**** Hao Vi has closed
If you're like me this is probably the closest you've ever gotten to Hao Vi……
You just kinda zip on by while driving on University, and say to yourself, "one of these days…." Whenever we'd pass by, the Missus would always mumble, "good taste". Which is what "Hao Vi" means. Over the years, there was only one individual I knew who actually ate there. My ears perked up when he mentioned Hao Vi, and when I quizzed him about the place, I was told, "it must be a front…..they had the absolute worst Pho I've ever eaten!" Scratching my head, I said, "isn't the place one of those Chinese-Vietnamese Noodle Shops, that serve Mi?" His reply, "what's mee….hey, there's Pho on the menu, so it must be a Pho shop." Dude needs to stick to writing those "reviews" on the board who we need not name……
And so the place remained on the "one of these days…" list. Until during a conversation with two of my favorite folks, MrQ and his lovely missus YY. MrQ mentioned HaoVi in passing. Which instantly got my attention, I pushed Q and YY for more info, and they filled me in a bit on the place. Which is why I ended up opening that door and entering Hao Vi on a recent weekend morning.
To be perfectly honest, the interior of this place has seen better days, but it looks like they make an effort to keep the place as clean as possible.
The menu is tri-lingual, English, Chinese, and Vietnamese, and Hu Tieu (tapioca or rice noodles) and Mi (egg noodles) appear prominently on the menu.
Without further ado, I'll get to my favorite part of the meal at Hao Vi. Much like Cam Ky, you're served a pork broth as a starter.
Much better then the version at Cam Ky, more "porky" in flavor. You know that there's no way in the world this tastes as good without a little "help" if you know what I mean. But after a sip or two, you really don't care.
On both of my visits the pieces of pork in the soup was soft without being mushy, and hadn't had the flavor cooked out of it.
And this is the free part of the meal.
Like a few other similar restaurants, only bean sprouts and lime garnish the noodle soup dishes.
The weather was unseasonably mild on my first visit, so I decided on the Beef Sate Rice Noodle Soup (Hu Tieu Sate Bo – $5.25):
The portion size was on the smaller side. The sate broth was more like gravy, as it was thick and vicious. In fact, it was just kind of resting on top of the Hu Tieu. When I moved the noodles with my chopsticks it drained to the bottom of the bowl. The flavor was quite strong. When I order Sate Noodle Soup, I'm used to a broth with a couple of tablespoons of sate sauce in it. This tasted like it hadn't been diluted much! It was pretty spicy, and there was the presence of a powerful cinnamon like flavor. It was also quite salty. The beef was tough and forgettable, but the noodles were perfect, chewy, with a nice pull.
It wasn't bad, but the pork broth brought me back a couple of days later. This time I had the Dumpling Egg Noodle Soup ($5.25). Because it was quite hot, I ordered my soup "dry", so a sweet-soy-oyster sauce with bits of ground pork was poured over the noodles.
I gotta say, this dish really didn't do it for me. The hard dumplings had only thin slivers of cardboard like filling, which tasted exactly what it looked like. It was also one bland dish…. except for one thing, MrQ had told me that the Mi always comes out perfect at Hao Vi, and he was right. This was about as good as egg noodles could be prepared, crunchy, but not hard….. just perfect. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about the rest of it.
Actually, this wasn't the way I wanted to leave this post. I fully intended on returning and trying the classic Hu Tieu Nam Vang – Phnom Penh Noodle Soup, but I'm just not feeling up to it right now. Maybe one day soon, so this'll have to do until then.
A few details; street parking only, and cash only, the folks here are quiet, and on the serious side, but nice. The restaurant is not as gritty looking on the inside as it would appear from the exterior.
Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant
4451 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105