Sherman's Food Adventures: OB Noodle House

OB Noodle House

3 consecutive days of "heart attack" food meant that we had to go for something a bit different. Look at it. We already had Duckaroni at Urban Solace, Mexican at El Zarape, Pizza from Bronx, BBQ from Phil's, Chicken & Waffles from Hash House a Go Go and ice cream from Mootime. We realize there is much more than noodles to be had in San Diego; yet, due to our feelings of bloatedness, we settled on Pho. And to top it off, we headed over to OB Noodle House, which was not exactly the most kid-friendly place either. Part Pho joint and part happenin' bar, this place was a party with rice noodles in beef soup. Like almost everywhere else we went, there was another lineup. Man, I wanted to leave. However, Viv persuaded me to stay and tough it out. It wasn't too bad and luckily we scored an outside table which meant better pictures and also the kids would not cramp their style.

Naturally, we had to try the Pho and I went for the "everything" version with all the meats. The look and presentation was quite authentic despite the venue. I found the soup to be very flavourful in a salty/MSG sort of way. I'm not really complaining because it did taste good. The noodles were cooked properly as well while the meats were tender and plentiful. Viv had a different bowl of Pho and it was noticeably smaller than mine. As a starter, we got the Salad Roll. This was a pretty typical salad roll with sprouts, vermicelli, lettuce (a bit old), pork and shrimp. We would've liked to see basil or some form of herb to brighten up the flavours though. In terms of the roll job, it was a tad loose and we found it difficult to dip it into the sauce without chunks falling out. And about that sauce, it was good being a nice balance between peanut and hoisin.

Lastly, we ordered the Grilled Chicken on Rice in case we weren't full and if the kiddies changed their mind on sharing some Pho. Luckily we did order it since our intuition was right on both accounts. Viv's small bowl of Pho wasn't enough for her appetite and my daughter actually ended up wanting rice after all. Well, she had some rice... and then switched over to the soup noodles. The rice had a good texture, being slightly chewy while cooked all the way through. However, the chicken was too thin which resulted in a dry product that was probably too charred in some areas.

It is important to note that OB Noodle House has a similar Pho Challenge much like Pho Garden in San Francisco. I didn't take the challenge since I didn't feel like wasting food. Alas, this was a nice break from all the rich foods we've been stuffing our faces with over the past few days. Sure, it wasn't spectacular Vietnamese food; but it was more than acceptable. Considering that the restaurant didn't even resemble a Pho joint, this was quite surprising. I guess the combination of booze and Pho really does work. The Ocean Beach location doesn't hurt too.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Inexpensive
- The place is hopping for a Pho joint

The Bad:
- If you want a quiet experience...
- Lineup out the door

OB Noodle House on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

KimHo said...

Not sure if it is my own (twisted?) perception of serving size in the US, but you had to order extra??? Just saying... :) Either that or the kids are growing and need to eat more, hahaha!

About the pho challenge, I wonder if any of the Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver would do that and, if so, which restaurant would you prefer. Pho Tam? :)

Sherman Chan said...

@KimHo Yah, that was probably the only meal where I didn't roll over from the amount of food we had. Yah, a Vancouver joint needs to do the Pho Challenge! Actually Pho Tam's regular portions are a challenge already!

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