mmm-yoso!!!

House of Pho

One of my coworkers wanted to know what I thought of this little shop off Plaza in National City. So, I thought I'd head down to check them out. I was forewarned about the "interesting" service that "MG" sometimes got here.

The little shop is a simple set-up; the menu is status quo for these type of shops.

The young lady who waited on me; was well....different; she dropped off the menu at the table and just stood there, not impatiently mind you, she just stood there blankly looking at....well almost through me, not saying a word. This wasn't say; the perfunctory service of, for example Pho Hoa, this was just silence. I placed my order, she grabbed the menu, turned and walked away; uttering not a word.

I had gone with the well done steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe.

The portion of sprouts and basil was also average for most pho places these days; rather sparse, but at least fresh.

The broth was cloudy, not very rich, lacking in anise/beef tones, and mostly just salty. Sorely in need of a flavor injection; more cilantro, onions, or anything.....

The noodles were over-cooked and on the mushy side.

The meatballs were the typical squeaky, flavorless orbs; the well done steak tasteless, the one piece of tendon thick and tough; the chewy flank had some beefiness, ditto the brisket, and there were two little "wisps"of tripe.

My check was silently placed on my table; the silent Server, turned and walked away. I did hear her talk to the other woman working.....she just didn't speak to me at all. This was kind of odd.

There really wasn't any reason to return. But a few months later....yes months; I decided to just come back and try something else.

The same young lady was working; same blank stare, same silence...….. I started with the Garlic Wings.

Which arrived sizzling hot and crisp. It really lacked any substantial seasoning though.....not much garlic, or anything else going on here. The skin got mushy rather quickly, lots of black spots in the flesh, whose texture was a bit chewy in spots. I'm thinking there was some oxidation and freezer burn going on here as there was that slightly off flavor in spots.

I had also ordered the Bo Kho; the Beef Stew.

This was basically pho broth with bo kho base. In a completely opposite manner; the broth was super greasy, had a metallic finish to it, and lacked the beefy, tangy, mild-anise/peppery spice of a decent beef stew. It was quite salty and I used a good amount of the lime trying to balance out the flavor of the broth....to no avail.

The beef in the stew were strangely provided in tough and dry "rolls"

The banh pho was decently prepped this time around and had some "pull" to them.

My check silently arrived at my table...….

I decided to see if I could actually get a response from the young lady serving me and when I saw this.....

I had an opening...perhaps the young lady was just shy? I asked her if the owners were from Hawaii? The young lady gave me a blank stare; took my money, turned around and walked away. She did say something to the other woman working who laughed. I guess I just wasn't worth but a single word or response. Strange.....

House of Pho
3120 E Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Sun - Fri 10am - 9pm
Saturday  10am - 10pm

Revisits - Mi Quang Mien Trung and Pho Hoa

It had been about eight months since Mi Quang Mien trung had opened; so I thought it would be a good time to revisit. Plus, they open at 8am, so I can get noodles for breakfast before hitting the office on weekends.

It seems like only half of the menu display was working on this day; but I knew what I wanted. I wasn't very impressed with the signature dish of this place during my previous visit; so I gave the Mi Quang another try.

The pork this time around was vastly improved; nice saltiness, good pork flavor. After that; there was a total drop-off. Still hardly any broth and what is provided is so bland, it might as well be msg flavored hot water. The noodles were nicely cooked and I appreciated the banana blossom, which added a decent texture. The shrimp was really bad; it was over-cooked and had a very musty flavor, not good eats.

Like I said before; it's a pretty nice looking dish and maybe you'd like it....if you've never had Mi Quang before. For me, this is just so bland and lacks soul.

That said; there were a few things on the menu I had wanted to check-out, so I returned the following weekend.

By now it seems the entire menu board is now non-functional. It's back to paper.

I ordered the Bun Hen ($8.50) and Banh Bot Loc (a small order $4).

