mmm-yoso!!!

Popcorn Chicken

Interesting how things go. One day I noticed this place had opened in the same strip mall as Lolita's and Katsu Café.

The sign said "Taste of Taiwan", so I was somewhat intrigued. I did a brief search online and figured out that this is a Taiwanese "snack/street" food chain with two other locations; one in LA and the other in the OC. So, I decided to walk in and check them out. 

They seemed to be doing some decent business; also looked like sort of a Taiwanese Fast-Casual place in the same vein as any number of Tea/Boba shops that are scattered around San Diego. It seemed even more strange that Tea Station was just a few doors over.

The menu consisted of various Taiwanese snack type dishes; chicken wings, sausages, a whole slew of fried stuffs, and basically many of the same dishes with rice and veggies, called "bento boxes".

The prices of the bento boxes seemed quite inexpensive, like six bucks, so I ordered the namesake Popcorn Chicken Medium Spicy Bento Box along with the Chicken Wings Spicy ($5). This is what I picked up when my number was called.

That little bag held the popcorn chicken, fried a bit too hard, more crunchy than crisp, unevenly breaded and seasoned. I actually enjoyed the fried basil the best, the crisp, with anise tones. The seasoning was quite simple and the spice level was decent. Very straightforward.

In that plastic "box" was a very generous portion of rice, with a drizzle of a soy sauce - pork - mildly sweet sauce. And a few small pieces of meat.

The boiled egg was on the over-cooked side for my taste, the yolk was d-r-y, but it was mildly seasoned and not terrible. The veggies were simple steamed zucchini, corn, and a green bean and carrot mixture....the corn and the carrots seemed fairly straight from the frozen food isle.

I was looking forward to trying the chicken wings which was decently fried, but on the dry side.

I really didn't care for the powdery, bitter, seasoning....it was fairly one-dimensional, just adding spice to the chicken and not much else.

Still, I thought this was well worth the price; six bucks for the popcorn chicken and five for the wings (well, maybe not the wings).

I happened to mention this to a few of my coworkers.....they love fried food, donuts, Chik-fil-a, you get it. So, they wanted to check the place out and I said ok.

By this time the Bento Boxes had gone up by $2 and was now eight bucks. I got the fried pork chop.

I noticed that the zucchini and corn had been replaced by sautéed cabbage. The boiled egg was much better this time around and there seemed to be even more rice.

That breading on the pork chop would have been fine if most of it hadn't peeled off the meat when placed in the bag. The seasoning on this was decent, enough salt and pepper, and probably a good amount of MSG. The pork chop was a bit on the chewy side but not bad.

The folks from work, especially "Pam" really enjoyed the place. We returned a few weeks later.

I tried the Popcorn Chicken Bento again.

The chicken was even drier than before though I preferred this to the spicy versions as you could actually taste the chicken. The breading was more crisp and lighter than before, though there was less fried basil than before. Notice that it's just a drizzle of pork based broth on the rice now; no hint of meat or anything else. The rice was moist and there was a lot of it. The egg, while decent on the previous visit, was back to being over-cooked.

Still, my coworkers......

I figured I'd had enough, but with things cooling down a bit here in San Diego, I was in the area at around 1130 on a recent weekend, so I decided to try the Niu Rou Mian….which they didn't have on this day. So, I went with the Braised Beef with Rice ($9). Man, did they give me a lot of meat.

Which was barely lukewarm, bland, and on the drier side. At least it wasn't tough, but could have really been braised in a more flavorful liquid. The egg was really nice this time around, while hard boiled, it wasn't dry and didn't have that ugly purple ring. The rice was moist, fluffy, and the best I've had here. And guess what? Zucchini was back in style; at least for today.

The most surprising item was the broth....well stew or more appropriate "gravy" as it was quite thick and almost gluey; not the most pleasurable texture, but it had a nice peppery tanginess; with a hint of spice, and was hot. It edged on being too salty (with a mild sweetness - MSG?), but that actually helped all the beef which I plopped into the stew. The carrots were a bit undercooked, but not terrible.

