Dao Fu - San Diego

Giving an honest review, I wanted to love DAO Fu and I hoped it would become my new vegetarian spot. I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped. I read the great reviews and saw the food pictures. It just didn't hit the spot for me. The menu is half vegetarian and half non vegetarian. Vietnamese/Japanese fusion.The server was awesome, he was very friendly and had jokes. He offered us a complimentary appetizer of the homemade tofu and salad. The tofu was really good! I wasn't a fan of the dressing so much. I started with a miso soup. It was loaded with tofu and veggies. I actually enjoyed the soup. I decided to order the tofu vermicelli noodles. Since this is Vietnamese/Japanese fusion spot I thought it would be similar to what I'm using ordering. It had more sauce than I expected but it was okay. The tofu was fried and had this odd glazed skin on it. The sauce was a mix of the pink vinaigrette of the salad and another sweet soy sauce. I would have enjoyed the dish better without the sauces it was a little too sweet not as savory as I hoped for. Portion sizes are huge here the two plates we had barely fit the table. My husband had their vegetarian pad Thai. That was pretty good, it was heavy on the sweet sauce as well.We ended with complimentary mint chip ice cream with some fruit. Overall the experience was very good, the staff was nice. The restaurant is clean. The food was okay for me.

Hands down my favorite noodle spot in San Diego, I want to gatekeep it so it can stay my little secret. ? But the staff and the food is great and they deserve all the business. Definitely the local spot I bring visitors and order the tofu pad Thai all the time. Super low prices on food drinks, and they always bring you a complimentary tofu salad to start and scoop of ice cream to finish. The worst thing about this place is the parking, and that's just because it's in a popular area, not the restaurants fault!

Have been to DAO Fu a few times over the years and always really enjoy their food! Tried sake for the first time and while it won't be my go to drink, the server made a great suggestion and enjoyed giving it a try. The service was perfect, attentive without being intrusive. If you like Vietnamese, Thai or Japanese cuisine, it is definitely worth a visit!

Probably the best food for the money in the neighborhood. I 've been dining here for over a decade. I 'm not a vegetarian. The food has always been great. The owner Eric the Hot Chef still runs the kitchen and the quality shows. Try anything with the house tofu. Try the classics: stuffed tofu eggplant and peppers; the chicken (or chicken rice pot; pineapple curry. Or try the new dishes like the Japanese curry. The free salad to start and ice cream to finish always make the experience feel complete and satisfying. I 've brought dozens of people here for lunch and dinner over the years (both vegetarians and non-vegetarians and all have loved it.

Got this for a staff lunch which we had 11 people ordering, some of them very picky eaters. Even with all that they were so quick and got everything done correctly. They helped make it easy to see what was what. The food was wonderful some of the favorites we got were the garlic chicken wing appetizer, mango chicken plate and katsu curry chicken plate. It was my first time there and when I'm in the part of town again I will be back!