Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant

Hao Vi

4451 University Ave.

San Diego, CA

(619) 280-8688

I was craving shrimp fried rice and was too lazy to drive to National City for it. I love the fried rice at Golden Chopsticks. So I drove along University Ave. and saw this restaurant. I parked on the street and went in. It was a hole in the wall but the lady behind the counter and the server were so friendly so I grabbed a menu and looked it over quickly and placed my order.

I wanted shrimp fried rice and beef chow foon dry.

The portions were huge, but I don't think I liked the flavors of the food. The fried rice was lacking umm what's that called, the taste of being cooked in a wok.
And this is not what I ordered and on top of that it was not 'dry'. I don't like sauces or soupy food unless I'm eating a soup. This noodle dish tasted ok, but I was expected wider or larger rice noodles.

I thought that if I liked the food, I would return and dine in. While I was waiting for my order, I watched as the restaurant filled up. I noticed that upon seating the customers, the server would take over water, a plate of you char kway (Chinese fried bread stick), a small plate with bean sprouts and lime wedges, and hot tea. Later, the server would take over 'bone soup'. I wonder if this was all included in the meal. I watched the server do this with each table.

Maybe I will return and order something else. All the food I saw leaving the kitchen looked delicious.

Lunch at Golden Chopsticks

Golden Chopsticks
1430 E. Plaza Blvd.
National City, CA 91950
(619)366-1888

I haven't had the opportunity to dine out much since relocating to San Diego. Today, I had some free time and went on a lunch date at Golden Chopsticks in National City. I remember reading about their salted pepper chicken wings here and always wanted to try them. The restaurant was sort of easy to find. It's tucked away in a strip mall with numberous other interesting looking restaurants. The parking lot situation was not as bad as I had expected. I drive a big truck and California parking has been a nightmare so far, but I'm always up for the challenge.

Let's get to the food. I wanted to try the chicken wings, beef chow fun, and the shrimp fried rice. I enjoyed everything. It was all delicious. The chicken wings were not greasy. They were crisp outside and moist inside with a nice flavor. I liked the flavors of the beef chow fun but they cut their noodles too thin (I like them to be wide/fat looking). I prefer to have beef chow fun 'dry' rather than with a sauce. The shrimp fried rice is by far the best (flavor wise) I've had in California (so far). It was a very good lunch. Our food with drinks came to about $23 and we had tons of leftovers.

Saturday Night Dinner

No plans on a Saturday night, so I decided to cook some chicken fried rice and (cream cheese) eggrolls. For the fried rice I followed the recipe from WOKME and omitted the corn kernels and peas. And I served the eggrolls with sweet chili sauce. Everything turned out great. I have a weakness for chicken fried rice. I've only had really good chicken fried rice once and it was way back in highschool at a restaurant called the Grand Cafe. I've only been back there once since and the food was not the same, it was horrible. I had ordered beef lo mein and what I got tasted like beef stroganoff. I was embarrassed for the restaurant and I felt stupid for ordering it.