After this visit; I think I'm done with Popcorn Chicken for a while. I'm sure Kirbie is laughing about these visits as I'm probably the wrong demographic. I will say this; yes, it's basically fast/snack food and in spite of the uneven cooking, seasoning, serving, and the ever changing portions, if you're more about quantity over quality, this place might do it for you. And to be perfectly honest; I'd take this over food from one of the corporate mega-chains any day of the week.....just not for a while...…

Popcorn Chicken
7309 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Open Daily 1130am - 930pm

Revisits - Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki and Sarap Filipino Kitchen

A couple of revisits to places on Miramar Road that I posted on rather recently.

Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki:

I think the freshly prepared food at Bann is a decent choice; the prices aren't bad, and while it's not outstanding, you do get what you pay for. During one of my recent revisits; I recalled that while I've tried the Chicken Cutlet here (nicely fried, but the sauce is not to my taste); I hadn't tried the Teriyaki. So why not? Also, the two young ladies who work here are really nice. And (maybe) because I waited for my Teriyaki Chicken so long, they gave me a fried egg for no additional charge.

Whatever the motive for the gratis egg was; I appreciated it. As you can tell; this is a fairly hefty lunch....man, so much rice. As I posted on earlier; I do enjoy the salad, and that mandu was still crisp when I got back to the office.

The chicken was on the rubbery side, but not bad.

Not a big fan of the teriyaki sauce; it's too sweet for my taste and texture is really gloppy. The rice was perfectly cooked; the bok choy (along with the salad) made sure I got my veggies.

Though it was too much food. I'll stick with a "bowl" next time which is still more than enough for me. Like the kimchi fried rice bowl...….

Bann Cutlet & Teriyaki
9506 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126  

Sarap Filipino Kitchen:

After our visits to Sarap; the gang at work couldn't wait to revisit. And so; with one of the folks having a birthday, even though there were only four of us, we headed back to Sarap.

We ordered the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings again.

While these were ok; they weren't as crisp as on my previous visits. Still, not bad. Also, not seasoned as much either.

The Lechon Kawale. I wanted to try this again after having a terrible version earlier.

The skin was much better this time around; though the pork belly was on the dry side, and the leaner portions were rather tough. I enjoy the lechon sauce here; it's on the fairly mellow side, with a nice balanced flavor.

Crispy Pata (of course):

This time around; the pata was chopped up; the meat taken off the bone and the two ends, with the nice gelatinous parts laying at each end. It was still good, perhaps a bit drier, but the skin was wonderfully crisp; the porkiness of the leg coming through nicely. It was also a bit smaller than last time as well.

Daniel from Georgia loved the Sinigang and the Bagoong Fried Rice (sorry no photo).

Not a huge portion; but the tamarind based broth was rich, had a nice sourness, and man; the okra (I do love my "neba-neba") was gooey goodness. The pork was moist and tender and this had that nice "aaah" appeal. I'd gladly have this again.

We ordered some white rice with this......but hardly touched a quarter of it......

So, there you go....still a mixed bag; but still closer than Villa Manila which I think is better. They also need to staff better....it's go early, or wait a while for your food.

I also heard that they have started serving breakfast on the weekends now.

We'll see how things go here.

Sarap Filipino Kitchen
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126

Soi 30th

Soi 30th opened up right next to Lefty's on 30th Street last fall. My good friends and I actually went and ate there at the end of September, basically going through a good part of the menu on that evening. But the focus was on what was going with each other; work and other things have been keeping me from seeing them as much as I'd like to.

I decided not to do a post after that visit; mainly because we were just enjoying each other's company and catching up on what was going on.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the food....I did enjoy a couple of the dishes. Though some were quite uneven; I attributed that to being newly opened. It did help that the place was being opened by the former owner of Krua Thai in Chula Vista.

I decided to do a couple of visits on my own; which stretched out over almost nine months. But finally, think it's time.

The restaurant is small; the interior tiny, with some outdoor seating. The set-up is perfect for the "North Park Brewpub" type; you order at the counter, get a number, have a seat.

On my first visit; I went with a dish that I usually use to gauge the cooks Wok Skills; Pad See Eew with Shrimp ($13).

Not an especially generous portion; the shrimp was cooked perfectly, a wonderful tender and plump. I liked the fact that the sauce wasn't overly sweet, but the noodles, while nicely coated, was on the over-cooked side and lacked the smokey "wok hey" that I look for in this dish.

I did enjoy the Thai Jerky ($7); which had been nicely dried, then fried.

Edging just on the precipice of being hard; I loved the chewiness, the flavor, salty-savory, was quite good as well.