The Bun Hen is by far the best item I've had here so far. While not nearly as well seasoned or spice as the version at Mien Trung, the clams had a nice mildly chewy texture, had a mild savory flavor, without any sandy-grittiness. That mam nem did it's magic on the dish as a whole; adding a wonderful deep-funky savoriness to the dish. The chicharrons were fresh, light, and crunchy. The bun was perfectly prepared and there was a good amount of banana blossom in the dish. It was very satisfying.....

I can't say the same about the Banh Bot Loc, which was ice cold, really, tough, and flavorless.

You can't win 'em all I guess.

CC recently visited Mi Quang Mien Trung as well.

Mi Quang Mien Trung
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

As for that "vehicle" parked in front of the 7-11....well, you never know what you'll see on ECB.....

For some reason yesterday's time change kind of messed me up....as in, I was up at 4am messed up. After trying to sleep for a few more hours; I gave up and decided to go into work for a while. But first I needed some breakfast....and perhaps some pho. I've had some pretty lousy pho recently and just wanted something decent.....plus it was 645am in the morning. I decided to head up to City Heights and have my breakfast at Pho Hoa, after all it had been over 2 years since my last visit. Plus, they open at 7am.

Not much going on at 7am on a Sunday at Pho Hoa; just a few "old-timers"; me included. The lighting gave the place a rather eerie look.

The drill was as expected. The menu, placed on the table, is basically symbolic, a formality, as the guy taking the order is already standing above you, pen poised in hand, impatiently waiting for you to order before you even open it.

But there was no mistaking the freshness of the basil, ngo gai (yea!!), and sprouts when it hit the table. And man, apparently there's no national shortage of basil as other pho shops will make you believe.

It was good 'ol #4 for me. As I mentioned in a previous post; I'm not a big fan of the rare steak here....it usually has a rather metallic taste to it.

The broth was decent; a slight beefiness, a bit richer than usual, clear, with a nice mildly pungent-anise flavor. Not overly sweet like much of the pho in San Diego is these days.

The brisket was slightly beefy if a bit on the dry side; the flank wasn't overly fatty, the tripe crunchy, but it was the tendon that took the gold medal. Nice and buttery in texture.

Not an amazing or great bowl of pho; but passable and it hit the spot. With the state of pho in San Diego, this will just have to do these days.

Pho Hoa Restaurant
4717 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115 

The Pho Shop Revisted

So, what to eat near Sports Arena at 10am on a Sunday morning? I had to do a bit of shopping and it was a bit too early for lunch at most places. Then I remembered the Pho Shop. I thought it would be good to check them out again since it had been a while. But man, I hadn't realized it had been over five years already! How time flies.

I arrived just as the "open" sign went on. There were fans running in the place. I was obviously the first customer of the day and the only customer during my entire visit.

I just went with the Pho Dac Biet. The herbs and sprouts soon arrived..... as expected the amount of basil was miniscule and just starting to brown.

My bowl of pho quickly arrived thereafter.

The broth was a lot lighter than on my previous visit. It was also, like most of the pho in San Diego these days on the "sweeter" side, though it still had some nice onion tones. Not much beefiness and also highly defatted.

The tai; rare steak was very lean and once past rare quite tough; like on my previous visit, the flank and brisket were nicely done and beefy, the brisket being very tender. There was nary a piece of tendon in my bowl; though there was a lot of tripe; which was crunchy, and had no off flavors.

The noodles were cooked decently this time around.

While obviously not among my favorite pho shops in San Diego and navigating the course of "pho not to offend" this was not terrible. I can't think of any better pho in the area; though I haven't made the rounds in a while.

The Pho Shop
3760 Sports Arena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 10pm
Sunday    10am - 9pm

Pho Duoi Bo from Royal Garden

I found myself back in City Heights this past weekend and decided to drop by Royal Garden to see what was going on.

I believe there was some kind of event going on later in the day as chairs were arranged, though all the tables near the window were occupied. Seems like they are doing some decent business these days.

I hadn't had a bowl of pho in a while and I recall thinking it was pretty good on one of my previous visits. So I ordered the Pho Duoi Bo - oxtail pho.

The sprouts were really fresh; though the basil was just starting to turn color. No ngo gai (cilantro) on this visit.

