après-ComicCon, in SD... Saigon Restaurant and Extraordinary Desserts

SAIGON RESAURANT, 4455 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115, 619-284-4215.
I always plan on trying out the latest, hottest, hippest restaurants when I get to San Diego, but when I'm actually there, I only crave straightforward, GOOD, back-to-my-roots Vietnamese food. After a crazy overstimulating session at ComicCon, I couldn't WAIT to see my parents over fabulous dinner. We decided on Saigon Restaurant (yes, back AGAIN to City Heights, the mellow hood of East San Diego) since it was the closest to downtown and the only option for quality, fresh seafood (in-house live tanks) with one of the BEST lobster recipes ever. Bro and I got there a little past 8pm and located my parents waiting with huge smiles next to the fish aquarium in the back. I miss them so much! As expected, my mom took liberty of ordering ahead and the food started coming out as soon as we sat down.

She picked a gigantic 5-lb lobster from the tank (five pounds!). My visit was the perfect excuse to order Lobster wok-seared in French butter. (Clarification: NOT drawn butter!) Potent smell of sweet buttery garlicky lobster filled the room when the waiter walked out of the kitchen carrying the platter. The claws were about a foot long (omg!). Meaty and tender, each bite was an explosion of complex flavors and textures. The best part is licking/gnawing on the shells :) (The lobster aroma was intoxicating and seemed to be suffocating Bro!)

Clams arrived still sizzling in the clay pot. They were done to PERFECTION, plump and juicy, flavorful, clean, spicy, and tossed in black bean sauce with ginger, scallion and hot chili. The sauce over rice is... UNREAL. Love this dish.

The Bi Cuon, my mom's fave, came big and fat. The only way to eat it was to cut it up into little segments. The fish sauce here is mixed with fresh minced garlic which gives it extra depth. Super addicting fish sauce.

A happy table is a MESSY ONE... a disaster zone of heavenly poetic flavors! I ordered a Vietnamese ice coffee to take with me (to keep my buzz going). Can't believe they still give out fortune cookies with the tab. FYI: The lobster (at $17 a pound, 5 lbs total) came to $85, the clams under $10, the bi cuon $3. This should give you an idea of the range in pricing. Something delicious for ANY fiscal mood.

And a little later, I met up with longtime girlfriend Alex at Extraordinary Desserts (Little Italy, downtown) for some girl talk over some nibbles.

EXTRAORDINARY DESSERTS, 1430 Union St, San Diego, CA 92101, 619-294-7001

Still stuffed from the enormous lobster dinner, I had barely enough room in tummy for tea. We ordered a tasting plate with amazing breads.

Take-out, Nana-style (from Saigon Restaurant in San Diego)

Nana and Grampa drive up from San Diego to visit us when we were staying in Dana Point (at our friend's beach house). Along with presents for the kids, they arrive loaded with food: a pot of Grampa's special clams and Vietnamese take-out. It's late, VERY late, and the kids are asleep. After all these years, they are still wondering how I can survive in an area (Utah! ...totally baffling) not swarming with Vietnamese restaurants. I am lucky to have such an adoring mother who, without hesitation or thought, continues to spoil me with exactly everything I crave.

    

The craziness and excess of the late night SURPRISE NOSH.... 

Grampa's special clams in ginger, herbs and glass noodles. AMAZING and clearly made with extra love.

"Che" cups with sides of coconut milk garnish. Che isn't just dessert, but the most popular Vietnamese snack. Instead of chips or a cookie, you snack on a cup of "che" - a sweetened gooey soup usually containing beans, sticky rice, tapioca or coconut milk.

From Saigon Restaurant (on El Cajon Blvd in San Diego)...

Beef wrapped in Grape Leaves, my all-time childhood fave! The ground beef is marinated in shallots, garlic, lemongrass, fish sauce, shaped and wrapped in grape leaves, grilled/pan seared, topped with scallion oil. Their fish sauce has lots of fresh minced garlic.  "Mam Nem," Anchovy-Pineapple Sauce, (omg delicious!) was a treat as many restaurants don't even bother with making (a pain to make, difficult to store, way smelly - aroma vs odor?!). Every Vietnamese person growing up has some absurd story about spilling Mam Nem (or fish sauce) in the car and having that smell linger for years or until you finally get rid of the car!

Standard pile of raw greens/herbs: lettuce, mint, Thai basil, shiso, cilantro. There was also sheets of unsoftened rice paper. Have a hot bowl of water nearby to soften the rice paper. Then add greens and a beef roll. Roll it up (spring roll style), and dip in to fish sauce or Mam Nem. Double-dipping is critical! Fyi, I go through withdrawals for Man Nem sauce.

Grilled meat kabobs with fish sauce. Same as above!

"Take-out lobsters," under any given circumstance, is pretty decadent. Even after sitting in a closed styrofoam box for an over-an-hour drive, the garlic lobster was still AWESOME! This is MY FAVORITE lobster prep of all time: lightly coated and wok-seared in a TON OF GARLIC, shallots and oil. The crunchy and chewy textures of the fried sweetened, salty, peppery, garlic was unreal and the best part is sucking/scraping the shells and licking your fingers. There were at least a couple of giant lobsters (forgot to count the heads and didn't know they made styrofoam boxes so big). Meaty tail, gigantic claws and moist crab-like legs (not overcooked/dried out) were precut to easily peel without major tools. Intensely deliciously gratifying, wow.

She even brought sweet sticky rice with black beans, another fave.

The kitchen counter was laden with food, much of it not pictured pictured here... like several baguette sandwiches, "banh mi," other detail specific condiments, a bunch of extra long crispy french baguettes, Laughing Cow cheese (?!?!), a big bag of pickled carrot and daikon, containers of jasmine rice, the rice paper... 
     
I love you to death, Mom.