103 replies to this topic

[mmm-yoso]

Another hole-in-the-wall:
Good Guamanian food (lumpia, empañadas, chicken Kelaquin, bbq pork ribs, marinated beef, etc) can be found at Islander Grill (3645 Park Blvd.). It's right next to the Embassy Hotel and if you blink you will miss it.  There's only street parking so good luck with that.
Chileheads take note...they have a Finedene (fini-dini) sauce that will clear your sinuses for a year.  Use it sparingly unless you like it very, very spicy!

And thanks for posting the info about the Filipino buffets.  I was surprised there are so many in National City and all in the same area.  That will make exploring all that much easier.

If you enjoyed Chamorro food you might like Bamboo Hut - it's a plate lunch place - sorta, but they had Chamorro stuff too, at least they did when I last visited over a year ago!
9172 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92126

I've always gotten a kick out of Islander grill - the Grill is right out on the sidewalk!

[Honkman]

Some other interesting SD restaurants:

- Wired Cafe le Bistro: Nice little French-like cafe. Good for a nice lunch - 8935 Towne Centre Drive

- Tropical Star: Small shop for south american stuff with a very small restaurant (few tables) attached with good south american food (peruvian etc.): 6163 Balboa Ave.

- Don Chuy: Nice mexican restaurant in Solana Beach: 650 Valley Ave.

- Thai Garden: Best Thai in SD (or closeby since it is in Oceanside): 4750 Oceanside Bvd., Ste. A-18

- Barnes Bar-B-Que: Good Memphis style BBQ: 2625 Lemon Grove Ave.

- Mediterranean Cafe: Good mediterranean food, kabob, gyros, spanakopita etc. : 112 Washington Ave. (And please don't go to Daphne (as somebody else wrote). That is the worst greek-style restaurant in SD.)

- Mucho Gusto: Don't know why but their Carnitas Burrito is great: 5650 Balboa Ave.

[mmm-yoso]

Some other interesting SD restaurants:

- Wired Cafe le Bistro: Nice little French-like cafe. Good for a nice lunch - 8935 Towne Centre Drive

- Tropical Star: Small shop for south american stuff with a very small restaurant (few tables) attached with good south american food (peruvian etc.): 6163 Balboa Ave.

- Don Chuy: Nice mexican restaurant in Solana Beach: 650 Valley Ave.

- Thai Garden: Best Thai in SD (or closeby since it is in Oceanside): 4750 Oceanside Bvd., Ste. A-18

- Barnes Bar-B-Que: Good Memphis style BBQ: 2625 Lemon Grove Ave.

- Mediterranean Cafe: Good mediterranean food, kabob, gyros, spanakopita etc. : 112 Washington Ave.  (And please don't go to Daphne (as somebody else wrote). That is the worst greek-style restaurant in SD.)

- Mucho Gusto: Don't know why but their Carnitas Burrito is great: 5650 Balboa Ave.

So Mucho Gusto is worth the effort - we live close by - in Bay Park and I pass it at least 5-6 times a week...

Med Cafe - One of my regular stops for lunch since I work in Hillcrest - $5.95Gyros Pita plate is a bargain - something that always makes me laugh is that if you look at the lunch menu posted on the door it says 1/3 Hamburger Plate $5.95 - almost sounds like you'll get only 1/3 of a hamburger instead of 1/3lb Hamburger! Service is very nice! - Don't forget El Cuervo next door!

Daphne's - People don't know - it's one of those "fast-casual" chains - like Chipotle, etc... not very cheap, but food is consistent.

Next to Tropical Star is Noble Chef - But you've got to know what to order! DO NOT order any of the Orange Chicken, Beef Broccoli garbage, it's terrible! Instead, try the Shrimp with XO sauce Fried Rice or Chow Fun, or the like - got some "wok hey" going on. Stay with the Chiu Chow style dishes or home-style stuff like turnip cake w/scrambled egg. I like the Shrimp Tomato on Rice too....it's soooo 60's Chinese, but has a strange attraction!

