mmm-yoso!!!

Spicy Lao Kitchen Revisited

While walking to our car after our mediocre meal at Duyen Mai, the Missus looked over at Spicy Lao Kitchen and was suddenly craving the Moo Tod that we enjoy. It had been a while since our last visit, so we returned when the place opened at 11 a few days later.

We were greeted and seated. Like before there was just one person working the entire front of house. She as very nice.

Looking over the menus; we decided on trying the Heavenly Beef but was told that it wasn't available on this day. So, we ended up ordering the same three dishes we had on our previous visit. It did take a while for the dishes to start arriving......but eventually, it made it to our table.

The Moo Tod was every bit as good as what we'd had before.

Crisp as first bite, then giving way to a wonderful soft-porkiness. The seasoning seemed even better this time as the slices of pork was nicely dusted with chili powder. Like I've mentioned before, we don't care for Jeow Mak Len, which at least to us, doesn't add much to the dish.

Of course I had to get the Nem Khao.

This was much better than what we'd had here during our previous visit. Though still a bit short in the sour sausage department, the rice had a good ratio of crisp to regular rice. Each bite had a nice variation of textures. We could even make out a hint of coconut, though it was still quite mild in terms of spice.

And of course, we had to get the Goong Nam Pla; the naked shrimp. Whoa, this was even better this time around!

We got this at a medium spice; it was good and spicy, great acidity, the shrimp had a wonderful texture with no off flavors. This was a wonderfully refreshing dish, especially on a super hot day!

Overall, a very nice, albeit long (took 1 1/2 hours) lunch. We'll make sure to return soon, when we have the time for a leisurely lunch. Hope they have the heavenly beef in stock when we revisit.

Spicy Lao Kitchen
5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Tues - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sunday     11am - 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Hope all our SD "FOYs" are enjoying the cooler weather we're experiencing!

Revisits - Spicy Lao Kitchen (Kearny Mesa) and Vientiane Lao Thai Restaurant (Garden Grove)

A pair of revisits to Lao Restaurants for your Monday.

Spicy Lao Kitchen:

The Missus was craving the Moo Tod and Goong Nam Pla that we had on our last visit to Spicy Lao Kitchen. So we headed on over. 

It was 1230 on a Tuesday, but the parking lot in the strip mall was pretty empty and the restaurant had only two tables of customers when we arrived.

I'm guessing that the soft opening crowds have now gone their way as the sign out front now says "Grand Opening". There was still one person working the front of house, but she did a good job and there wasn't as much of a wait as on our previous visits.

We ordered 4 dishes, three of our favorites here and one new item from the menu.

First to arrive was the Moo Tod thinly sliced pork belly, the crispness gives way to a nice almost creamy texture.

Nicely seasoned, good salt and savory components. For us, the rather salsa-ish Jeow Mak Len, pretty weak in heat and flavor is not needed. In fact, all the jeow we've had here has been pretty weak.

Next up was the Nem Khao. 

While still one of our favorite versions in San Diego, this hasn't been as good as what we'd had here on our first visit. The rice was in hard chunks rather than being crisp, there wasn't enough sour sausage nor spice as well.

Of course we got the Goong Nam Pla; the naked shrimp.

This dish was a winnah; good spice, the shrimp tender, nice acidic tones. The shrimp had no off flavors and this was quite a refreshing dish.

We decided to try the Crying Tiger. We were asked how we wanted our beef cooked and said "medium rare". What arrived was definitely not that.

The beef was on the tough side. Though the spice was decent it definitely needed more fish sauce, acid, and more toasted rice powder for that nutty flavor. This was pretty weak.

Still, even though it's still one server manning the front of house, our orders were taken in a timely manner and there wasn't an overly long delay for our dishes as on previous visits.

