The former – and formerly retired – owners of Nee House bring top-shelf Chinese to North Scottsdale.
by Nikki Buchanan | Photography by Adam Kindred
Not for nothing is Scottsdale disparagingly called “Snotsdale.” In this bougie tourist mecca, la-di-da restaurants abound, while culturally diverse mom-and-pops are pitifully scant. But thanks to Hao Hao, a terrific new Chinese restaurant located in the Via de Ventura neighborhood, our international dining prospects are looking up. Owners Jade and Vincent Wong, who sold their popular Nee House several years ago in an ill-fated stab at retirement, are back in the game, opening this small, pleasant spot whose name translates to “well” or “properly.”
As was true at Nee House, the bound, multi-page menu covers three regional styles of Chinese cooking – Cantonese, Mandarin and Szechuan – as well as Chinese American favorites such as eggrolls, crab rangoons and sesame chicken.
That said, delicate Cantonese cuisine seems to be the heart and soul of the restaurant, evinced in subtle classics such as Tong Gong chicken, a platter of boiled, miraculously moist, skin-on chicken, chopped into small pieces and served with a clear, salty ginger-scallion sauce. Equally understated and wonderful are bite-size pieces of bone-in pork chop, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried to a golden-brown crunch with scallions and jalapeños for a touch of heat. Whole shrimp, deep-fried to a crispy state, get the same simple salt-and-pepper treatment. We eat them heads and all.
Beef chow fun, another Cantonese specialty, combines soft, wide rice noodles with tender beef, scallions and bean sprouts, stir-fried in soy and oyster sauces for a jolt of umami. Dried scallop and crab meat fried rice is just as sensational, a blending of briny scallops, sweet crab, Chinese broccoli and egg whites, easily the most elegant fried rice I’ve ever eaten.
Silky snow pea leaves, stir-fried with garlic, epitomize sweet, grassy freshness. Meanwhile, honey walnut shrimp, a Hong Kong specialty I haven’t eaten in decades, is just as decadent as I remember – all cream and candied walnut crunch.
Meanwhile, Hao Hao’s orange chicken is my new paradigm-setter for this Chinese American standard – light, crisp, sweet and spicy all at once. And finally, meltingly tender morsels of filet mignon brochette, served with a saucer of fine-grained salt and pepper, are simple perfection.
As its name implies, Hao Hao is properly the bomb, and its prices are quite reasonable. Take that, Snotsdale.
Hao Hao
Cuisine: Chinese
Contact: 9210 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale | 480-270-6278 | haohaoaz.com
Hours: W-M, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Highlights: Tong Gong chicken ($18), orange chicken ($18), fried pork chop or deep-fried shrimp with salt and pepper ($19-$20), beef chow fun ($19), honey walnut shrimp ($20), dried scallop and crab meat fried rice ($20)