BTW - hzrt8w, I haven't forgotten ,but need to check the addresses before I post!

[Toliver]

- Barnes Bar-B-Que: Good Memphis style BBQ: 2625 Lemon Grove Ave.

Honkman, thanks for posting your list.
I am curious about the BBQ joint.
I've read some online reviews and they've been positive about the place. Can you provide a little more info on what you think their best dishes are and what you'd stay away from?
Thanks!

[Carolyn Tillie]

Want to add:

Your vacation resort is very close to the Oceanside Pier.  There is a Ruby's at the tip of the pier.  They sell hamburgers, fish and chips and sandwiches.  Prices range from US$6.00 to $9.00.  It is a good place to eat and view the West coast sunset.  Or go there in the morning and have their breakfast.

Click here for Ruby's dinner menu

There is also a McDonald's at the head of the pier.  You can buy some breakfast sandwiches and coffee from them and walk out to the pier to enjoy.

Oceanside is where I grew from age 9 to 19, when I moved to Escondido to attend Palomar College (before heading to San Diego State two years later). My Dad still lives in Oceanside so I visit often. For 30+ years, our family has been eating at what is arguably the best family Mexican restaurant in North County; Anita's on 101/PCH/Hill Street [when I lived there, it was Hill Street; now I am not sure WHAT they have named the main drag through town -- is it Pacific Coast Highway or the 101 these days???].

Instead of Ruby's, however (which IS a chain, after all), I would recommend one of the various Angelo's that exist in town. It is odd, but I believe there are three; all on PCH/101 and placed at the beginning, middle, and very end of town. Literally, if you are entering from Carlsbad, there is one there right by the lagoon, another one in downtown, and the last one right before Camp Pendleton. Or, if coming from the North, reverse it -- right after Camp Pendleton, when the town starts on PCH/101, is the first Angelo's, etc... They have amazing burgers and the most over-the-top onion rings that I've been hard-pressed to top.

Lastly, don't discount wandering around the Harbor village. Restaurants have gone in and out over the years, but the Fish-&-Chips place has been there forever (it was one of my first summer jobs). The same guys own a second branch down by the water in Carlsbad and is an institution as well.

[Octaveman]

Yeah, I'm curious about the Barnes BBQ too. It's close to home so I'll check it out.

I do have to plug my favorite (so far) bbq place called PHIL'S on Goldfinch and Washington. I absolutely love this place. My wife and I eat there just about once a week. After I moved down here from the bay area I printed out a list of bbq joints in SD and Phil's was #3 on the list. I never made it to #4.

Bob

Edited by Octaveman, 23 September 2005 - 12:41 PM.

[mmm-yoso]

Yeah, I'm curious about the Barnes BBQ too.  It's close to home so I'll check it out. 

I do have to plug my favorite (so far) bbq place called PHIL'S on Goldfinch and Washington.  I absolutely love this place.  My wife and I eat there just about once a week.  After I moved down here from the bay area I printed out a list of bbq joints in SD and Phil's was #3 on the list.  I never made it to #4.

Bob

Phil's is my favorite too - though call ahead, otherwise chances are that you'll wait!

Phil's BBQ
4030 Goldfinch St
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 688-0559

Full rib dinner all fries - side of sauce......and a place to sleep afterwards!
But it ain't cheap at almost $20.

[mizducky]

Stumbled upon a new find: KER/Little India/Gateway to India Buffet. This is on Black Mountain Road in the block just north of Miramar Blvd. I was originally chasing down some other Indian restaurant (Ashoka the Great), only to discover that the entire strip mall in which it resided was an enclave of Indian businesses of various sorts (restaurants, groceries, clothing shops, DVD emporium, etc.). KER had a fierce number of banners up touting their vegetarian buffet, so I decided to check them out instead.