Spicy Lao Kitchen
5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Tues - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sunday 11am - 7pm
Closed on Mondays

Vientiane Lao Thai Restaurant:

During our last Staycation, I had made plans to visit a locale in Carlsbad on the morning after our dinner at Jeune Et Jolie. Those plans however fell thru and after having our morning coffee, we had to decide what to do before check in time in Oceanside. The Missus had the idea of heading up to Westminster to visit our current Cha Ca Thang Long place, but we had just been there three times over the last couple of weeks. Then, I had the idea of revisiting Vientiane Thai Lao in Garden Grove. It had been almost 4 1/2 years since our last visit. It would be interesting to compare the nem khao tod there to what we'd recently had at Spicy Lao.

So we headed on over and arrived at around 1130. The place was fairly busy and we got one of the two remaining available tables. Looking at photos from our first visit back in 2009, the interior looks like a total different restaurant.

We placed our order and soon enough dishes started arriving. First thing to arrive was a large plate of lettuce and cilantro.

Which came in real handy for the Nem Khao.

The rice was crisp-crunchy and not in giant chunks like Spicy Lao, there was an abundance of sour sausage, and even pork skin! A hint of spice, a touch of coconut, perhaps even better than I recalled.

We had never tried the Lao Sausage here, so we ordered that. This was interesting in that it was sliced, then deep fried. Still it was much better than the overly dry and chewy version we had at Spicy Lao Kitchen.

There were three things we really enjoyed about this sausage; the sausage casing and fried portions were crisp, without being hard or chewy. The rice in the sausage added a wonderful soft, tender texture. And the herbs really gave it some "life".

We also ordered the Lao Beef Jerky, which was on the harder side of the scale, but wasn't overly salty and had an interesting lemongrass-soy-fish sauce-sweet flavor.

We saved most of this and actually ate it for breakfast! It keeps really well. Of course we need to try the version at Spicy Lao.

The one item we ordered that Spicy Lao does better is the Goong Nam Pla. What arrived at our looked nothing like what we'd had here on previous visits.

First off, the shrimp were really chewy and gummy. It also had a muddy after taste to it. The sauce was provided on the side and though it had decent heat, lacked sufficient acidity, and the garlic tones we'd noted during our previous visits. Bummer.

Still it was great seeing that the nem khao here was still good after all these years! Funny thing, we thought we ordered a lot, but the couple on the table next to us ordered 6 dishes! Service was friendly and efficient. We need to return soon.

Vientiane Lao Thai Restauarant
10262 Westminster Ave.
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Current Hours:
Thurs - Tues 11am - 730pm
Closed on Wednesdays

So, even though Spicy Lao is improving, we think they've got a bit to go to catch up to Vientiane. Though the shrimp there was much better!

Spicy Lao Kitchen Revisited

After returning from our latest trip, there was one place the Missus wanted to eat at.....Spicy Lao Kitchen. It had been six weeks since our initial foray and we were interested to see how things were coming along. Based on our last visit, which took a bit over two hours, we decided to arrive a bit later and got there at 130pm.

Things were a lot quieter this time around as only half the tables were full.

There was one woman working the entire dining room, a different one from the last visit. This time there wasn't a wait to place our order. However, just like our previous visit, it took 45 minutes for the first dish to arrive.

We had seen the Moo Tod ($10) on the menu and though it might be a good dish to try.

Man, this was delici-yoso! The pork was crisp at first bite, but not hard, and kinda melted away into a nice, pork-bellyish creaminess. Great array of flavors; coriander-garlic-chili. As before, the Jeow Mak Len was the weak link, being too mild, and not spicy enough. It wasn't really needed.

Our next dish came out a few minutes later. Now, I'm not sure why the Missus ordered the Chicken Satay ($9)?

But this was our least favorite dish of the bunch. The chicken was dry and bland. The sate sauce was really thick, like miso paste, and overly sweet.

Of course, we had to get the Goong Nam Pla ($17). This time we got it at a "3" heat level. And though it took a while to get to our table, this was even better than what we'd had on our previous visit.

The tender shrimp had a decent amount of "heat"; but it was also seasoned better, great sour tones, loved the spice, and the presentation was also quite nice. This dish is a keeper.

And then there was a pause in the action......and 30 minutes later, our last dish, the Nam Khao ($15) arrived.

