Review - Saigon

Good and authentic...Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant

I can see Saigon from my house. Saigon is an authentic Vietnamese restaurant with a huge menu. I love this place, and luckily it’s only ½ a mile from my house so I walk there. The restaurant has no ambience and the building is odd. The dining room is just a large, high-ceilinged square filled to the brim with tables. There are murals of forest around the top of the walls which makes one wonder what used to be there previously. High up near the ceiling, in the middle of the murals there are big screen televisions on the front and back walls. In addition there are large dark windows on one side which makes it look like there might have been a dance club there at one time. There is a big fish tank for decoration and a few tanks of crabs and such for eating. Even though it looks so odd inside, they are one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants. If you’re looking for pho this may not be your first choice, but if you want something a little more interesting you’ll love this place. If I want pho there are a few other places I can go which make it with more flavor, but I’m not the biggest pho fan. I prefer the highly seasoned grill meat and vermicelli dishes. They also have very good versions of dishes you’d think of more as Chinese which is great if you‘re taking someone who isn‘t very adventurous. The menu is huge and may take a while to navigate through, but except for their pho I’ve never had anything there that wasn’t great. You'll also find a large selection of unusual drinks such as avocado shake, pennyworth, or soda with salted plum. When we first started going there we were usually the only people there who weren't Vietnamese. Now it's about 50/50. It's growing in popularity without losing any of it's authentic flavor.

What do I get?

There are a few dishes I love here. On their appetizer menu they offer a rare beef or rare shrimp salad. It’s probably nothing like you’re imagining. Thin slices of rare beef or shrimp top a mound of crispy thinly sliced vegetables such as celery, cucumber, carrots and daikon and chopped peanuts are added. It’s served with a sweet vinegar dressing and lime. Definitely too big for an appetizer unless you’re sharing it with a large party.

I also love their char-grilled pork with vermicelli. Tender highly seasoned chunks of pork in a bowl of vermicelli and thin cut crispy vegetables, pickled daikon and carrot and sprinkled with chopped peanuts. It’s served with a vinegary sweet chili dressing. It may be meant for dipping, but I like to pour the whole cup over my food so the noodles and veggies soak up that great flavor.

My other favorite dish is curry goat with vermicelli or French bread. This is a curry soup with chunks of tender goat meat and potatoes and just the right amount of sweetness. You can order it with noodles or French bread but I’ve never tried it with the French bread. The soup is slightly thin to begin with, but thickens up as the potatoes break down. I put a few slices of jalapeno in it when it first comes to the table and take them out when the broth has reached the right heat level.

I always take home half of any of these dishes. There's just too much food for one meal.

Sometimes I’ll also order condensed milk with lime. This is no longer on their menu but a couple of the waiters there know me from when I first started going and I can usually get one of them to have it made for me. It’s just condensed milk over ice with lime juice. Very refreshing but not too sweet.

My roommate is not as adventurous as I am so he gets one of the more Chinese style dishes like Mongolian beef or curry chicken with steamed rice and Thai iced tea. Even though these aren’t what I usually order they are very very good.

What's cool?

For me, it’s great that it’s within walking distance. It’s also nice to have waiters who know you and what you like. Other than that there’s nothing interesting here except for the food.

What sucks?

Like most other Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to the chopsticks are plastic. It’s very hard to use smooth plastic chopsticks with slippery noodles. Also, they have the worst fortune cookies. They’re artificially colored and flavored and aren't crispy.

Rating...Great food, period.

Review - Phil's B.B.Q.

OMG it’s good…Phil's B.B.Q.

Phil’s B.B.Q. has only been around for 11 years but it is already a San Diego institution. Phil’s originally had a small location in Mission Hills and there was always a line to get in. In 2007 they moved to a much larger location in Point Loma and there’s still always a line to get in. Once you’re a block away from the restaurant you’ll start smelling the wonderful smoke coming from the building so you‘ll have no problem waiting knowing that you‘re about to get some really good food. When approaching the restaurant from the parking lot you’ll find a sign on the corner of the building telling you there is a 21 minute wait from that point, just like Disneyland. You can watch the line before you get there on their website‘s BBQueue cam. We went shortly after they opened at 11:00 and the line wasn’t out the door yet but it was to the door but the line goes pretty fast. There is a copy of the menu board outside the restaurant to help you make your choice before you get to the order counter which helps the line move a little faster.

