This restaurant is certainly a hidden gem and a delight for your wallet. The urban, doodle-inspired decor adds a unique and charming touch to the dining experience. We ordered the Katsu Ramen, Wonton Soup Bowl, and Tantanmen Soup Bowl, and I must say, we were all thoroughly impressed. The host suggested we try the Yuki Nigori Sake, and that combination truly blew our minds. As for the food, we loved the veggie tempura so much that we ordered another plate for the table. Unlike other restaurants, the tempura batter here was mixed with subtle spices that added a wonderful flavor. The Katsu Ramen was off the charts--the dashi was perfect, the noodles were great, and the chicken was perfectly crisp. The crispness of the chicken provided an excellent contrast to the rich broth. Make sure to save some space for the complimentary ice cream. You'll thank me later!

Great spot for a simple dinner out. The Vietnamese crepe is a must get. I've had the mango chicken and the Saigon Mi Xao chicken and both were enjoyable (mango chicken more-so). The woman running the restaurant (assuming it's the owner) is such a vibe. She's great. Somewhat brash in a charming way. Great neighborhood spot. Definitely recommend.

One of the best meal I had in San Diego. Hainanese chicken is super tasty and in rich flavor. The ramen is among the tier-1 ramens in San Diego. The waiter is enthusiastic and kind, offering free vegetables, tofu, and ice cream! The restaurant is well-decorated -- a mixture of Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese. The owner operates with care.

30Apr2024 Date # 819 Once again the most amazing food has shown up to bring us ethereal happiness. Ice water, chilled & warm beverages, & hot tea followed by A fresh house salad, Katsue Ramen & A Drunken noodles plate the size of a car with beef and we also ordered yummy white rice, tenderly done. The umami of the noodles punctuated by fresh herbs was enough to make you feel the very name of the dish in mouth watering pleasure. For dessert, complimentary ice cream. Umh umh umh.... The service was some of the best recently experienced. The prices are quite reasonable, value enough to offset the neighborhood parking. Please, try it for yourself. I'm glad we did.

Dao Fu has an extremely extensive menu of Japanese and Vietnamese food with a whole back side of the menu catered to vegan dishes is what brought my attention to dining here. My diet is temporarily vegetarian and this place exceeded my expectations with the taste of their dishes the and humorous server that brightened our mood for lunch! Their starter includes a side salad with a sweet beet dressing and some of their house organic tofu. Their tofu was warm and soft! The dressing was very sweet for me. Su Ramen (4/5): Served with a thick noodle with a soy sauce based broth. The noodles were on the softer side but still remained silky and chewy. Toppings included mock chicken, zucchini, snap peas, broccoli, carrots, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and scallions. The mock chicken were in small bits so I did not taste much of it. The broth was more of the highlight for me! Thai Drunken Noodle (5/5): The noodles were chewy and tasted pretty authentic to a drunken noodle dish. It wasn't too sweet as they fry it with tamarind sauce and the tofu and vegetables went really well with it! This restaurant has definitely been around for a while as you can see the all the walls are plastered with Sharpie messages all over. I think it gives the restaurant more personality, however, cleanliness could be improved as our cup had lipstick stain on it. I definitely approve their vegan dishes and how extensive it is. So far it is some of the best vegan food I've tried with the most options here in San Diego.

Pros: Very expansive menu with vegan AND nonvegan dishes! You get a free tofu salad and sorbet at the end, which is a kind gesture. Their homemade tofu is fire and I wish you could buy it from them in bulk! Staff is friendly and accommodating. Portions are huge! Cons: There aren't any, I just think that it's hilarious that the serving dishes are comically large.

Excellent attentive service. Super helpful, especially when explaining the heat level of the ramen. Cool decor. I keep staring at everyone's writing on the wall. Really spacious restaurant. Though we come here for date night, it's also family friendly and a fun, trendy place for friends. I like that. It's welcoming. Whenever my partner and I come to San Diego, we come here for the highly coveted lobster ramen. That egg is decadent. The pork melts in your mouth. The broth is hearty. And of course, the lobster. Succulent and tender. Get spice level 2. 3 if you like it hot. Anything higher only if you're adventurous. The chef knocks it outta the park with these flavors. I can't wait to come back. It's so delicious.