On my next visit; two more Thai staples.....

The SomTom E-san ($7), was a bit disappointing.

While the papaya was expertly shredded, this just wasn't spicy....especially for Issan Papaya salad. I wasn't asked for a spiciness level and this was too mild. Not very much salted crab, nor enough tomato. Too much lime and not enough fish sauce; this just wasn't what I wanted.

I had mixed feelings about ordering the Thai Sausage. You see, on my visit with friends the sausage wasn't sour enough and the meat quite mealy. This however, was very good.

Nice light sourness; pork skin, great firm, but not hard texture. Very nice! Sadly, much like CC's visit (check out her post), no ginger, and sliced serrano peppers instead of Thai Chilies.

A few weeks later; it was the Khao Man Gai, which was very disappointing; the chicken was super dry, the rice not flavored enough and hard.

The ginger based sauce needed....well, more ginger as it really lacked zip.

I also ordered the Crispy Chicken Wings.

Much of the rather light batter was flaking off the wings; broken bones, and the meat was moist and tender it had dark spots. I thought it a bit too sweet for my taste and I felt it needed more zip and a crunchiness that would hold out a bit longer.

After this; I decided to give the place a rest for a couple of weeks; which turned out to be months.

When I finally returned; I saw that Soi 30th had Pad Ped as a special; so I decided to order it. The portion size was quite large and that egg was nice and runny.

I found the sauce a bit too "gloppy" and the pork dry. The were lumps of sauce; you know, when you're not on your stir-fry game and you add in the sauce to finish and it lumps up under the heat.

On my next visit; I had what is perhaps my favorite dish at Soi 30th; in fact, I've had it again recently and it was the same; It's the Pork Belly and Chinese Broccoli.

Not over sauced; the star was the pork belly; crunchy, not hard, which gave away to a nice tenderness. Mild garlic tones and I could actual taste some heat here; not much mind you, but at least it was there. During this visit the Gailan was too hard and crisp, but on my subsequent visit, it was cooked nicely. On both visits the fried egg was over-cooked for my taste; but maybe the clientele freaks out over soft and runny eggs? Still, a good dish.

On my last visit, I was curious about the Khao Moo Krob - Moo Daeng; basically red pork (like charsiu) and pork belly. The fluorescent red sauce really caught my attention.

The "red" pork was on the dry and tough side and really lacked flavor. The pork belly though was again nicely fried up, making it crisp and delicious. The sauce was too sweet and missing the nice tangy-savory component used on Moo Daeng. The rice was perfect and fragrant, though the boiled egg was way overcooked, the yolk quite dry. 

So, why all the visits? Well, there's something about this place that I like....perhaps it's the vibe.....the dishes I enjoyed had that "hint of Thailand" and while on the gringo side, were not bad. Perhaps I need to do this a some other Thai places that missed the mark previously?

The service was amiable and the prices not bad.

To quote reader EdwardW who emailed me about Soi 30th back in September - "I want this place to do well. It’s close to my home and about as honest Thai cooking I’ve found in San Diego." Well said! And thanks for reading and taking the time to send us an email!

Soi 30th
3442 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm, 430pm - 930pm
Fridays     11am - 330pm, 430pm - 930pm
Sat - Sun   12pm - 930pm

San Francisco - China Live

It was funny how we ended up staying in San Francisco over the Labor Day weekend. Both the Missus and I had been working pretty hard and there was no trip in sight for a couple more months. It was a brutal Sunday here with record temps in the high 90's. For some reason, I decided to check to see what the weather was like in San Francisco.....61?!?!? I basically told the Missus "the heck (using a more colorful verb) with this....let's go to San Francisco." And She agreed. It had been quite a while since we visited the city; in recent years we'd stuck to visiting places to the North and the South of San Francisco. And I couldn't remember when we last visited......so I dug into my photo archives and holy smokes! Check out the date on this photo!

We last visited nearly sixteen years ago! It was when the Missus and I took Her parents to visit. A trip was way overdue. So, I booked our flight, hotel, and a couple of restaurants....two had been on my "list" and one was a recommendation of my good friend Candice. Instead of the usual suspects; like Gary Danko, et al....we were going a bit different this time around.

