KirkK's Profile
Cappadocia Restaurants
This was from last year, but we had two decent meals.
The first at Dibek. The Testi Kebab was quite good. They'll crack it opwn at your table. The rest was just ok. You'll need a reservation.
Nostalji Restaurant had just opened. They were in the process of building a newer version of the place. The folks were very nice and took us into the kitchen where the women were prepping the food to look around.
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2011/11/cappadocia-goreme-nostalji-restaurant.html
San Diego CLOSED Restaurants - Replacement for old board.
Actually, once Wendy left the place lost it's footing. Which is sad, the Chef is a certified Master Chef in ChongQing. I think they hit top during the Beer Week dinner there in '09. The Chef's son told me he needed a break.
Everyone Loves this Place but Me...
I think it was good and tasty say..... eight or nine years ago, but it seems a bit dated now. The main aspect of the bread that I like is that's it's made fresh, though Alforon has defintely over-taken Mama's, in both flavor, quality, and is even cheaper in certain cases.
State of Thai in SD
We recently went to Siam Nara, and thought it quite good. We were told that the Chef's are from Issan, but there's only a couple of dishes representative of the region.... basically an Issan set menu which we haven't tried yet.
Huge menu, most dishes are designed for the American palate, but al least they weren't bland, and were executed well. Two of the fish dishes we had really stood out. I still need to try some other items on the menu.
As for Sab E Lee in Santee. I had lunch with friends there last weekend, and the food was up to par with what I had during my last meal there which was the Beer Week Dinner. Same Chef in the kitchen as Koby hired. There are a couple of items no longer on the menu, such as the Miang Kum, but they still made it when I asked.
Manna Korean BBQ coming to San Diego?
So I'm assuming you don't care for Buga, which is Bossam style. It's not quite up to the level of places in Koreatown in LA, but I think it's pretty good.
Manna is AYCE, and while I'm not a big fan, having been to the LA locations. I do think you get what you pay for.
Vietnamese in San Diego
The interesting thing about Hoai Hue, is that I've been told the family who owns and runs the place aren't really from Hue. Whenever I mentioned the place to my VN friends that's the first thing they tell me. Still they serve the appropriate cuts, and do a better job of doing the meat than Mien Trung. Not enough lemongrass and other seasonings so I still prefer the broth at Mien Trung, but much better than Pho shop Bun Bo Hue, where they use Pho broth and ad some spice, and cover the whole thing up with liberal use of Mam Tom.
Manna Korean BBQ coming to San Diego?
At least that's what the sign says. Location is on Convoy, in the same building as Office Depot, but facing the street. I'm not a big fan of Manna in LA, and am not sure if this place is affiliated with the LA restaurants. At least there's some activity in the area.
Regional Chinese Cuisine in San Diego
Just an update on some of the info here:
Shanghai City is no more. They have been replaced by a restaurant that seems to be a partnership between Spicy City and the former folks that ran Dede's. They have three chefs. They've kept the Shanghainese Chef, but have added a Sichuan Chef who I'm assuming is the former chef at Dede's. The Sichuan dishes there are reminiscent of Dede's, with minimal use of Sichuan peppercorn. They've also hired a Hunan Chef, though the Hunan dishes we've had have been kinda pale compared to Hunan in the SGV.
The place is now called Spicy House; and if that wasn't confusing enough, there's a banner below the Spicy House sign that reads "Shanghai City - Spicy City #2".
Dede's has ungone a change. I haven't been there since the change in management, but folks have told me that the dishes are very uneven.
Last I heard the chef at Chin's on Convoy was from Mandarin Garden in Mira Mesa. The menu slants toward Shanghai-Suzhou-Hangzhou. The Niu Rou Chuan (beef roll) is too heavy, sauce laden, and sometimes greasy. Here's a funny thing; the last time we went to Dean Sin World, we were told that there's a restaurant in San Diego that buys their XLB from DSW. The woman then brought us out a business card from Chin's on Convoy! Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of the XLB at DSW, and I haven't enjoyed the XLB at any Chin's.
I always thought that China Chef (In the restaurant, not the fast food side) on Mira Mesa had a few Sichuan dishes that weren't too bad.
If you're talking about some Taiwanese other than Soy Milk and Mantou, 168 serves various Potages and used to serve stuff like Kezai Jian. I've not really enjoyed the food there, though.