The bowl that arrived was quite huge.

There was one very large piece of oxtail and three smaller pieces. The texture of the meat was perfect; tender enough to be able to remove from the bone with chopsticks, but not falling to pieces. It was obviously cooked in some other liquid since it had a nice slightly sweet, winey-soy flavor, with a hint of ginger, edging almost toward a pork braise. There was also some decent slices of flank and brisket in the bowl; but it really was all about the oxtail.

The broth was darker this time around and more beefy with hints of anise.....it was also a bit on the sweeter side, but not overly salty. It wasn't quite as clear as on my previous visits either. Still; at least there was some beef flavor.

The noodles were cooked perfectly, but for some reason, there was a bunch of smaller pieces of noodles.....I'm thinking I got the "bottom of the package".

Regardless, this was a decent bowl. Looks like I found another place to get my "pho fix". And of course, like I mentioned in my previous post; there's much more to explore on the two different menus.

Royal Garden
4201 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Wed - Mon 9am - 9pm
Closed Tuesdays

Royal Garden

A few months back I was heading to the 15 North, and much like how I've noticed many places while driving in the area, saw that the former Five Star Banquet Hall that had become a Vietnamese - Chinese banquet hall, was now serving food to the public.

So, I did a quick U-turn and drove into the parking lot to check the hours. The following weekend; after working for a few hours; I drove down to the area to check the place out.

And yes; it is indeed a banquet hall; from the dance floor, stage, and lighting.....to the pressed white table cloth.

As you can see in the photos above; I was the only customer in the place. The two women working were really friendly.

I wasn't sure if I should try the butter wings or the fish sauce version. The woman working sincerely told to try the fish sauce wings first.

The wings were of decent quality; no dark spots or broken bones. I liked the size of them as well. I did think the sauce was too sweet for my taste and these weren't fried well; making the skin quite gummy.

I had also ordered the Pho Dac Biet.

And, as you can tell by the sprouts and herbs above; was prepared to be disappointed.

But when the pho arrived at my table; I as pleasantly surprised.

The broth was crystal clear; there was even a hint of beefiness in the fragrance. It wasn't overly salty, had a hint of anise and onion, and wasn't too bad at all.

The proteins really surprised me. The tai; rare beef was nicely rare, and of better quality than the typical top round. It as quite tender. The tendon was also another winner.

The noodles were decently prepared and as a whole; I really enjoyed this bowl. Now when was the last time I had a decent bowl of pho at a new place?

It didn't hurt that the two women working were really nice as well. I'd noticed a bunch of things on the menu that I wanted to check out. A few weeks later; Calvin and I had a chance to runaway for lunch.

I had mentioned trying the Bo Tai Chanh….strange, but Calvin; whose Missus is Vietnamese had never heard of this dish before. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised as he'd never heard of Bun Mam or even Bun Mang Vit until having lunch with me. Anyway; Bo Tai Chanh is a beef salad in Lime Juice.

This was a pretty decent version; though I wish the beef was a bit more rare. It was also a tad on the sweet side; but squeezing lime on it balanced out the flavors. There were a few hidden chilies; which added some zip to things and I loved the onions as well. The fried shallots added some sweetness and the peanuts; that earthy-nutty flavor. This was quite refreshing on a super hot day. Calvin was all over this....

I also ordered the Thit Heo Nuong; basically a marinated pork salad.

Which was fairly routine; though the pork was nice and tender, the marinade was on the salty side. Still, if you need a salad......

Calvin wanted some noodles and asked if they did Hi Tieu Ap Chao....which is how we came to find the "other" menu. Which had some interesting dishes on it.

So even if the Stir Fried Hi Tieu was bland and routine.

The noodles were nice prepared; but there just wasn't enough flavor.

That menu had my interest. Though my next visit; on the following weekend was a solo one.

I mentioned being a bit hungry and the nice lady suggested the Bo Luc Lac.