I found the KER operation to be endearingly eccentric--they have a big warehouse building, about 3/5 of which is taken up by an intriguing looking Indian grocery/supermarket, and the other 2/5s dedicated to the restaurant. In the latter cavernous space are a large number of long tables, arranged in a setup I'd more associate with a bingo parlor than a restaurant, with a wide-screen TV against one wall tuned to a cable station showing Bollywood-style music videos. The place only had a handful of customers, and was very casual. You basically find a cashier in the grocery side of the operation to pay in advance for your food, then amble over to the restaurant side, grab either a paper plate or a big metal thali tray, help yourself to the buffet, and sit wherever. A nearby table bore several jumbo 3-liter bottles of pop sitting in a big bowl of ice, with a sign indicating the pop was for buffet customers only (I guess they also have menu service, but it might take awhile to locate someone to wait on you.)

Among the large variety of dishes in the buffet: a wonderfully firey lime pickle, a couple different raitas, a couple different potato dishes, a couple different chickpea dishes, a nice zucchini dish, and what I thought was a really awesome mattar paneer. They also had a separate table of sweets--these were a little on the dry side, but still pleasant. Best of all, while I was dining an older turbanned gentleman appeared from the depths of the kitchen with a basket of freshly-made still-piping-hot parathas and made the rounds of the small number of diners--I happily took a paratha and found it excellent, wonderfully flaky. If I'd know they did this, I would have saved room for more parathas.

Oh yeah--all you can eat for $6.99.

So now I have to visit this joint again when I have more time and am a little less famished, so I can check out the grocery side of the operation in greater depth before I go stuff myself at the buffet.

Edited by mizducky, 08 December 2005 - 09:20 PM.

[Toliver]

K Sandwiches -- 7604 Linda Vista Rd., cor. Mesa College Drive (Linda Vista)

I was down in San Diego visiting my family during the President's holiday weekend when my brother started raving all about this little Vietnamese sandwich shop...which turned out to be K Sandwiches! What a small world... Of course, my brother, aka "the Coupon King", also liked it because the sandwiches are so cheap.
We were gathered at my mom's house for our usual family holiday dinner where we all cram into the kitchen to make our own special dishes. My brother made his version of the Vietnamese sandwiches using baguettes he bought at K Sandwiches and some sautéed spicy pork butt that he got from the asian grocery store on Mercury (north of Balboa...don't bother parking in front since the parking lot sucks...there's a better parking lot in back).
The sandwiches my brother made were quite good but he said K Sandwiches versions are much better. My future SIL always orders their Veggie sandwich.
By the way, if you've been there lately you may have noticed quite a line during meal times. Turns out that just down the street at Mesa College some enterprising credit card company has been offering a free K Sandwich if you filled out a credit card application! Brilliant marketing concept by the credit card company and by K Sandwiches. A nice way to bring in more business...

edited for spelking

Edited by Toliver, 27 February 2006 - 03:58 PM.

[ed davis]

Hi to all. Thanks for starting this post, Ellen!

Great thread. Now that I no longer live in SD, I am real dependent on postings like these.

But I did want to toss my few cents worth in. Pho Pasteur is interesting. I need to try it again. Did you notice the dishes using game? I believe they serve alligator and venison (?). I didn't think the pho was as good as some other spots, but there is something about the seedy ambiance that I like.

I tried Arirang years ago and did not like - but they have had grand opening signs up for the last year or so and maybe they have new owners. But there is so much good Korean food around, that I am not too tempted to use up a precious SD meal on a buffet. Do Re Mi used to be a good cheaper alternative to other Korean spots, but again, it's been years since I've been there.

Somebody also needs to mention Ba Ren on Diane off of Claremont Mesa. Nothing fancy, but incredible Sichuan food at great prices.

For banh mi, I like a little sandwich place Kim Chan which is, if memory serves, in the back of a strip mall at 47th and El Cajon.


Great to see a useful SD thread.

ed

[mizducky]

K Sandwiches -- 7604 Linda Vista Rd., cor. Mesa College Drive (Linda Vista)

I was down in San Diego visiting my family during the President's holiday weekend when my brother started raving all about this little Vietnamese sandwich shop...which turned out to be K Sandwiches! What a small world... Of course, my brother, aka "the Coupon King", also liked it because the sandwiches are so cheap ...

