Here are a few other dishes from 777 Noodle House. We've found ourself in the area a few times recently, and it turns out the Missus thinks the food here is a good value, and pretty tasty as well. So here's the rundown:
"Yummy Yummy's" sister, "Little K" recommended the fried rice. And one day the Missus ordered the Thai Style Seafood Fried Rice ($6.77):
Other then the scalded chilies and a few leaves of Thai Basil, this would pass for good "old school" fried rice. There's a nice smoky char, and a decent amount of shrimp, and some beef, which were a surprise because there was no beef in the photo. The beef wasn't that great, but the Missus enjoyed the fried rice. The portion was large enough for the Missus to have the left-overs topped with fried egg the next day. A few visits later, the Missus ordered it again:
I'm thinking that they were out of a few items on our previous visit since there was some squid and fishballs, and even more shrimp this time around. A lot more scrambled egg in this as well.
There are of course the Leek Cakes ($2.97), worth another mention:
On one visit, I ordered the Hủ Tiếu Bò Kho (Beef Stew with Rice Noodles – $5.77):
The noodles in this was the wider rice noodles, rather than the Hủ Tiếu in the Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang. Instead of the usual reddish color of the photos, this was kind of an almost unappetizing brown. The broth was actually quite good, well seasoned, with lots of star anise flavor. The beef was just so-so, and the tendon was decent, but not outstanding.
I had initially asked the Missus if She wanted a taste, since She was still waiting for Her fried rice to arrive. She looked at the bowl, and turned Her head in disgust, but unfortunately I insisted…… and though the Missus didn;t care for the meat, She drank almost all the broth! Leaving me pretty much with a "Kho" (dry) dish. Then something surprising happened. One of the young women, seeing most of my broth was gone, asked me if I wanted more soup! Shocked I think I mumbled, "yes, just a little bit more…." When the young lady went back to the kitchen, the gentleman working the counter passed by, and also asked me if I wanted more soup! So I guess this is the usual MO….. man was this very different from other soup shops. And sure enough, about two minutes later, the smiling young woman delivered my "soup"…… and it wasn't quite "just a little bit", but an entire bowl. And they didn't even charge me for it!
In order to respect their generosity, I made sure to finish everything, making sure the bowl looked licked clean. I left fat and happy, soup making "glop-glop" noises in my belly as I rolled to my car. Just this one gesture ensured that we'd return.
Once the Missus had the Wonton Egg Noodles ($4.77):
Nothing to write home about. The broth was milder than it looked, the wontons not bad.
On one trip the Missus, for some reason ordered the Shrimp Thai Red Curry ($5.77):
Which wasn't half bad, perhaps better than many Thai Restaurants in San Diego. There was no coconut milk or sugar overload in this one. Total eight shrimps made it a good value. Even though it was ordered at "spicy", this was pretty mild. The curry was kinda weak in the complex melding of flavors I expect from a curry.
Here's the Shrimp with Stir Fried Bun Loc ($6.77):
This dish was made with a type of rice noodle also called "Banh Bot Loc" bearing no relation to the pork and shrimp filled tapioca flour dumpling looking stuff I get from places like Mien Trung. Another generous portion of shrimp, and scrambled egg intertwined with bean sprouts and a thick rice noodle which was slightly gooey, and I didn't much care for. The noodles was served with a small bowl of Nuoc Mam Cham, which I found kinda strange, as the sweet flavor seemed to kill all the smokiness in the dish.
One dish I found pleasant was the Pig Intestine with Sour Vegetable ($5.77):
I would have preferred that the preserved vegetable be more sour and pickled in flavor, but there was quite a bit of well prepared earthy flavor intestine. One item that made this a bit different from other versions I've had, was the addition of a bit of spice, there were two or three sliced Thai chilies in the dish that really livened things up for me. It wasn't very spicy, just enough to tingle my tongue.
Here's the Egg Noodle Soup with Duck Leg ($4.77):
The broth was different this time around, featuring almost a seafood flavor. There was quite bit of egg noodles in the bowl though it's not my favorite type of egg noodle. The duck leg was decently fried, and adequate, especially for the price. The duck came with a little bowl of sweet soy, almost like you'd pour over steamed fish. I actually poured some of it into my soup, which was a positive addition.
While we were eating, the Missus and I noticed a pretty large party eating at one of the tables next to us. Even though they spoke Cantonese, She understood some of it. They must be regulars because they all requested a refill of soup, which came out promptly. And near the end of the meal, one of the women, who I think is the owner came out from the kitchen. They chatted for a while in Cantonese, which ended in a nice laugh. When the woman walked away, the Missus cracked up and told me, they just requested some watermelon……. say what! The audacity…. But wouldn't you know it; as we're paying our bill, out comes one of the young women…. with a large plate of sliced watermelon. You gotta love this place…… it may not be the best, but it's a good value, and the folks here are very nice…. almost too nice. And some of the dishes are pretty good to boot.
After all, there aren't many places where you can get noodle soup for under five bucks nowadays……
777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105
Open Daily 8am – 9pm