Category Archive for ‘San Diego’ at gas•tron•o•my

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Phở Hòa- San Diego

Published

on October 31, 2008

in Pho, Restaurant Review, San Diego and Vietnamese

. 7 Comments

While The Astronomer was visiting his family and exploring the Vietnamese food scene in Alabama, I stayed in San Diego to search for meaningful employment. With the economy in such tip-top shape, I was turning down offers left and right—ha! During my time in San Diego, I had a pretty sweet routine of searching for jobs in the morning and then hanging out at my grandparents’ house in the afternoon. They’d feed me extremely well and in return I provided quality massages and good laughs.

One afternoon, my grandma expressed interest in going shopping for some new threads. She and my grandpa were heading to the Big Apple for the first time ever and she wanted to rock Manhattan in style. We settled on a date and my grandpa suggested that we fuel up on pho before giving our credit cards a workout. We nodded in agreement.

On an uncharacteristically cloudy Friday morning, my grandparents and I set out for some hot noodles and stylin’ wares.

First stop, Pho Hoa. Pho Hoa is located in a Vietnamese enclave centered around an unsavory stretch of El Cajon Boulevard. My family has been frequenting this noodle shop for years and years. Over time, the restaurant’s interior has gotten a lot spiffier, while the exterior remains dingy—at least the laughing cow is as jolly as can be.

Pho Hoa serves only one dish—pho bo. Although the menu doesn’t offer breadth, it offers a great deal of depth due to the countless combinations of beefy odds and ends available. My grandma and I both settled on the pho tai (rare beef) nam (cooked beef brisket) sach (tripe), while my grandpa chose pho tai nam gan (tendon).

Pho Hoa’s broth is clear, flavorful, fragrant and contains a thoroughly authentic dose of MSG. The various cuts of meat were plentiful and high in quality, especially the thinly sliced rare cuts. We garnished our bowls of pho with bean sprouts, limes, basil, sawtooth herb, jalapenos, hoisin sauce and Sriracha chili sauce. Our plate of greens wasn’t as huge as those in Vietnam, but it was definitely piled high enough.

While I can’t say that pho in America is vastly better than Vietnam’s, I can say with confidence that the pho bo at Pho Hoa is better than any bowl of pho bo I ate in Saigon.

After our pho fest, we headed over to Fashion Valley to find my grandma some new blouses.

My Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai walking through the mall.

My Ong Ngoai reading at Talbots while waiting for Ba Ngaoi to shop.

My Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai enjoying some massage-action at Brookstone.

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Phở Hòa
4717 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA‎ 92115
Tel: (619) 283-6431‎

Justin & Laurie’s Wedding

Published

Gastronomer

on October 28, 2008

in Nuptials and San Diego

. 2 Comments

I timed my stateside arrival perfectly to witness Justin ‘My Last Name Means Lover’ Amador marry Laurie, the girl of his dreams. Justin and I met in algebra class the summer before our freshman year of high school—I can’t believe that was over a decade ago! We also ran cross country and track together, which seems to be the common thread that runs through some of my greatest friendships. Pun acknowledged.

The ceremony took place on a warm summer evening in late August at a country club in Rancho Santa Fe. I was tickled pink to see Justin and Laurie so happy—I even shed a few tears. I’m not much of a public crier, but their vows were genuinely beautiful.

After the lovely ceremony, guests indulged in stiff cocktails and small bites while the wedding party took part in a photo shoot. Compared to the last wedding I attended in Saigon, this affair had dramatically less brash drunkenness, even though there was plenty of booze around. The bartender created a special drink for the evening dedicated to J&L named Love Potion #8.31.08. It was a strong pink number made with vodka and blueberry liquor and garnished with a lemon wedge.

Little nibbles included a savory bread pudding that tasted like toasted stuffing (above, left) and tri-colored chips with salsa.

My favorite offering was the baked brie paired with fresh fruit, buttery crackers and a mango chutney.

After the cocktail hour, The Astronomer and I, along with a horde of guests, piled into the dining room for the reception. Here’s J&L being introduced to the crowd as Mr. and Mrs. Amador. Woot!

I snapped this picture of the gloriously stoked couple when they made their rounds to chat with guests. Justin and Laurie’s happiness was contagious this evening.