The portion size was indeed generous and the Com Do (red tomato rice) was mild in flavor though nice and moist. The beef was just barely toothsome from the stir fry at first bite; then very tender. The sauce balanced on the edge of being too salty. I really enjoyed the jalapeno peppers in the stir fry. Overall, not bad at all.

Of course Calvin just needed to have that Bo Tai Chanh again; so we headed back the following week.

This time; the meat was a bit over-done. I think I'll request this more rare next time.

The Cha Ca Thang Long wasn't bad.

As you can see; no it's not even close to being as good as Song Long, but I didn't expect that. The turmeric fish was moist and tender; with no off flavors. I missed the fried shallots and peanuts and in this case; I think more oil could have been used. It wasn't too bad overall. There was an abundance of bun, crackers, and mam nem, which seemed a bit mild in this case. There was a good amount of dill used for this dish.

We also got the Bun Cha Ha Noi.

A bit smallish in portion size; this was on the mild side with regards to the marinade and the nuoc mam cham. The meatballs were sufficiently tender as was the pork; which I think was the better seasoned of the two meats. Again, very generous with the veggies and bun. Not bad; but I don't think I'll be ordering this again.

I will however, return to Royal Garden. I think the quality of ingredients used here is pretty good and there's much more to explore on the menu. Bap Xao Tom Kho, Hu Tieu My Tho, Pho Duoi Bo, among others. Plus, I like the two women working here.....they are very nice and friendly. Yes, the food might take a while, but that's ok....it gives you more time to enjoy the banquet set-up.

Royal Garden
4201 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92105
Hours:
Wed - Mon 9am - 9pm
Closed Tuesdays

 

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!

PB Pho and Grill

A few days after my post on Island Style Hawaii BBQ & Local Food, I was contacted by "Lurker Larry"...really, that's what he wants to be called, who lives in PB and wanted my opinion on his favorite Vietnamese spot, PB Pho and Grill. I did let him know that if I dropped by, I'd be perfectly honest in my opinion and I didn't want to hurt his feelings....or lose a reader, lurker or not. I was assured that he just wanted to know what I thought....well, I was somewhat flattered. I asked him to tell me what his favorite dishes were and after receiving that email dropped by the following weekend.

Located near the corner of Cass and Garnet, I'd really not have noticed the place if I drove by. Strangely, I found easy parking nearby.....on all my visits....even on weekends. I'm guessing that folks are still sleeping in at 11am on weekends during the off-peak season?

The interior is large, colorful, in the typical kind of hipster, modern pho shop way. The menu has a decent selection of the usual suspects...everything from Banh Xeo to Bo Luc Lac, and of course pho.

Armed with a list of Larry's favorites, I went first with his number one fave....Bun Thit Nuong ($8.49). Man, this bowl looked huge.

There's no faulting the portion size; though the amount of pork, is somewhat deceptive. Still, it is decently flavored, with fish sauce, not too salty nor sweet. The cha gio, the egg roll, was somewhat burnt, really hard, and the filling was dry. The nuoc mam cham was watered down and much too sweet for my taste.

The bun was nicely done, good al dente pull to it....and believe me there was a of bun in this dish. The only thing that was more of was the iceberg lettuce and bean sprouts

You really couldn't fault the portion size. Though the nuoc mam cham was so watered down that I asked for....and was given, very nicely mind you, a second little ramekin of it....with no extra charge.

So, I guess if you thought of this as a salad.....well, maybe not.

Mission not over; I returned the following weekend. And still had an easy time finding parking.

This time, a different twosome working, service was kind of odd...the young man wasn't very pleasant, he just seemed to want to get back to texting on his phone, yet the young woman was so nice....sort of a strange "good cop, bad cop" kind of service?

I went with the other two items "LL" told me about. The first....and the reason he found our little blog in the first place, was because of chicken wings. He often orders the chicken wings here.......and so did I ($9.99). Funny, the menu says 10 wings....but I took a quick census.

Anyway, these are basically "naked wings" with sweet chili sauce. The skin is rubbery, not fried well enough....and it's a version of sweet chili sauce. Lots of black spots on the bones....somewhat dry.......