We were just thankful the dish arrived. The couple behind us had already been eating when we arrived and was still waiting for their papaya salad! They finally cancelled that dish, paid, and left.

The nam khao was a confluence of textures, different variations of crisp, toothsome, and crunchy, with nice sour tones. We enjoyed the spice and the pungency of the onion. Sadly, this time, there wasn't quite as much sour sausage in the dish, and we missed that.

Spicy Lao Kitchen still seems understaffed as indicated by us having another 2-hour lunch here. We're hoping that things get better as this place as we enjoy the food and the folks working a bit harried but nice. But we don't always have time for 2-hour lunches.

The place still opens at noon, but now is closed on Sundays.

Spicy Lao Kitchen
5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 12pm - 8pm
Closed Sundays

Spicy Lao Kitchen - Soft Opening Visit

**** You can find an updated post on Spicy Lao Kitchen here.

In the comments section of  an old post, "FOY" Junichi mentioned that Spicy Lao Kitchen had gone into soft opening mode. And a few days later info was posted on Eater stating the same thing. I mentioned this to the Missus who was excited at the possibility of having decent Lao food within 5 miles of the house. The question was whether to wait a bit, or to just check things out while the place was in soft opening mode? Well, the answer was easy, we'd been waiting for this place to open since March of 2022. Yep, we were going to make the time to check the place out!

We arrived at around 1230, the place currently opens at noon.

And the place was fairly full. I guess we're not the only one's waiting for Spicy Lao to finally open? In fact, we had to cool our heels at the doorway waiting to be seated. A couple behind us, pushed their way past us and just took a table. After about 15 minutes or so, the super busy young lady told us we could have a seat, but it would be at least 30 minutes before we could place an order. The couple who cut in front of us heard this and immediately left. The Missus and I didn't need to be anywhere, so we decided to have a seat and wait things out.

We watched and waited as food trickled out of the kitchen. The young women were working quite hard, but it was easy to see that they ere quite under staffed. On the good side, the Missus and I saw Xiāngjiāo and her hubby MichaelFC at a table! Man, it had been so long since we'd seen them! It was nice to have some time to chat, I've really missed them! Eventually, we placed our order and just decided to wait things out. Having to look the menu over several times; well, we ended up ordering quite a few items.

After about another 45 minutes, our dishes started trickling out.

Starting with the Sai Oua ($13), Lao sausages.

  The sausage had a firm, "snappy" casing. The filling had some good herbaceousness but was quite dry and overly chewy. Not a bad version by any means, but definitely not great. We tasted the Jeow Mak Len, the tomato dipping sauce provided which was mild, tasting like a weak tomato salsa and decided not to use it.

From here, it was another 30 minutes before our next dish came out; the Chicken Larb ($15). We ordered all dishes at a heat level of "3" on a scale of 1 to 5.

While a bit on the sweeter side of things for Lao larb, this was pretty good. The roasted rice powder added that touch of nuttiness and the lightest of crunch. There were slices of toothsome chicken gizzards in the larb, which while mild in flavor really added another toothsome dimension. I thought the heat level was pretty good, but the Missus told me that I had gotten whimpy in my old age. The young lady was dropping off our next dish and laughed when she heard this!

The Lao style Papaya Salad had arrived ($14). The young lady who delivered this was the one working the register and seating folks. We had noticed that she delivered all the papaya salads and inquired about that and was told that she makes all the papaya salads! Oh my....

You could tell that the papaya was cut by hand. The pounded tomato tasted quite good. Nice spice, at least for me (see the Missus comments above). While it looked the roll, this missed the mark a bit as it wasn't quite a pungent-funky as we're used to for the Lao version and like the larb was a bit on the sweeter side for this style of papaya salad.

Next up was the Goong Nam Pla ($17), the "naked shrimp".

This was a winnah! The shrimp was very tender and perfectly "cooked" in a lime forward "dressing". This could have been a bit more spicy for me and perhaps it could have used more pungency; but the texture of the shrimp was what made this a good dish. We'll definitely have this again.

