mmm-yoso!!!

Pho Tan

Life is kind of interesting, sometimes things just happen. A good friend, who shall remain nameless....you'll soon see why, had recommended a place for Jiaozi......which based on previous experience I wasn't too keen on, after all, I'd been to the short lived location once and never did a post. Still, because I was going to be in the area, I decided to drop by. Unfortunately, or more perhaps, fortunately, the place was closed.

Well, perhaps this time my timing was good, right? After all, I wasn't looking for alternate sources of protein on this day.

But, it was time for an early lunch, and I had a place on my list, which "FOY" SDJulie mentioned in the comments on my last post on Pho Duyen Mai. I thought it was just the right place at the right time.

Pho Tan. I think this used to be Pho Poway, or something like that? Anyway, I walked on in; the shop was fairly empty except for a couple of folks doing takeout.

I was guided to a table. Thankfully, unlike what Julie had experienced and mentioned, the AC was working well on this day.

The young lady working was very nice. I looked over the menu and in the end decided to get good 'ol #17, the pho with well done flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe ($14.50).

Soon enough a rather sparse plate of sprouts and basil was delivered to my table.

And then a rather large bowl of pho was delivered. I wasn't expecting it to be so large!

  First thing I noticed was how dark the broth was. Second thing was what was slightly submerged. Good lord, it was a huge slice of brisket! Unfortunately, it was too thick, and ended up being very chewy.

The scalding broth had a hint of that "San Diego sweetness" that pho seems to have here, but it wasn't overwhelming. It was super hot, not overly salty, with a hint of beefiness. Not bad at all.

 I had to kind of take my time since that broth was super hot, so I'm not sure if it contributed to the noodles, being delivered in the typical clump on the bottom of the bowl, being on the mushy side.

I was surprised to see so much tripe and tendon in this bowl; along with all that chewy flank, this was a meat lover's dream bowl. Sadly, the tripe seemed not cooked long enough, and like that brisket, was super tough. Think of trying to chew on rubber bands.

The flank while being a bit chewy was not as tough as the brisket and had some nice beefiness. Based on all of the other proteins in the bowl, I expected the tendon to be hard and crunchy, but it was quite tender.

Overall, I'd say it measures up well to just about anything I can get in Kearny Mesa. I'd gladly return in an instant for a revisit if it wasn't almost a 50 mile round trip for me. The folks working seem to be very nice. As it stands, I'm glad I checked the place out and will be sure to return to try other things on the menu; i.e. the Banh Mi Bo Kho, when I'm in the area.

After all, I won't be getting dumplings in that other shop anytime soon!

Pho Tan
12316 Poway Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
Current Hours:
Wed - Mon 10am - 830pm
Closed on Tuesday

Thanks for reminding me about this place Julie!

Midweek Meanderings - Paragon Deli Closes, Pho Nom Coming to Convoy, and Wooltari Premium K-Food Coming to Clairemont Mesa

Just a couple of things for this "hump day".

Pho Nom Coming to Convoy:

I saw this when driving down Convoy, in the old Mr Moto Pizza location.

That drawing looked really familiar, so I asked one of my contacts, and sigh...yes, it's the Viet Nom - Formoosa - Steamy Piggy folks. I guess Convoy needs more over-priced, hipster-concept Vietnamese food, right? 

I wonder if they're going to do that "get a free dessert for a Yelp review" which you have to show your Server before getting your freebie stuff?

4646 Convoy St. Suite 114
San Diego, CA 92111

Wooltari Premium K-Food Coming to Clairemont Mesa:

Now this one has me a bit interested. I saw this sign when I had to get some hard wood charcoal at Barbecues Galore for a recent revisit to June Lake (more on that later)

I know folks who do online ordering from this company. They do a lot of prepared, frozen, gourmet type Korean products. It'll be interesting to check out.

According to Google, they are set to open on October 3rd.