Once we reached the head of the line we were greeted by a friendly woman with a larger-than-life personality who explained how things work. First you go up to the counter to place your order. You’ll be given a pager which will go off when your order is ready. If you order a soft drink, you’ll be given a glass which you take to the beverage station and choose from a large variety of drinks including several iced tea choices, lemonade and of course a number of different sodas. All soft drinks come with unlimited refills. For those who want beer, wine or sangria you can order some in the bar. You can choose any table except the large tables in the middle which are reserved for parties of 5 or more. Patio seating is also available. Then you’ll wait for your pager to go off, but it didn’t take very long. By the time we got our drinks and settled in it was only a minute or two before our order was ready. Even though it’s mostly serve yourself, there was also a waiter who brought utensils and a plate for bones. The one in our section was very friendly and funny. The service here is just as good as the food.

The menu is extensive, offering several sizes of dinner plates featuring baby back or beef ribs and chicken plus sides. You can also order meat only without the sides. A variety of sandwiches and a couple of salads are also available as well as sides by themselves. Their servings are large but they also offer Ticklers which include a smaller serving of meat, cole slaw, french fries and 2 onion rings (no substitutions).

What did I get?

I ordered the Baby Back Rib Tickler. The ribs are great and topped with a vinegary barbecue sauce. The fries are thin-cut but fresh and the onion rings are very crunchy and aren‘t overly breaded. The cole slaw was good basic slaw. Even though the Tickler is a smaller meal I was still stuffed when we left and I didn’t eat most of my fries. My roommate ordered the BBQ Broham. As much as I enjoyed my meal, next time I’ll probably order the Broham. The Broham is served as a sandwich, but you’re not going to be able to pick it up to eat. A huge pile of pulled pork is set on a bed of cole slaw and covered with BBQ sauce. There was a large bun included, but it can easily be left aside since there is so much meat and slaw. The pork was very tender and had a wonderful smoky flavor.

What's cool?

Even though this is a BBQ restaurant and their fries are thin-cut, they have malt vinegar on the table.

There are separate lines for to-go and eat-in orders and you can call your order in ahead for take-out.

The coolest thing though is the wash up station. You’re going to get messy eating their food and will need to wash up before you leave. Instead of having to squeeze into a small bathroom and wait for an open sink, they have a large, double faucet sink with soap and paper towels outside the bathrooms for those who just want to wash their hands.

Rating...The best BBQ I‘ve had in San Diego, and a good time as well.

Recipe - Lemonheads Cake

I’m going to a potluck on Sunday. I’ve decided to bring this cake so I thought I’d share the “recipe” with you. The reason I say “recipe” in parenthesis is it’s really more of a way to jazz up a lemon cake which you can make from scratch or from a box. I don’t bake so my roommate does that for me but we just buy cake mix and frosting in the can.

Ingredients:

1 lemon cake made from scratch or from a box.

1 can of vanilla frosting or a batch of your favorite vanilla frosting recipe.

1 bag of Lemonheads (use according to taste)

Preparation:

Bake lemon cake according to your recipe or box directions. Make frosting according to your recipe if you’re making it from scratch. While cake is baking, grind Lemonheads until they are mostly powder. I use a spice grinder to save a lot of time and hassle. Crack some more of the Lemonheads into small chunks. Mix some of the ground Lemonheads into frosting, tasting after adding. Continue to add Lemonheads and taste until the frosting tastes as tart and lemony as you like. Cool cake. Frost with Lemonhead spiked frosting. Sprinkle cracked Lemonheads over cake.

That's all there is to it.

How do I like mine?

Super tart and lemony. By the time I’ve added enough Lemonheads to reach my flavor level the frosting will definitely be yellow.

One caveat: When I made this the first time my downstairs neighbor came to the door to complain about the pounding.

