mmm-yoso!!!

Slurp (Liberty Station)

Recently, I was in the Liberty Station area, where in all honesty I don't spend much time these days since the Missus prefers the sourdough at Secret Sister to Con Pane. But here I was close to lunch time and I decided to get some lunch on this day. Initially my thoughts were on hitting up Latin Chef again or even the location of Chris' Island Grinds at this location, but really, I'd been there and done that.

Instead I had heard about a fast-foodish stand in the Public Market called Slurp and the Duck Noodle Soup. So, I went and located the stand.

Which was quite interesting as there was another stand named Slurp Taiyaki and Ramen in the food court, but it was the "true" Slurp that I actually wanted.

You see, I had an acquaintance mention one item on the menu they enjoyed, the "Roast Duck Slurp", basically duck noodle soup. There's a bunch of Chinese-Thai dishes on the menu, but that was what was recommended and that's what I ordered.

Which after ordering ($16) soon arrived in a nice tight package. This being a rather quiet day, I took it outside and proceeded to see what it was about.

 I appreciated the way things were packed though I told the woman I'd be eating this close by. There were containers of spicy vinegar and a decent chili oil (which I used) included in my package.

I found a nice al fresco space to have my meal.

And unpacked things. First impressions....well, that broth was scalding hot, the portion size was quite generous as it was more than would fill the bowl of ingredients.

The broth was decent, nice very mild flavor of duck, five spice, white pepper, not overly salty. Nothing amazing mind you, but better than I expected.

Poured into the container with the duck, veggies....well, veggies was broccoli, and noodles left almost one fourth of the broth leftover.

   Which led to an interesting concoction. The duck was breast, quite lean, a bit more chewy then I enjoy, with a touch of five spice seasoning, not bad at all. The fried shallots added a nice savory and crunchy texture. The broccoli really gave off "Panda Express" vibes but at least I got some veggies.

Sadly, the egg noodles were overcooked and mushy.

This was an interesting visit. Is this the future of food court cuisine here, which ain't terrible? But yet, it isn't great.....well, perhaps that's the definition of what they want the food here to be.

Slurp
2820 Historic Decatur Rd.
San Diego, CA 92106
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 8pm
Fri - Sat        11am - 830pm

Sovereign Thai Cuisine Revisited

I guess the weather's warming up a bit since the Missus said She was craving Sovereign. It had been a while since my last post and though the Missus refused to catch the trolley there, we thought we'd check to see if we could find some decent parking. Which, for the Missus meant north of K Street and West of 15th Street. I will say that it looks like things have been cleaned up a bit in the area since my last visit and after finding parking on Island, between 13th and 14th we weren't accosted by folks like on my previous visits to the area.

We arrived at Sovereign and the place was doing some decent business at 330pm on a Sunday. We were given a nice table and looked over the menu. Our old favorites were there as well as a couple of items that caught our attention. Two of the items we'd had on previous takeout visits; which I hadn't posted on; the grilled chicken tail and the sour Lao sausage, both of which we enjoy weren't available.

We started things off with the Crispy Pork Belly ($14). We had enjoyed the spicy pork belly on our previous visit, though the rest of the dish wasn't to out liking. We thought just having that pork belly might work out well.

And man, were we right! It doesn't look like much, but the thick slices of pork belly was wonderful. The skin crisp and crunchy, the fat melted away to a wonderful, rich velvetiness on your tongue. The sauce, which wasn't overly sweet or spicy helped to cut all the swine-a-licious goodness adding some balance to each bite. Though I don't think it would reduce your Cardiologists bill. Talk about a guilty pleasure.

The other new dish didn't fare as well, the Crispy Chive Cake ($14). I really didn't know what to expect.

The coating was more hard than crisp. The filling was what seemed like a combination of overly gummy-glutinous, sticky rice and chives, of which more was needed for flavor. This was really bland, even with the sweet-savory sauce provided. Man was it chewy.....this reminded me of pan fried mochi. It really needed a savory boost in flavor.

From here it was our usual go-to dishes.

The Hat Yai Fried Chicken ($24).