7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And Sadly, Paragon Deli Closes:

Man, this one caught me off guard. Cathy sent me a text with this screenshot. This seems to have happened rather suddenly?

I know it was a favorite of Cathy's and while I only did one post on the shop, I had gone back a couple more times. I was meaning to return and get another Francesinha, but sadly that will not happen now.

Man, we recently lost Perry's; Tip Top is closing at the end of the month, and now this..... Quite sad.

2724 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106

Revisits - Minh Ky and Pho King

So, we were having such hot and humid weather, and then "bam", suddenly it's fall? The temps around here plummeted from the low 90s to the low 70's in the blink of an eye. I for one am kinda enjoying the cooler weather as I can get my noodle soup fixes in.

It's kinda strange that my first two visits when doing my noodle soup "rounds" was Minh Ky and Pho King. I didn't realize it at first, but when looking over previous posts, there was a common thread. And no it's not about being across the street from each other, nor is it about possibly having the two worst parking lots in the area; though there are other contenders for that "title".

The strange thing is that in recent years, I tend to do tandem posts on the place. In March of 2020, right before we shut down because of Covid, I visited Minh Ky on March 14th, then Pho King on March 15th! As we all know all restaurants and bars were shut down for dining in on March 16, 2020. Man, has it been over 4 years already? Then in December of that year, I did takeout from both places on back-to-back days! Of course, my last visit to Minh Ky was back in November of last year after the change of ownership. And my recent somewhat mediocre meals at Tim Ky and LHK had given me some motivation to return.

Minh Ky:

It was Minh Ky that I had in my sights. It had been a fairly regular stop from when we moved to San Diego. In fact, my first post was back in January of 2006! Of course my last visit was after the business had changed ownership and I wasn't overly impressed during my visit after the change.

It had been over ten months since that visit; long past the time when I should have returned. As I figured, there was no parking available in the lot, but I managed to find a space on tiny Meade Avenue and walked on over. It was a Sunday, at 930am and the place was already half full!

Though instead of my "usual" from here; I went with the Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup which is now $12.95. Not to beat that long desiccated horse, but I remember when it was was $4.25!

  Well, for starters, the broth didn't have the "super clear" look of the previous two versions I'd had recently. There was some nice savory tones; slight pungency, it was a bit on the sweet-salty side. I was quite thirsty for the rest of the afternoon.

I preferred the dumplings; there were three, to the won ton, also three in population. The dumplings had more savory tones; weren't as tough as the won tons. At least the wrappers stayed on for the duration; so no "dumpling disrobing" like at LHK.

The noodles were a bit undercooked and almost crunchy.

 You can tell the broth wasn't overly thin as it did a decent job of coating the noodles.

The char siu, like in most versions of this soup was on the leaner and chewier side; but it did have some flavor, even if was a bit too sweet for my taste.

Overall, a pretty good bowl. I'm glad this visit was much better than my previous one.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Fri - Tues 9am - 8pm
Closed on Wednesday

Pho King:

"PK" was a last minute decision for me. It was Saturday and I went for revisit to a place that ended up being closed, even though the sign said it opened at 10; it was 1030, and on my one successful visit, I was assured they opened at 10am. So, where to go? Well, I decided to chance a visit to Pho King. It had been a while, over 4 years since I had dined in, as noted above. As for parking; well, there was nothing in the parking lot, but I took a spin around the block; nothing on Meade, but as I came around ECB, there was parking right on the street in front of the place! I guess it was meant to be?

I strolled on in and was told "sit anywhere" by the older gentleman working.  I noticed that he knew all the customers on this day; so I obviously stood out.

I looked over the menu and was going to order my usual, the Hu Tieu Mi Kho, but instead I ordered the Hu Tieu My Tho Kho (small - $12.95), which I last had here waaaay back in 2007! Oh, and because I know you're wondering, it cost $5.95 back then. The older guy was kind of worried about me ordering this; telling me first that the "soup is on the side" and that there is intestine in the dish. I told him I knew that.

