Kafe Yen

Sometime last week when I was still on vacation, TC and I made a trip out to PB...

Above is the original location of Rubio's, which is on Grand Ave in PB.

We were headed out to the edge of PB, right near the Crystal Pier...


I normally don't like driving in the beach area since it's always crowded. Today wasn't so bad plus it wasn't a weekend.

Kafe Yen has been around for a few years but I hadn't tried it before. Well, this coupon I printed online finally gave me the impetus to go.

The restaurant is located right near the Crystal Pier. Don't park on that side. Park on the other side of the building complex which also houses Urban Outfitters, Fattburger, Brandy Melville (some sort of beach girl store), and one other restaurant I don't remember. Parking is free in the lot!

They serve a variety of Asian cuisines here - mostly Vietnamese and Thai. But I wanted a different cuisine for TC and I to try...

I liked the bold and modern decor. The artwork  was a curious mix of bold Asian prints and African American jazz artists. The music they played was equally eclectic. From Thievery Corporation'ish/Buddha Bar Chill music to Jazz and classic rock.

You can view their complete menu online here

I normally don't buy drinks at all, but the coupon stipulated two beverages for the buy one get one deal. TC had a Sprite and I had the Passion Fruit Iced Tea. When they put this in front of me, I was so disappointed. This was not iced tea at all. This was super sweet and tasted like they opened up a can. It didn't really taste like passion fruit either.

Our soup appetizer - TC really liked this chicken based broth with vegetables (celery, carrots, and cabbage). She said it tasted almost as good as Grandma's won ton soup (but without the won tons).

My entree, the Char Kway Teow which was a Singaporean dish of flat stir fried rice noodles with eggs, bean sprouds and Sambal chili paste. My choice of protein was beef. Both of our dishes were served with salad and two rangoons. I love this type of noodle and enjoyed this dish very much. What I didn't like so much was that rangoon. It was cream cheese but it had a wierd flavor to it. Ugh. I barely ate the first one. Of course, Bert enjoyed the leftovers later that evening.

For TC, I ordered the Mee Goreng because I wanted us to try a Malaysian Dish. These were stir fried egg noodles with bean sprouts, eggs, chili sauce and chicken. She liked her noodles better than mine.

There's that rangoon...

I'm glad we gave this a shot. I would hate to be here on a weekend though when it's mega-crowded. Crowds make me want to run screaming into the hills to hide in a cave.

Kafe Yen
4516 Mission Blvd
San Diego, CA
(858) 373-3936

www.kafeyen.com

Who else went to Kafe Yen?

Captain Jack was here back when it opened in 2007! His post is quite detailed and he also ate more things than I did so you'd have a better feel for what they offer. And here is a more recent (and seemingly overly effusive) post by The Delicious Revolution along with the mixed bag o'comments from yelp.

TC and I both enjoyed our lunch here. She was baffled by their random music selection, but I found it quite cool to listen to the different types of music. Believe it or not, we didn't go anywhere to dessert this day. TC wasn't feeling it so we went home and enjoyed some Fudgesicles from the freezer later on that afternoon.

I'm so glad that this week is almost over! Looking forward to dinner tomorrow with the neighbors...