SDPB Special Portland Edition! Pho Oregon

Hao recently made a trip up to Portland, to give a talk at a scientific conference. First, however, he dined on pho. Hey, it's just a few blocks from the MAX station on 82nd!

Location: 2518 NE 82nd Ave, Portland, Oregon
Phone: (503) 262-8816

Location: 6236 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97213
Phone: (503) 281-2990

The famous Russian author, Tolstoy, once wrote (new translation by Hao): "All good bowls of pho resemble one another, each crappy bowl of pho is crappy in its own way." To this, a translator footnote reads: "except for clumpy noodles, as it seems like every other pho restaurant is trying to create a gordian knot of densely packed rice noodles."

With an excellent broth, fresh and flavorful garnishes, and mostly good meat, Pho Oregon failed miserably in noodle clumpage, some of the worst I have ever seen, or attempted to separate. The sate sauce was another source of disappointment, having a pungent bean sauce odor rather than the fragrant aromas of roasted chili. Alas, the nail in the coffin was the price, a full $7 for a regular size bowl! Even given the lack of sales tax in Oregon, this only puts it a meager 6 cents cheaper than OB Noodle House.



At first taste, the broth seems almost bland. However, upon further inspection, one realizes that it is instead a masterful balance of flavors, sweet, salty, spicy, and umami. (God forbid your pho tastes sour!) The rare steak, still pink in areas not touching the broth, has just the right texture, as does the brisket, and 2/3 of the tendon. It's only 2/3, because Pho Oregon does not give you slices of tendon, but rather chunks, some of which turn out to be rather chewy and hard. The tripe is nothing great, but rarely is anyway. Garnish-wise, all the standard are present, with no surprises except for the strong flavor of the basil, a good sign of freshness.

The spring rolls, with fresh mint inside them, were also very good, although I did not care for the mucus-like consistency of the sauce. They did have all the standard fillings, including lettuce, vermicelli rice noodle, shrimp, and pork (I think). About standard at $4.25 for two large rolls sliced in half. (I saved one for a midnight snack while working on my slides.)



In conclusion, I feel much the same way about this place as OB Noodle House, it's a good place to go to while in the area, but there are plenty of other pho restaurants worth a try as well. Katie, for instance, swears by Pho Hung, which others have reported to be quite greasy. Still, I feel that for those who will be appreciated of the well-constructed broth at Pho Oregon, perhaps $7 is not TOO ridiculous to pass up. Would you rather have 3 bowls of really good pho or 4 bowls of bad pho?

Meditations on OB Noodle House

Location: 2218 Cable Street, Ocean Beach
Phone: (619)-450-6868
Hours: Mon-Thu: 11 AM-10 PM, Fri and Sat: 11 AM- 11 PM, Sun: 11 AM- 10 PM
Website: http://obnoodlehouse.com/

A Pho Review in Haiku, by Beth

A quick lunch Friday
Down in OB with Adam
Hot soup on Cable

Two, seated quickly
At the most crowded pho place
I have ever seen

Ordered steak and flank
For Adam, seafood-filled soup
Separated condiments?

The soup arrived fast
Despite the number of folks
Classy ceramic spoons

Firm, tasty noodles
Meat was tender and decent
Broth fair, not the best

No sauce dishes around
$6.49 small, for reals?
But decent service

Bottom line is:
Worth checking out if you're here
Not much pho around

6 spoons for the place
Sorry for shitty haikus
More to come later.

It's Pho Time Again... Again.

We headed back to Pho Time this weekend and we are sad to say that we have to bump them down to 8 spoons and move them to #2 behind Pho Cow Cali Express. The reason?

Super soft Noodles all in one clump. Good thing Hao missed this one, otherwise he would have been very sad and whiney. Beth had noticed the soft noodle problem during her previous follow up to Pho Time but we had hoped it was a fluke, but now that we have experienced soft noodles two times in row...

But, Pho Time is still a great choice, much better then Sao Bien if you're in the PB area (unless perhaps you're vegetarian, see below). Their beef, especially the crunchy flank, is still super delicious, probably tastier than Cow Cali and their broth is good. Sadly, their lack of consistency and noodles so soft they break into little pieces hold them back.