And of course, you know we had to get the Nam Khao ($15). 

This was nice and crunchy; the Nam was spot on fermented sour which the Missus loved...in fact "XJ" sent me a text later on saying that while she was eating the nam khao all she could think about was the Missus's obsession with Nam! Lol! There was a hint of coconut, mild pungency, and spice. And while this was also a bit on the "sweeter" side and could have used some herbs and pork skin for added textural contrast; this was possibly the best version we'd had in San Diego in a while. And while the nam khao isn't even close to what we had on the banks of the Mekong in Vientiane or even Vientiane in OC this was quite good.

All in all we left the restaurant at around 230pm. It had kind of emptied out by then. So, I'm thinking until they get things under control, we'll be visiting during "off hours". Yes, we will return.

And hopefully, things will keep getting better. Right now it seems that you should probably plan on a nice slow, long lunch when you visit.

Spicy Lao Kitchen
5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Daily 12pm - 8pm

Saturday Stuffs - Ban Lao Becoming So Saap, Boiling Passion is Now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu, Boston Market (Balboa) Becoming California Fish Grill, and Other "Stuffs"

Just some odds and ends for a quiet Saturday.

Ban Lao Becoming So Saap:

In my post on doing takeout from Mekong Cuisine "FOY" An mentioned if I'd heard that So Saap was taking over the Ban Lao spot in City Heights? Whoa, no I hadn't heard about that. Last I saw,  Ban Lao had taken over the Que Huong space. And that was just a couple of years back! So, after doing my usual Saturday errands, I decided to head on over. And wouldn't you know it.

I hadn't even had the chance to visit them at the "new" location! Damn you Covid! Folks that I know who've been to So Saap's Market Street location haven't been overly impressed! Ban Lao was one of the few places where they'd actually make what I consider to be Lao Style Beef Larb. That would be raw beef with beef bile.

4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Thanks for letting me know about this An! I really appreciate it. I don't think our little blog would still be around all these years without thoughtful folks like you!

Boiling Passion is Now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu:

Speaking of my visit to Mekong and few years back, Boiling Passion occupied that space. They then moved to a smaller space in the strip mall. When I took a glance at the shop I noticed that it was now Kanpai BBQ & Shabu.

First thing I wondered was if this was an offshoot of Kanpai in Chula Vista? Second thing I noticed was that they were on soft opening mode with only Shabu Shabu...."BBQ Coming Soon"? I guess this is really a very "soft....." opening?

3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Boston Market (Balboa) Becoming California Fish Grill:

On my way back from Nijiya and 99 Ranch Market, I decided to stop in at the Walgreens near the corner of Genesee and Balboa. When I parked, I noticed that Boston Market was gone.

  Man, this location of Boston Market had been here forever! I decided to walk on over to see what was up....hoping that perhaps an interesting eating establishment was coming to this location. I should have known better. It's a chain swap out. At least it's California Fish Grill which claims serve only "Responsibly Sourced Seafood". You can read about Cathy's visit to one of their locations here.

5502 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Other "Stuffs":

We have a ton of leftovers from various meals, especially our last short Road Trip (posts coming soon). For some reason, I've really been enjoying the leftovers.

This past Tuesday, I was walking out of Clairemont Coffee with my cold brew when something stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a pretty rare sight in San Diego....a rainbow!

For some reason I was so touched by this sight. It reminded me of "home", you know:

"Where I live, there are rainbows
With life in the laughter of morning and starry nights

Where I live, there are rainbows
And flowers full of colors and birds filled with song"

It just brought a smile to my face....and it just brightened my entire day!

So, here's hoping you all have a wonderful and bright weekend!

Takeout From Mekong Cuisine Lao and Thai

As you can tell by some of my recent posts, the Missus has really been in the mood for Thai food. Usually, when the weather warms up, we switch from all those noodle soups to Thai and Lao food. Speaking of Lao food....well, recently the Missus was in the mood for some. I had been looking forward to Spicy Lao Kitchen opening, but the place hasn't opened yet. I really didn't feel like driving up to City Heights even though there are two places there just to do takeout. So, I decided to see what was going on with Mekong Cuisine Thai and Lao, after all, it had been quite a while since I last visited.

