mmm-yoso!!!

San Francisco - China Live Revisited and the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair

The Missus and I decided to take a short trip during the long weekend. The Missus had really enjoyed our last trip to San Francisco; so we decided to head back for two nights.

Our flight over was quite pleasant; except for the arrogant and condescending young man who marched back and forth at the TSA security check-point telling people, "you can get it right...any idiot can do it.....it's not hard!" I understand that perhaps working for the TSA is not a pleasant job; but there's no need to be insulting....it's always the one that brings down the other ninety-nine. As my experience with the TSA has been that folks are at least somewhat professional. Or perhaps by "any idiot can do it" he meant himself? I heard the guy behind me mumble to his companion, "he's definitely a candidate for a colonoscopy without anesthesia".

We arrived fairly early; our room at the Marriott wasn't ready yet which wasn't a problem. We needed a place for a rather "early-ish" lunch....the Missus had really enjoyed the duck from China Live....yes, it was pricey, but we were on vacation, right?

Since Chinatown was basically right up the street, and China Live opens at 1030 we headed up Stockton. We quickly found that there were booths lining the usually busy sidewalks making things even more crowded with folks shopping and browsing.

We eventually got up to Broadway and China Live had just opened.

And in spite of the crowds and lines outside (the line at Good Mongkok went down and around the block!!!!), the place was empty.

We were tempted, and should have just had tea and the duck and called it a nice snack and head off....but we felt kinda guilty for just ordering the duck (albiet it being $27 - it had gone up a buck since September). We also didn't really enjoy anything else on our last visit. We just went ahead and ordered the Suckling Pig.

The Suckling Pig looked pretty nice.....

And it was decent; not the best I've had, but the meat was moist, the skin was a bit too thick and hard instead of crisp. It also lacked a good porkiness. So, not too bad, until you factor in the price....$34! That's over four bucks a wafer thin slice! I wouldn't complain if this was excellent; but it was not.

We did enjoy the duck ($27)

Which, like the last time didn't look particularly inspiring, but had a nice, thin, crisp skin....the subcutaneous fat perfectly rendered. Nice mild gaminess...moist meat. Like the last time; the "sesame buns" were dry and were just used for scallion-cucumber-hoisin sandwiches for us.

Looking at dishes on other tables....well, the rice and noodle dishes looked pretty mediocre. The total damage with tea was over seventy bucks......as we left the Missus told me, "I think we're done here...." I concurred....we'll try to find the best roast duck next time and just eat it in Portsmouth Square or something.

China Live
644 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133

We headed down Broadway and took a turn at Grant and oh my......the horde....the mass....the huge crowd.

But the Missus, who is usually not fond of crowds (neither am I), just smiled and headed off.

Grant was closed off....there were booths lining the street. I came to find out this was the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair, which happens on the weekend before the Lunar New Year and everyone and their brother seemed to be checking it out.

To be perfectly honest; even I enjoyed myself.

The Missus found herself checking out many of the booths. "You know there's a problem with this, right?" She said. Not quite following Her logic I asked "Why?" She cracked up and said "No samples!"

Regardless, the Missus really had a fun time, She told me a few times, "this really reminds me of growing up in China!"

People watching was fun....checking out the folks in costume. I sent the photo to the right to my coworker "YZ" who is from Shanghai and she quickly pointed out to me that the fella' wasn't totally in character; "if he was really dedicated....he wouldn't be wearing Nike's!" You gotta love it!

Did I mention the crowds?

It was fun watching the kids having a good time with all the various characters. Call me out of touch but I wonder what the character "Fragrance" represents? And fragrance of what? Remember, this is Chinatown! The fragrance of roast duck...pork....fish, herbs, steamed buns, and other more "earthy" smells permeate the air. And that character looks like an egg?

I'd go crazy facing crowds like this everyday. But for one fine sunny morning in San Francisco, it was just perfect!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Dinners at Noble Chef

Sometimes knowing someone who can provide a good "R&R" based on inside knowledge and experience can be very helpful. I don't get to see my good friend Candice very much these days; but a few months ago, we managed to meet up. And of course much of the discussion revolved around food.....and in the conversation she mentioned that her parents really enjoy Noble Chef. Which left me a bit dumbfounded based on previous visits to the place since the new owners took over. Then Candice blessed me with the tidbit I needed to know....during dinner service the owner cooks and that is when the food at Noble Chef is at its best. Dinner only, no lunch!

