Takeout Revisits - Chaba Thai and Ngon Ngon to Go

Just a couple of takeout revisits for a busy Monday.

Chaba Thai:

I thought we needed a break from our revisits to Sovereign. Been doing a lot of takeout from there and really aren't taking photos any longer. I was busy and wanted something on the way home from the office, with ample parking, and less seedy surroundings. I thought doing the usual takeout items from Chaba Thai might work out.

I ordered the same items as usual and went for shopping at 99 Ranch Market before returning to get my takeout. All was ready when I returned in 20 minutes and I headed home.

The Krapow Gai, the Missus's favorite dish from Chaba had a lot of minced chicken, in need of as bit more spice and was on the dry side. There was quite a bit of pidan hidden under all that chicken which made the Missus happy. The produce didn't seem a fresh as usual though.

Of course I got the Khao Kluk Kapi with Honey Pork.

    When all the planets align this is a good dish....of course no one wants to only have a dish be good once every 30 years, right? This was actually better than what I had on my last visit. The pork was nicely marinated and cooked, the meat moist and tender. The rice could have used a bit more shrimp paste, but was passable. I do enjoy the lime, onion, and some of the apple with this dish as it adds different dimensions of pungent, acidity, and tannic-sweetness to the bites of pork. This time the scrambled egg was placed on the side and the Missus poached that before I had a shot at it. In terms of portion size; I noticed that there was less pork than on previous visits.

I do wish there were more options with regard to decent Thai cuisine in the area.

Chaba Thai Kitchen
8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Ngon Ngon To Go:

Man, has Ngon Ngon been open for over a year already? I had done a couple of revisits for takeout, just getting the Bo Luc Lac. But on a recent visit, I decided to get something different. 

And just decided to get the Com Thit Nuong, the pork chop with rice, which was the cheapest item on the menu at $11. I placed my order and went to get some pastries for the crew in the office.

    My order was waiting when I returned. Overall, for eleven bucks this wasn't bad at all. The rice wasn't of the best quality, but was cooked decently. There was a standard green salad which was on the verge of heading south.

The pork chop was not bad; a bit on the more salty than sweet side, but quite flavorful overall. The texture, as anticipated, it was on the chewier side, but not dry. There were two pieces one laying on top of the other. 

The Nuoc Mam Cham wasn't quite as sweet as what I'd had here before which I enjoyed and really livened up the pork.

    This was not bad at all. A humble dish, decently flavored, and nicely priced for this day and age. Nice folks working here too! There was a steady flow of folks eating in and picking up takeout. I'm happy that business, at least to me seems to be doing well.

Ngon Ngon To Go
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Comments

[Cathy]

The 'warning' on the menu (that there are fresh Thai chiles in use and no returns due to spiciness) had us ordering only a 'one' or 'two' level and the food was very plain at Chaba. We do want to be able to taste the ingredients and have some 'background' heat...but even the tamarind sauce on the pork neck appetizer was pretty plain. We still need to get to NgonNgon.

[Soo]

Nice char on the pork chops.

[Kirk]

We always get things "spicy" at Chaba Cathy! They are quite inconsistent, but still better then the alternatives in the area...such is the sad state of Thai cuisine in the area.

Yes, definitely worth it with the current state of prices Soo.

[kat]

nice!

[Elle]

That's good that Ngon Ngon is busy. Though I felt the wait times after ordering were long. Have you heard about Minh Ky changing owners soon? I didn't know they also owned Dumpling Inn. And The Purple Mint (vegan Vietnamese) might be closing next month if they can't find a new location.

[Kha]

I like the Bun Cha Hanoi from Ngon Ngon too. The owners are super nice there. The time I had their cha ca was pretty good. I only had a bite of my friend's as I make cha ca at home.

[KIrk]

I thought the pork chop was not bad at all Kat!

I usually get to Ngon Ngon by 10am Elle, so I guess I've been lucky! I'm doing a post on that Minh Ky thing (and also Quoc Te).

I had the Bun Cha in my previous post Kha - I didn't think it was too bad; I preferred Nhu Y's version though it's been a while!

[JTA]

Kirk, I have really enjoyed reading your blog and reviews. We sent to TOSEL back in 2014 and had such an amazing meal there. We enjoyed the rare beef salad, boat noodles, pad woon sen, naked shrimp, and pad see ew. I was sad to see almost all the locations now closed, except for one that is very far north. So I have to ask since you are such great opinions on Thai in this city. Is it worth going to that location? Or can we get better Thai closer to downtown? Based on your reviews, we seem to have pretty similar palates for thai (spicy and sour) rather than sweet. Wok hei necessary. Would love to hear your recommendations for best Thai in San Diego with recommended dishes.

[Kirk]

Hi JTA - It's hard to say, Since I haven't been to the PQ location since 2013...I need to get back. That said, my sources say though it's not as good as it used to be; you can still get things quite spicy and they enjoy the raw beef salad (koi neua) there. Lately, we've been visiting Spicy Lao Kitchen a bit more. I'm working on another post right now. Sovereign is more refined Thai, but I enjoy the hat yai fried chicken (which earned them a mention in the Michelin guide) and the Issan style sausage. But the food there is not really Issan; though the owners used to work at Thai Papaya and they have hired the cooks from TOSEL in Linda Vista. Thanks for the reminder that I need to revisit TOSEL in PQ....I'll do that soon.
I'm not sure if you're visiting or live Downtown? Please feel free to peruse my listing of places by neighborhood:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/the-big-list-by-neighborhood.html

And even shoot me an email!