Note from vegetarian friend, Jess, that the broccoli and carrots in the vegetarian pho is weird. She prefers the vegetarian pho at Pho Sao Bien.

San Diego Pho Rankings

Will be updated as we visit more places. Now with links to reviews!

1) Pho Cow Cali Express

2) Pho Time

3) Pho Hoa

4) Lucky Pho

5) Pho Ca Dao

6) Pho La Jolla

7) Pho Viet Cali

8) Anh Hong Pho Pasteur

9) Pho Bolsa

10) Pho Sao Bien

11) Pho Superbowl

12) Hi Thai

Superbowl of Laaamme.

Pho Superbowl

Location: 8342 Parkway Drive, La Mesa
Hours: too nauseous to notice
Photos: Courtesy of Hao and his fancy camera
Website: Here is their yelp cite , but we vehemently disagree with the reviews there.

Beth came stumbling home this morning about 8, looking for a nice bowl of pho to cure her hangover. Round came 10, and we rounded up the usual suspects +1 and headed to Pho Superbowl in La Mesa in search of a traditional American football celebration.

A 20 minute drive and 1 toilet stop later, we arrives at Pho Superbowl.

It looked interesting in a sort of promising way: Artistic not-really-bondage but oddly sensual photos, bottles of wine. (First pho place we've seen with a liquour license).

The egg rolls were ok. The honey lime tea was actually rather tasty, though way over priced at 2.50 or so a cup.

Out came pho.

Broth tasted pre-limed but ok. Katie thought maybe this will be like a 7 or 6. Mike says, sad, lacking in meat. Beth says her "chunky" flank may actually be chunky and not crunchy and the fat was orangy. (Matus later told me that his meat was even worse, but he was too polite to point it out in the restaurant, see Matus' take below).

See pic of yucky meat and sad Beth (click for close up of yuck):

Katie's expectations lowered but yet she was still disappointed. Noodles too soft, tripe too soft, steak too chewy. Stingy on the side veggies. The best part was the broth and that was only ok.

We did get a little coconut pudding at the end that I thought was slightly better then the pho. Hao disagreed. Maybe he liked his pho better but that is the less likely explanation.

Here is Matus' take on things:

-------------------------------------------

the pho superbowl
an review for the inernets, by matus

I thought it was funny to request a superbowl for my tea, but the joke was on me, because I really needed a superbowl. Here is a list of things I needed a superbowl for:

- my vomit.

No bowl is super enough to contain this. The vomit's ingredients:

- A squishy slab of half yellow, half dark red detritus. I'm not sure what part of an animal this was, and I can't even joke that I can guess what part of an animal it came out of, because no single organ can create this disgusting variety of colors.
- let's stop there, i'm about to fill up more superbowls remembering.

My friends complained they didn't have enough meat (that's what she said), but I ate mine first and was sad there was originally more than none, because it just meant I needed more superbowls for my vomit. (Hilariously, that's also what she said.)

my rating of PHO SUPERBOWL: two superbowls, one toilet, and one walmart dumpster; because those are the containers I filled with my subsequent vomit. repeat vomit.

-------------------------------------------

2 cents from Hao:

broth was middle of the road, on the bland side, but acceptable

my meat was mediocre to bad - steak was mediocre, brisket was bad (it contained none of the properties for which brisket is desired over other cuts)

noodles were soggy and few

can't really speak to the garnishes, it's never a big part of my pho experience, but I did notice a lack of green things.

Sate sauce was pretty bad, would rather have not had it with the meat.

As for the dessert, it was watery, and ricey, which are two things I avoid in desserts.

-------------------------------------------

To summarize: When we ordered our pho, only 1 of us was nauseous. By the time we left, all 5 of us were nauseous (well, at least three).

