que huong blogger lunch / city heights – san diego, ca

Last month I had the pleasure of dining with a few other very lovely bloggers: Kirbie of Kirbie’s Cravings (the organizer), CC of Pink Candles at Ridgemont High, Cathy of mmm-yoso, C of CAB Cooks, Darlene of My Burning Kitchen, Jinxi from Jinxi Eats and myself. The place of choice? Que Huong in City Heights.

que-huong-inside-1

que-huong-inside-2

I had visited Que Huong one other time and I don’t remember what I tried, but I remember not being very impressed. This time around though, CC and Cathy did all of the ordering off the “other” menu (the thicker, full sized menu rather than just the single white page) for our group that day. Try not to be too alarmed by the amount of dishes ordered – everyone got a little bit to try and share and we had a ton of leftovers to take home.

xeo-vietnamese-crepe

[banh xeo – vietnamese crepe / $5.95]

This thin (but stuffed) crepe was a nice way to start the meal. We each cut off a little piece to try.

jackfruit-salad

[pork, shrimp and jackfruit salad with onions, mint, peanuts, red pepper and seasame rice chips – $12.95]

This was my favorite item of the day. It was very refreshing and bright – I always think things with mint in it are really refreshing to eat. The combination of flavors and textures made this a great addition to our meal. I’d come back just to eat this one again! I don’t remember any one flavor being really dominate here, just a nice blend of spices and flavors.


wild-boar-salad

[wild boar meat with lemongrass & red pepper / $17.95]

This Wild Boar meat drifted us over into “exotic” territory since it’s not really every day you get to try some boar meat. It had a bit of a gamey flavor so I only had a little bit of it but it wasn’t really that bad. There were so many more things to try!

grilled-frog-legs

[pepper grilled frog legs / $12.95]

Okay, this one looks all innocent covered up with lettuce…

frog-legs-closeup

But here, alone, on this plate you can totally see it. FROG LEGS. It was kind of weird seeing it all full and in it’s froggy glory… but I tried it. The first bite wasn’t too bad. I thought, “it kind of tastes like chicken”. But the second bite made me change my mind since it tasted more like a mild chicken flavor mixed with seafood and it weirded me out. Suffice it to say, I didn’t take home any leftovers of this one.

fish-sauce-wings

[chicken wings in fish sauce / $9.95 (small)]

We got two orders of wings to try. This version, with fish sauce, was my favorite of the two. There was a slight sweetness and the outer skin was nice and crispy. I liked that these were not really gloopy and oversauced.

tamarind-wings

[chicken wings in tamarin sauce / $9.95]

The other version we tried with tamarin sauce was much sweeter and sticker than the fish sauce wings. It was a little too sweet for my tastes and I much preferred the first version.

grilled-snapper

[hanoi style grilled red snapper cake / $15.95]

Another fun dish was this Red Snapper fish cake (with dill, chives & onions). It comes out HOT and sizzling on a plate with a side of lettuce, mint, sliced cucumber, pickled carrot, daikon, pineapple, vermicelli and shrimp sauce. CC explained that we were supposed to put everything together with the fish and sauce and eat it together, but I mostly just ate the fish and onions. The red snapper was really tender and flavorful and I liked that you could add in the rest of what you wanted (I ate it with a bit of vermicelli, dill and onions).

fried-shrimp-with-heads

[battered shrimps / $12.95]

 I’m used to seeing shrimp heads but not really used to eating them, so I tore those little heads off. I know you can eat it with the shell on but I just don’t like the shell myself. It’s too weird for my mouth. These shrimp tasted kind of dry to me, but perhaps that’s how it was supposed to be.

It was an epic meal with lots of things to try and lots of leftovers to pass around between all of us! Dessert was again shared later that afternoon.

See the other post’s about this epic meal: CC’s take on the lunch, as well as Kirbie’s look at it and Jinxi’s post, too!

Que Huong
4134 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105


4 thoughts on “que huong blogger lunch / city heights – san diego, ca

  1. I can’t believe you ate the frog legs. They, like, LOOK like little legs of a little green frog. I thought you’d have a frog-phobia story the way I had the escargot-phobia story. But good for you for trying it – I don’t think I could have done it even though everyone says it tastes like chicken.

    I’ve never been to this restaurant so it looks like it’s worth a shot. Minus the froggies.

    1. Hi Faye – Hahah… I don’t think I can top your escargot phobia. No, I was just weirded out and tried not to think of Kermit… It was like a weird chicken/seafood taste that was bizarre. But the rest of the food was awesome! Just pass on the froggies next time.

  2. hi mary – i’m glad you liked the food choices. the frog legs dish i was trying to order was a different preparation where it didn’t look so, uh “frog leggy”. the pork/shrimp/jackfruit salad is one of my faves there. that was an epic meal! 🙂

    1. Hi CC – Uh, I think I’ll pass on future frog. Already crossed off the “foodie bucket list”. 🙂 That salad was really, really good – excellent choice! I’m so glad you introduced me to THAT dish, at least. 🙂

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