It was high time to visit this place that I'd been hearing and reading about for years...
No, not Sushi Diner, but Mien Trung. It's across from Kearny High School and a tiny bit hidden behind the strip mall that houses K Sandwiches.
We got the #1 - Bun Bo Hue and the #11 - Mi Quang
along with the #12 - the Hen Xuc Banh Trang...
Of the three dishes, we had two of the three when we visited Ha & VL in Portland.
It's pretty small inside. Service was fast. The girl helping us was super nice and friendly.
Maybe about 10 tables in here...decor is plastic flowers and wooden carvings from Vietnam. It's basic. Don't expect it to look like those yuppified places in Hillcrest. Turn your expectations down...way down when eating at small mom 'n pop Asian places. I'm not saying that in a bad way. I'm not one for ambience. I just care about the food!
The condiments - hot chili oil, chili garlic sauce and fermented fish sauce (very strong).
Our two soups came with a plate of shredded cabbage and lettuce along with a couple of lime slices. In reading previous posts by Cathy and Kirk, I saw that the garnish plate used to have bean sprouts. This is no longer the case. I was expecting sliced banana blossoms for the Bun Bo Hue but there weren't any.
After getting our soups, we asked for three smaller bowls so we could share. Below is the Bun Bo Hue which Mien Trung is known for. This was the main reason we went here so we could try this version and compare it to what we had at Ha & VL (that post is forthcoming; we went there twice to try different menu items).
This was the Hen Xuc Banh Trang. I noticed that they do a lot of clam dishes on the menu here. This was our first time ordering clams anything at a Vietnamese restaurant. Wait, I take that back because I had surf clam salad at Nam An last year. You are supposed to break of pieces of the toasted sesame cracker and use it to scoop up the clams. You can also see our iced coffees with condensed milk. TC had coconut juice with coconut meat in her cup. The coffees here were already filtered and put into cups. Man, that was some strong-ass coffee! None of that watered down weak stuff! I like that it was quite strong! You can tell by how dark the iced coffee was.
Underneath all the cilanto and onions were the clams. One thing about this, when Bert was eating the leftovers the next day, we found a tiny torn piece of paper (perhaps part of a label?) within. We saw the letter "g" on the paper. I don't know where the fk that came from, but that really grossed me out. Of the three dishes we ordered, this was the spiciest of them all! I could only handle a few scoops of the clams on the sesame cracker.
You can see the pork blood cube on the left. I had a tiny nibble. It was more firm than I expected it to be. Very firm in fact. It tasted minerally but hey, it's blood. I think I prefer my blood to be in liquid form, like in Philippine dinuguan (pork blood stew). The meats were thinly cut beef slices (not sure which cut). No tendon. Plus there was a pig foot part in there with attached skin. Mmmm, extra flavor. The chili oil wasn't that pronounced by man, this was a pretty spicy soup!
The Mi Quang (Turmeric noodles with pork and shrimp from Quang Nam) - Turmeric noodle soup with pork, pork loaf, and shrimps topped with herbs, peanuts, and toasted sesame cracker. This was a slightly different version than the one we had at HA & VL (see that post here). The shrimps here had the shells on and part of the head was cut off. TC was excited and happy that the head was still attached. You could see the nice red fat in the shrimp head. That's where the flavor is, I say!
Not too much broth here in my bowl. The noodles are meant to be served dry. I really liked those thick noodles and the flavor of this soup. So many flavors and textures - crunchy from the peanuts and sesame cracker, smooth and chewy from the noodles, plus the fun of eating the shrimps and meats, and so on...Of the three dishes, TC and I liked this Mi Quang the best.
One of the wooden carvings on the wall. Looks like a woman breastfeeding her child.
Once our plates were scraped off (leftovers dumped into styrofoam containers), the pretty plate designs were revealed...
Mien Trung
7530 Mesa College Dr.
San Diego, CA 92111
Who else went to Mien Trung?
Cathy of Mmm-Yoso went here in October 2006, followed by Part 2 by Kirk, with another post from 2009; Dennis of A Radiused Corner had his first Bun Bo Hue here in 2010, and Kirbie of Kirbie's Cravings visited last March 2011.
Here is a rendition of the recipe by The Ravenous Couple:
Mi Quang Recipe
Despite the paper in the clams (ugh, I'm glad it wasn't a "hair"), I still want to come back and try more dishes from their menu. Plus, I'm still thinking about that hella strong iced coffee! Me want more!
Just a few more days and we're off to the Great White North!
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