I am certain when Beth awakes she will have her own input to contribute and Pho Superbowl may be downgraded, but I feel I cannot delay in alerting the world that Pho Superbowl has incurred the wrath of The San Diego Pho Blog, the nauseousness of Matus, the scorn of Hao, and the disdain of Katie's tummy and earns only 3 spoons, qualifying it for the HALL of LAAAMMEE.

-------------------------------------------

Beth:

I heartily agree with the 3-Spoon rating. I thought that being hung-over would mean that even shitty pho would taste amazing to me, but I WAS WRONGGGGG.

Tear. Now I'm going to go back to eating Spicy Korean Ramen and trying to re-hydrate myself.

Pho Ca Dao

Location: 8373 Mira Mesa Blvd (between New Salem St & Reagan Rd)
Phone: (858) 564-0917
Hours: Mon-Thu 8 AM to 9 PM, Fri-Sat 8 AM- 9:30 PM, Sunday 8AM- 9 PM
Website: http://www.phocadao.net/ Apparently, this is just a placeholder website until they get a real one up, so it's not very helpful. You could go to their Yelp page, but Yelp ratings are generally bullshit. Yeah, I said it. I am especially convinced of this now because of the generally positive reviews of Pho Superbowl.

Beth:

Katie, Hao, and I are no strangers to Pho Ca Dao (I think this was Matus's maiden voyage there, though). In the past, Ca Dao was a favorite for some time. We thought the pho was really good. I was a little turned off by the service, myself. They remembered me and kind of poked fun at me whenever I came in. I get that it was friendly and all that, but sometimes it was just frustrating. For example, they don't give you a sauce dish here unless you ask for one. Katie and I had always used extra spoons for our sauces. Several times I had a waiter pop up from behind me (literally, we were in a booth and he popped up from the seat behind me) and point at the spoon and laugh at me before going to get me a sauce dish.

This got a little awkward after a while, and when a friend introduced me to Pho Cow Cali, I was elated that I had found a new place. Not only did I think the pho was better there, there were sauce dishes at the table and I seemed to receive less harassment.

However, in our quest to review every pho place in San Diego, Katie and I decided it was time to go back and give Pho Ca Dao another try. As we recalled, the pho was solid overall: we thought the broth was better than Cow Cali, the meat was not as good as Cow Cali, and there were often too many noodles (a gentle collective of criticisms considering the source).

We went there with the usual suspects (Hao and Matus) and found that the place had gone through some changes in the intervening time. They have totally re-done their logo, gotten a new fleet of waiters (which was a relief to yours truly), gotten a big TV, and totally re-done their menu. Their menu, as part of what seems like an increasingly popular trend, now has a section where you can choose all the components and "create-your-own-pho." Although we were skeptical about how this might turn out given our experience with this at Viet Cali, we decided it was worth a shot. I ordered the rare steak and well-done flank, my usual these days (despite a foray into tendon at Lucky Pho 2 weeks ago that I was very happy about).

We also ordered some eggrolls, which came out quickly and were crispy and delicious.



Our pho came out almost as fast as the eggrolls.

The pho was... shall we say... both better and worse than we remembered. Some things were better, and some were worse. Has Ca Dao changed over the last year? Did we come by on an off-day? Or are we so jaded and snooty about our pho now that it takes some seriously good soup to impress us? I'm guessing it's some combination of all of those things.



Katie and I generally agree that:

- the meat is better now that it was before- tender and not as fatty. But the flavor of it was just OK
- the broth was kind of bland. There wasn't enough spice flavor or beef flavor. I mean, there is something to be said for subtlety, but ...meh
-the sate sauce was good
-there were, in Katie's succinct words, "too many fucking noodles"

The vegetables that came out with the soup were good and fresh, and they don't skimp on quantity. Also, they serve culantro, and that made me happy.

We did, however, miss the elevator music that used to be played there. Elevator Beatles, elevator Simon and Garfunkel, elevator Christmas music, and I seem to recall some Kenny G...

Service was also very fast, and the place was clean and such, if you worry about that kind of thing. They have a nifty little garden that you can see in the window inside.

So... bottom line: A solid choice, but not the best. With other really excellent choices so nearby (Cow Cali, Lucky) why bother? Go a little further down Mira Mesa boulevard (or... don't go as far, depending on which direction you're coming from).

