Pho Hiep Grill in Eastlake for KD's birthday

So last night I went out to dinner with the girls, the Educator GF's (TORC, D and KD) for KD's birthday which was actually a few days ago. We wanted somewhere local so I chose the nicest Asian place down south, Pho Hiep Grill in Eastlake Village walk (see my first post here).

There are three Pho Hiep's in San Diego. The original location is on Linda Vista Road and is owned by Kevin's wife's parents. I think in a previous post I wrote it was owned by Kevin's parents. I stand corrected.   He and his wife own the 2nd location on Telegraph Canyon Road (near Vons) as well as this location which opened in early Spring 2010. They are quite the gracious couple (and stylish too!). As you walk into the Eastlake location, there is a spectacular water feature with two carved wooden panels from Vietnam.

I ordered a few appetizers for the group while the rest of the ladies figured out what they were going to order...

Not shown was the fresh spring roll. There was a misunderstanding with the waiter and he thought I wanted an order of the Goi Cuon along with the Nem Nuong Cuon. I didn't realize it until after we were halfway done eating the Shrimp and pork. The pork roll was really good and I ordered it because I knew the others hadn't tried this before. I am still itching to try Brodard's Nem Nuong Cuon.

All orders were shared by the four of us. TORC (The Other Rock Chick) got the fried rice with shrimp and chicken...

D chose the Com Tam Beef (broken rice) which we all liked. Mmmm, chargrilled edges and fat. Love it.

Calamari was also ordered - the pieces were thick and meaty with a nice and crunchy batter. I thought the portion was kind of small though.

I ordered the Caramelized catfish in a clay pot. I really liked the sweet sauce for this dish.

I also ordered the Banh Xeo crepe - Here is it with the plate of greens (lettuce, mint and pickled carrots and radish). I noticed the tia to (purple perilla leaf) was missing. Maybe they ran out or they don't include it anymore. I liked it and kinda missed it here.

I love how they do their crepes at Pho Hiep. Much smaller than at Que Huong. Not soggy either. The exterior is light and crispy. I ordered this without the pork so the filling was just bean sprouts and shrimp.

Right before we were about to leave, KD spied the bar through the wooden barrier and just had to sit here. (I have to confess this photo is from my March 2010 post) The bar is  electric blue  and lit up from underneath! It looks so cool! I'm reminded of James Cameron's "The Abyss"...

Here is Kevin who entertained us at the bar. Well, not Tom Cruise "Cocktail" style! He's such a supernice guy and he chatted with us about the different drinks and how he designed the restaurant.

This was KD's drink - a margarita...This shot was taken by her on her camera. Nice!

This was D's drink - something with fruit juice and vodka. She really wanted a "Surfer on Acid" but Kevin never heard of that drink before.

After that epic dinner, we headed back to my place for dessert. Bert did this nice set up. I just noticed this photo is marred by the ugly plastic bag in our sink! He also broke out our wedding china, Mikasa Wedding Band Platinum!

I forgot we even had this tray. Those wine glasses sure look swanky on that tray.

I couldn't find the regular birthday candles. I found this one that I picked up at Powell's Books in Portland from our Spring 2009 trip. I was supposed to used it for my 40th that year, but used something else. So, hey, let's put this candle to use shall we!

We didn't have regular coffee, just Vietnamese espresso so Bert made iced coffee. I declined since I already had two (Asia Cafe and the free one from Que Huong). I was pretty wired that night but somehow I was able to fall asleep around 11:30.

I got the fruit tart from Hans and Harry Bakery in Bonita. It was a sugared puff pastry shell topped with custard and glazed fresh fruit.  Heh, heh...Don't you love my "paint" skillz on the "Happy Birthday" circle?

I even did it on this photos but the "spray paint" feature was too thick! Here we are: D, TORC, KD the birthday girl and me...

A lovely evening spent with great company!

Previous outings for KD's birthday:
2010 at Sab e Lee in Santee
2009 at Romesco's
2008 at Frida's

We did go out in 2007 but I didn't post it and in 2006, I wasn't blogging until Spring. This was also the first birthday (for KD) in 5 years that the Chargers weren't in the playoffs.

Only one more day of vacation and it's back to work next week.