Hoài Huế Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

THE BEST BUN BO HUE AROUND! My parents are snobs when it comes to Vietnamese favorites... and this is where they would go to satisfy their Bun Bo Hue cravings. While I like to think I am more open-minded, I can honestly say, their Bun Bo Hue has that that home-cooked flavor to it; no other restaurant has been able to accomplish that. (Including Orange County- The Mecca of Vietnamese cuisine)

The Service: Family owned and operated- which explains the home-made tastes. I have asked before and told that it is, indeed, a family secret. Fast, efficient and actually a lot more polite than the other authentic vietnamese restaurants.

The Food: Known For- Bun Bo Hue- It is so hard for me to describe Bun Bo Hue to someone who has not had it before, but I actually prefer this over Pho. It has a lemon grass, sour, spicy but also sweet in a sense flavor. Ok, I am doing a bad job. Basically I can say it is magical goodness in the form of noodles and broth. It is like nothing you have ever had before. Punches a lot of flavors all at once, but in a good way! Can also be made very spicy to clear your sinuses- if that's what you are looking for. tip You can bring your own pot! I think you can get a whole pot of this stuff for $30 bucks to bring home to the family- or lie and say you made yourself ;)

Give it a try- I think it's called Banh Beo Chen- Theses are delicate little rice cakes that are topped with ground shrimp, scallions and some crunchy deliciousness. (Pork Rinds) I know- WHOA. Sounds like umm a lot of interesting right? But I am telling you, this stuff is really good! The flavors do a great job at balancing each other out, nothing overpowering and the texture is great. I always order a round as appetizers and a lot of my friends love it. It's not like a rice cake for dieting. its more like a very small rice pancake. Think of it as a mini- savory crepe- Bite sized! The Vietnamese bagel bite? Just try it!

My Go To Meal- Rice with 2 BBQ pork Patties with 2 Eggs- I LOVE THIS DISH! We have actually gotten this catered before and everyone loves it! Its flavor is unlike any other BBQ pork rice dishes I have had at other restaurants. (Com Tam is good too, but this is way more flavorful) It's lemongrass and garlic marinade really sets it apart from the crowd. It's cheap, because they give you so much, I end up with leftovers for a second meal the next day. You get soup/a side salad in addition to this. Everything really compliments on another in this dish.

Tip I think they are closed on Monday's? But seriously, try this Mom & Pop shop out, your tastebuds will...

I really wanted to like this place because my friend tried it last time she was in SD and really enjoyed it. Plus, I always love trying Vietnamese food whenever I'm on the West Coast because it just hits different than East Coast viet. Our party of 10 came in on a Saturday at 2 pm for lunch and luckily, one of the last tables available was a table that happened to fit all of us (just barely).

To start, most of us at the Vietnamese coffee. The flavor of the coffee was great but they put way too much condensed milk in there because it was sickeningly sweet and the consistency was super thick. For apps, we ordered two of the Bánh Bèo (steamed rice cakes with grounded shrimp toppings, sweet fish sauce). I thought this was only okay. I wasn't a fan of the hint of coconut, but I assume it's the same thing used to make banh xeo. I've also never had this dish before so I wasn't really sure what to expect. The difference between this and the Bánh Bèo Chen is that the Chen comes in little individual dishes whereas this one does not. Without the little dishes, it made it a bit harder to eat so I would definitely recommend opting for the dishes.

For my main, I had the Bún Tầm Hoài Huế (shrimp/crab balls, pork meatballs, beef slices, tendon, a pork leg, slice, and cubed pork blood). The shrimp/crab balls and pork meatballs were really good. You could tell they're freshly made and not those weird rubbery processed ones from the Asian supermarket. The tendon was pretty good too. Beef slices had an old taste to them. I also liked the cubed pork blood but I wish they gave more than one piece. The broth had a nice flavor but it was so incredibly salty. I think they used too much fish sauce or something. Everyone was chugging water throughout and after the meal. I also tried a bite of my friend's shrimp cake and my sister's pork patty and both were really good. Maybe they're rice and noodle dishes are better than the ones with broth. Anything with ground protein seems to be their forte here, so I would say stick to those and you...

Hoai Hue is truly a gem in the City Heights restaurant scene. Specializing in central Vietnamese food, you will be able to experience so much more of what Vietnamese cuisine has to offer, aside from the typically known Pho or Banh Mi. There is a parking lot next to the restaurant, but it can be quite tricky scoring a spot on this busy section of El Cajon Blvd. It gets packed at the restaurant during peak meal times, so make sure you give yourself some time to get seated. Trust me, it’s definitely worthwhile! Hoai Hue is a medium sized restaurant, very clean, well lit.

If you’re not too familiar with Vietnamese food, not to mention central Vietnam’s cuisine, their menu has photos to help guide your eyes. Also, the servers are all fluent in English so they can help you select from all the dishes they have. Hailing from Saigon, central Vietnamese cuisine was not what I grew up with, but have had a few dishes and variations here and there. I just love Vietnamese food in general so this restaurant was nothing short of delivering. My family was visit San Diego and wanted to see how the Vietnamese food here was like. I remembered how much I had enjoyed this restaurant, so I took them here.

We got 4 orders of each item to share family style. The Banh Beo was smooth and tasty. The Banh Nam was soft and had the perfect ratio of ground shrimp to rice cake. The Banh Loc was a a hit with everyone as well. The Banh Canh Tom Cua was just delicious. The broth was well balanced and they are very generous with the extremely tasty house-made shrimp balls. Everything was so authentically delicious that my family added a bowl of Bun Bo Hue at the end just to try it, even though we were all stuffed!

Just writing this review is giving me cravings for their food! So if you like Vietnamese cuisine, then do yourself a favor and head over to Hoai Hue and treat yourself....