Per my direction, I ordered the Pho Dac Biet ($8.99)....."LL" does rare and well done steak. I just wanted to get the range of proteins.

This is what I call a classic example of "Ameri-pho". It's not bad....in fact to show how far "pho has fallen" in Kearny Mesa, this place is better than Pho T Cali. But that is setting the bar very, very, low. So.....the rare steak was pretty much well done by the time the bowl hit the table. It was dry, the other proteins weren't too bad....the well done steak and flank had a decent flavor. The broth was cloudy and highly defatted....as is typical for San Diego pho, it was on the sweeter side, but actually not overly sweet. No anise tones, but a light beefiness.

Looking at the photo to the right.......as is the norm in "Ameri-pho" fairly skimpy on the basil and sprouts.

There were two little "whisps" of tripe, no complaints about texture; though the tendon was MIA. It was the typical clump of noodles in the bottom of the bowl; but it was very hot, but not over-cooked.

Well, what can I say, while his wasn't the pho of my dreams, it was actually better than the last bowl of pho I had in PB.

And so that's the way it goes, right? Well, not so fast Kemosabe....... Just for the heck of it, I decided to return for an encore. So, I returned....this time the service was so nice and friendly.....because I had seen Banh Mi Bo Kho ($8.99) on the menu. So why not?

I didn't expect; say Pho Lucky and to be perfectly honest, I didn't even expect Bo Kho on the level of Pho Saigon Bliss.

What I will say is; this was one huuuuge bowl of beef stew flavored soup. To say this is a stew is really pushing some definitions. Also, there was a layer of fat at least a third of an inch thick on top of the broth. The flavor had a strange greasy-sweet-pho-saltiness that lacked the tangy-black pepper-anise tones I enjoy. And that layer of greasiness did no favors to the broth. This was obviously pho broth with a beef stew base added to it.

On the bright side, there was a ton of beef; fairly tender, squared off pieces.

I could have used with more cilantro and onions to cut through the pure greasiness.....but perhaps nothing would have helped. The carrots were not cooked all he way thru, but the banh mi was crusty, yeasty, and nicely toasted.

Not the best....but in all honesty, I've had worse. Sorry "LL" if I've disappointed you. My wish for you is for you to take some time and visit other areas of San Diego for Pho and Vietnamese cuisine. There's much to like about PB, but as of now, Vietnamese food in not in that category.

 PB Pho & Grill
1007 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Though I did learn where I can find parking, at least for now, in this part of PB!

Thanks for reading and giving me an opportunity to try somewhere new LL!

Revisits - Pho Lucky and Pho Cow Cali

Once upon a time; I considered Lucky and Cow Cali to be my favorite pho shops in San Diego. But recently, I've had some less than stellar visits. The weather had been strangely December like over the last couple of weeks; so I thought I'd drop by and see how thing were.

Pho Lucky:

After my terrible last two visits here, I mentioned that I'd stick with the Banh Mi Bo Kho, which has always been a favorite of mine. Which is exactly what I did.

Well, this did hit the spot. Though the stew is not quite as thick as it used to be. There's a light anise flavor, a decent dose of black pepper, a mild tanginess to it all. Though I'm not sure what was up with the herbs.....I don't recall getting as much of it during previous visits.

There was quite a bit more meat than I recall having before. The tendon and connective tissue looked quite tough, but wasn't. It was nice beefy goodness. The carrots were cooked decently, not hard in the center, and the standard issue banh mi was toasted nicely.

A pretty good meal overall. During this visit, I noticed that there were some new items on the menu. I specifically noticed Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho, which got my attention as it is a dish that I usually go City Heights to get when I have a craving. So, I returned the following weekend to try it out.

So here's the thing. I found this to be quite "different" in a way. First; the hu tieu was severely over cooked and mushy. Second, there's usually some sauce; usually a combination of soy...maggi, or whatever either at the bottom of the bowl or poured over the noodles. This had nothing. I was kind of puzzled. Then, on queue the gentleman came over with a standard issue bottle of maggi sauce. Sigh......