Review - Crab Hut

Kind of disappointing…Crab Hut

I was really looking forward to going to Crab Hut. A friend of mine who usually has similar tastes to mine recommended it enthusiastically. Even though the name of the restaurant is Crab Hut, they describe themselves as a Louisiana crawfish kitchen. Seems weird to me but that’s not important. What’s important is when I read that description I was immediately craving Cajun crawfish with all the fixings. Unfortunately that's not really what I got.

So, having said that, the place is cute and the wait staff is friendly. It’s decorated to feel like a casual seaside eatery. There are nautical signs and decorations and the cash register area was covered by the façade of a grass roof. The acoustics of the dining room make it quite loud which is fine considering the fun and casual feel. Surprisingly there wasn't a wait for a table when we showed up even though it's not a very large restaurant. Tables are covered with paper and there’s a roll of paper towels and a little table sign which shows the prices for the day. One of the waiters comes around with a bowl of lime wedges and plunks some down on the table. Another came around with a pail full of little plastic containers with salt and pepper in them and he gave us plastic seafood bibs with a picture of a lobster (odd since lobster's not on the menu) holding a slice of lemon in one of the claws and it reads “Let’s get cracking”. Very cute. Your entrée is brought to the table in a plastic bag which holds in the flavor of the sauce and shells are left on the table. Another thing I thought was cute is the t-shirt our waiter was wearing. It had a picture of a crab with a halo and said “Holy crab”.

What did I get?

We started with the Cajun fries which are basically crinkle cut fries sprinkled with hot chili powder. Not bad but not as spicy as I was expecting and they needed salt. Next we tried a bowl of clam chowder. It was fine but not anything special other than the bowl it was served in which was square and black. For our entrees I ordered the crawfish with the Cajun sauce, medium spice and my roommate ordered clams with garlic butter, mild. This is where the disappointment comes in. The menu says the crawfish comes with corn and sausages. I was expecting crawfish boil like I’ve had many times before at other restaurants with a whole cob of corn and a whole piece of sausage. Most places also include potatoes. There was a small cobbette of corn and 2 thin slices of smoked sausage, it wasn’t even andouie. Expecting to see an actual sausage, when I got my food I didn’t think there was any sausage in it so the waiter brought me some. He said he gave me 4 instead of 2 because of the mistake. Once I got close to the bottom of my pile of crawfish I realized there was sausage in it. Oops. The sauce was spicy enough but it really needed salt. Adding both containers of salt and pepper that they gave us helped a little but it would have been better if it had been incorporated in the sauce. Other than the quality of the crawfish itself I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as the Louisiana steam pot at Joe's Crab Shack, even though I usually don’t tend to eat at chain restaurants.

My roommate’s clams were pretty good. The sauce was definitely garlicky. My biggest complaint here is it seemed there were too many empty shells considering you’re paying by the pound.

What's cool?

The atmosphere is definitely fun. I’m always up for eating seafood with my fingers and leaving the shells on the table. They also offer sweetened or unsweetend iced tea which isn't common around here. Their sweet tea must not be as sweet as you would usually get in a Southern restaurant because I ordered it half sweet & half unsweetened and there was just a very light sweetness to it. That works for me. Most places that offer sweet tea make it way too sweet for my taste.

Rating...I’d give it a pass and go somewhere else.

Review - Burger Lounge

Trendy burgers...Burger Lounge

The Burger Lounge on Adams Avenue is a little on the expensive side but their food is really good. The menu is very basic; beef, turkey or vegetarian burgers served on a fresh bun, a couple of salads and chicken tenders “on a stick” and fresh fries and onion rings. They also make thick shakes and malts and root beer floats that are definitely bigger than I can finish. The shakes and malts come in a large dessert glass with the tumbler on the side which holds about as much as is in the glass. The root bear float also comes in a large dessert glass filled with vanilla ice cream and a bottle of high quality root beer on the side that you add yourself. If you’re not into ice cream you can order an enormous cupcake instead, either red velvet, “Hostess Style” chocolate and black and white. The décor is very modern and seating is crowded, but they also offer a few outside tables for dining on sunny days or warm evenings. Orders are taken and paid for at a counter then your food is brought to your table. They certainly aren’t cheap, but everything is good.