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Spicy City
4690 Convoy St, San Diego, CA
Shanghai City Restaurant
3860 Convoy St # 105, San Diego, CA
China Chef
623 Pearl St, La Jolla, CA 92037
Mandarin Garden Restaurant
8242 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92126
Hungry for Philly Cheese steak in San Diego
That location was Pisa's Chicago Deli after it was Submarina. The UT article is interesting. I've been to both Pat's and Geno's... though for some resaon I enjoyed Rick's in Reading Terminal Market more.
I recently spent a couple of months going thru some of the cheesesteaks, and found what I had at Olde City Grill to be the best. Alex's Brown Bag has gone downhill over the last couple of years.
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2010/07/say-cheesesteaks-a-comparison-of-cheesesteaks-in-san-diego-gaglione-bros-alexs-brown-bag-eddie-phila.html
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Alex's Brown Bag
2550 5th Ave Ste 171, San Diego, CA 92103
Olde City Grill
967 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109
Hungry for Philly Cheese steak in San Diego
Since US Foods and SYSCO both distribute Amoroso rolls in San Diego, I really don't think there's any reason for anyplace selling a cheesesteak not to use them.
akitori Koubou???
One quick correction - the name of this place is Yakitori Koubou.
I got the information from the "Public Notice of Application to Sell Alcoholic Beverages". I've kinda gotten in the habit of reading those. It sometimes has good information, and is a good heads-up as to what kind of restaurant is opening in a particular spot. i.e. I got kinda excited seeing an application in the old Playa Azul location..... until I read the application saying it was going to be a place named "Fish Attack Sushi House"... sigh....
Apparently the applicant at the Convoy location is a company called Nears International Inc, but I have not been able to find out too much about it.
Here's a photo of the application.
akitori Koubou???
Noticed construction two shops down from Tsuruhashi on Convoy. I glanced at the Public Notice to Sell Alcohol and it said "Yakitori Kouba"....
Anyone know anything about this one?
Tamarind Paste/Sauce in San Diego
99 Ranch Market, Thuan Phat, World Foods, Lucky Seafood, and most other SEA style markets have the dried Tamarind Paste/Pulp. They also have Tamarind Concentrate, some of which are pretty good. You need to read the label on those, but I've started using certain brands.
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99 Ranch Market
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA
Lucky Seafood
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA
Review- 777 Noodle House
It should be noted that the owners are Cambodian, of Chinese ethnicity. And the menu reflects the "Chaozhou" aka Chiu Chow background. You can get a few Chinese-Cambodian dishes, but if you're expecting Hmong style food, you'll not find it here.
I did think the regular Hu Tieu Nam Vong (aka Phnom Penh Noodles) was good, but get it with the soup on the side (aka "dry", "kho"), which I thoguht was better. Hao Vi, Maxim's, and I believe Cam Ky also make versions of this dish. But the version at 777 does not include the usual offal.
Trieu Cau across the street is also Cambodian owned, of Chinese descent.
Chin's on Convoy has opened
The Miramar location has been trying to distance themselves from the Convoy location since the opening was announced. I've heard all kinds of stories, and different he said/she said kinda things from both ends, so I won't speculate.
I will say that the menu is similar, and that there are plans to start weekend Chinese breakfast.
The chef used to be at Mandarin Garden in Mira Mesa, so he is familiar with the Shanghainese cooking styles, so the food should be very similar to what the Miramar location puts out. As to how good it is.... only time will tell.
Chin's on Convoy has opened
Chin's on Convoy has finally opened. The Grand opening was yesterday, February 28th. The menu is similar to Chin's on Miramar, but they are missing a few dishes.
I was told that they don't have the Chinese breakfast menu as of yet, but will be implementing that in about a month. Which, with as long as it took this location of Chin's to open, will probably be 2-3 months.
Nice dining room, we visited on Saturday, since it appeared that they were doing a soft opening. Dishes still need a bit of work.
4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Ho Ch Minh City,Hanoi, Hoi An, Luang Prabang and Ventianne
I had the best coffee of our trip from the Noodle Lady at the stand at the end of the morning fresh market in Luang Prabang. We ended up there every morning in LP.