Ok......so to test things out, I went and did take-out about a week later; roast duck and salt and pepper pork chops. The duck was much improved, but still just ok, the pork chops were nicely flavored, but really, I should have been thinking more clearly....salt and pepper pork chops isn't the best item for take-out.

Still, I was focused on that duck. In terms of flavor it was pretty darn good; but the skin was rubbery and it was a bit dried out. So before calling it quits, I convinced the Missus to have dinner at Noble Chef. And we've been going probably every other week when we're in town since!

So, compare the duck above to the duck when you eat in.

There is no comparison. The skin is more light and crisp; the meat more moist; the fat has been nicely rendered, just basting that good deliciousness to the meat.

After about our fourth revisit to the place; the guy working who had waited on us during our previous visits confirmed that the duck is treated differently when you eat in. He tried to explain, but really had a hard time. I'm thinking that the duck is either quickly broiled in something like a salamander; or heated in a similar manner as the skin gets nice and crisp. Right now; this is our favorite roast duck in town. But......you've got to go during dinner and eat in the restaurant.

Currently, we order duck on maybe every other visit because the Missus is enjoying two other items on the menu.

The Steamed Pork with Salted Fish; is very savory and porky. The water chestnuts add a nice crunch.

The liquid is rich and savory. Actually, the Missus just has a few bites at the restaurant and we take most of it home. For some reason; the salty edges of flavor smooth out a bit and the pork flavor becomes even more pronounced. The "juice" becomes a thick savory aspic. I'll often cube up the meat which has set overnight and use that to top various vegetable dishes.

The other dish is the Fried Tofu with Two Mushrooms. The Missus loves the texture of the silken tofu; the exterior has a slight crispness, the interior is almost like an egg custard.

The brown sauce wasn't too gloppy and is mild enough to let the flavor of the mushrooms come through a bit. This one you need to finish at the restaurant.

Some other items we've had.

We tried two Clay Pot dishes; we'll probably try them again when the weather cools down.

The Salted Fish and Tofu was a solid contender; though nowhere as deeply savory as the pork and salted fish.

The Braised Beef and Turnip was also quite good; the turnip still slightly firm, the beef very tender and full of bovine goodness.

Yes, I love watching the Missus enjoy Her dinner...…..I'm just happy to watch Her eat and I'll enjoy my Soy Sauce Noodles.

There were two dishes that we won't order again.....

The Kwai Fei Chicken seemed to have been treated almost like the duck and was quite warm when served. The skin had been browned a bit and the meat had suffered the consequences as it was tougher then I prefer.

And the sauce was really weak, not having enough ginger or scallion flavor.

I've noted the strange affinity the Missus has for Shrimp with Lobster Sauce before. The version here is too gloppy and greasy, and on the salty side.

Though the shrimp were decently cooked; the overall flavor and mouthfeel of the dish just didn't do it for us.

So, what did I learn from this "R&R"? Well, you have dinner AT Noble Chef. So simple, yet I had written the place off. So Sandy, this is why your friends like Noble Chef.

And thanks as always to my good buddy Candice!

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum Revisited

A few days ago; in the comments of my Yummy House revisit post; "DerekR" asked me for some roast duck recommendations. I mentioned having had a decent roast duck from Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum a few months back (sorry; no post on that one; but here's one from a few years ago). A couple of days later, that question, and my recommendation was still on my mind. So, with some time for lunch; Calvin and "Big Daniel" and I decided to head on over to see how things were.

We ordered four dishes....one of which made me crack up.....

The first to arrive was the House Pan Fried Noodles. Man, the potion size was quite large.

The noodles and the gravy were fine....the noodles crisp and crunchy, slowly softening from the gooey gravy, which wasn't overly salty. The proteins were a mixed bag; typical low quality dry chicken and the fish, while decently velveted had that muddy flavor of low quality fresh water fish. The shrimp were quite tender and moist, but basically flavorless. Not terrible.

"YZ's" sources had told her that along with the roast duck, the roast pork here was good. So, we ordered that.

This was the best dish of the day; thin and crisp skin, tender fat, that wasn't waxy in texture, tender meat. Good seasoning, not too salty, pretty good overall. Maybe a tad better than the roast pork we last had at Golden City.

