Mom's Pho and Grill

As I've mentioned many times before, I always appreciate all the tips, notifications, and recommendations I receive from all of you! And I'll say it again, I don't think this blog would still exist if not for all the wonderful comments and emails I get. Way back in October of last year, FOY "Laurie" mentioned that that the old "ABCDE" (American-Born-Chinese-Dining-Establishment) in Tierrasanta Town Center had closed and was going to be replaced by a Vietnamese Restaurant. Laurie was good enough to keep me appraised on the situation in comments of various posts.

Recently, recovering from the crazy adjustment in weather from 85 degree (not the bakery) and humid Taiwan, to chilly 50 degree San Diego had me wanting some noodle soup. It was time to get back out there and get some pho. Now here's the crazy thing. Since the start of the pandemic, the number of times I actually had pho in a restaurant totals......three! Yes, the guy whose done 150+ posts on pho only had three bowls dining in over the course of the last three years. And one of them was in Montpellier, France!

So, it was time to get back on that pho train and since Laurie had told me that Mom's Pho and Grill had opened back in January, I decided that it would be a good place to have my first bowl of pho in over 6 months.

The restaurant opens at 9am; I got there at 930 and was the only customer in the place, which is spacious, clean, though a bit on the dark side in terms of lighting.

The woman working led me to a table and handed me a menu. I quickly noticed the standard accoutrements laid out on the table.

Not wanting to hem and haw over the menu; I just went with Deluxe Mom's Pho without looking at the price ($16.99). 

I was in for a bit of shock when the sprouts and basil hit the table.

Is this the standard post-pandemic plate these days? Good lord, perhaps there's bean sprout supply chain issue? While waiting for my bowl to arrive I counted the bean sprouts, all 16 of them. This was even more shocking since I had gotten us Bun Rieu from Phuong Nga the day before and this is what I unpacked at home for our two bowls.

Anyway, my bowl soon arrived with a nice-looking beef rib floating on top.

    The broth looked very light, yet cloudy, and had what I call the "San Diego sweet" pho broth flavor. At least it wasn't overly salty, but it also lacked beefiness.

The noodles were in the typical clump in the bottom of the bowl and was on the mushy side.

There was quite the variety of meat in this. It was supposed to have rare steak, but I couldn't find any. The beef that I thought could have been rare steak at one point in recent memory was dry and tough. The brisket and flank were dry and lacked flavor.

 There were two strips with nicely done tripe and some very thinly sliced tendon which also wasn't bad. And of course there was that beef rib. The meat on the rib was quite tough and as you can see trying to get it off the bone resulted in the meat peeling off in one large piece. It did have a decent flavor, but was quite chewy. It definitely wasn't like "Dem Bones from Duyen Mai".

As a whole, I think Laurie summed it up well when she said that it was pho ""not to offend" somewhat toned down".

Still, I wanted to try some other items from the menu and happened to find myself in the area again. This was going to be a takeout visit. I really didn't feel like trying any of the Com Tam, stir-fry, or bun dishes. And since it was, ahem, "Fry-day", I decided to order a couple of appetizers to go.

I went with the Cha Gio and decided to try out the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. Both items did well on the trip home.

The Cha Gio (3 for $5.99) was nicely wrapped and because of the layers more hard than crisp.

The filling was slightly porky in flavor and was highly prosessed so you really couldn't tell what was in there. The nuoc mam cham was overly sweet and needed more fish sauce.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings (8 - $11.99) were actually not bad.

More on the crunchy side, these were perhaps a bit over-fried as the flesh was on the dry side. It wasn't overly salty, and the wok'd garlic-chilies-scallions-onions gave it a nice zip. This won't make me forget any of our favorite versions of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, but it was decent.

The gentleman working here is quite nice and friendly; the woman working is quite reserved. Perhaps I'll return when I'm in the area to see how the place is doing.

Mom's Pho & Grill
10645 Tierrasanta Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92124
Current Hours:
Daily 9am - 830pm

And thanks to Laurie for letting me know about this place and getting me to pho-rage for pho again! 

Thanks Laurie!

Comments

[Laurie]

Ha! 16 bean sprouts made me laugh. I don't remember my plate being that stingy but like you I thought the pho was kind of plain. I will need to try the S&P wings next time. The other strong point for this restaurant is that there is plenty of parking available.
I'm sure you also noticed the change a couple doors down that Chiba II changed hands to Tappi(?) related to a La Mesa Sushi bar I think, we haven't tried them out yet.
Thanks again for all of your travel posts, I love to see other parts of the world, even if I can't go in person.

[Kirk]

Thanks again for letting me know what's going in the area Laurie, we really appreciate it! I'm glad you enjoy our travel posts!

[Junichi]

The founder was on Top Chef Vietnam so I had high hopes for this place. Too bad the pho was just so-so.

[Sandy]

Sometimes it's good not to have too many bean sprouts! I hate to waste them especially when some dining companions don't eat them.

[Kirk]

Yeah, too sweet and lacking in richness Junichi!

If there's anything I don't want (i.e. pork blood at most places - it's usually not fresh) I'll just let the folks know Sandy.

[dave]

I've been to Pho Hoa twice recently and they still give you a good amount of sprouts, basil, and things.

[Kirk]

That's good to know Dave, it's been while since I've been there.

[Soo]

That's good the wings aren't bad.

[kat]

hope they get better

[Kirk]

Yeah, the wings were not bad. Glad I try to make more than one visit before posting Soo.

I hope so too Kat!

[SD Julie]

Good to learn of a new place. Pho Cow Cali Express in Mira Mesa is still my fav. At least the pho ga has stayed reasonably priced, compared to other noodle places where it has almost doubled in price. And they offer a reasonable amount of bean sprouts. Lol

[Kirk]

Pho Lucky used to be my "go-to" until the new ownership took over Julie. I gotta find a new one, so I'll probably hit up PCC again since it's been a while.