Once I convinced him that I would not totally freak out at what I'd ordered, the sprouts and veggies arrived. I'd always enjoyed that Chinese celery was included here; though now it's mostly just lettuce.

Soon enough the Hu Tieu My Tho Kho arrived.

  I quickly set about tasting the different items. The soup was far from bland, but really had that "San Diego sweet" pho flavor. It was also high in msg as well.

There were two shrimp and one piece of squid, but at least 5 slices of liver and some really tough pork....oh and half a fishball. I wonder what happened to the other half?

    One of the first thing that came to mind was the "Hu Tieu shenanigans". You know, the time I ordered the Hu Tieu Mi Kho and got a single strand of Hu Tieu in my bowl! Well, this time around there was a good amount of stretchy hu tieu, along with firm, slightly crunchy egg noodles.

For some strange reason; other than being on the greasy side, the sauce seemed pretty bland. I remember it having a distinct porky-tomato-garlicky flavor. It did coat the noodles well and combined with the super salty broth, at least provided some flavor.

As for the meats; I liked the pork stomach and intestine the best; good chewiness, with a hint of offal-liness. Man, that liver was really bitter-metallic-funky; the guy wasn't kidding. I won't go into great detail about how I mix and eat; it's still the same as noted at the end of this post.

While I'll probably go back to ordering my usual next time; this was an interesting foray into something different from the menu.

And then there was the funny conversation at the end of my meal when I went to the register to pay.

The older gentleman looked at me and said "are you Japanese?"
I answered "Yes, I am."
"No wonder you like the hu tieu, we get it from Japan" he replied.
I countered with "Yes, I know.....I can tell", which got a surprised look from him.
I laughed and said "just kidding", which cracked him up as I walked out the door......

You could say I enjoyed Pxx Kxxg around. (Sorry, couldn't help it)

Pho King
4658 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Thurs - Mon 10am - 8pm
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday

LHK (aka Luong Hai Ky) Noodle Bar (Mira Mesa) Revisited

I waited a couple of weeks to do this post; mainly because I didn't feel like looking at photos of, nor even think about noodle soup while it was a zillion degrees out! Funny thing, it's almost instantly fall weather here, like someone pulled a cord, and suddenly, wham, it's like October! Anyway, I think this post will fall in line a bit better with the weather.

After my two mediocre visits to Tim Ky, I thought it would be good to start "making the rounds". This was of course, before all the record heat we had recently. Anyway, a few weeks after my last visit to Tim Ky, I made my way to Luong Hai Ky, ummmm..... LHK Noodle Bar. Man, it had been almost 6 years since my last visit. 

Now, the place seems to have rebranded itself to be "LHK Noodle Bar".

Upon walking in...well, I barely recognized the place, with all televisions, beer and wine bottles lining the walls it looked more like a sports bar-gastropub, than a noodle shop, and quite hipster with all the plant walls! 

The other big "change" threw more a loop. Remember the days when I was greeted with a command to "SIT" that would put Cesar Milan to shame when I entered the restaurant? Today, I was greeted with a "hello, please have a seat buddy". Whoa, did I just step into an alternate universe? I'm guessing it's not just the decor that has changed? The gentleman working was very nice.

Since this was a compare to what I'd recently had at Tim Ky, I ordered the Beef Sate Noodle "dry" .

    Like before, the bowl was delivered with a huge portion of iceberg lettuce. The soup on the side looked like a bowl of water which had some slices of green onion fall into it. It was very salty and other than a hint of white pepper really lacked flavor.

As for my salad noodle bowl.