By the way, if you've been there lately you may have noticed quite a line during meal times. Turns out that just down the street at Mesa College some enterprising credit card company has been offering a free K Sandwich if you filled out a credit card application! Brilliant marketing concept by the credit card company and by K Sandwiches. A nice way to bring in more business...

Ah yes, great minds thinking alike. Glad to hear that K is taking advantage of the nearness of the college--I haven't been back up that way in a few weeks, due to moving and all, but I remember noticing a number of studenty-looking types in there on previous visits.

Great thread. Now that I no longer live in SD, I am real dependent on postings like these.

But I did want to toss my few cents worth in. Pho Pasteur is interesting. I need to try it again. Did you notice the dishes using game? I believe they serve alligator and venison (?). I didn't think the pho was as good as some other spots, but there is something about the seedy ambiance that I like.

Thanks, Ed! I only got a chance to skim the huge menu at Pho Pasteur, so I missed the game offerings, but did notice they had a bit more than the usual pho palace. I shall have to re-investigate at some point.

Meanwhile, I have recently started on a whole pho kick, and so have branched out to a few other places. All of these are at least decent, and pho by definition is cheap eats, so here goes:
--Convoy Noodle House -- I think this one has turned up on a number of local foodie lists. 4647 Convoy St.
--Saigon -- on the edge of a nexus of Vietnamese businesses on El Cajon Blvd. that I've only just begun to explore. 4455 El Cajon Blvd
--Pho Hoa Cali -- a couple of blocks west of the Convoy Street "strip" (there appears to be another restaurant of the same name up in Mira Mesa--I have no info as to whether they are under the same ownership or what). 7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

I am also on a quest to find decent falafel in San Diego--so far, I've had a number of dried out hockey-pucks, but I got some appropriately moist and tender, if somewhat crumbly, falafel at a little joint near SDSU called the Greek Corner. Their building and its interior furnishings look for all the world like this joint used to be an Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips or something, but now it's a typical gyros joint with all the fixings. They could be a tad more generous with the number of falafels they put in their sandwiches, but otherwise a fine offering. 5841 El Cajon Blvd

As I gain further familiarity with the offerings out here on the eastern edges of San Diego, I'm sure I'll have more places to post about. El Cajon Blvd. alone is going to take me a looooooong time to explore!

Edited by mizducky, 28 February 2006 - 05:19 PM.

[kalypso]

Ellen, have you tried Troy's for falafel yet? It's in the shopping center at the dreaded intersection of Mission Gorge Rd. and Friars Rd. There are a lot of people in the east county that swear by it.

If you're up for venturing into downtown, you can always try the Athen's Market.

There's also a new branch of Pho Hoa Cali in Mission Valley, next to Hooter's, across the street from Target

Edited by kalypso, 28 February 2006 - 06:14 PM.

[mizducky]

Ellen, have you tried Troy's for falafel yet?  It's in the shopping center at the dreaded intersection of Mission Gorge Rd. and Friars Rd.  There are a lot of people in the east county that swear by it. 

If you're up for venturing into downtown, you can always try the Athen's Market.

There's also a new branch of Pho Hoa Cali in Mission Valley, next to Hooter's, across the street from Target.

Hi, kalypso--Yes, I did try Troy's, and alas, the falafel they served me were total dried-out hockey pucks. I'm willing to give their other offerings another shot, but I'm afraid they lost me on the falafel. I will track down Athens Market sooner or later. And thanks for the lead on the other Pho Hoa Cali branch--I will definitely pay them a visit too.

[kalypso]

Well that's a bummer about Troy's. Welcome to the East County

Since you're trolling El Cajon Blvd. you might want to check out The Place. Decent Kosher/Jewish deli type of place, best pastrami in SD. I think it's around 63rd or 67th, still in the SDSU neighborhood and well within a reasonable radius of your new place. I like the produce and the meat counter (with butcher and Mexican meat cuts) at the Pancho Villa market on El Cajon where it crosses the 805. You might want to skip the seedier sections of El Cajon, you know, the parts where it's more than just the stop lights that are red.

