Ngon Ngon To Go — Restaurant in San Diego

Food: 4.5/5 Service and Setting: 4.5/5 Value: 3/5

During a visit to Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum located inside of Vinh Hung Supermarket, they rudely said that they do not have chopsticks. I meandered the market and found Ngon Ngon To Go and they graciously gave me a pair to eat with and simply asked me to come back to try their food. If that is not a start to a love story, I don’t know what is.

The restaurant itself is very clean and maybe slightly warm. The lady that was helping me in the front was very nice and even though her English was not the best, she made sure that I was well taken care of. You can tell that people really love their business as they have regulars come by and chat up the owners. She saw me taking pictures and offered to plate everything up, but the freshness and care in their food speaks for itself! This type of kind and genuine service is very rare to see in these types of restaurants, frankly speaking. Ngon ngon in Vietnamese means delicious, thank you Google Translate, and it certainly was!

Bun Cha Ha Noi: 4.5/5 Whenever I get this dish, I was always expect it to be cold because I see the pickles floating in it. Their bun cha comes out steamily hot with 2 grilled meatballs and a healthy portion of grilled pork. The pickles and meat are then put into a broth of diluted fish sauce that is fragrant, sweet, and savory. Though there is a touch of funk, it is not nearly as strong as fish sauce you normally dip egg rolls in. The meats themselves are perfectly grilled with more than a kiss of char, lending a delicious barbecued flavor. The meatballs taste very similar to a dumpling filling with strong notes of onion and other aromatics. They also brought out a plate of greens that included green leaf lettuce, perilla leaves, and Vietnamese mint. I just tore some up and added it to the fish sauce soup and it did add a new layer of crisp freshness. The noodles they gave were well cooked and not soggy at all. The very nice lady also offered me some more noodles, but she just might have been very nice to me this day haha. The ingredients used here are all extremely fresh and delicious and I can tell it was made with care. Sometimes, even with famous Vietnamese restaurants, the grilled meats taste like they’ve been chilling for a little too long, but not here! The lady was very nice and even tried to teach me how to eat the dish. Very tasty and highly recommend as this is a hard dish to find in San Diego!

Thai Tea: 3/5 This is a very standard Thai tea, but again, tasted fresh though it is pre-made and chilling in their display fridge. Sometimes you get that one tea that you know they saved from last week, but this one was fresh! They add ice and some more dairy I believe right before they serve it to you. It was a little flat in the flavor department and lacked that sort of rich vanilla flavor I’ve had in Thai restaurants, but it is a great way to end a meal and cleanse...

This place is literally a hidden gem and seriously blew my mind. When you walk into the grocery store it feels unassuming and laid back, a nicely well-stocked local low key store. You wouldn’t think there’s a Vietnamese restaurant that serves flavor-packed Vietnamese cuisine! (Because food court or restaurants in grocery stores aren’t usually good).

We got a grilled pork bahn mi and grilled cuttlefish mango salad with june plum. Bahm mi was good, but it’s the salad that blew me away.

The mango was perfectly riped and still retained some firmness and tanginess. The june plum tasted like it was pickled or that’s what it tastes like, but I loved the combination of sour and sweet and the texture. The cuttlefish was grilled to PERFECTION then sliced very thinly. The grilled flavor and chewiness added so much flavor. I loved the toasted sesame seeds along with fried shallots. They added so much crispiness making the flavors even more complex. I hadn’t seen this dish else where and I loved that they carried some unique dishes. Their menu was focused (not all over the place) and every single one sounded good.

The complimentary dessert had very smooth and creamy yet chewy texture with combination of black-eyed peas, rice and coconut milk and it was a perfect way to finish the meal - nutty, creamy and sweet just enough.

Service was minimal and very good the same time. They were quietly attentive which I appreciated and felt comfortable with.

I also appreciate that they use actual plates, bowls and utensils instead of disposables. It contributes a lot to the food experience.

Lastly, the pricing couldn’t have been more reasonable.

Can’t wait to go back!!! Hope they will retain their...

This place is fairly new, replacing the previous Asian resto that closed down probably more than a year ago. The wait staff are friendly, and the dishes I tried were tasty - sort of.

The problem is that the food is inconsistent. Last week, I ordered "bun ga" (vermicelli w/ grilled chicken). It was the best I've had in the area in seven years, and the side salad had a very large quantity of cucumber slivers (which I loved) and minimal white radish (which I dislike because I have to pick out every sliver while the food gets cold).

The +ve first experience had me back to order a 2nd time last week. While there was a generous portion of cucumber slivers (and minimal radish slivers), the chicken seemed not as flavorful the 2nd time.

I went back a 3rd time yesterday and got bun (rice vermicelli) w/ pork slices. The pork was too thin and tasted dried up. I paid for extra bun and peanuts, but when I got home, there were literally only two tiny slivers of cucumber. Two, compared to 20-30 slices in the previous two orders.

It's this kind of inconsistency that stops me from returning to many, many restaurants...