 First off; I quickly determined that the simple squirt of sate sauce over the beef was all that was provided. There was nothing at the bottom of the bowl of the bowl. This meant that it was difficult, nay impossible to coat the noodles and even all the lettuce evenly. The basil was nice and fresh; but still attached to the thick and basically inedible thick stems. Now, I can imagine having this on the side and then one would tear off the leaves as necessary. Heck, even at the top of the bowl like this is ok; but having that all to precious sauce squirted on it. The customer would have to reach in and tear off the leaves and get sauce on your hands?

   Because of the lack of sauce; I ended up dumping the whole bowl of "soup" into the bowl to moisten the noodles; which kind of defeats the purpose of getting this with soup on the side? The noodles were decently cooked, nice and al dente, and the beef fairly tender, but the lack of the flavor producing items in the dish was it's downfall. 

Man and I thought Tim Ky was disappointing! 

Of course, since I wanted to do a comparison to my last two visits to Tim Ky, I needed to try the Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup. So, a couple of weeks later, right before all that hot and humid weather hit, I returned.

Same really friendly guy as working. Just to show how nice he is; there was a group of three older Vietnamese women enjoying lunch at the time I arrived. He took time out to take photos for them.

I did order the Won Ton and Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup.

  Which arrived to my table steaming hot. The soup had a bit more savory tones this time around, but was again, other than being a bit heavy in msg was fairly plain. The noodles were on the crunchier side overall, but not bad. The char siu was lean, tough, and though it had some decent porky tones, lacking in the sweet-salty-savory profile of said pork dish.

The won tons were on the hard side of the scale, but nicely flavored; the dumplings had a hint of seafood and more tender; with wood ear mushrooms. The strange thing about the dumplings is that after a few minutes all of the wrappers just came off in the soup....disrobed dumplings. So, I was left with won ton, meatball, and "two noodle" soup.

Sadly, overall, I think of this as being my "second strike", being that my last visits to Tim Ky weren't that great either. Hmmm.....I guess I really need to head back to Minh Ky. I wonder what the original owner of Luong Hai Ky back when they had a shop on Convoy, would have thought of the the food....and even the focus on beer, wine, and plant walls?

LHK Noodle Bar
10606 Camino Ruiz #3
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs 10am - 9pm
Fri - Sat                            10am - 10pm
Closed on Tuesday

Pho Duyen Mai Revisited

Recently, the Missus was craving some Nem Nuong Cuon and Com Tam. It had been a year since I last visited Pho Duyen Mai, just after the new owners took over, so I thought we'd head on over.

Even though we arrived at 1030am, the place was already pretty busy.

We were waved to a table, waters and the menus were dropped off. The place seemed quite popular.

We ended up ordering two spring rolls, the Com Tam Dac Biet, and recently "FOY" Lilian had been missing Banh Xeo since her local favorite, Bolsa closed last year, so I ordered that as well just to see.

Soon enough our order started arriving; the first was the Nem Nuong Cuon.

    Way back when Pho Duyen Mai opened in 2016, then under the ownership of the former owners of Pho Ban Mai, I called the version of this "Brodard light". Now, looking at an even "thinner" spring roll, even though we had noticed that the version at Brodard was thinner on our last visit, I'd call these "Brodard ligher". For some reason the wrapper was really chewy, the nem nuong seemed to be devoid of flavor, the amount of veggies sparse, and the dipping sauce watered down. The only thing going for it was the crisp-crunchy fried spring roll wrapper.

Next up was the Com Tam Dac Biet.

    Man, that plate looked kinda sparse? So, going down things, the bi was missing the roasted rice powder which would give it a wonderful nuttiness; the one slice of Tan Hu Ky was dry and flavorless. This would be the common theme of the meal, as the "cha" the pork -egg "cake" was dry and bland. The meats were dry and tough; you get the point, right?

And as for the Banh Xeo......

 Good lord, this was greasy, and rubbery, there were like three shrimp, it was terrible.

It was sad to see as  Duyen Mai was pretty good when they first opened.

