Song Huong Restaurant

Best place for banh cuon in San Diego ! Pho is very good too, rare beef is fresh and tender.

I love Song Huong restaurant near Camino Ruiz in Mira Mesa! This is my third time here, and I cannot get enough. It is on the end of a Asian-Pacific mini mall. This is a great area for Vietmanese, Filipino, and Chinese food, products, and exports. I came to San Diego five months ago from NJ, so my only references for food are from NYC. However, I stayed 5 full months in Singapore and Malaysia back in 2011. So much variety of food there...from durian ice cream, to sea turtle soup, to black chicken, to Indian, Halal, frog leg clay pots, and mean Mee Goreng. Song Huong restaurant is energetic and cheerful with its friendly staff, gentle Asian club music, and men of all ages from Vietnam. Ok, the door is an opening in a bright white wall, but please step inside and order some food! The younger dude reminds me of my best ex-Air Force co-worker in appearance and demeanor. You just want to know him. The food? So good! I ordered Pho Dac Biet, which is rare beef slices, tongue, and tripe with onion and rice vermacelli in an excellent broth. Large crispy bean sprouts are on a side plate with a lemon and touch of jalepeno. I could eat this every day....and with chopsticks of course! My drink was a Durian fruit and milk smoothie. They have big round tapioca on the bottom, which are the same size as the straw. Durian fruit really is the King of Fruits. I used to eat 4 or 5 whole medium sized durian in the morning when riding a rented GT mountain bike accross a Malaysian island. Huge energy! Anyway...come to Song Huong and immerse yourself! (Buy some mooncakes next door while you are here...they put them close to the registers. Oh, and use the secret entrance past the potted tree. More fun! When you come here you will know.)

I go here regularly for ordering eggrolls and banh cuon dac biet (special rice noodle rolls) trays. But this one time the cooks in the back were arguing talking (yelling) about having muddy water in Vietnamese. I watched the drama unfold in front of me and saw one cook storm outside the kitchen and the other banging pots.

The rating was deducted one point...though very entertaining, the drama cause a long delay in me getting my food! AND....not sure if the muddy water had anything to do with our order.

This is an awesome little hideaway spot for really good, decently priced Vietnamese food.