We arrived, caught BART, and managed to check into the Marriott Marquis early, at 10am! Things were looking up. We freshened up and just headed on out. I figured a lot had changed over the last sixteen years.....but of course, some things stay the same.

There's a certain nostalgia to walking through Chinatown, a mixture of old school, somewhat traditional businesses, it was almost comforting seeing Golden Gate Bakery and ducking into various food shops. Along with all the cheesy souvenir stores....good lord' where there always that many here?

One thing the Missus and I quickly noticed....Chinatown seems much cleaner and tidy than when we used to visit in the late 90's and early 'oughts. 

I had been fascinated with the opening of China Live. We'd been to a couple of branches of Eataly in Europe....in Florence, Bologna, and Copenhagen. And when China Live was touted as being the "Chinatown" version, well, I just wanted to check it out. I'd also heard that the food; while priced on the high side was pretty good.

There a small shop with a variety of items; some really interesting looking tea and other stuffs. And a rather "hipsterish" looking dining area....you know; all that wood.

I kinda knew what I wanted to order; Sheng Jian Baozi, the "Peking" Duck, and the Pork Belly. They were out of the pork belly, so I went with plan B....which they were out of as well. So, we just decided to try the wings.

Meanwhile, the Missus ordered some tea; not cheap at $13.95....but man; it was really floral and helped to cut through all the richness of the food.

First up; the Sheng Jian Bao ($12)….yep twelve bucks for 4.

The filling was juicy, light, and had a nice porky flavor with just the right amount of ginger to balance things out. The dough was terrible; it wasn't cooked correctly making the dough on the top really gummy, the sides mushy....and the bottom was way too thick. I mean, I really didn't expect anything like we get in China or even what my MIL makes....but that wrapper was a total fail. Still, the filling was really good.

When our duck ($26) arrived, the Missus and I looked at each other, rather disappointed. The color didn't seem right......but we were oh so wrong.....

The skin was oh so thin and crisp; the fat had been rendered....it seems into the flesh of the duck which was supremely moist. The sesame buns were hard and dry and the duck delicately flavored, so we ended up just making cucumber (which was very good quality), scallion, and hoisin sandwiches and just enjoyed the duck on its own. This is the best duck I've had in a very long time. Like I mentioned earlier, the seasoning on this was quite mild as was the duck which wasn't very gamey. This might be the best item we had on the entire short trip.

Based on the previous two dishes we were quite surprised when the "Chicken of the Sea" Crispy Wings ($14) arrived. There were ten wings in this dish.

I bit into one and cracked up...….growing up in Hawaii, one of the must have Chinese Restaurant dishes is Ong Choi with what we call "harm ha" (Shrimp Paste). The wings had been battered with that....it was a bit of overkill and seemed really salty. Though, unlike the usual MSG laden wings we often get; this one didn't bring on thirst......still it was waaaay too salty. The quality of the wings was excellent, no broken bones, no blackening of the flesh....the skin was thin and perfectly fried....the flesh moist, the size optimum for that skin to meat ratio......we'd have really loved this if it wasn't such a sodium bomb. 

The service was professional, the meal, not cheap at seventy bucks. The place did fill up quite quickly, a mixture of younger Chinese who seemed well off, Chinese tourists, hipster looking folk, and some families. We enjoyed our meal here.....and will likely return for that duck.

China Live
644 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 1130am - 10pm
Friday      1130am - 11pm
Saturday    1030am - 11pm
Sunday      1030am - 10pm

Leaving China Live; we headed to Stockton and started weaving our way past the markets and dim sum shops. Near Washington Street, I could here drums and percussion going....there was a Lion Dance happening somewhere.....

We found it happening in this street.

We got there just as the fireworks were going off.

The Missus and I laughed and basked in the noise, smoke, and shower of red paper......

It had been too long since we'd been in this wonderful city.

Karami Ramen

It's a bit strange; I've heard so much about Ramen Ryoma's opening, but not so much about Karami which opened around the same time. Last week the weather had started cooling off and due to the fact that a lot of folks were on vacation, well......many of my meetings were cancelled, so I decided to head on down to the plaza that houses Nijiya, Spicy House, and Pho Mignon.

I arrived at 1130 and there were only two parties in the place during my entire visit. The lay-out of this tiny restaurant is somewhat neat; in a slightly cheesy kind of way....but it does remind me of some of the ramen places I've eaten at in Japan.