Round up for the small business status and wonderful, wonderful service. Two families with young elementary aged children after a day watching sports in the sun. All the littles were already at their wiggle explosion limits from sitting in stadium seating with no run around space for 2 hours.. they were amped up from a slow and steady consumption of sugar/ treats.. and now tired and hungry. We went to watch the Wave girls play at the new Snapdragon stadium which was awesome but we wanted eats near by and fast. Called up DAOfu and inquired about availability and the auntie on the phone said sure no problem.. come down as soon as you are able. By the time we arrive in 15-20 minutes.. they had a lovely table set up for our group of 8.. menus ready.. warm and welcoming. Parking around this area is tough.. but manageable. We ordered: * Cast Iron Pot with Chicken: This was lovely and my favorite dish of the night. The hot pot (kind of reminds of korean stone bowl rice) crisps up the rice and the saucy gravy melds with rice, vegetables, velvet chicken, and mushrooms. The mushrooms give the dish a yummy umami kick to the dish and it's very comforting. I would definitely order this again but it is a "dine in to enjoy and appreciate" kind of dish imo. * Fried Tofu appetizer: ANYTHING with tofu here.. especially the little salad they give in the beginning with tofu.. is AMAZING. I love all their tofu and we all agreed they know tofu. Such a yummy appetizer. * Wings: delicious and saucy with lots of garlic. Loved this dish. If it weren't for the kids.. we would have ordered these spicy.. but the chicken was fat and generous and the sauce was a good balance of flavor. * Garlic Chicken was tasty and more like your chinese take out fluffy battered chicken pieces with sauce and vegetables and rice. It was yummy. I liked that they offered half and half brown and white rice. This dish worked best with the half/half rice. * Mango Chicken: a hit with the kids.. I personally am not a fan of sweet with meat.. but the kids loved it.. and the mango chunks were generous. * Katsu Chicken with curry: this was also warm and comforting.. another hit with the kids. I love that there were tons of delicious vegetables in every dish and nothing was over sauced.. just the right of everything. This dish even had potatoes! which i personally LOVE in curry. The ladies serving were attentive, kind, and generous. I felt like they were aunties sharing their love through food and making sure all of us were fed and happy.. leaving with big bellies. We ended the night with a wonderful little bit of pineapple coconut ice cream with an AMAZING jam sauce (mango and strawberry?). It's just the perfect little palate cleanser to all the wonderful saucy food we consumed. OH and the drinks!! Soy milk is house made (and DELICIOUSSSS) sweet.. cool and refreshing for the hot and long day.. thai tea was delicious and strong with just the right amount of sweetness.. I had a great experience and can see why this place gets such high reviews. Prices are very fair and good portions to share. We cleaned our plates. 4.5 on the food and a strong round up for service and all other factors. Definitely would recommend and come back.

Nice visit here at Dao Fu. Wouldn't mind visiting again if I'm in the area. Complimentary tofu salad was a great refreshing way to start the meal. Buffalo Garlic Wings had a good crunch, juiciness, and were meaty. However, I would have like a little more kick. Katsu chicken curry plate was fantastic. A curry sauce that would make a meal out of a pack of #2 pencils. That good. A specialty dish that was recommended is the Hainanese Cast Iron rice pot. It's billed as a secret family dish. As such, I'm going to guess the main ingredient is love. It was tasty and I highly recommend. We got ours with shrimp which were perfectly cooked. The night ended with a complimentary ice cream. The night's flavor was coconut. Never turn down free ice cream. Our server was not much of a talker but did check in frequently. They restaurant is small and intimate, perfect for a date. Decoration is a little bland and as a novelty they allow guests to write on the walls (I did not do this) which I guess is cool.