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2008/12/luang-prabang-the-river-of-orange-and-breakfast-at-samesame.html
Ho Ch Minh City,Hanoi, Hoi An, Luang Prabang and Ventianne
Oh forgot about Hanoi. We enjoyed Bun Cha Dac Kim aka #1 Hang Manh, not necessarily for the Bun Cha, but for the Nem Cua Bể.
We never made it to Cha Ca LaVong, but were told by many that it is over-priced and you can get better elsewhere. We ended up with a nice meal at Cha Ca Thang Long on 21-31 Duong Thanh.
Jeong Won Korean buffet
Jeong Won was pretty good for AYCE when they first opened. At that time, the son of the former owner of Arirang and his wife ran the place. From what I've been told, a while back, they got a divorce, and the wife is now the sole proprietor. The food has seriously gone downhill.
Mr Chows Dan-Dan noodles
I'm not a big fan of Ba ren's Dan Dan Noodles, too mushy, and lacking a bit. I think Dede's does that dish better. But I think the OP is looking for Americanized Szechuan Dan Dan Mian.
Ho Ch Minh City,Hanoi, Hoi An, Luang Prabang and Ventianne
In Luang Prabang, our most memorable meal was at Tamarind Restaurant:
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2009/02/luang-prabang-dinner-at-tamarind-part-1.html
Don't forget to visit the morning "Fresh Market" in Luang Prabang as well:
http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2008/12/luang-prabang-the-morning-fresh-market.html
Fine Dining for Oriental restaurants in SD.
Josh - He means the stuff from the four lettered site. All the folks who rated Ba Ren low because, well the food is "spicy". I also think there's a language problem at times as well. The same kinda folks that rated Mien Trung with only one star because they didn't serve Pho.
Folks like that deserve P(aul) F(leming) Chang's - heck they do serve "Oriental Food" after all.
San Diego - Shochu bars/restaurants
From what little I know, the Korean Soju is more likely to be made from rice, than the Japanese Shochu. Also, Soju tends to be higher in alcohol than Shochu, other than Awamori. Again, only what little I know. There are no Nippon style Shochu bars in town.... but of course, I'm totally unhip. Most places like Sakura and Tsuruhashi have Shochu. From what I've seen places like Min Sok Chon and Soju Town (the old CrawDaddies) make stuff Calpico-Hi, etc. In the days when there was a stronger Okinowan presence in San Diego, you could get high proof Awamori at places like Katzra and Ishikawa. Those days are long gone.
San Diego - good Chinese?
Good point.
Personally, though I'm far from an expert on the subject. When someone says "Hong Kong style" I tend to ask a few questions to determine whether it's Hong Kong style Seafood, and higher caliber(banquet) style restaurants, Dim Sum/Yum Cha, Hong Kong Cafe style dishes or Guangdong/Cantonese style restaurants.
For Hong Kong style seafood, China Max has been the most consistent over the years.
Phuong Trang V. Saigon SD
Josh - We had the Banh Bot Loc the time we visited. Is that what you're referring to? My wife loves the Bun Rieu at Mien Trung as well.
Phuong Trang V. Saigon SD
I truly believe that Phuong Trang has gone downhill since the daughters took over from their parents a couple of years back. It's become more Americanized. The one good thing about the Com Tam dishes at Phuong Trang is the Com Tam itself, which is usually good and fragrant, a rarity in San Diego. Unfortunately, I've found the Bi to be terrible, and my usual favorite item, the "Cha" is has become more and more bland over the years, and I've had it pretty dry a few times. As for the Bo Nuong Mo Chai, it has been good on occasion, and mushy on others. I'm not sure if you've been to Pagolac in Westminster, but the Bo Nuong Mo Chai there is my standard.... it has some toothfulness.
Not that I'm a big fan of Saigon either.......
SD: Your Hidden Gem
I've kinda given up on A Chau for Banh Mi. They have a habit of serving stale bread, and have screwed up my order a couple of times. They still make good Cha Gio, but you have to fight tooth and nail to get Nuoc Mam Cham.
San Diego's Com Tam 75
I've been here a couple of times. The Com Tam is mediocre. It seems that the place tries to serve everything under the sun, Banh Mi, Bun Bo Hue, Com Tam, etc, etc...... Even stuff like tacos (!), and Korean BBQ. Truthfully, the best thing I had was Spam, Eggs, and Rice.
Huynh Hua Tuu makes a pretty good Com Tam, I love the Cha, lots of flavor and moist.