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

Tim Ky Noodle Revisited

Recently, I was craving some Beef Sate with Egg Noodles "dry" (Mì Bò Sa Te Kho) and since I was in the office, I decided to head on over to Tim Ky, which used to be a fairly regular stop for me back in the day. Strangely, while I had done takeout from Tim Ky during Covid, I hadn't actually eaten in the place since back in 2019! A revisit was long overdue!

And since all these noodle shops open fairly early, I could roll on in for a 10am "lunch".

There's some construction going on in the parking lot and the shops look like they've got some new signage. There's now a menu outside the restaurant, I'm guessing to help folks do takeout, but the interior looks basically the same.

Another thing that's not the same (of course) are the prices. The Beef Sate Egg Noodle is now $15.69. I remember when it was less than seven bucks.

My dish arrived very quickly.

  And I proceeded with my "standard process" of mixing the dish to my satisfaction. I quickly noticed that there wasn't any "sauce" at the bottom of the bowl, it was merely a touch of sate sauce squirted over the egg noodles. This was not nearly enough to coat all the noodles and would not provide enough of that savory-nutty-pungent flavors for the dish. I ended having to add a rather large amount of the broth on the side to the bowl creating more of a soup, which kind of defeats the purpose of things. Also, the broth was quite MSG heavy, but at least wasn't bland. It was good in a soup spoon with a slice of meat and onion in it. The noodles were also undercooked and hard as well.

The meat was adequately tender and nicely coated, but the overall dish really didn't have that shalloty-garlicky-savory-lemongrassy-mild spice I enjoy. 

Needless to say, I was disappointed. Sigh.....

Which led me to wonder if this was the norm? So, I decided to head on back over and try one of the more "basic" items from the menu. When I arrived, the old timers were going full blast in the parking lot.

At the restaurant I had a bit of a dilemma; what to get won ton noodle soup or the dumpling noodle soup. Well, luckily all of these "Mi" places have combo, the Won Ton & Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($14.79). Which is what I got.

 The was a definite difference in the soup, it was way lighter and thinner than what I'd had here in the past, really lacking in savory tones; more like white pepper-salt water. There were 2 won ton and 3 dumplings....yes, I counted. The wrappers were very soft and tender; really enrobing the fillings. In fact, doesn't the won ton look like brain matter?

   The fillings, while being more chewy than I recalled, as nicely flavored, porky, hints of seafood, sesame oil, and so forth.  The char siu was hard and very tough and weak in the sweet-porkiness I enjoy.

The noodles this time around had just the right amount of crunchy-al dente pull for me.

This wasn't bad, but that soup was on the weak side. Hmmmm.....is this how things are these days?

Perhaps it was time for me to "make the rounds" and find out?

Tim Ky Noodle
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Daily 9am - 8pm

Phuong Trang (again)

Thank you for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk usually writes, but is very busy doing some research for future posts.  Cathy is writing.

The Mister and I haven't had Vietnamese food in a while and the days are beginning to get warmer with cravings kicking in.  I haven't written about Phuong Trang in ten years!  PT is a place we bring people who are unfamiliar with Vietnamese cuisine.  The food here is non-offensive, MOR (Middle of the Road) and made it through the Covid pandemic.  PT only did take out for about a year, which is just not the same as eating indoors.

 Located in one of the larger strip mall areas with plenty of parking,

 the interior is quite large.  When we got here, there was plenty of seating which quickly filled by the time we left.

 The menu is quite large.  Here's a link.  One section is "Rice Paper Wraps".  This is Thit Nuong Banh Trang- Char Grilled Pork ($17.50).  This 'build it yourself' appetizer/meal is quite large and filling.  There was plenty of seasoned ground pork, topped with green onion and peanuts.

 It comes with hard-form rice paper atop a bowl of hot water for dipping and a plate of green leaf lettuce, mint, cilantro, sliced cucumbers, pickled daikon and carrots, pineapple and, of course, fish sauce.  Side note- the water does not have to be warm to get the rice paper to a soft-form.  This was filled in fresh flavors and fun to construct while chatting.

