D.Rough and I needed “treat-yo-self” night, so we headed to
Hai Hai – a relatively new “modern Vietnamese” restaurant in Northeast. It’s
actually in the former strip club known as the Deuce Deuce, but don’t let that
scare you. they’ve done amazing work in side and it looks absolutely lovely
inside. The bar area is fun and inviting and the dining room has plenty of room
without being too crowded. There’s also a really nice patio out back for more
summertime dining.
D.Rough had already been to this restaurant before, so she
knew the ropes and suggested a few things. A couple of appetizers to share and
then two entrees to share. And, of course, cocktails. They have an amazing
cocktail menu, which I have a feeling I’ll be working my way through in its
entirety, at some point.
I got something called Topical Tradewinds, which is
some rum with jackfruit, falernum, pineapple in lime, served in a nice looking
bowl. It was delicious!! D.Rough got the Hotel Continental – multiple rums,
pineapple, and some other things, served in an awesome tiki glass – yes, I was
jealous. Hers was also extremely good.
For food we got the salt and pepper fried tofu and the Hai
Hai Spring Rolls. The fried tofu is so good, that it hurts. It’s large pieces
of fried tofu – large enough to cut into 2, 3, or 4 pieces – sitting in a
delicious rice powder and lime leaf sauce, and a small amount of thai chilis on
the side that you can add if you like. It’s REEEEEALY good.
The Hai Hai Spring Rolls were good, but very unusual. It’s
like a standard/non-fried spring roll, but there’s a pork sausage inside it and
a fried egg roll skin inside, as well. It’s got a lot of different textures going
on, which is nice, but it’s unusual, to say the least. It’s served with this
delicious sauce for dipping, as well, and you’re going to love that part
especially. Not our favorite thing on the table, but we did still enjoy it!
For dinner, we got Beef Larb and Hanoi Sticky Rice. It was
extremely difficult to determine which one we liked best. The Beef Larb was
great. I mean really great. It was served with some cabbage leaves for scooping
the ground and spiced beef into, and also a few sesame-shrimp chips. Both were
great. This had plenty of spice in it, but the seasoning on it was wonderful.
The Hanoi Sticky Rice was a tasty bowl of multiple
ingredients – ground pork, pork floss (which is my favorite thing ever), Chinese
pork sausage, mung bean, fried shallot, pickled vegetable, and some cucumbers
in a sauce that you dump on top. All of these ingredients are sitting on top of
a fantastic bed of sticky rice. The idea is to mix the whole thing together
(which is difficult since the bowl is full), and then chow down. It was great, especially
when you got some of each ingredient all in one bite. It was magic in a bowl.
I almost forgot about dessert!! They have four desserts on a
small menu, that I believe rotates weekly or monthly, and they all look great.
D.Rough got the Racine cake last time, so this time, we got the Coffee Pots de Crème.
It had these delicious little crispy wafer things in it that I won’t even begin
to describe. And the layers of sugary dessert were much better than I expected.
Just get this thing.
Honestly, the next time we go back here, it’s going to be
difficult to NOT get one of these four things again, since I know how good all
of them are. There are, however, a few more items on the menu that I want to
try, so that will help. I’m already planning it out and looking forward to the
next trip there! Amazing job, Hai Hai!
1 comment:
Thanks for the review - I was just looking at their info, hoping to make a visit. Wow, I can be fairly adventurous eat but those are some weird dishes. I need to look up pork floss...
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