Next up was a second carb dish....Calvin saw Minced Beef Fried Rice on the menu and got it into his head it was Wadan Oyok Fan; Cantonese Minced Beef and Egg Rice....but, there was no false advertising here as what we got was Beef and Lettuce Fried Rice.

This was so bland, the beef tough, the rice hard......iceberg lettuce brought nothing......

And last, but not least, the Roast Duck.

This was not terrible, but definitely not as good as what I'd had a few months back. The skin was crisp, the fat rendered nicely, it was on edging to the salty side, and the meat was rather tough.

So, I guess I'll wait a couple more months and try again. If that doesn't work out, it's back to the drawing board.

Overall, large portions, good prices, perhaps a notch below Golden City.

Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum
10550 Camino Ruiz(Inside of Vinh Hung Market)
San Diego, CA 92126

Back to Golden City

Golden City is one of those places that Cathy, Ed from Yuma, and I, have posted on a number of times. I've been going to Golden City from my pre-blogging days when the place was on Convoy; to the reopening in October of 2005, thru changes in ownership and so on. It's always been a convenient place to grab a decent lunch, if you choose right.

And so; right before Christmas, we had some time on our hands and Calvin was starving, so we headed on over to Golden City.

I got my usual favorite; the Kwai Fei Chicken.

Which was sadly, not very good this time around. The chicken was dry and tough and that sauce had way too much scallion in it....it had turned green! Bummer....it had been a while since I'd had this and I was looking forward to it.

We also got the Chee Cheong Fun (rolled rice noodle) with XO Sauce.

Uneven cooking technique doomed this dish. The rice rolls were tender; but weren't evenly coated in XO sauce. Burnt bits didn't help things at all either.

The best dish of the day was the Roast Pork.

While not nearly as good as the "Macao Roast Pork" when it was on the menu....I don't know how many chefs ago; the skin was crisp; if a bit unevenly roasted. The pork was moist; with a good bit of fat, and not overly salted....you could enjoy the flavor of the swine.

You know; I'd always thought that Golden City in some form would easily outlive me......who knows; it still might. But this was definitely not up to expectations. Hopefully, things will be better next time I visit.

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

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.

Sieu Sieu BBQ Revisited

As a sign of how long I've been doing this blog.....do you remember what was in the spot before Sieu Sieu BBQ opened in this spot in 2008? You'd be right if you said Maui Maui Hawaiian BBQ...funny how it went from one reduplicated name to another, eh? And before that; wasn't it something like Yakimono restaurant.....and for bonus points; do you remember when Sieu Sieu BBQ was in Linda Vista? Sheesh.....

Anyway, this one has been sitting around for a while. I took a revisit; it had been a couple of years.

I decided to get Ga Muoi - "salt chicken", something akin to Kwai Fei Chicken and Roast Pork with rice ($8.95).

The chicken came with the minced ginger and scallion "dip" and was on the dry side, but was nicely flavored....the ginger was chopped much too coarsely for my taste, making the flavor too strong.

The skin on the roast pork was too thick and hard and as you can see; the meat was really dry. Can't say it was bland though. Too bad, because on my last visit; the pork was way better than the roast duck.....

The rice, night have been the best I've ever had here, moist, hot, fragrant.

Well, even though the price was right.....it'll be a while before I return again.

Sieu Sieu BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Roadtrip - Revisits to Qing Dao Bread Food (Monterey Park), Kang Lac Bakery, Lien Hoa, and Song Long (Westminster)

Whew; I need to catch up on all my posts! Since I've posted on these places a multitude of times; I'll keep it shirt and sweet.

This one is from back in August of last year. Basically, I had an all day meeting in Irvine. The Missus had the following day and night off; so we decided to stay in the area. We started things off well by having dinner at Sushi Noguchi in Yorba Linda (sorry no post on that one....next time). The next day after my meetings we headed off to dinner and was kind of unimpressed with Sichuan Impression in Alhambra. In fact we basically ate maybe half of what we ordered. Our hotel had a fridge, so I'd end up taking stuff back and then home.

Being somewhat disappointed in driving all this way, we decided to make a short stop. The Missus was really missing good jiaozi, so we decided to make a stop at....

Qing Dao Bread Food:

Man, it's been a good long time since we've been here.