Crisp skin, tender flesh, the shallots add a nice pungent-sweet-crunchy layer to the dish. Nice mildly sweet-savory flavors from soy sauce-fish sauce-sugar. Always a favorite.

The Missus's favorite vegetable dish is the Stir Fried Eggplant with Basil ($14).

Tender eggplant, I think more Thai Basil was needed this time around; but the dish has always been a favorite of the Missus.

And of course, the Thai Sausage ($13).

Still our favorite in San Diego, crisp casing, tender pork filling, studded with herbs, with a slight spicy "kick" to things.

As you can tell, we enjoyed this meal. And while Sovereign doesn't provide that spicy "Issan" or Lao heat we enjoy, we have dishes here that are favorites of ours. And while there's still some environmental grittiness to the area around the restaurant, it seems like things might be changing for the better in the area.

And we found a new "favorite" dish to add to our typical order at Sovereign as well.

Sovereign Thai Cuisine
1460 J Street
San Diego, CA 92101

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!

Thai Test Kitchen

A few months back, I heard about a Thai Restaurant located in an office park in Sorrento Valley. I did some quick "Googling" (hmmm...is that an appropriate present participle?) and Thai Test Kitchen came up, located off of Lusk Boulevard, right down the street from Eurofood Depot. The place was fairly close by and they even open at 9am! A Thai restaurant! So, after returning from our last trip, I headed on over to grab an early lunch.

Thai Test Kitchen is located in the Sea View Corporate Center. Such an interesting location.

There's ample parking. The interior is a collection of posters, knick-knacks, with a certain charming kitschiness.

I took a look at the menu posted and have to say, the prices did give me some pause. I thought it was all in my mind, but when I did a menu check, in some cases Soi 30th was cheaper!

The young lady working was very friendly and when I mentioned the decor, she laughed and told me that they were previously a deli and coffee shop and decided to change course. They still do a couple of sandwiches like the BLT and also coffee. but now the focus was Thai Food. Things were going so well that they decided to open until 7pm on Fridays! Good for them!

I decided to try out the Crispy Pork with Basil ($15.49).

 No, your eyes aren't fooling you. That's a fairly small portion. The egg was crisp at the edges just like I enjoy it, but a bit over cooked for my taste as the yolks was hard.

The pork belly was quite good, crisp, yet fatty. I really liked the spice level; it was a bit too much for "CY" whom I gave a sample to, but I enjoyed it. Also enjoyed the green beans and the Thai basil flavor, there's hint of garlic, just enough sodium, with nice umami from fish sauce and soy. This was definitely not an "Ameri-Thai" dish.

The portion of rice was quite large in comparison to the amount of pork belly which consisted of 4 pieces.

Well, while the price to portion ratio seemed a bit skewed, I decided to return and try one of the pick-a-protein dishes and settled on the Eggplant with Basil ($12.99). The young lady recognized me from my previous visit. I asked her what protein would go best with the eggplant and she said chicken.

Like before, the flavor and heat were quite good.... perhaps I'd enjoy a bit more basil, but no complaints with the rest. On the negative side, the chicken was really tough and dry, the eggplant was not cooked the way I like it. It was too hard. I like a slightly crisp exterior with a creamy interior; this was solid all the way thru. Like before, there was quite a generous portion of rice provided.

As I was leaving, the young lady handed me a card with a QR code on it. She told me to just scan, order, and pay.... then my order will be ready for pick-up. There's no upcharge.

So, deciding I needed to do one more visit, I did the QR thing and ordered the most expensive item on the menu, the Spicy Basil Duck ($20.99). Even though it wasn't the same young lady working on this visit, the woman working was every bit as friendly.

As you can see; there's quite a bit of rice. I really enjoyed the seasoning and spice again; the bamboo shoots were wonderful with the Thai Basil and savory components; nutty-anise goodness. The duck was a bit on the dry side, but the flavor was good, nice "duckiness" with a touch of sweet and assertive savory components.

 I really appreciate having a place like this fairly close by. It's definitely not "Ameri-Thai", though I do think the proportion of rice to dish is a bit skewed on the starch side and the prices fairly high for the portion size.

