Revisits - Cali Baguette and A Chau

Man, talk about see-sawing weather....one week it seems like it's finally fall; the next week we got days in the 80's...... During one of my trip to get the the Missus's current favorite bun rieu I was, well, a bit hungry. Just for something to keep me until a late lunch or early dinner. For some reason I just wanted a Banh Mi Pate Cha....and good lord, it had been a while since I'd had a "real" banh mi; not one of those fusiony versions, that always seem to miss the mark for me. And since I was there on 54th and University, I thought I'd check out.....

Cali Baguette Express:

Man, it has been years since I'd been here. Once upon a time Cali Baguette had quite an empire with locations on Convoy; which is now Cali Banh Mi. Not quite sure what the story is; but it's definitely not the same; especially the bread. In fact, my last trip to Cali Baguette Express in Mira Mesa was not quite up to par either.

But here I was, craving a banh mi pate cha....so.....

Good thing I wasn't craving some noodle soup here; since they were out of a lot of stuff. Supply chain issues and all that I guess.

And as a sign of the times; what was once a $3 sandwich is now $5....which is still not a bad price considering. 

Arriving home, I went ahead and unwrapped the banh mi....

A couple of things struck me right away; first the cutting was kinda off center....good thing I wasn't sharing this as a snack with anyone. Second, the bread was soft and doughy; lacking in crusty-flakiness, a hallmark of good banh mi in my opinion. Decent amount of cha lua, though hardly any musty-offaly pate......too many cilantro stems, not enough leaves. Still, that huge slice of jalapeno did get me pretty good.

I just wish the bread was better.......

Quite sad, because I remember this place being much better.

Cali Baguette Express
5125 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Mon - Sat 6am - 8pm
Sunday 6am - 7pm

This banh mi had me wondering how some of the "old school banh mi shops were doing in San Diego. And so, the following weekend day, I headed off to....

A-Chau:

Which was the first Banh Mi shop I posted on back in 2005. Over the years, I think A Chau has slipped a bit. The service has always been perfunctory; but on recent visits; the bread has been stale.....though I gotta say at a bit past 7am....I had the entire horrific parking lot to myself.

The place is looking a bit worse for wear; but not much else has changed....except the price; the Banh Mi Pate Cha is now $5.50.....it was $3.95 on my last visit; but that was three years ago.

A lot of businesses in this strip mall has closed as well.

 This was a bit better than what I'd had  on my last visit. The bread wasn't stale; though it could have been toasted a bit more. There was quite a bit of cha lua and perhaps too much mayo in this, which just nullified the scant amount of pate. Again; when it comes to banh mi, it's all about proportion to me. Also, not enough cilantro and jalapenos were MIA. Not quite sure if it's because of supply issues....but I did miss that.

Not bad and definitely better than what I'd had previously.....and, I decided to try the cha gio....which, perhaps because it was early in the day was still hot.

These are now $1 a piece! The rice paper wrapper is still a bit more chewy then I recall; but it's still much better than many other places. And it's pretty much stuffed to the gills with pork.

A Chau Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Daily 7am - 530pm

These two visits has got me wondering how the other places I frequent in City Heights is doing. I guess it's time to start making the rounds!

Comments

[kat]

too bad about the bread…hope the others you try will be better

[Elle]

A Chau will always have the best cha gio! I guess that corner shop never did recover from the fire..

If you're in the area again, hope you can have an update on Paris Bakery and/or Nha Hang Quoc Te (also terrible parking lol).

[Kirk]

I hope so too Kat!

Quoc Te Elle! My goodness; it's been forever since I've been there. Paris bakery looked quite busy when I drove by on the day of my visit to A Chau.

[Loren]

Jeez feels like if you want a good Banh mi you just better keep driving north on to Orange County - little hard for a quick lunch.

[Kirk]

I gotta "make my rounds" and see what's gonig on Loren....I'm hopnig we can still get good banh mi here.

[Sandy]

I like the bread at Cali Baguette Express because it's not too much bread. I'm ok with the bread not being crusty, but the fillings are rather skimpy. I guess the price of everything has gone up!

[Soo]

That's good they didn't sell you stale bread.

[Kirk]

Prices sure have risen Sandy!

I was happy about that for sure Soo!