After the couple danced their first dance, and the bride and groom waltzed with their father and mother respectively, dinner was served. The first course was a simple salad comprised of romaine and spinach leaves, tomatoes, carrots and red cabbage dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Our main courses were chosen months ago when we RSVP’d for the wedding—choices included salmon, chicken and vegetarian. I went with the vegetarian option out of curiosity. I was served a plate of grilled vegetables (broccolini, eggplant, carrots, yellow pepper, portobello) accompanied by a tart tomato puree.

The Astronomer’s salmon was sauced with hoisin and an apple compote, and served with a sweet potato mash. Justin recently told me that the food tasted better at the tasting than on the actual wedding day. No matter, The Astronomer and I were pleased with everything we were served on the big day.

In between dinner and dessert, guests danced up a storm, the bride and groom were toasted, garters were flung and bouquets were tossed. By the way, I wasn’t aggressive enough to catch the bouquet and The Astronomer failed to grab the garter. You know what that means…

The wedding cake was not only pretty, but delicious as well. The layers alternated between chocolate cake with Bavarian cream, and white cake with strawberries and Bavarian cream. By the time we made our way to the cake table, the chocolate slices were already gobbled up, so we went with the strawberry, which was good enough to garner a second helping. Oink.

Justin and Laurie cutting the cake. I was hoping for some cliche cake-in-the-face action, but Justin and Laurie played nice.

Cheers, friends! Thanks for letting us share in your momentous celebration! LOVE!

Karina’s Mexican Seafood Cuisine

Published

Gastronomer

on October 23, 2008

in Mexican, Restaurant Review, San Diego and Seafood

. 2 Comments

After an especially unproductive week of lounging around my mom’s house and napping at odd hours, The Astronomer and I finally kicked our jet lag and started functioning like normal folks. Our first meal out and about in San Diego was at Karina’s Mexican Seafood Cuisine in Chula Vista. Located just nine miles from the Mexican border, the city of Chula Vista has a sizable Mexican-American population and of course, great Mexican eats.

The occasion for this festive outing was Cousin Danny’s 20th birthday. The ultra-exclusive guest list included (clockwise from top left) The Gastronomer, The Astronomer, Cousin Jimmy, Cousin Danny, Cousin Phil and Phil’s main squeeze, Tannia. Cau Bao (Phil and Danny’s papa) was also present, but I’m not sure how he feels about having his mug on the Internet.

The ambiance at Karina’s is lively and casual. The walls are painted a burnt orange (my favorite color) and have arty portraints hanging from them. Dining on a Friday night, we were hoping for some mariachi action, but unfortunately the band was off this particular evening.

The party started with some cold cervezas served inside a bucket. Phil, Jimmy, Cau Bao and The Astronomer indulged in the libations, while I nursed a glass of water the entire evening.

While perusing the menu, which is available in English and Spanish, we nibbled on warm tortilla chips and spicy salsa. We squeezed some lime juice into the salsa for extra zing! Since Karina’s is Phil and Tannia’s jam, we left the ordering up to them.

The Mexican food at Karina’s is nothing like the classic taco shop fare of carne asada burritos and deep-fried taquitos I grew up eating. The flavors here are fresh, nuanced and left me feeling virtuous (yes, virtuous), rather than bogged down by grease. Karina’s style of keeping flavors clean and simple reminds me a lot of dining on Japanese food.

Dinner was served family style, which was a perfect way to taste a bit of everything. The best dish of the evening, and perhaps the entire menu, was the Ceviche Karina’s. Comprised of shrimp, cilantro, avocado, onions, tomatoes and dressed with a chilie infused lime juice, this hefty starter is as lovely as can be.

The oysters on a half shell were beautifully briny and a treat for my uncle who loves these little guys. I indulged in one with a smidgen of lime.

I didn’t partake in the crab legs because somtimes I can’t be bothered with clamps and dirty hands. Plus, the amount of meat yielded doesn’t warrant such hard work.

When it comes to high-quality seafood, simple preparations truly are the best for bringing out natural goodness. The easy-on-the-eyes and light-on-the-labor grilled langoustines were plump and satisfying.