Still, the folks here are quite friendly and nice. I also like that they open early, since I often like to get lunch at 10-1030. So, I'll definitely drop by again and try some other dishes. So, I guess they "passed the Test"?

Thai Test Kitchen
10184 Telesis Ct.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs   9am - 5pm
Friday             9am - 730pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday

COMC, the Takeout Edition - De Cabeza/El Único, Zgara, Sue's Korean Kitchen, and One More....

So, here's a collection of takeout revisits on places I've posted on a bajillion times. 

De Cabeza/El Único:

I was off on a Wednesday and wanted something rich, beefy, and hefty for lunch, so De Cabeza was a natural pick. We hadn't been in a while and Cabeza en su Jugo is so nice during colder weather.

I forgot that Wednesday is Jesus's day off. He really knows how to put things together the way we like. 

Still, this was quite savory, warming, and rich.....beefy goodness, with a good amount of spice as well.

Even though we get two orders; we usually have leftovers.....

I need to remember to ask them to put the onions and cilantro on the side......

De Cabeza/El Único
1043 Broadway
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Zgara Greek Grill:

I think it's rather surprising that I don't get stuff from Zgara every week, since it's not too far from home. Still, I do visit quite often and always get the same thing, the pork gyro.

The place seems to be doing some great business. Good for Eric and his Family! He opened during the middle of all the Covid restrictions and has done well! 

Seasoned porky goodness, with nice crisp bits, pungent onions, refreshing milky goodness of the tzadziki........enrobed in a pillowy pita.

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

Sue's Korean Kitchen:

Speaking of businesses that opened during the times of Covid. Think we were still in "red-tier" when Sue's opened in April of 2021.

The main dish I get here is the Kimchi Fried Rice with Spam (of course). It's still makes my preferred "under $14 for lunch" mark priced at $11.99. Though back in March it was $10.99.

Still, Sue's opens early at 10am, so I can get there before any lunch rush. For some reason, the woman there always remembers me?

I will say, that on my last visit, the portion size seemed to have shrunk a bit.

Still, this is enough food for me...... I like the fermented spice of the house made kimchi and of course the Spam. You know, the salty-savory-fermented kinda thing.

Sue’s Korean Kitchen
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd.
Suite 109
San Diego, CA 92121

Speaking of fermenting....here's a photo of a take out meal that has been relegated to one of my folders for so long that it would be the photo equivalent of Suan Cai. So, while I'll delete all the detail photos, here's one of the entire meal. Can you figure out where it's from?

And on that note, I'd like to know, what's in your current "rotation"?

Takeout Revisits - Chaba Thai and Ngon Ngon to Go

Just a couple of takeout revisits for a busy Monday.

Chaba Thai:

I thought we needed a break from our revisits to Sovereign. Been doing a lot of takeout from there and really aren't taking photos any longer. I was busy and wanted something on the way home from the office, with ample parking, and less seedy surroundings. I thought doing the usual takeout items from Chaba Thai might work out.

I ordered the same items as usual and went for shopping at 99 Ranch Market before returning to get my takeout. All was ready when I returned in 20 minutes and I headed home.

The Krapow Gai, the Missus's favorite dish from Chaba had a lot of minced chicken, in need of as bit more spice and was on the dry side. There was quite a bit of pidan hidden under all that chicken which made the Missus happy. The produce didn't seem a fresh as usual though.

Of course I got the Khao Kluk Kapi with Honey Pork.

    When all the planets align this is a good dish....of course no one wants to only have a dish be good once every 30 years, right? This was actually better than what I had on my last visit. The pork was nicely marinated and cooked, the meat moist and tender. The rice could have used a bit more shrimp paste, but was passable. I do enjoy the lime, onion, and some of the apple with this dish as it adds different dimensions of pungent, acidity, and tannic-sweetness to the bites of pork. This time the scrambled egg was placed on the side and the Missus poached that before I had a shot at it. In terms of portion size; I noticed that there was less pork than on previous visits.

I do wish there were more options with regard to decent Thai cuisine in the area.