 As soon as we sat down, I ordered a Banh Xeo-Vietnamese Crepe ($15.95).  It takes extra time to prepare.
 This rice flour crepe is filled with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, onion slices, and mung beans.  It is also served with the plate of greens (minus the pineapple).  Wrapping a bit of everything in a lettuce leaf and dipping it in the fish sauce (another 'build it yourself' meal) makes for crunchy, tasty bites.

 On the "Stir Fried Noodle" part of the menu, we went for it and ordered Hu Tieu Ap Chao Hoac Mi Dao (don) Thap Can-crispy egg noodle stir fried with baby bok choy, broccoli, carrot, onion, meat and seafood (chicken, char siu pork, shrimp, imitation crab, calamari and fish cake) in a garlic sauce.  We haven't had crispy noodles in a long time and this was so very satisfying.  The combination of flavors and textures in each bite was something we had missed.

 Under "Broken Rice Dishes" on the menu, we chose Com Tam Tau Hu Ky- Steamed broken rice with ground shrimp wrapped in tofu and a char-grilled pork patty ($15.50).  This plate was also quite a good size and everything was fresh in flavors-the char on the pork patty was excellent. 

 As always, we order hot tea.  The charge is only $1 each for the pot.

Phuong Trang 4170 Convoy Street 92111 Website Open Wed-Sun 11-8 Closed Mon-Tue

Revisits - Avian Sandwiches and Paris Sandwiches

Well, I'm going thru a bit of sticker shock.....I recently paid $23 for a bowl of ramen, yikes! And then I dined at a kind of hipster sushi place for lunch and the menu prices really got my attention; though I did eventually get the sashimi lunch combo which was priced at......yep $23, same as the ramen? What is going on here?

To calm down, I decided to get a Banh Mi wondering what prices were going to be like. Here's what I found.

Avian Sandwiches:

During my shopping rounds I wanted some breakfast and strangely enough there's a real shortage of places that open early in the Kearny Mesa area, though I understand that Banh Mi Express now opens at 8am. Still, it had been a while since I last visited Avian Sandwiches (remember when they were just a water and fro-yo shop?) I stopped by on my way to Nijiya which opens at 9, getting there around 845 on a Saturday.

There seems to be several groups of "coffee old-timers" who hang out in this strip mall; the group who hang in front of Avian and those who do Pho Hoa Huong. Anyway, the interior of the shop still seems packed to the gills with snacks, lottery stuffs, water, and various knick-knacks.

I decided on the Banh Mi Nem Nuong ($7.95). I believe this has gone up $1 since my last visit. I found a corner to hide in while I waited for my sandwich which was ready quite quickly.

Once at home, I opened up my sandwich.

This seemed fairly hefty.

Splitting the halves, I was shocked at the amount of pickled veggies!

Also, the position of the nem nuong...perhaps my mouth isn't big enough, but it was impossible to get everything in one bite at the middle of the sandwich, you'd get the pickled veggies and the really potent jalapeno, but no pork. Things got better as you worked your way to the ends. Glad to actually have cucumber in my banh mi which seems to be a rarity these days. 

The bread was on the dry and crusty side, but better than what I'd had last time. Too many stems from the cilantro, I prefer mostly leaves. A bit heavy handed on the aioli, but at least it was spread evenly and helped when getting a mouth of pickled veggies, cucumber, and jalapeno. The nem nuong seemed to have been seared, enhancing the sweet-porkiness.

To me a certain proportion of protein to veggies to bread is important and this was a bit off.

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am - 7pm

This sandwich had me kind of wondering what was going on in terms of banh mi, so I decided to head on over to one of my newer favorites, Paris Sandwiches, which just opened in Mira Mesa a little over a year ago. So, I decided to head on over and grab a Banh Mi Nem Nuong here as well.