The place is starting to look even more run down and the folks working a bit older. Though it's fun to get a smile out of the Missus when She hears the "Qingdao Hua"; the accent of Her hometown.

Two orders for us. The lamb versin; which doesn't have as much "soup" as before; but is still very gamey. And the vegetarian, which on this occasion was really good. The wrappers were nice; with that pillowy-pull to them.

The Missus had really been missing jiaozi it seems as She put these down in no time.

There was one rather sad moment during our meal. It was when the traditional garlic condiment came out. I've called this the Missus's "little dish of memories". Her job when She was a child in Qingdao was to pound the garlic for jiaozi in a mortar and pestle. Something She used to hate, but now loves.....in fact She did it with such relish the last time we were in Qingdao. Looks like they now put the garlic in a blender....very sad; because you really get the most flavor out of the garlic when you pound it; you release all the oils.....this really didn't have the "umph" we were used to. Perhaps the folks here have gotten old and tired of pounding garlic.

Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

The next morning, we got up rather early. Instead of just hanging out at the hotel until check-out and heading off to Sea Harbour, we decided to check out early and just do the usual two-fer of Lien Hoa and Song Long. We hit a snag as when we arrived at Lien Hoa; the place wasn't open yet. I had an idea. You see, years ago, "Beach" took me to the place right over in the next parking lot for a snack.....

Kang Lac Bakery:

The Missus had never had the Bot Chien here and it was right next door to Lien Hoa. So why not?

Radish and Taro cakes coated in crisp egg.

Man, that sauce is still good!

Tea for the Missus, some Vietnamese Coffee for me. The cost was like ten bucks. A very nice start to our morning.

Kang Lac Bakery
9301 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, CA 92683

By now.....

Lien Hoa:

Was open.

And I got our roast duck; which I've posted on a number of times.

Lien Hoa BBQ
9311 Bolsa Ave
Westminster, CA 92683

And then it was time for "our real breakfast"......

Song Long:

Ever since "Kha" recommended this place to us years ago; it's become a real favorite of ours.

And I have to say; it's still a big favorite. Hmm......maybe we have some time next weekend?

Song Long Restaurant
9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108
Westminster, CA 92683 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hong Kong BBQ (again)

mmm-yoso!!!, a blog.  Subject: food. Kirk is taking a mini-vacation this weekend, following a horrendous week of work.  Cathy is writing.  

Earlier this week, Kirk posted about Fung Fung Yuen, a new restaurant in Mira Mesa.  The Mister and I also wanted to try the new place, but our timing was always off and we just don't like waiting in line.  After reading Kirk's post, I'm glad we didn't bother.  In the same parking lot is the old movie theater turned grocery store, Vinh Hung.   Inside Vinh Hung is Hong Kong BBQ, which has been visited by Kirk in  2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012, while I wrote posts in 2009 and 2015.   The lunch menu is on the back page of the regular menu, but additional lunch items as well as the entire regular menu are embedded under the glass table top.
       Shrimp with pepper bean sauce ($8.95) (lunch special 43).  Black bean sauce, plump shrimp, onion, red and green bell peppers, water chestnuts and ginger.    Chicken black bean sauce ($7.95) (lunch special 5).  Quite a lot of stir fried chicken with the same vegetables as above.  On the menu, the shrimp has a red chili, indicating a slightly spicy item, but both plates had the same level of heat and flavor...we were sad yet satisfied with the plates.  Steamed whole flounder ($8.95) (Under the glass lunch special menu).  I really liked this preparation of the whole fish and the soy/scallion/cilantro flavors. (After reading this 2013 article in Smithsonian Magazine, I've opted to purchase whole fish as much as possible, so I know what I am eating).   Fried stuffed tofu ($7.95) (lunch special 31). A small, plump shrimp is on top of the soft tofu which is thinly breaded and fried to a light crispiness and is a tasty indulgence. I've ordered this more than once and sometimes crave it...stopping in a Hong Kong BBQ to get it as a quick meal.

All in all, a nice place to stop for a meal.  Consistently good. Underrated.

Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum 10550 Camino Ruiz  San Diego 92126 (858) 408-4888 Open Sun-Thurs 9-9, Fri-Sat 9-9:30

Fung Fung Yuen

Fung Fung Yuen opened this past summer (on the ever lucky 08/08) to quite a bit of hype and fanfare. My friends who visited soon after the initial soft opening told me the place really didn't live up to their expectations. So I waited about six weeks. We'd moved offices and was now a bit closer to the place. Three of us, Calvin, "BigD", and myself, made two visits, after which we decided to give it a rest.