Chaba Thai Kitchen
8010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

Ngon Ngon To Go:

Man, has Ngon Ngon been open for over a year already? I had done a couple of revisits for takeout, just getting the Bo Luc Lac. But on a recent visit, I decided to get something different. 

And just decided to get the Com Thit Nuong, the pork chop with rice, which was the cheapest item on the menu at $11. I placed my order and went to get some pastries for the crew in the office.

    My order was waiting when I returned. Overall, for eleven bucks this wasn't bad at all. The rice wasn't of the best quality, but was cooked decently. There was a standard green salad which was on the verge of heading south.

The pork chop was not bad; a bit on the more salty than sweet side, but quite flavorful overall. The texture, as anticipated, it was on the chewier side, but not dry. There were two pieces one laying on top of the other. 

The Nuoc Mam Cham wasn't quite as sweet as what I'd had here before which I enjoyed and really livened up the pork.

    This was not bad at all. A humble dish, decently flavored, and nicely priced for this day and age. Nice folks working here too! There was a steady flow of folks eating in and picking up takeout. I'm happy that business, at least to me seems to be doing well.

Ngon Ngon To Go
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

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

Supannee House of Thai Revisited

Recently, the Missus and I decided to take a drive out to Point Loma to check out the new Jiaozi shop, Meet Dumpling. Unfortunately, the tiny shop with just 4 tables was full and folks were waiting in line. So, we needed to come up with a plan B. Luckily, Supannee House of Thai is in the same strip mall. It had been almost two years since we'd last visited, doing takeout during Covid and five-and-a-half since we last dined in at Supannee. It was prime weather for our Thai food fix. Plus, if I remember correctly, Supannee had also changed ownership since our last visit. So, we walked on in.

The place was nice and quiet. 

We ended up ordering four dishes from the really mellow and sweet young man working.

Back in 2021, "FOY" Si recommended the Nam Khao Tod from Supannee, which ended up being a winner. We had to order it for dining in ($14.99).

And it's still a favorite of ours here. The nice chunks of sour sausage. The crispy rice was also in crunchy chunks. The generous amount of ginger was tempered by the lime and the peanuts. I enjoyed eating this with the provided cabbage.

I'm not sure what got into the Missus, but She insisted on ordering the Satay Chicken ($11.99).

Supannee uses chicken tenders for this and man, this is so dry. We also tried just the chicken alone which was very bland. It really needed the peanut sauce which was also quite mild in flavor and overly sweet for our taste. I don't think we'll be ordering this in the future.

Another of favorite of ours here is the Nam Tok ($14.99).

While I still think that the dish could use more of the nutty roasted rice powder and the beef tends to be on the toothsome side; the meat is flavorful and the bright acidity from lime really highlights the dish. We also love the marinade.

We got the Grapow Pork Belly ($18.99) which we ordered spicy.

The Missus quickly poached the fried egg which was nice and runny in the center. This wasn't very spicy to us and we kind of figure that the heat level is adjusted for the customer base. We enjoyed the crisp green beans; the pork belly was fairly tender. We wish there was more Thai Basil in this dish as it could have used a bit more "umph" and was perhaps a bit too sweet for our tastes as well.

We didn't get our usual favorite on this visit, the Thai Sausage. We'll save that for next time. As of right now, Supannee stands as a solid #2 on our list of Thai Restaurants in San Diego. We need to get back out there to check out more places.

Supannee House of Thai
2907 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 1130am - 3pm, 430pm - 9pm
Sat - Sun 1130am - 9pm

And while we didn't get to check out the dumpling shop, Supannee did just fine by us on a rather hot day.

Sovereign Modern Thai Cuisine Revisited

The recent warm weather has the Missus craving Thai food again. It seems that our options with regards to Thai Restaurants, whether to change in ownership or a not so great recent visit has been whittled down a bit. After a bit of probing, I found that what the Missus has really been missing is the food from Sovereign Thai, which presents its own set of issues. First off, the location is "interesting" and also presents issues with parking and also trying to get there before Padres games on off days. Over the last 3-4 months, the Missus and I have been using the trolley more; to get to places in Old Town and Little Italy for our date nights. So why not stretch it a bit and take the Blue Line to Park and Market, then walk the two blocks or so to Sovereign, right?