Paris Sandwiches:

Like Avian, there are a bunch of guys hanging out on the tables to the side of the shop.

The Banh Mi Nem Nuong is now $7.05, it was $6.75 last July. I walked up to the counter and placed my order, then retreated to the counter to wait.

On a funny note, the gal who brought the sandwich to the counter called out my number....in Vietnamese! After trying a couple of times, she called out "39", I cracked up and walked on over to pick my sandwich up. She also had a nice laugh as well. As did the woman standing next to me, who laughingly said; "no, you don't look Vietnamese!"

I know where the bread is baked, thus know what to expect in that category.

The bread this time around was really light and crackly....like so flakey it exploded upon my first bite! I actually found "baguette shrapnel" in the pocket of my shirt later that evening!

This sandwich was more balanced in terms of ingredients, though I missed the cucumber and the jalapeno was not nearly as hot as Avian's version. It was also put together so you could get all of the ingredients in each bite,

I did like the nem nuong from Avian better and the cucumber, but in terms of bread and proportion of ingredients, I though Paris won out.

Paris Sandwiches
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri  730am - 630pm
Saturday   730am - 6pm
Closed on Sundays

This was fun little comparison. I should do them a bit more often. This brought back some fond memories if doing a Mira Mesa banh mi comparison over a decade ago and that when I did my very first Banh Mi post back in 2005, the Banh Mi Thit Nuong cost $2.50! Yikes.....

Revisits - HFS at Centerpark Labs, Sue's Korean Kitchen, Ngon Ngon to Go, and Tenkatori

So, I've noticed something about many of the places I head to during lunch. I get into the office rather early and start getting hungry at 10am or so. I also don't care much for crowds. Thus, I've developed a habit of heading to places that open a bit earlier than the usual 11am start time. Also, for these takeout visits, I usually don't stray too far afield.

Having done multiple posts on all of these places, I thought I'd just do a "COMC" (Clearing Out the Memory Card) post.

HFS at Centerpark Labs:

A regular stop on the rotation since my first visit back in August of 2020, HFS has since moved their retail location. It's still a stop when I want decent poke here in San Diego. And they've become quite popular. Heck, there were folks waiting at ten minutes before the opening time on this day.

For lunch I'll usually get the medium poke bowl with brown rice ($19) and can usually get out quite quickly. I stay with the ahi choices here. Not a fan of the salmon and stuff.

On this day it was the "Pearl Harbor", which had some good spice and the Shoyu Ahi which had a better quality of fish; quite tender and creamy.

It's still my first choice for poke in San Diego.

HFS at Centerpark Labs
6835 Flanders Dr.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Thurs - Tues 10am - 8pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm

Sue's Korean Kitchen:

I've done a number of posts on Sue's since I first visited back in 2021. I like that they open at 10am and basically stick with one item on the menu, the Kimchi Fried Rice ($12.99). Though I've encountered "shrunken portions" at times, on my last two visits, things seem back to normal.

And though I've encountered "mushy rice syndrome" on a couple of visits, that was not the case this time around.

A nice Spam-i-fied, mildly spicy, fermented, carb load. The woman here cracks me up as she seems to remember me and what I order!

Sue’s Korean Kitchen
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite 109
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 9pm

Ngon Ngon Food to Go:

Ngon Ngon might be as far as I would usually wander for lunch. They open at 9am, though are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays......need to remember that. I've kinda stuck to one item since my first set of visits when they opened a year ago, the Bo Luc Lac.

They've kinda rearranged things in the small space within Vinh Hung Market.

I'll call in my order for #27, the "Cubed Beef Filet Mignon with Steamed Rice" ($16). Now while the though of comparing this to gourmet filet mignon might be a stretch, the beef is not bad. Slightly toothsome, edging on a bit too salty, with a touch of savory-sweetness.

I'm not the biggest fan of the salad as at times the greens have been starting to brown, but this time it wasn't bad.