Once you're done with El Cajon Blvd., you can start in on University Ave. In some respects I think it has more interesting food choices from La Mesa to Mission Hills.

[Toliver]

I am also on a quest to find decent falafel in San Diego...

It's a long haul from where you're centrally located but if ever you're up in Encinitas, you should try Roxy Restaurant & Ice Cream. They have a booth every year at the Del Mar Fair (it's always in the exact same location) and I always get their Falafel Burger, which is quite good...not really dried out at all. It's a big green "burger" which is weird looking but it's tasty.

[mmm-yoso]

There's also a new branch of Pho Hoa Cali in Mission Valley, next to Hooter's, across the street from Target

Wow, it's good to see this thread is alive and well!

Just a couple of things:

Pho Hoa Cali on Clairemont Mesa Blvd - is now Pho T Cali. I really can't tell the difference in food, but notice that some of the people working there are different.

In Mission Valley, it's Pho' Cali - co-owned by a former EE at Kodak and a Mechanic - so I really don't think there's any affiliation with Pho Hoa Cali on Mira Mesa Blvd. Had lunch there a few weeks ago, but didn't have time to post. A bit more expensive then most $6/bowl of Pho'. Very mediocre, and some of the worst Banh Pho' I've ever had, also skimpy on the garnishes, though Ngo Ngai was provided - the broth was pretty good. This is also the place where you can get Banh Mi for $4.99, just in case you feel guilty paying 2 bucks for it elsewhere! But if you really can't wait the extra 10 minute drive to Linda Vista, you can get Pho' here.

I though Pho Pastuer was pretty good, though if I recall they were a bit more expensive then most Vietnamese Restaurants at the time. I also had an alligator dish, and all I remember was that the meat was sour, and slimy - though the first bite tasted like chicken! Go figure.....

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/

[HVRobinson]

Looking for a few things in this here San Diegoland:
Good BBQ (Phil's is okay, but I want something less refined)
Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast (something that will make my cardiologist cry)
Good Dim Sum (for sombody missing San Francisco and pining for the fjords)

You wanna go too? Love to have you join me/us!
Howard

[Kouign Aman]

BBQ - beef ribs, Fat Ivor's in Valley Center. Worth the schlep. They do pork ribs too, also good. Very refined, good baby backs: Hunters in Mission Valley.
Biscuits and gravy: Troy's in Clairemont Square shopping center. Better = in Pine Valley - again, a schlep. (Pine Valley Cafe? )
Dim Sum - I'll toss out the names usually given to me, and wait to see what the reaction is: Emerald (seafood) and Jasmine - both on Convoy, a couple miles apart. Both very popular and crowded. Jasmine at least will bring items by request, as well as the carts tracking round.

We'd be happy to join you at any of these. We be three - me, he and the littley. And we'd be happy to check out any new sources. Meantime, we practice making biscuits.

How about Korean? What stands out, locally?

[Kouign Aman]

Have to add to this list:
Chicken Pie Shop of San Diego
2633 El Cajon Boulevard, North Park, 619-295-0156.

Fast service, good mains, frozen veg, whipped potatoes, low-budget pies for dessert. Very cheep eetz.
The classic is the chicken pie dinner (pie, veg, potatoes, biscuit, dessert for <$7), but I like the chicken livers a lot too. And they serve buttermilk.

[kalypso]

Looking for a few things in this here San Diegoland:
Good BBQ (Phil's is okay, but I want something less refined)
Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast (something that will make my cardiologist cry)
Good Dim Sum (for sombody missing San Francisco and pining for the fjords)

You wanna go too?  Love to have you join me/us!
Howard

Here's a link to a review of a pretty good BBQ resto in the South Bay. Read it and see if it's what you're looking for.

