Update: Huynh Hoa Tuu has closed.
I had been aware that O Yea! Vietnamese Restaurant had changed ownership, but the last time I recalled driving by, the place was stil named "O Yea!". Then in November mscinda posted on the now renamed restaurant; Huynh Hoa Tuu. After checking out her post, I made sure to add Huynh Hua Tuu to my "list". It quickly moved up my list when "El Grande FOY" (Friend of Yoso) Yummy-Yummy sent me a very enthusiastic email regarding Huynh Hoa Tuu. YY even recommended a couple of dishes….. which is how the Missus and I ended up at Huynh Hoa Tuu.
Walking into the place, it seemed that little had changed except for the name, as the interior hadn't changed a bit…… it's still a bright Pepto Bismol pink.
The menu was a different story, as there was a pretty wide range of dishes from the standard Cha Gio at $4.99 to various "Lau" (hot pot) ringing in at $25.
We decided to start with a favorite of the Missus, the Banh Trang Nem Bo ($8.99), the make-your-own-spring rolls dish. Things looked good as a large plate of bright and fresh herbs, veggies, and fresh pineapple arrived at our table.
The meat provided was the a slightly sour and nicely grilled "Nem" (pork sausage), and thinly sliced beef tightly rolled into cylinders, covered with peanuts.
The beef was less sweet than other places, and on the salty side, but not in a bad way. The Nem was nicely charred, but nothing special. No Bun (vermicelli) was provided, and the rice paper was the large plate sized type.
Which the Missus just couldn't keep Her hands off of……
What was problematic about the dish was that the bowl of water provided was on the small side, so you had to work a bit to moisten the rice paper. Still, this wasn't bad, but we both thought the Banh Trang at Pho King was better.
One of the dishes recommended by Yummy-Yummy was the Green Mango Salad with Shrimp(#109 – Goi Xoai Tom Nuong). At first the price, at $15 seemed a bit high. But when the dish arrived, we knew why….. there were at least ten grilled shrimp, on a huge plate of green mango.
Instead of the usual shredded green mango, this presentation had the mango in slices. The somewhat pleasant (for us) puckeriness of green mango came through… a memory from my childhood, as green mango was often eaten in Hawaii, though with soy sauce and sugar, or bagaoong. The mango was dressed with a tangy, yet spicy sauce, which we enjoyed. The shrimp was perhaps a tad overcooked, but was very fresh, and everything was topped with a good amount of Rau Ram (Vietnamese Coriander) which added it's own punch to the dish. We finished the whole plate and was stuffed.
Leaving thoroughly satisfied, we returned a couple of other dishes. This time I ordered the Braised Shrimp with Pork Belly (#69 – Tom Thit Ba Roi Ram Man):
The menu's English translation says Braised Shrimp with "Bacon", but it's pork belly that has obviously been simmered in a fish sauce based mixture. This time the shrimp had been cooked adequately, and did well paired with the fatty, though not overly soft pork belly, and the salty, and slightly sweet fish sauce mixture. We were worried because the amount of black pepper used seemed excessive, but it did well in this dish.
The other dish I wanted to order was also recommended by YY:
It was not translated into English on the menu, and was simply described to me as #102, the squid dish, Muc Mot Nang Nuong Muoi Ot($15). It was squid grilled with chilies. For some reason, when both the Missus and I were provided with a dish of sea salt mixed with red chilies and a lime wedge, we gad a premonition that this was going to be a good dish. The little plate reminded us of Vietnam.
And it did deliver:
Let me just say a couple of things about this dish. First, the salt, chilies, and lime, is not an optional item, but an integral part of the dish. Second, this was the most tender grilled squid I've had in ages, beating out anything I've had in years. It almost melted in my mouth! The Missus, not being a fan of squid really didn't want me to order this, but She ended up fighting me for the last few slices. Funny thing, Rau Ram used to be pretty rare in Vietnamese Restaurants in San Diego, but here it's everywhere!
On our next (yet another) visit, my eyes wandered down the menu, and I ordered the Bap Xao Tom Kho (Corn with Dried Shrimp – $8):
This was nothing that I couldn't make at home on the Big Kahuna. this was also a case of too much black pepper, which killed all the flavors of the dish.
We also ordered the Oc Len Xao Dua (Snails stir fried with coconut milk – $15):
This was a load of snails! At first, the Missus and I kept going, "man this is waaaay too sweet". It seemed very rich and cloying…. but in the end, we had eaten every single snail…. every one. So I'm not quite sure…. I still think this is much too sweet, with too much coconut milk, and yet we plowed through the whole thing, so I guess I'm torn.
Well I'll stop at the snails for now, but there's much more to come…. just in case you're wondering how "Deep Fried Pork Leg with Fish Sauce" tastes, stay tuned!
Huynh Hoa Tuu
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
You can find part 2 of this post here.