I ended up ordering 4 dishes and then went for a walk. I returned in 15 minutes and my food was ready after another 5 minute wait.

Here's what we had starting with the item we enjoyed the most.

We enjoyed the Nam Khao Tod ($20) the most.

It's better than what I'd had here in the past. Nice and crunchy bits without being too hard; good sour tones, ginger and herbs to brighten things out. Not as much coconut as before, which was kind of sad. It came with a generous amount of lettuce and the portion size was quite large.

Sai Oua ($17), the Lao Sausage had a firm, snappy casing and the filling was fairly tender.

One the sausages was incinerated and quite bitter. The filling had decent herbaceous tones and this came with a large portion of sticky rice. I do wish there was more ginger and peanuts with the dish. Not quite on the same level as the versions we enjoy the most, but a solid #3-4 pick.

I also ordered the Tum Mak Hoong - Thum Maak Hoong Lao ($15) on the menu.

    I ordered this at a heat level 4 (on the scale of 1-5) and it was adequately spicy. Though I'd return with friends a week later and we ordered heat level 5 and it wasn't as spicy as this. Of course you can instantly see this is missing the salted crab and the tomatoes are just wedges that haven't been poroperly "briused" in the "kruk". This was slightly funky, not a savory as we enjoy and the liquid was kind of watery.

We also ordered the Yum Nuea ($18) which was a disappointment.

Look at all that sauce....really watered down. I ordered this at a heat level 4 as well, but it was not spicy at all. The beef was overcooked, I mean, I'm used to lean and chewier cuts of beef in this dish, but this was really tough. It just looked like this was thrown together and dumped in the container.

Still, the Nam Khao and Sai Oua are keepers here. I'm hoping that Spicy Lao will open soon though.

Mekong Cuisine Lao and Thai
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 330pm, 5pm - 9pm

Sunday Stuffs, the Sign but "No Sign" (of life) Issue - Honeyjam Chicken & Beer, Hanzuyu Ramen, and Spicy Lao Kitchen. And Current Problems with Photos

Just a couple of things for a quiet Sunday.

It seems that places are taking longer than ever to open these days. I won't pretend to understand the issues, obstacles, and effort places must take to open.....and while we do appreciate great places to eat opening, sometimes....when the wait is so long; it can be somewhat discouraging.

Case in point, back in fall of 2021, there was a sign for a place named JJ Chicken that was going to open in Renaissance Towne Center. Fast forward to October of 2022, thanks to "FOYs" Patty and Rena, I found that JJ was no longer in the spot, but a place named Honeyjam Chicken was taking its place. Fast forward to June of 2023 and we're still waiting.

Patty had asked me if I knew anything....but sorry, I'm not an "insider", but perhaps a reader of our blog might know.

I'm hoping they open soon.

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

And......in the same strip mall I recall seeing the sign for Hanyuzu Ramen. That was in August of 2022. This is what it looks like now.

**** Well, it now looks like this location will be Ujin Ramen?

8935 Towne Centre Drive #113
San Diego, CA 92122+

Aaaand, the one place I've gotten a couple of emails on; Spicy Lao Kitchen, well I first saw the sign in March of 2022. From what I read back in 2022 this place was supposed to open in "Early 2022".  But of course, here we are in summer of 2023.

Several folks have asked me if this place is going to open. As far as I know, the folks who own the jerky shop in the strip mall are still intent on opening this place. 

5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Life sure has changed over the last 3 years. I have been told about the challenges with getting staff and supplies. I'm not sure, and hope that it is not, the how things proceed from here.

And finally.......

Are you having issues with photos displaying? Well, for several months, Typepad has been having a problem with their image server. I've tried to be very patient with the issue and have had a ticket open for weeks. But, what I've had to do was send them a link and proof every time an issue occurred. Sigh.........