For Biscuits & Gravy try Rudford's on El Cajon Blvd. or Brian's on the very eastern end of Washington. If you're willing to travel try the Bread Basket in Alpine. And they might be on the Sunday (Jazz) brunch menu at Magnolia's on Euclid next to the trolley tracks.

For long time the choice for dim sum was Emerald's on Convoy. They had a kitchen fire last year, which has kind of put a crimp in their pot stickers. Pearl in Rancho Bernardo is owned by the same people as Emerald and the dim sum at Pearl gets pretty good marks, tho' it is priced higher. China Max on Convoy has it's proponents, as does Jasmine. However, the general consensus of the dim sum cognosenti is that you really need to head north to L.A./Monterrey Park, or take a really long road trip to SF.

[Kouign Aman]

We tried Rudford's on Saturday. The biscuits and gravy was a huge portion. The gravy would have been good on chicken fried steak. I prefer a lot of sausage flavor in the gravy on biscuits, so it wasnt to my taste.

Brian's is now on the to-do list. Wheeeee!

[His Nibs]

I second Pearl if you can make that extra 20 minutes drive up the I15 from convoy. Better food than emerald (imho since they don't have to rush due to a less hectic schedule).

A good sichuanese resturant is also located in (you guess it CONVOY!). It called Dede's (it's in the strip mall that has a korean bank in it near the Pacific Honda dealership).

I would also recommend Boo Choo (a korean bbq place off engineer road). They serve prime beef for their galbi, bulgogi among others. Will happily recommend the sang gul sa (or bershire pig belly meat). They are kinda pricey though.

There are tons of banh mi places along el cajon blvd and also linda vista (but the one i used to go to changed owners and they changed recipes :( )

Tajima (located in the same strip mall as Arirang house, the chinese halal place) serves decent ramen and japanese food. Be wary of the wait on weekends or late nights (since they open till 3 am on the weekends).

Check the San Diego Reader for some reviews about odd places to eat!

Edited by His Nibs, 05 March 2006 - 06:28 PM.

[mmm-yoso]

A good sichuanese resturant is also located in (you guess it CONVOY!). It called Dede's (it's in the strip mall that has a korean bank in it near the Pacific Honda dealership).

I would also recommend Boo Choo (a korean bbq place off engineer road). They serve prime beef for their galbi, bulgogi among others. Will happily recommend the sang gul sa (or bershire pig belly meat). They are kinda pricey though.

Check the San Diego Reader for some reviews about odd places to eat!

I used to really enjoy Boo Cho, but since they've changed owners, I think they've gone downhill a bit. I rather have Buga.

Dede's is pretty good, and IMHO not as spicy, nor as high in oil as Ba Ren. My Wife who is from China calls is Pseudo-Sichuan.....pretty good, though alot milder. Though let it be said we enoy the cuisine from ChongQing more then what we've had that represents ChengDu

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/

[His Nibs]

I tried Buga once... Found it kinda overpriced (compared to boo cho). Running joke i have with my friends, the chinese characters for buga (on the sign board) represents rich folk (富家) However, since I have left SD in July of last year.. not too sure about the quality at these resturants these days. Based my recommendations on the period leading up to July 2005.

[Kouign Aman]

I have a correction:

Biscuits and gravy: ....... in Pine Valley - again, a schlep. (Pine Valley Cafe? )

Went there last week, and got the correct name instead of my guess above.
Its Major's in Pine Valley, and its still worth the schlep out I-8.

[kalypso]

Stopped by Da Kitchen Friday for lunch. It's located just East of the I-15 at the Carroll Canyon exit. It's in the same shopping center as Carl's Jr., (which is very visible), right next door to Chez Nous (a worthy lunch stop itself)

Think Hawaiian, think Da Kine's or L&L, think plate lunch. There is an extensive menu of salads, sandwiches, rice bowls and lunch combos all centered around chicken or chicken teriyaki, as well as a few pork and salmon offerings, but no spam and no musabi.