What do I get?

I’ve had both the beef and the turkey burgers and they’re both good. I also have had their onion rings which are fresh and home made.

What's cool?

They’re a certified green restaurant. All their food is fresh and high quality.

Rating...Always tasty and filling and a great place to spend time with friends.

Review - Awash Ethiopian restaurant

A tasty adventure...Awash Ethiopian restaurant

Awash Ethiopian restaurant is sparsely decorated but clean and comfortable. Their menu offers a pretty long list of authentic Ethiopian food. If you’re new to Ethiopian food but are adventurous, you’re in for a treat. What makes Ethiopian food unique is the spices they use and the way the food is served. All the entrees are served on enjera, a thin bread with a spongy texture and a tangy taste. You’ll also get plenty more enjera on the side. The enjera is the utensil they use to eat. After tearing a piece off you use it to pick up your food. Some might be afraid this would be messy, but the enjera prevents the sauce of the food from getting all over your fingers.

They offer entrees made with beef, chicken, lamb, a large variety of vegetarian options and fish (only served Wednesdays and Fridays). To start try a sambusa, seasoned beef or lentils wrapped in a flaky pastry and fried, served with a really spicy hot sauce on the side. The portions are large enough that they can be shared by two. With the most expensive dish being $16, it’s quite a good deal. Most dishes run around $9 or $10. They offer beer and wine from Ethiopia as well as American beer and wine and a few popular import beer brands. There’s a happy hour on certain weekdays with $2 beers including imports.

What do I get?
I love lamb and they offer a few different lamb entrees so I usually choose one of those. I also love their sambusas and their home made baklava is great. It’s served warm and isn’t as sweet or as rich as Greek Baklava. I like it much better. Someday I’m going to try Tej, an Ethiopian honey wine, but haven’t yet.

What's cool?
If you’re a true coffee lover you’ve got to try their Ethiopian coffee. They roast the beans when you order it and bring them out in the pan for you to smell before grinding and brewing. It’s served in an African pottery pitcher with demitasse sized cups. As you might imagine it’s very strong.

What sucks?
Their American wine choices. At the same price as their Ethiopian wines ($4 per glass and $14 per bottle) they only offer Charles Shaw wines, commonly referred to as 2 buck Chuck. Some of the Charles Shaw wines are pretty good, but it’s difficult to see paying $14 for a $2 bottle of wine.


Rating...You must go if you’re ok with eating with your fingers.

Review - Bangkok Spices

Inexpensive Thai food...Bangkok Spices

Bangkok Spices is the go-to place for inexpensive Thai food to go. The food is good, there’s a great selection on their menu and you can order almost any dish with whatever protein you like. They offer a few different vegetarian protein options including mock chicken and mock duck. You can also order beef, pork, chicken, seafood and duck. Like many Thai restaurants, you can order your food with whatever level of spice you want on a scale of 0-10. I’ve never been disappointed with any of their entrees, noodle dishes and curries. I haven’t found most of their appetizers to be very good though. I prefer to order to go. This place doesn’t offer much in the way of ambience, just good food. The building they’re in was originally a Pizza Hut and you can still tell it was. Brick walls and floors and wood paneling don’t read as Thai. The music they have chosen to play is easy listening and singers and standards. I find the look of the place and the music they play to be incongruous with the food they serve. They serve wine and beer and of course Thai iced tea. You can never go wrong with Thai iced tea.

What do I get?

My usual order is sweet basil with duck. The first time I took a friend of mine there I ordered my usual and after tasting it he ordered the same to go several times the following week. I’ve tried a couple of their curries and they were both very tasty. I also like their Pad Thai and Tom Yum soup.

What’s cool? They have duck! Their Thai iced tea is good, not too sweet but not watered down.

What sucks?

As mentioned earlier their appetizers have almost always been disappointing. In addition, they don’t have a web site so I suggest getting a copy of their menu to have at home. You’re going to want to order by phone for pick up. If you order there, you might have a bit of a wait.

Rating…Order to go and eat in your sweats or pajamas with a friend