Austin Flavor: A Sampling of Capital Cuisine - “Tender Cephalopods”

My southside scout told me there was a new Asian place at the SE corner of William Cannon and Manchaca, so when I saw ads that Hao Hao was open for business, I grabbed my favorite co-diner and hiked down there for a late Saturday lunch.

We had our choice of seats and took a table that led us past the blackboard specials, always the occasion of interest. Although the restaurant had billed itself as Chinese and Vietnamese, when the menu came it was a straight Chinese lunch menu. An inquiry produced a menu of Vietnamese soups and a promise that there would be a more extensive selection of Viet food in a few weeks.

My companion chose a seafood soup from the Vietnamese menu, I picked lemongrass chicken, a Viet standard, from the blackboard, and we took a pot of hot tea to wash it all down, in a bow to the weather. Her soup was a lovely piece of work, served with bean sprouts (why is it I find them so palatable on Asian dishes and loathsome on everything else?) and cilantro on a side dish to be applied as to the customer’s specifications.

The broth was light and filled with shrimp, fish balls, and what appeared to be mixed cephalopods - squid and octopus - in small, tender pieces.

My chicken was excellent - a large platter of bite-sized strips of chicken in a spicy sauce with a citrus tang of lemongrass and the slight bite of red chiles, served with a big bowl of steamed rice.

Service was helpful and less haphazard than it often is in places like this. We picked up a menu on the way out and found some Chinese items - notably lamb and shrimp Szechuan style - that made us to resolve to return another day and explore further.