I happen to like katsu, so I ordered the Chicken Katsu with Japanese BBQ sauce, to-go, $7.95. The plate comes with rice and either macaroni or green salad. I opted for the green salad and wasn't sorry. Crisp, fresh romaine was topped with a generous little pile of juilenned carrots. The salad was dressed with what was billed as their house papaya seed dressing. It was delicious, and there was too much of it, but I would end up being happy about that.

The chicken katsu was an overly generous serving of chicken thigh cutlet that had been breaded with panko. It was exquisitly light and crispy, but best of all it was virtually grease-free. I'm not, however, exactly sure what the Japanese BBQ sauce was. It tasted a lot like a generic, tomato based Sysco BBQ sauce that they had tried to doctor up, but what ever they used didn't really meld to well with the tomato base. It didn't have soy notes, it wasn't sugary, it missed being like sweet and sour by a mile, it had some faint curry like flavors, but whatever the ingredients, they weren't a match made in heaven, nor did it do much for the chicken. Seeing that I had extra salad dressing left I stuck a strip of the katsu into the papaya seed dressing. Eureka!! that worked in spades. The dressing turned out to be a perfect compliment to the chicken katsu. I'll ask for that next time instead of the BBQ sauce. There is a large, pleasant dining room as well as outdoor patio seating if take out isn't on the agenda. Portions are enormous, go hungry or be prepared to have leftovers.

Da Kitchen is a nice addition to an area with not a huge number or variety of decent lunch options. The food is good, but not spectacular, the atmosphere is relaxing and the staff welcoming which makes it a pretty decent choice for lunch in Mira Mesa.

Edited by kalypso, 08 April 2006 - 08:32 PM.

[mizducky]

Thanks in part to my recent switch to a healthier food regimen, I've really been hitting the local Vietnamese joints recently (in my opinion, Vietnamese noodle soups such as pho and bun bo Hue are strong contender for perfect dieter's dine-out option). Here are the ones that I've enjoyed so far:

Convoy Noodle House (4647 Convoy St # 101B -- in the same block as Jasmine, same side of street, a couple of strip malls north). Great all-round restaurant, with a friendly mellow feel. Decent flavorful broth, especially in the bun bo Hue. The plate of add-ins (bean sprouts, herbs, etc) tends to be a tad on the modest side.

Pho "T" Cali (7351 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, in the same corner strip mall as the taqueria Lolita's) -- this large-ish super-spotless pho joint is like a rapid-fire assembly-line at lunch time, moving a large number of mostly non-Asian office workers in and out quickly and efficiently. Their pho is decent-to-good; again with the somewhat skimpy add-in plate.

Saigon Restaurant (4455 El Cajon Blvd.; stand-alone building, with a street-edge sign you can't miss) -- A busy and very good restaurant serving a mix of locals and SDSU students (at least I'm guessing that's where all the studenty sorts are coming from). Very tasty broth and very generous amounts of meat in their pho. They also have a huge menu--I mean, even more huge than the typical pho place; several local eGulleteers and I had a fabulous multi-course dinner there recently, which while not exactly qualifying as "cheep eatz" was definitely quite reasonable given the tons of food we consumed.

Pho Ca Dao (5223 El Cajon Blvd.: stand-alone building in the same shopping center as the World Foods Market, an Asian supermarket that is also very worth a visit) -- I've only eaten here once so far, but it was good! Had a bun soup with duck that was very yummy--the broth is not anywhere near as hot as it looks, but is quite tasty. This place apparently does not get very many non-Asian customers; they tried to talk me out of ordering the bun, fearing I wouldn't like the un-deboned duck and chunk of congealed pig's blood they serve in it. But I prevailed, and I'm glad I did. For a change, a very generous pile of add-ins, including, for the bun, both mint and basil plus other herbs, and shredded cabbage as well as bean sprouts.

The Convoy neighborhood and that stretch of El Cajon Blvd. between Saigon and Ca Dao both have a number of other pho joints large and small; and I understand there's another clump of them up on Mira Mesa Blvd., and another on Linda Vista Road (I think I mentioned Pho Pasteur in a previous post--they're at 7612 Linda Vista Rd.). More to explore...