 My Server was super friendly, with a great sense of humor.

As you can tell by the name; Karami specializes in spicy ramen. I wasn't too sure about having that on my first visit, so I just went with the Miso Tonkotsu and Chicken Karaage.

The Chicken Karaage wasn't too bad; in fact, I think it was better than what I'd had at Ryoma.

It lightly crisp; the dark meat chicken was slightly marinated....too little for my taste; but it was moist and had flavor. Of course, I had to listen to the know-it-all young lady on the next table tell her dining companion that it was all wrong....it should be white meat instead of dark meat. Methinks she got her katsu and karaage all mixed up. It didn't help that she ordered the "tonkatsu ramen"......

Meanwhile; my Miso-Tonkotsu was disappointing.

The noodles were standard issue JFC stuff and overcooked for my taste. The egg was cooked nicely, but ice cold. The chashu had a nice band of fat, but was on the dry side.

The broth was way too salty and very thin for a tonkotsu style broth; totally lacking in the balanced tongue coating richness I enjoy. There was a hint of garlic; but not much else beyond the sodium. It was truly lacking in complexity. You know I'm reaching when I thought to myself; "hey, this menma is pretty good".

You can tell what I thought about the broth......

On the bright side; the server was really nice and that karaage wasn't the worst that I've had recently.

Anyway, Calvin just returned from vacation, and guess where he wanted to eat?

And you know what? I was ready to actually try one of these......

We both ordered some extras. Calvin went with the curry-rice, non-spicy.

It actually had a mild kick, was slightly beefy; but the meat was tough and dry. Not too bad.

I ordered the spicy chicken wings; which was "all show and no go".

It's got to be the blandest; spicy looking chicken wings I've ever had.....hardly spicy at all; it lacked in any nuance of flavor, no sweetness, it seemed to be using something like kimchi base, or something similar mixed into a paste like texture. The batter got gummy quite quickly. At least the wings were moist.

I order the Triple Super Spicy Chashu Shio Ramen...….

Well, this was also underwhelming. Our server, the same friendly young lady as on my previous visit, looked surprised that we ordered this. She warned us several times about how spicy this was......it wasn't. It just wasn't very spicy; and what heat there was lacked nuance. I did think it was better than the thin, salty broth I'd had last time; but I was just surprised that this wasn't very spicy.

The noodles were still cooked more than I prefer; but was better than on my last visit. As you can see; the chashu was on the dry side; and cold to boot, as was the tamago.

The young lady seemed genuinely shocked that we were unfazed by the triple spicy ramen. She said she was worried we'd get sick from the spice. But she really won me over when I told her, "would you like me to call tomorrow to let you know I haven't died?" Her reply was awesome, "ok, but no screaming on the phone...."

Now that witty answer might be worth another visit....maybe.....

Karami Ramen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 1130am - 230pm, 530pm - 10pm
Friday      1130am - 230pm, 530pm - 1030pm
Saturday    12pm - 3pm, 530pm - 1030pm
Sunday      12pm - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm

Chicken Wing Wednesday - Gala Chicken

I had to drop by Zion Market to pick some stuff up....mainly beef knee bones. Yep, beef knee bones. At the end of my "smoke session" I'll do the knee bones and give them out as gifts to folks who have dogs......the pooches really love the stuff.

Anyway, it nearing lunch time and I decided to grab something to eat. Gala Chicken had moved from their original location in the market, to the spot that Myung In had before they recently closed.

I decided to order the Chicken Wing combination....though in retrospect; maybe I should have just ordered wings.

In terms of wings; this might have been the best I've had at Gala. I'm glad they don't cut into the chicken anymore to test doneness and the batter wasn't too crumbly; like I've had here twice. The chicken was very moist; though it wasn't evenly coated in batter....it was also slightly greasy, but not in a bad way. In terms of seasoning; I still like some hot sauce on the wings....though not the overly sweet stuff that's provided.

Overall; all that rice seemed like overkill to me; they were quite heavy handed with the vinegar in the mac salad; but it was nicely chilled and along with the shredded cabbage helped to cut any greasy tones and richness. And the shredded cabbage made me feel like I was actually getting some vegetables...….along with cutting the richness, it helped to cut the guilt as well.

Not the best wings; but still decent, and better than I'd had here in the past.

Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (In the Zion Market Food Court)
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Tues - Sat 11am - 730pm
Sunday      11am - 630pm

Sarap Filipino Kitchen (Soft Opening)

While on my "procrastintion drive" to the office over the weekend; I noticed that "Sarap Filipino Kitchen" had taken over the former Capetown Bar & Grill/Malted Diner location.

I was going to add that to my post for last Wednesday; but then on Tuesday; Eater mentioned the place was in Soft Opening Phase. I mentioned this to Calvin who got quite excited so we ended up going.....and I ended going for three days in a row! The last culminating with a group of six to celebrate one of the folks in our team actually surviving second anniversary.

As folks who've been to Capetown/Malted know; this is a huge spot. The folks working; especially the really kind and friendly Server named Lloyd were really nice; but I don't think they were ready for word getting out so quickly. They seemed a bit under-staffed and on my second visit; I saw folks actually change their order to take-out after waiting quite a while for their food. I'm hoping this will be remedied. I also heard folks grumbling about the portion size......sheesh, I guess they want this to be Tita's?

The menu varied from day to day; the first two days there was no Lechon Kawale; therefore no Sisig, also no Crispy Pata. Before our third visit; I mentioned this to Lloyd who promised me that "tomorrow we will have it....I will make sure we do." And as promised, we had our sisig, lechon kawale, and crispy pata.

So, here's a rundown on my favorite; to least favorite items so far....some of which I've now had multiple times.

Picks:

Everyone I've brought to Sarap has enjoyed the Bagoong Fried Rice, even those who had no idea what the flavoring was. It's very balanced in flavor; with garlic tones balancing out the shrimp paste. It's also not overly salty. They mango mostly added a nice textural contrast.

When I first had the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings; I sent a photo to my friends, "these wings are good....when was the last time I said that about a new place?" I got a bunch of entertaining emoji's as responses; so I'm guessing it's been a while since I enjoyed fried chickens wings from someplace new.

These weren't the best quality wings; but were perfectly fried; moist, light, and crisp. The seasoning was nicely balanced; the wings had just enough salt. Like the fried rice; everyone who tried this, enjoyed it.

The Crispy Pata was very good.

Perfectly fried; very moist, porky, goodness, the seasoned vinegar helped to cut through the richness. Nice crunchy bits....though not as much gooey parts. Still the folks loved it. At one point no one was finishing up the pata…..they thought they'd finished it. I then got my paper towel; put the pata on end; grabbed the spoon, and proceeded to scrape off a pile of meat. I told everyone to finish things up.....I grabbed the bone as the reward and gnawed off all the good parts. Little "ND" cracked up and told me; "you clean the pata like my mom and you eat the bones like my dad." Now talk about a compliment.

Nilagang Baka:

This wasn't a particularly large portion and rather difficult to share for two people as they don't provide adequate spoons...plus we had to ask for bowls.

Still, this was pretty good; especially the meat, which was very beefy and tender. It's not quite as good as the version at Villa Manila; as the broth was on the mild side in regards to beefiness and the sodium level was a bit too high. Still; this was not bad.

Beer Break - We didn't notice the beer list on our first visit. On my second visit, I saw it on the table and took a look....and cracked up. When was the last time I saw Red Horse on tap? It would warm the hearts of my friends "back home" in Hawaii.

Here are the items I'm on the fence about.....

On my second visit; I ordered the Daeng Bangus….the milkfish.

In terms of flavor; this was great; from the vinegar tones, the milkfish had no off flavors. I especially liked the tomato-onion-chili relish; making this more like Daeng na Isda. I wished that this was fried a bit better and the flesh; though tasty was on the dry side.

The Liempo was too much on the burnt side for my taste; making it a bit bitter.

Beyond the charred-bitterness; the texture of the pork belly was quite good; a bit toothsome, but decent.

The pans......

We had high hopes for the Lechon Kawale, but were disappointed.

I will say the lechon sauce was lighter than other versions, but very tasty. The flavor of the pork was swiney goodness. But the skin wasn't prepped correctly and was super hard; most folks didn't even try eating it. It was fried to death and had lost a good amount of moisture in the process. This was a bummer.

When I was told the sisig here used pig ear and head, I was thrilled. I haven't had a good, more traditional sisig since we visited Gapo Resto a few years ago.