Ngon Ngon To Go
10550 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Wed - Sun 9am - 8pm
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays

Tenkatori:

And finally, Tenkatori. Another regular stop since I first visited two years ago. The place opens at 1030 on weekdays, which is great since I hate that parking lot. There is one key thing when I do take out. I always call in my order when they open at 1030. The online ordering ordering, even though it says no service fee adds on $2-$3. For instance, I ordered the Mega Karaage Don on this day. I called in my order which was $17.30, using Uber Eats for Pick-up it's $22.80! Ordering Door Dash pick-up it's $22.50. For pick-up!

Actually, I'm not sure why I ordered the Mega Don as it was way to much food....but what the heck; the chicken heats well in the air fryer.

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121
Phone - (858) 200-2016
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 1030am - 2pm, 4pm - 8pm
Sat - Sun   11am - 230pm, 4pm - 8pm

So there you go...my recent early takeout lunch habits. I'm going to do turo turo in a separate post.

In your opinion, am I missing out on anything? And what have you been getting for lunch recently?

Revisits - Hola Paris and T.P. Banh Bao 3

You know, I will often complain about the lack of decent, diverse eating establishments here in San Diego. But then I'll look at my photos and realize while I believe there could be so much more to offer, I should be thankful for what we have here.

Case in point, having to catch up with things and recover from my jet lag, I made the two following breakfast stops this weekend. Yesterday, it was a savory crepe from Hola Paris in Old Town and for strange reason I was craving the "FBB" (fried banh bao) from T.P. Banh Bao 3. You really can't get more diverse than that, right?

Hola Paris:

On my way back from my typical Saturday morning "rounds", I decided to stop by the Old Town Urban Market to see what was going on since Tuetano moved out. Walking past Hola Paris, the owner Benjamin saw me.

He came out to say hello and mentioned that it had been a while since he last saw me! It's quite nice that he remembers me. He also mentioned that they've added a couple more options with regards to savory crepes. I guess he also remembers that I don't have much of a sweet tooth as well!

After chatting a bit, I decided to order one of the savory crepes and went with the Milo.

Soon enough it arrived.

Well, this was quite good. I loved how the salty-savory Prosciutto and the earthy-milky-nutty Brie balances out the sweetness of the crepe. The tomatoes added a nice acidity and I wish there was more of that. 

This was deceptively filling and rich. I enjoyed it and am glad I have a "go-to" here. I really enjoy chatting with Benjamin and will try to stop by more often.

Hola Paris
2548 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 9am - 4pm
Wednesday                   9am - 2pm
Sat - Sun                       9am - 6pm

T.P. Banh Bao 3:

While completing some shopping, I was strangely craving something......fried. Of course we didn't get any Asian food in Ecuador, but I'm not sure what brought on this sudden craving for a fried bao? Perhaps it's because it had been over three years since my last visit? Anyway, I decided to head on over. 

I really didn't want to wait for them to fry up the version with the salted egg, so I just got two of the pork, sausage, and egg which they had in the display case. The woman working was a hoot. She placed several napkins in the bag telling me "just in case you can't resist and have to eat them while driving!" Lol!

I was able to resist temptation and waited until I got home to enjoy these brown orbs of artery clogging deliciousness. 

The fried bao was still crunchy after the drive back home! There's an interesting combination of sweet-savory-porky-salty crunchiness with these. Oh, I could only finish one before needing a "timeout". I'll have the other one a bit later on.

This was a nice guilty pleasure. I'll probably wait awhile before having these again, since like "FOY" ChrisR mentioned to me in an email "I loved them, but I feel like they subtract weeks from my life expectancy."

T.P. Banh Bao 3
11271 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri  8am - 7pm
Sat - Sun   730am - 6pm

So I guess I need to stop whining about the lack of choices in San Diego, right?

We'd like to wish a most wonderful Mother's Day to all Mom's out there!