I guess the weather's warming up a bit since the Missus said She was craving Sovereign. It had been a while since my last post and though the Missus refused to catch the trolley there, we thought we'd check to see if we could find some decent parking. Which, for the Missus meant north of K Street and West of 15th Street. I will say that it looks like things have been cleaned up a bit in the area since my last visit and after finding parking on Island, between 13th and 14th we weren't accosted by folks like on my previous visits to the area.
We arrived at Sovereign and the place was doing some decent business at 330pm on a Sunday. We were given a nice table and looked over the menu. Our old favorites were there as well as a couple of items that caught our attention. Two of the items we'd had on previous takeout visits; which I hadn't posted on; the grilled chicken tail and the sour Lao sausage, both of which we enjoy weren't available.
We started things off with the Crispy Pork Belly ($14). We had enjoyed the spicy pork belly on our previous visit, though the rest of the dish wasn't to out liking. We thought just having that pork belly might work out well.
And man, were we right! It doesn't look like much, but the thick slices of pork belly was wonderful. The skin crisp and crunchy, the fat melted away to a wonderful, rich velvetiness on your tongue. The sauce, which wasn't overly sweet or spicy helped to cut all the swine-a-licious goodness adding some balance to each bite. Though I don't think it would reduce your Cardiologists bill. Talk about a guilty pleasure.
The other new dish didn't fare as well, the Crispy Chive Cake ($14). I really didn't know what to expect.
The coating was more hard than crisp. The filling was what seemed like a combination of overly gummy-glutinous, sticky rice and chives, of which more was needed for flavor. This was really bland, even with the sweet-savory sauce provided. Man was it chewy.....this reminded me of pan fried mochi. It really needed a savory boost in flavor.
From here it was our usual go-to dishes.
The Hat Yai Fried Chicken ($24).
Crisp skin, tender flesh, the shallots add a nice pungent-sweet-crunchy layer to the dish. Nice mildly sweet-savory flavors from soy sauce-fish sauce-sugar. Always a favorite.
The Missus's favorite vegetable dish is the Stir Fried Eggplant with Basil ($14).
Tender eggplant, I think more Thai Basil was needed this time around; but the dish has always been a favorite of the Missus.
And of course, the Thai Sausage ($13).
Still our favorite in San Diego, crisp casing, tender pork filling, studded with herbs, with a slight spicy "kick" to things.
As you can tell, we enjoyed this meal. And while Sovereign doesn't provide that spicy "Issan" or Lao heat we enjoy, we have dishes here that are favorites of ours. And while there's still some environmental grittiness to the area around the restaurant, it seems like things might be changing for the better in the area.
And we found a new "favorite" dish to add to our typical order at Sovereign as well.
Sovereign Thai Cuisine
1460 J Street
San Diego, CA 92101
nice you found a favorite
Posted by: kat | Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 12:57 AM
The pork belly looks good
Posted by: Som Tommy | Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 08:37 AM
Tommy told me to check out the pork belly and wow, it looks good. Too bad about the location though.
Posted by: Franklin | Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 09:45 AM
The chicken looks great!
Posted by: Soo | Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 09:49 AM
Very nice Kat!
It's now a favorite ST!
I think the area is getting better Franklin.
Yes, the Hat Yai chicken is a favorite of ours Soo.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 03:19 PM