There were two slices of leathery char siu....and a ton of really dry; leathery, and bitter tasting liver. I tried eating one piece and it was terrible.

The other thing I found different as the greasy, pork based "gravy", much like what is served with the Hu Tieu My Tho at Pho King; except it was really bland.

The best two things about the dish was the Chinese celery and the broth; which was quite rich and comforting.

I really thought they might have served me something else from the new menu, but the receipt confirmed I got what I ordered (I think).

I'm still a bit gun shy with regards to the pho here as it has seemed to have gone downhill over the last years or so. So maybe now it's only the Bo Kho?

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Pho Cow Cali:

Speaking of pho.......I was wanting a bowl of pho and decided to revisit Cow Cali. After my last visit here, I had pretty much decided to stick to the pho.

I arrived at 10am and the place was already almost filled. I'm not a fan of the rare steak (tai) here; so I stuck with the flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe.

The amount of herbs and sprouts provided was on the stingy side. The broth, in what seems to be an increasing trend here in San Diego, was "sweeter" than I recalled. It was also not as rich. It did have some beefiness to it, with mild anise tones.

The noodles were a perfect stretchy and the proteins, as is usually the case here was the highlite of the bowl. Especially the brisket; though the flank was nice and beefy and very tender. The tendon looks really tough, but is not bad at all.

Not the best bowl of pho I've had here, but it did the trick.

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126 

I left wondering.....is it just me, or is the state of pho in San Diego on the downswing?

Shank & Bone

I was a bit intrigued when I first read about Shank & Bone opening in North Park. A Vietnamese place in North Park? Though this little phrase in that post caught my attention “traditional, authentic cuisine and flavors of Vietnam". Okay! You know what I think about using the term "authentic" when it comes to a cuisine. But "traditional", I can buy into that. Could it be? I decided to visit a few days after the place opened.

Traditional or not; the interior design of this shop is something to see. From the Shepard Fairey print to the bright colors and clean design.

In the category of "something to see", so are the prices on the menu; especially "that" bowl of pho.....more on that shortly.

I saw Beef Carpaccio ($12) on the menu. So I decided to start with that.

I also saw watercress; so thought the dish was perhaps a cross between Bo Xao Xa Lach Xoong and Bo Tai Chanh. Turns out it was closer to the former. I love watercress, so I enjoyed the veggies, the mint really helped; though the nuoc mam was weak on the fish sauce and too sweet for me. The beef was rolled up into balls, not the most visually appealing presentation. Upon unravelling the protein, I realized how large the four slices were. This was basically repurposing beef sliced for pho. It was a bit too thick for my taste.

Still, not a bad dish.

I also got the "Signature Pho" ($17). The bowl, sans soup was delivered to the table, and the broth poured from a pitcher tableside.

I noticed a couple of things right off. The basil and sprouts, the portion size of which was small, were starting to turn brown. The broth had a nice fat content and was dark brown, but gave off no fragrance. It was pretty weak; very mild beefiness, no anise tones, very little of anything. The noodles were too soft for my taste as well.

The two slices of top round were typical; on the dry side, though the flank and brisket were nicely done.

The biggest disappointments were the oxtail, which needed more cooking time as it was dry and tough, and the bone marrow, which sounds really good in theory, but quickly became a rather unsightly globule of fat in the bowl and for some reason had lost all its flavor.

Not my favorite bowl of pho by any means. And maybe "no MSG" might not be a good thing in this case? And I was left over thirty bucks lighter in the wallet as well.

The staff though, were a joy, very friendly, and just a nice group overall. Dishes did take a while, but I wrote that off to having just opened.

I was on my way back from Northgate Market the next day and decided to take a detour and try a couple of other dishes at S&B.

This time, I was seated at the bar. I looked over the beer, sake, and soju list. S&B does not have cocktail license, but I was intrigued at the "Old Pho-shioned" ($10). Which, while a bit on the lighter side...to be expected, was fairly decent. I enjoyed the anise-clove-burnt orange tones of the drink.

As for food; well, this time I went with the "Saigon Chicken Wings" ($10).