As we were walking to the restaurant, after having to resist a couple of "folks with issues", we walked into Sovereign which was empty.

I also realized that the Missus had never dined in at Sovereign! I wanted to say "hi" to Jumi, whom I've known since the days of Thai Papaya but she wasn't in.

We placed our order, three of our "standards" and one new dish to try.

The first item out was the Spicy Stir Fried Pork Belly ($19) an item from the "Specials" list.

The skin of the pork belly was still crisp when this was served; the flesh buttery and tender. Not very spicy though and really salty, the Thai Basil was incinerated and had lost a lot of the anise flavor.

Rice ($5) was then provided.

The rice was not fragrant and hard, like it had been sitting for a while.

The Missus and I looked at each other and wondered if coming here was a mistake.

But things were soon back on track with one the Missus's favorites, the Eggplant with Basil ($13).

While this was also slightly high on the sodium scale for us, ginger helped to cut things back. The eggplant had been cooked perfectly, first at first touch, then uber-creamy! The cilantro and Thai basil add a nice, one-two punch of sweet anise and citrusy-peppery-pungent tones to the dish.

Of course I had to get the Northern Thai Spicy Sausage ($12) which is made inhouse.

With the wonderful herbaceous tones, the "snap" of the sausage, the light filling with sneaky spice, this is my favorite version of Issan Sausage.

The Missus's favorite dish from Sovereign is the Hat Yai Fried Chicken ($23).

While it holds up quite well doing takeout and is even pretty good the next day; having it fresh to the table really highlites the wonderful moistness of the meat and the crispness of the exterior of the bird. As always, we love the fried shallots, the hint of sweetness with wonderful savory tones.

Overall, this was a nice meal. Strangely, we were the only customers in the place during our whole meal. 

As for using the trolley to return....well, I think going past America Plaza might be an issue for the Missus. 

I guess I'll have to drive down for takeout again in the future. Too bad, because this is by far our favorite Thai restaurant in San Diego.

Sovereign Modern Thai Cuisine
1460 J Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Mon - Tues 5pm - 9pm
Wed - Thurs 12pm - 3pm, 5pm - 9pm
Fri - Sat 12pm - 930pm
Sunday 12pm - 9pm

Takeout from Soi 30th (Revisit)

Thai is usually a spring-summer kind of thing for us. But, upon returning from our trip "home", the Missus was craving some Thai food. We thought it would be nice to do some takeout from Soi 30th. We'd place our order then take a walk and pick-up our takeout on the way back to the car. Man, Soi 30th was pretty busy, but as usual the folks working were quite nice. We placed our order, then went for a short walk before circling back to pick up our food which was ready as I walked thru the shop's doors.

We got back positively famished and unpacked our order.

Something struck us right away, one of dishes was missing an ingredient, the dishes didn't seem as fragrant as what we'd had befor.

The Larb Moo Krob has always been a favorite of mine, but this was really disappointing.

I ordered this spicy but it was really mild, it lacked rice powder which adds a nice nutty flavor to the dish. The pork was hard and tough, not good eats. Man, this was really dry overall and it lacked savory tones....almost like they forgot the fish sauce. 

After the larb, I was kind of worried about the Chinese Broccoli (gai lan) with Pork Belly.

 This was a shade better than the larb, at least it had a bit more heat to it. The gailan was crisp and nicely stir fried. The pork belly suffered the same fate as the previous dish; it was hard. We were left wondering what was going on with the usually crisp and tasty pork belly.

The last item we ordered was the Chicken with Holy Basil.

   Well, the first thing the Missus said when I opened this was "where's the fried egg"? We had ordered and paid for the "fried egg option" but they forgot to put it in this dish. Bummer. And I wasn't about to drive all the way back to 30th street for a $1.75 egg. This dish needed more basil and the overall texture was on the greasy side. At least the chicken wasn't hard and dry as we'd experienced before.

This meal left us scratching our heads, as a whole we had enjoyed our meals from Soi 30th, so we weren't quite sure what was going on here. Perhaps it was just a bad day, but going oh-fer-three is not good.

Soi 30th
3442 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104