I thought I was being expedient by coming here since it was in between two other places I wanted to check out.
Of all the places I went during Spring Break, this was probably one of the worst decisions I made...
TC is not as picky as me and I was trying to be "flexible" by coming here, a pho place of all things in PB, which is known more for its bar scene, tattoo parlors and smoke shops than Vietnamese food. That being said, I knew what I was walking into when we went to "Pho Time" but I thought, "WTF, I will give this place a try..."
The waitstaff was quite interested in a soccer game on TV. Asides from them, we were the only other "Asians" there.
Their decor included Christmas ornaments on some mini trees. Hey, well, it's only eight more months 'til Christmas, so why not keep it up the whole year right? Haha.
Their prices for soup were definitely not Linda Vista or Convoy prices.
One of the things that irked (or confused)me were their other versions of "pho", which seemed kind of wrong. Really Shrimp Pho? Seafood Pho? Is it not pho then since it's not beef? Is this description a way of simplifying things for the gringo's? It's like saying "bun bo hue" is "spicy pho" when it's not pho at all.
[Update - Wandering Chopsticks notes in her comment that 'pho' refers to the noodle and that the other variations of pho are not as common as the beef].
*Beef pho would be pho bo ('bo' means 'beef').
We ordered #43 and #49. Damm, I'm not used to paying gringo prices on bun! Down south it would only be about $6 or $7 at the priciest.
Imagine my surprise when the waiter put down #41, which is the bun with all the meats, which I totally did not order. I remember ordering #49. So he apologized, took it back and I waited almost ten minutes for the right order, also wishing in my head that they weren't spitting in my noodles or doing something else (if you've ever watched the movie "Waiting" you will know what I'm talking about). So, yeah, remember the prices for this, ok.
Below, TC's bun with pork, which was a pork loaf. It had a wierd texture to me, but she seemed to like it, eating most of it. The bowl was on the smaller side. The nuoc cham was on the fishier side which surprised me because I thought they'd gringo-fy the sauce since this was PB after all.
So here is my #49, the shrimp (only 5 pieces) with egg roll.
Those shrimp sure look lonely, unlike at Pho Ca Dao where they gave TC about 8 or 9 pieces. The shrimp was on the hard side. Not plump at all. The noodles were all right, but the vegetables were skimpy. This was pretty mediocre.
Here's what really fkg irritated me...this crappy receipt.
Seriously dude? Nice way of itemizing everything. Gahdam, how lazy can you get?
I also realized that the waiter included #41 which was $10.25, rather than #49's price, which was $8.75. So he charged me for the higher price, but when I did my calculations, I used the correct menu numbers and then stiffed him a tad bit.
What I learned today was this place couldn't get my order right even after I pointed it out to him when I initially ordered it, their food is bland, and our waiter (don't know if all of them do it that way) doesn't like to add up numbers and write down a receipt correctly.
Pho Time
1820 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 273-1664
www.photimepb.com plus the lame reviews from you know where - I can't believe people actually like this place!
After our lunch (which mine was rather dismal), we walked over to the plaza next door (the one with Great News!) to check out a cupcake place...
6 comments:
Maybe he was too distracted by the soccer game to pay attention to the order. :P
Pho is the name of the type of noodle so seafood pho isn't wrong, it's just not as common as pho bo (beef), pho ga (chicken), or pho chay (vegetarian). Since beef is the most common, most non-Vietnamese associate the word pho with beef.
It's like how banh mi here defaults to the French bread sandwich stuffed with meats and pate that most people think of. But banh mi just means bread, so technically, you'd have to differentiate between a banh mi baguette or a banh mi xang quyt (sandwich). And also specify if you want the fillings inside or not. I was trying to explain this to a friend recently because he ordered a banh mi xiu mai (meatballs) and got a plate of meatballs with a Vietnamese French roll on the side instead of with the meatballs stuffed inside. He kept trying to argue with me (Even though he's not Vietnamese!), but his notion of what the words should mean aren't what they actually do mean. :)
Hi WC - i was hoping that you'd comment on the pho. thank you for clarifying. i've seen chicken pho before, but was confused at seeing vegetable and seafood.
Totally lazy waiter! He probably didn't write out the prices just so he could try and rip you off. Sad, sad, sad.
I was so disgusted but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Like they would give a shit anyways. I figured I'd just stiff him. Easier to do and I'll never go there again.
I worked in that area the last two elections and chose to skip eating here because of the prices. But it looked busy both Tuesdays...
hi cathy - pho-ck them man, haha! it's a good thing you didn't waste your time & $$$ here.
Post a Comment