[mmm-yoso]

Pho Ca Dao (5223 El Cajon Blvd.: stand-alone building in the same shopping center as the World Foods Market, an Asian supermarket that is also very worth a visit) -- I've only eaten here once so far, but it was good! Had a bun soup with duck that was very yummy--the broth is not anywhere near as hot as it looks, but is quite tasty. This place apparently does not get very many non-Asian customers; they tried to talk me out of ordering the bun, fearing I wouldn't like the un-deboned duck and chunk of congealed pig's blood they serve in it. But I prevailed, and I'm glad I did. For a change, a very generous pile of add-ins, including, for the bun, both mint and basil plus other herbs, and shredded cabbage as well as bean sprouts.

Hi mizducky - Your Pho'/Bun Bo Hue diet seems to be in full swing. One thing about the Bun Bo Hue at Pho' Ca Dao - which I think is good, BTW. Is that instead of giving you the fermented shrimp paste and chili oil on the side, it's already been mixed into the broth, which may be a bit off-putting for some people.

So fay I've really enjoyed the Pho' at Lucky Pho' which is attached to Lucky Seafood Market in Mira Mesa:

Lucky Pho' in Lucky Seafood Supermarket
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Which would probably appeal to those who enjoy a darker - richer broth.

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/

[Toliver]

To Miz Ducky (and anyone else who may be interested) who posted in the current food blog about southern/soul food...
It doesn't really qualify as cheap eats because it isn't exactly cheap but you can get some southern cooking at the "Fix Me a Plate Café" in La Mesa. They are located in the Soup Plantation strip mall on Fletcher Parkway south of where Navajo meets Fletcher Parkway.
The restaurant is a few doors down from the Soup Plantation (which always has a line out the door during meal times) and a chinese restaurant a few doors down on the other side. I believe there's also a Boll Weevil's at the far end of the strip mall.
Click here for the Fix Me a Plate Café menu.
I went to the Fix Me a Plate Café with my mom shortly after they opened. They were training staff so after just about every question we had asked our server she had to go into the kitchen to find out the answer.
Anyway, the catfish was quite good...coated with corn meal and fried. The dinner plate gets you more pieces of catfish (I think 3 as opposed to just two). The Po Boys on the menu seem to be the least costly items, though neither of us ordered them.
Overall, we liked the food.

It really made us miss the southern cooking of the legendary Bren Dory's which used to be in Chula Vista/Bonita and later, Imperial Beach. Now that was some good food! Too bad they went out of business.

edited for clarity

Edited by Toliver, 19 April 2006 - 01:11 PM.

[mizducky]

Had a lovely lunch the other day at the lunch buffet at Madras Cafe, on 9484 Black Mountain Road, in the Little India complex just north of Miramar Road. Madras Cafe specializes in Southern Indian cuisine, which differs in many ways from the northern cuisines which influence most Indian restaurants in America. First off, it's definitely a bit lighter--the sauces are looser, a little more broth-like than gravy-like; the flavors, while just as spicy, are a bit lighter too. And there are different characteristic breads, with more non-wheat flours involved. Or so I understand from reading up on stuff.

The buffet on the day I went had an assortment of vegetable curries, a chickpea stew in which the individual beans were darker and firmer than I'm used to from other cuisines (not usre if they were just a smaller darker variety to start, or were roasted or something at some point), a couple different kinds of rice dishes, a carrot halwa, raita and chutneys, and a really yummy spiced hot apple compote dish. Servers circulated with freshly-made dosas stuffed with potato and these fascinating little steamed rice breads known as idlis. I also ordered a mango lassi that was bursting with tart/sweet mango flavor. Weekday lunch is, if I'm remembering right, just under 7 bucks before tip; price goes up on weekends.

There is a whole nest of other Indian restaurants and grocers worth checking out in that Little India complex, by the way; I'm still (very slowly) working my way through them all.