These were smaller sized wings; which I prefer for the skin/batter to meat ratio. The batter was a bit on the hard side and the glaze really, really sweet. The wings were also fried a bit too long as the meat was on the dry side. Not terrible.

I saw Banh Mi Bo Kho ($11) on the menu during my previous visit and was curious about that.

The beef stew, while on the thinner side had a nice amount of fat. The broth, while lacking a good amount of tanginess, had more than enough black pepper and beefy flavor. The beef was nicely done; not mushy and over-cooked, but unlike the oxtail not tough. I could have used more pungent onions and some anise tones in the broth, but this was fine. I also missed not having beef tendon. But this was, by far, the best item I had at Shank & Bone.

I was going to quit while I was ahead. But then I read Kirbie's post on Shank & Bone (please check it out) and there was a dish that caught my attention. So I decided to head on back.

The same great crew were present. I went ahead and ordered a "Plenty for All" and the Banh Xeo Tacos ($11).

This riff on banh xeo uses the "crepe" as the taco "shell". Very nice and creative. The filling is a combination of chopped pork, shrimp, bean sprouts (not enough), and jicama (not enough). It was on the mild side in terms of flavor. and the nuoc mam was low on the fish sauce and much too sweet. I liked the lettuce and mint, but missed the basil and tiet to (purple perilla) which adds a nice citrusy-anise flavor to banh xeo. Also, the crepe shells didn't hold up real well; but had a nice, light crunch while they did.

I needed a companion to my "tacos" and because that was a pretty large fat globule of bone marrow in my pho on my first visit; I decided to try the Roasted Bone Marrow and Banh Mi Crostini's ($13).

This just wasn't a good value as there wasn't very much bone marrow in these rather "skinny" bones. It was all gone with one slice of banh mi. The "chimichurri" had way to much citrus making it too sour....not a great match for bone marrow.

So that's it for Shank & Bone for now. I wish them well, but there's just so many almost $40 dollar solo mediocre lunches and dinners I can take. Still, it's a nice atmosphere, the staff is friendly.....but it's all about the food with me.

Though if you want hipster Vietnamese, well....this just might be the place.

Shank & Bone
2930 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Sun - Mon 11am - 9pm
Tues - Sat 11am - 10pm

 

Revisits - Green China Grill and Pho Duyen Mai

A couple more revisits before we moved offices late last year.

Green China Grill:

It had almost been a year since my last visit. So, on one of those cooler days, I decided to drop by.

The place was as green as ever. And the menu seems to keep expanding.

Looking over the menu I realized that I'd always had the Lamian (牛大碗 - hand pulled noodles) here. I decided to try the Dao Xiao Mian; knife cut noodles, with beef brisket.

While the flavor of the broth was still on the mild side; it didn't seem to be too heavy on the MSG side of things. It was also decently textured, a decent amount of fat/oil in the broth. The beef had a nice texture, not falling apart, but not too chewy. There was a nice soy sauce-anise-light sweetness to it that was pleasant. Man, this had a ton of noodles in it! The noodles were pretty uniform in terms of width and I prefer my Dao Xiao Mian a bit thicker. It seemed a bit too processed in texture; tearing easily, lacking tenderness and "pull".

All-in-all, not bad. Though not quite worth the $10.99 price tag for some rather routine noodle soup.

Green China Grill
4688 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Duyen Mai:

Of course I had to have some of "Them Bones" again.

The pho broth here has hit a certain level of consistency; a bit too sweet and salty, but not terrible, light in beef flavor and anise tones. Still there's much worse to be found in the area. Noodle were perfect, proteins in the soup decent. And then there were the xí quách bò - the simmered beef ribs. I was kind of disappointed this time around as the meat was really tough. I had to use the knife to cut it off the bones. On previous visits, I could just scrape them right off the ribs with a spoon. The beefiness was there, but it was just too hard to fully enjoy.

And no talented pooch this time around either. Oh well, Duyen Mai is still better than other pho places in the area......for now.

Pho Duyen Mai
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Thanks for reading!