The restaurant does remind me of those "Dim Sum Palaces" of my youth, a nice, rather large, space (formerly Hometown Buffet).

The place is set-up for larger "family style" parties.

During our visits, there only seemed to be 2-3 carts rotating at a time. During our first visit, we never saw the steamed dumpling cart, so no siu mai, har gow, etc. On both visits, we never saw any Cheong Fun.

I've decided to start with the best item we had; which coincidentally was actually ordered off the menu; the Roast Pork ($14.95).

The pork was moist, the skin, while a bit too thick was decent. A very nice dish overall.

A remote second was the tripe.

No off flavors, decently cooked, nice "crunch" the gooey sauce was a bit on the "sweet" side for my taste.

I think it's kind of sad that the two main reasons the Shrimp Siu Mai is number 3 was that it was hot and it wasn't overly tough.

The Soy Sauce Noodles was on the colder side, a bit greasy and overcooked.

Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf was barely past warm.

The rice was nice and tender, though the pork was really tough.

One look at the Har Gow and you can tell this wasn't going to be very good.

Dried out wrappers, hard and overcooked shrimp.

The Eggplant stuffed with shrimp was quite cold and greasy.

That sauce which was cold really didn't help matters.

The Ham Sui Gok, the fried glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with pork was also cold, thus the dumpling had become rather gummy. Check out the (lack of) filling, which was cold and tough.

The Bean Curd roll was at least served at a decent temperature. But the strips of vegetables were cut too thick and was undercooked.

Calvin just wanted the Xiao Long Bao.

Looking at the photo; you can kinda figure things out; cold, no soup, really thick, hard wrappers.

And yet, there was something even worse than the XLB; the Pearl Balls, these made with shrimp.

Cold, tough, some of the rice was just plain hard.

There's obviously some kinks to work out here.....things like keeping your product at a decent temp in the carts.....which, by the way, only made one pass, and then was gone. It was a rather unsatisfying two meals. I'm hoping they get things straightened out. I'm hoping they work things out. Folks were telling me how busy the place was, but on our first visit the place was one-third full, on our second even less.

For balance, please check out Kirbie's and Faye's posts.

Fung Fung Yuen
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Revisits - Mignon Pho + Grill and Red Moon Noodle House

So, our office was set to move after years in the Serra/Kearny Mesa area. We'd be heading a bit North. Thus, I decided to revisit a couple of places before we left.

Mignon Pho + Grill:

Or as Calvin's wife calls it; "pho for folks who don't like pho". I dunno, it had been a couple of years, so I decided to check them out again.

I went with the "Trolley Bowl" ($10).

The noodles were decent, though in  clump, and the herbs and such were sparse though fresh. Still not sure why they serve ngo om (aka rice paddy herb), with its distinct flavor with the pho here.

The soup always seems to have kind of a bitter - tinny flavor to me. It's also quite weak and overly defatted. The proteins were tough and lacked flavor.

But, this place still seems to do good business. Perhaps it's the service which has always been friendly. Or perhaps it's the Lemongrass Fries, which is the best (only decent) thing I've had here.

Mignon Pho + Grill
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111 

Red Moon Noodle House:

Another place that I haven't been to in a while and haven't had great luck with. Though one of the folks that I used to work with really enjoyed the Singapore Noodle at Red Moon. So why not?

The really nice guy working brought me a fork to start? I had to ask for chopsticks? The dish, when it arrived, piping hot, looked quite impressive as it was topped with fried eggs.

Once you got past that though, it was a disappointment. The pork in this was really tough, almost hard.

There was way too much curry powder....it was definitely powder because it left a grainy, bitter residue on my tough. This was actually rather unpleasant to eat.

The noodles were too hard as well.

I took most of this home and had the Missus taste this......big mistake.

Folks have mentioned a "secret menu" (I've had the XLB, it's definitely bought frozen from somewhere else), but I've never received recommendations. So guess what? Singapore noodles....maybe that fork should have been a clue?

Really nice folks here too though....

Red Moon Noodle House
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

I really liked the folks working at both places; but man, the food really didn't and hasn't been my thing here.