy" the heat is quite mild. And of course there's the fried egg and crisp pork belly.
On all our takeout orders, the rice has been nice and fragrant as well.
The other two dishes we tried during our takeout visits didn't are quite as well.
The Chicken with Holy Basil ($12) usually a favorite of the Missus......well, the minced chicken was on the dry and chewy side.
And while there was an adequate amount of basil; we felt this was quite bland overall. We ordered this during our first go-round at medium spice and it was really too mild. The Missus did enjoy the fried egg though.
The Missus is fond of a good Papaya Salad so we ordered the SomTom E-san ($8).....which, for being an Issan style dish was really mild in terms of heat.
Too much lime threw the balance of the dish off; one piece of quite bland salted crab, and while the shredded papaya was nice and crisp, there just wasn't enough strong savory flavors to this dish.
So there you go. I finally got the Missus to try Soi 30th and we got a couple of "keepers". I'm sure our choices will change along with the seasons. The Missus is happy to have yet another "option". Ordering and pick-up was a breeze. Finding parking was the most difficult part.
Soi 30th
3442 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 3pm, 430pm - 9pm
Sat - Sun 12pm - 9pm
glad you found some keepers:)
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 29 July 2021 at 10:47 PM
Been a while since I've been over to Soi. Pork belly larb has been my usual choice but the gai lan and ong choi dishes in this post look great, so I'm going to have to check those out too.
Posted by: Derric | Friday, 30 July 2021 at 07:27 AM
Those pork belly dishes were quite good Kat!
They do a nice job with the pork belly here Derric! It's been a while, so it's nice to hear from you. Hope all is well!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 30 July 2021 at 07:39 AM
I larb this post!!! Sorry, awful. Carry on.
Posted by: RedDevil | Saturday, 31 July 2021 at 07:53 PM
That's good they have delicious pork belly.
Posted by: Soo | Sunday, 01 August 2021 at 01:21 PM
Very "punny" RD! Good one!
It's very good Soo....very good!
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 01 August 2021 at 03:26 PM
Pork belly for the win! I haven't been back since they opened...May be time for a revisit.
Posted by: caninecologne | Monday, 02 August 2021 at 09:34 PM
They do a good job with Pork Belly here CC! Solid online ordering process as well.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 03 August 2021 at 07:36 AM
This is just two blocks from my house! I agree about the pork belly, and I really love their noodle soups. Stop by and say hi next time you’re in the neighborhood!
Posted by: Jenne | Saturday, 07 August 2021 at 12:13 PM
I will Jenne - hope all is well!
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 08 August 2021 at 03:56 PM