That it had the terrible hard lechon kawale in this didn't help...too many hard bits. For some reason this was also quite bland; we ended having to use the vinegar from pata to raise up the flavor. Good Sisig Kapampangan to me should always have combination of crunchy, soft, and chewy bits....this was mostly hard, had no spice in it, and no sour tones.

The worst item I've had at Sarap was the Garlic Rice. I ordered this with the Daeng.

You can tell by the photo. Hard, dry rice; bitter burnt garlic, it was almost inedible. I brought half the daeng and almost all the rice back to the office. Folks would have one spoon of the rice and that's it...… I'm hoping this is just a "one-off".

Overall; I'm glad to have a place like Sarap in the area to go with Mariscos Miramar, giving us two good choices for lunch.

At the end of our last lunch; a very nice older woman came over chatted. I asked about Bicol Express, something specifically mentioned in the Eater post. I was told that the main chef, from the Phillipines, is starting this week. And he is supposed to make a mean Bicol Express. So, it looks like another visit will soon be in the books for me.

I'm hoping they can overcome all the timing and staffing issues before their Grand Opening.

Sarap Filipino Kitchen
7580 Miramar Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Open Daily 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm

Pho Bo

I'm not quite sure how it happened; but it seems I'm back working weekends again just to keep up with our backlog. On the bright side; this means I can take a (usually) traffic free drive to grab an early (or late) lunch. One of my acquaintances, knowing that I really enjoy Vietnamese style Beef Stew - Bo Kho; recommended a place that recently opened in the mixed use Mercado de Barrio in Barrio Logan named Pho Bo.

Even though there's quite a few shops in the this center; parking was totally no problem. As was finding the shop; which in the typical new style has those garage like doors, and a nice modern, yet pseudo industrial (high ceilings) look.

I also enjoyed the fact that the A/C was going full blast on this very hot day. I had recommendations for three items; one of them was the Nem Nuong Cuon; those tasty grilled pork sausage spring roll that places like Brodard have made a staple. Sadly, I was told that the Nem Nuong was no longer available. I was also told that the Goi Cuon; the typical standard issue spring rolls were quite good; so I ordered it.

Sadly, this was just a whole lot of blandness as there were no herbs in the roll; the wrapper was hard and chewy, the pork was dry, and the shrimp had no flavor. The dipping sauce was your standard issue toung cham; hoisin-peanut kind of thing.

I hoped the Banh Mi Bo Kho would be better.

As you can quickly tell; the beef stew was on the thinner side; but man, look at that layer of oil on the top. Sometimes, it can really help a rich, hearty broth, but in this case, it just made the whole thing greasy. The broth was pretty salty; but lacked the pepper-tangy-anise tones I enjoy in the good Bo Kho. I used up the lime and all of the basil provided to help boost the flavor, but it was still mainly just salty.

The bread was interesting; I'm wondering who provided this as it was more dense and chewy than other banh mi I've had around San Diego.

There was a generous amount of tender beef; but no tendon provided.

Well, at least the service was fairly friendly.

I decided to return the following weekend to try out the other item that was recommended; the "Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings with Butter". Basically Butter Wings.

The amount of wings, 8 was decent for the price. These were on the smaller size; which I actually prefer for the good batter/skin ratio. Overall, these were on the bland side when it comes to butter wings. And the batter didn't have the crispness I enjoy; rather it was hard and got rather gummy quickly. There were several broken bones and a lot of blackened meat as well.

I also order the Pho Dac Biet.

As you can see; a nice portion of basil; but it was turning black and there were holes and tears in the leaves.

The broth wasn't overly salty, but still had that odd "San Diego Pho sweetness" that I've been tasting over the last couple of years. Clear, not very beefy, lacking in anise - oniony tones.

The noodles were nicely done; though in the typical clump at the bottom of the bowl.

As for the proteins; the rare steak was the typical top round; which gets tougher the longer it "cooks" in the broth. Luckily, it arrived before being well done. Both the flank and the brisket were fine, nicely done, not tough, nor falling to pieces, good beef flavor. Surprisingly, the meat balls weren't too rubbery or hard. Not bad in terms of protein. But you can tell who the target audience of this bowl is just by what was absent. Tendon and tripe....

In then end; this was basically "pho not to offend", not my favorite. It's fine if you like your basic, generic, pho shop.

Nice service, very clean and modern.