Anyway, I finally did the "Twitter thing" and asked about he issue. And here's the response.

So, my apologies. I understand that there's a point in which I need to consider various "options". Still, we have over 5,000 posts.......I don't want to lose that. I thank you for your patience......

Have a great week!

Midweek Meanderings - Spicy Lao Kitchen Coming to Kearny Mesa and Vinya Vino + Vinyasa Coming to Balboa

Here are a couple of places I noticed when doing takeout recently.

Vinya Vino + Vinyasa Coming to Balboa:

I was doing some takeout from Noble Chef a while back when I noticed construction taking place in the old Beverly's location off Balboa.

Doing a bit of research it seems like this'll be a Yoga Studio/Wine Bar/Tapas sort of place....man Balboa sure is changing!

And I had a chuckle wondering if any of the customer base would do yoga, have a glass of wine, and then head over to Noble Chef for some....well...maybe Steamed Pork with Salted Fish? Somehow it just seems like something I'd see further up north? Hopefully I have the target customer base all wrong!

6185 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Spicy Lao Kitchen Coming to Kearny Mesa:

Funny, I saw Vinya when doing takeout from Noble Chef.....I saw this one when doing takeout from Golden City.

I believe this used to be the Subway in Spectrum Center. Googling the name of the place led me to this post. Apparently, the owners of the Jerky Shop in the strip mall are opening this up. Now this one, I'm kinda excited about!

5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Sunday Stuffs: Ban Lao Cuisine Takes Over the Que Huong Space, if You've Ever Wondered What I Sound Like, and Other "stuffs"

Just some "stuffs" for Sunday.

Ban Lao Takes Over the Que Huong Spot:

After picking up lunch at Fredcels, since I hadn't been around City Heights since March, I decided to take a quick peek on University to see what was going on. I drove over the 15 freeway and to the corner of Marlborough and University; noticing that Cafe Dore had their doors open. I then took a quick look left and noticed that it seemed that Ban Lao's sign was gone. I was bummed.....I then took a turn into the parking lot and was even more shocked......you see Ban Lao had taken over the space where Que Huong used to be. Que Huong was gone! "CC" had told me that Que Huong had changed ownership a while back and that Jay and his sister no longer owned the place. But this was still quite sad since I'd been visiting here since 2005! Bummer......I'll miss my favorite fish sauce chicken wings and boneless chicken feet salad. After seeing this; I just decided to turn around and head back home.

RIP Que Huong.

Here's a link to something from 2012.

4134 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Speaking of sad - I've been looking at posts I did from my Portland Trips:

So, this all started when I read in Portland Food and Drink that Cheese Bar was closing. Wondering what all this collateral damage was from Covid-19, etc. I started looking at all the places we visited during trips to Portland and I was shocked at how many places were recently permanently closed or soon closing. Not including those places that are still temporarily closed.

All Pok Pok locations

Tasty N 'Alder - This one really hurts since it was a favorite of the Missus and even inspired a copycat version of the Missus's favorite dish there.

Bailey's Tap Room

Blue Star Donuts

Toro Bravo

Alma Chocolates

Ataula

You can find a list here.

Have you ever wondered what I "sound" like?:

Back at the beginning of October; I received an email from Kristy Totten at the UT:

"I host a podcast with Abby Hamblin about interesting people around San Diego and we were wondering if you'd come on our show this week or next."

Which caught me totally off guard. I'd always thought that I have done a pretty good job of flying under the radar. So naturally, the first thing I did was take a quick look at the Podcast; which is named Name Drop San Diego. I was and still am not quite certain why "FOY ChrisR" recommended me for the podcast. And after reading first the description:

"Name Drop San Diego is a weekly podcast from The San Diego Union-Tribune celebrating people who have shaped San Diego and been shaped by it. Join hosts Abby Hamblin and Kristy Totten each Tuesday as they get to know the people who make San Diego proud."

And looking at the line-up of folks who had already been on the podcast....frankly, I was thinking someone had made a mistake here.....