Six (and an imaginary half) spoons out of 10.

SDPB Special Ramen Edition: Yakudori Ramen & Yakitori

Contrary to popular belief, the reviewers on this blog do not subsist entirely on pho. Occasionally, we eat other noodle soups that are made with other four-legged animals. Today, Hao will discuss a recent visit to the newly opened Yakyudori in Kearny Mesa.

Location: 4898 Convoy St., Suite 101 (look for the Dixieline sign)
Phone: ?
Hours: 11:30am - 3:00am
Website: http://www.yakyudori.us/ (does not indicate new location yet)

Update: I later went back and tried the shio ramen during lunchtime, thoughts are below the original entry.

Yakyudori officially opened its Kearny Mesa location on Monday (Feb 1); you can read reviews from Kirk and Chowhound. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this location is that it will be open until 3am everyday. (Compare to Tajima, which is only open until 3am Thur-Sat.) The original location in Hillcrest is only open until 1am, it seems.

Matus and I decided we needed to go to this place and check it out. We arrived at ~1:15am, having very little problems with notorious 805 traffic and were the only ones in the parking lot. Our drink order of hot green tea came out as heated cans of green tea, which our waitress then poured into teacups. A bit strange, and not very tasty, but this seemed like a place that would eventually focus on beer, once the liquor license came through. (judging by the beer advertisements on the walls) Matus ordered the miso ramen, while I had the shoyu (soy sauce) version.


Of the three standard ramen broths (miso, shoyu: soy sauce, shio: salt), both the miso and shio versions come with corn by default. You can of course, ask for the corn to be omitted, but adding it will incur a surcharge, as they do charge for extra toppings. The pork chashu came in large, thick slices with the perfect taste and consistency, but the egg is the winner here. Apparently, it is a Hanjyuku tamago, almost a soft-boiled egg, but marinated so that extra flavor seeps into both the yolk and egg white. The spinach, green onions, and bamboo shoots were standard and did not stand out particularly. Texturally, I thought the noodles were perfect, being cooked all the way through, yet still maintaining some pull and the expected chewiness. The broth had a strong soy sauce flavor as expected, perhaps a little too strong, as it seemed to overpower any other flavors. I should mention two caveats though, lest you think the broth is bad by any means. For one thing, it's likely that I've grown accustomed to the rich tonkotsu broth they serve over at Santouka as well as the complex beef broth used in the better pho restaurants. I'll be sure to try the shio broth next time for comparison. It may allow the other ingredients to come through better. (FYI, Matus had the miso and was not a fan. Without trying it, I can't really give my opinion, but he did finish most of it, so it can't have been too bad. Turns out, Matus is one of those people who finishes off his plate no matter what - he strongly suggests that you avoid the miso ramen.)


I also ordered the tori kara-age (fried chicken), just to see what they put out here. At $4, it's relatively cheap, but not worth getting. There were numerous pieces, but they were all rather dense (perhaps overcooked?). They also didn't come with any sauces, which might have helped to cut through the deep fried nature. It's possible that having it with beer would have made the chicken more enjoyable, but it's a sad day when food tastes better because it's being washed down with beer. Given Kirk's thoughts on the takoyaki, I think I will pass on the non-ramen until yakitori is online. Hopefully, that won't have similar problems.

EDIT: I did go back and try the shio ramen during lunchtime. I did like it a little better than the shoyu, still not as much as the tonkotsu broth at Santouka, but this will be my go-to place for ramen that doesn't weigh me down. The broth was still on the simple side, and I felt that the sweetness of the corn actually gave it some needed complexity, although having actual corn kernels was a bit weird. Also, although the egg looks fairly normal in this picture, it was still fantastic. (but maybe not so much as it was when I had the shoyu ramen)

Two more things I should point out are that during lunchtime, they give you free barley tea and a half-bowl of rice with every ramen order. The barley tea, although probably made from a bag, is significantly better than the green tea that comes in a can. (And I'm not just saying that because it was free.)