Pho Bo
1985 National Ave (In the Mercado de Barrio)
San Diego, CA 92113
Hours:
Open Daily 9am - 9pm

I did like this location; really interesting. CC has a post on Oi Asian Fusion which is next door. 

 

Man, it looks like things are really looking up in this area!

Monday Meanderings - Benchmark Brewing Company Opens in Bay Park, Ramen Ryoma, Bonchon, and is Hunan Kitchen Closed?

It's been a crazy busy day. I haven't done one of these in a while...so here goes.

Benchmark Brewing Company Opens in Bay Park:

I was driving past last week and noticed folks in the place. This past weekend; the sign was up.

I'm happy for my 'hood.

4112 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Tues - Thurs 4pm - 8pm
Fri - Sat Noon - 9pm
Sunday Noon - 7pm

Ramen Ryoma opening in Kearny Mesa:

I had some free time to drive around this past weekend. I was staying away from the crowds. I noticed that Ramen Ryoma is replacing Bangkok West.

I know about the much hyped soon to be Hillcrest location of this Oregon based ramen chain. But hadn't heard they were opening in KM.

9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Bonchon Chicken opening on Convoy:

I'd read about Bonchon opening on Convoy in the Eater. It replaces the R&B Crawfish Lounge.

This chain based which originated out of Busan now has a ton of stores in the US.

4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

The reason I drove into Plaza del Sol; was that I noticed Hunan Kitchen (i.e. Noodle Hut/Tǔjiā Xiāng Cài (土家湘菜) was closed.

The signs are still up. So I'm hoping it's just for some renovation or temporary repairs.

4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

If not; this would be the fifth restaurant in this location since 2011!

It's Fry-Day - T.P. Banh Bao and Royal Mandarin

Here are a couple posts appropriate for any "Fry-Day".

T.P. Banh Bao:

Have you ever headed out for lunch thinking you want something and then suddenly changing your mind at the destination? Such was the case on this day. I needed to take my lunch at a rather odd hour and thought I'd just head on over to R & B. When I arrived, I just didn't feel that hungry....nor did I feel like having any Filipino food.

Looking down the strip mall I saw TP Banh Bao....well, it had been a while, right? I could just grab a couple of Banh Bao and head back to the office.

In order to get the fried pork, salted egg yolk, and sausage Banh Bao, I had to order three. So I got three of those and two of the steamed pork with quail egg and sausage.

Returning to the office; I immediately gave away one of the fried and one of the steamed.

A lot of folks complain about the size to price ratio of these. And they may be right....to a point. You see; there's a ton of filling to the amount of bread. The steamed bao had started to go soggy; though the filling was porky, though a bit on the mealy and dry side. Not enough sausage for my taste as well.

The fried bao, was still crisp as I sliced it in half. Frying ensures that it holds together. I think the frying also intensifies the sweetness of this as well.

The filling was moist, with a decent porkiness; but man, this was so rich. I ended up giving away that last fried bao.

Now I know...at TP; I'm a two bao guy.....

T.P. Banh Bao 3
11271 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Royal Mandarin:

At the end of one of my meetings; one of the folks asked me to come back to her office. She brought me a bag.....I immediately knew the smell of Royal Mandarin's Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. I just started to crack-up. You see, a couple of months back, we were chatting before our meeting and she asked about what to get for an upcoming pot luck. I told her just be like everyone in National City and get wings from Royal Mandarin.....she had no idea what I was talking about! I told her she was the only person of Filipino descent in National City who didn't know about Royal Mandarin!!!!

I guess she knows now.....

She got me an order of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and Shrimp Fried Rice...….an nice ABCDE (American Born Chinese Dining Establishment) meal if there ever was one.

This was way to much food for me; so when I got back to my desk, I made myself a plate, and gave away the rest.

The wings looked a pale in color, but was nice and crisp. That's the thing about RM wings; the crispness lasts. The wings seemed a bit lighter than usual; though the salt-pepper-garlic "crack like" (MSG) flavor was still there. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the shrimp was cooked; plump and moist. This was typical ABCDE fried rice; fairly dry, each grain coated.

Man, has it been nine years since we did our great salt and pepper chicken wing comparison? Seems like yesterday. Time sure does fly.....

Here's to you Howie, Candice, Sarah, Jenne, Mr & Mrs Zompus, and Dennis!

Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950