Still, I agreed to a phone call with Kristy and Abby, who were both so warm and friendly....setting me immediately at ease, I agreed.

Abby and Kristy made the whole process quite fun to be perfectly honest. I'm not sure how; but they worked some magic and made my rambling answers seem somewhat coherent. So kudos to them.

There were a couple of things that were somewhat funny. First, not being a big fan of my voice (though I will say; I got a great face for podcasting), I was surprised at how fast I speak. Second was a totally on the nose observation made by some of my close friends, each of whom said in a similar way that I'd totally fail the "lightning round" since there was just no way I could answer questions on food in a single word or sentence. I guess they know me well.

So, if after all this rambling you're still interested here's the link.

Kristy and Abby if you do read this post; thanks so much to the both of you for a wonderful experience. It was a pleasure.

And Chris, thanks....I think; for the recommendation.

And, I was also reminded of another one I did back in 2008 - here's the link from the wayback machine!

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip - Vientiane Lao Thai Restaurant Revisited (Garden Grove)

We were in the OC and it felt like a bazillion degrees. It was 10 in the morning and we were getting hungry, so where to go? I had a couple places in mind; though it was just too hot for most of what I had in mind. The Missus had a favorite of Hers, Song Long in mind. And then it came to Her....what would be perfect on a hot and humid day; it had been a while since we'd been to Vientiane; no not the city (though we loved it there); but Vientiane Thai Laos, which we had first tried in 2009 and really enjoyed. So, we drove on over to Westminster Avenue and the strip mall that hosts this little restaurant. Man, has parking always been so bad in this strip mall?

Anyway, the restaurant has changed over the years; it looks much more up to date, though we were hoping that the food would still be the same.

The young lady who served us was adorable, so sweet, and nice.

And of course we started with what was perhaps my favorite version of Nem Khao outside of Vientiane (the city).

Everything was so sparkling fresh. The Missus loved the amount of pork skin and sour sausage in the dish. I wasn't so thrilled as this was not quite as good as what I'd had here before. I thought the rice, instead of being crisp, was on the harder, more chewy side....not bad mind you; just not as crispy, though it was crunchy as what I'd had here on previous visits. There was till that nice sour-sausage-smoky-savory thing going on; but it didn't have the light, faint coconut flavor I recalled.

The Missus wanted Her favorite dish here; the Koong Chae Nam Pa, raw shrimp salad.

These days; the wonderful garlic-lime-fish sauce-chili sauce is now served on the side. Of course it was poured over everything. The shrimp were chilled, with just the amount of toothsomeness you'd want. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and sweet and tangy. This was every bit as good as what we remembered.

The Missus also wanted Her Lao Style Papaya Salad.

By the time my attention went to this dish, the Missus had almost devoured the whole thing. Not as much salted crab as I recall; but man, this was so perfectly funky and savory; with a stiff spiciness....and again those tomatoes; though this time it had been perfectly bruised in the mortar and was so tender and sweet!

We had decided to add one more dish for the meal and asked the young lady for a suggestion. She recommended the beef salad. Asked how we'd like it done, I said "raw"....she looked up in surprised and said, "are you sure?" And I said, that's how it is traditionally, right? To which she nodded......and it turned out to be the right decision.

And it turned out to be the right decision. Unlike other versions where the meat is minced or chopped and served; this one was pounded in the mortar, making the texture wonderfully tender; like a good tartare. The rice powder added a nice nuttiness; the citrus the acid. The real bonus was the tripe which was surprisingly soft and buttery.

This was just the perfect meal for a hot and humid day. While other tables were getting pad thai and curries (and one dude seemed so hungry he was eating a plain bowl of rice!); we were cooling off with traditional Lao dishes.

It's good to know Vientiane Thai Laos Restaurant is still doing well nearly ten years since we first visited.

Vientiane Lao Thai Restaurant
10262 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove,CA92843
Hours:
Mon      11am - 9pm
Tues     10am - 9pm
Thurs    10am - 9pm
Fri- Sat 10am - 10pm
Sunday   10am - 9pm
Closed on Wednesdays