Archive for the 'Bun Cha' Category

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Ha Noi Restaurant – Westminster

Published by Gastronomer on December 30, 2007 in Banh Tom Ho Tay, Bun Cha, Orange County, Restaurant Review and Vietnamese. 3 Comments

December 23, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

9082 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, CA 92683

Phone: 714-901-8108
Website: http://www.hanoirest.com/index.html

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Banh Tom Co Ngu ($6.50)

Bun Cha Ha Noi ($6.50)

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On our drive from LAX to San Diego, my mom and aunt insisted that we stop by Little Saigon for a little shopping and dinner. After five months of living in Vietnam, I wasn’t exactly craving Vietnamese cuisine, but I was excited to compare and contrast food from Saigon to food from Little Saigon.

Since my family is from the south, I was surprised when we pulled into an eatery specializing in northern delicacies. My aunt had heard good things about Ha Noi Restaurant, and so my mom and I left her in charge of the ordering; she stuck to the house specials—banh tom co ngu and bun cha.

The banh tom co ngu achieved the ideal deep-fried state—crispy without a trace of greasy. Wrapped in large Romaine lettuce and dipped in nuoc cham, the familiar flavors of the banh tom co ngu instantly transported me back to Saigon.

I only had a small bite of the bun cha because my appetite was sadly non-existant due to jetlag. I thought that the cha here was far leaner than the ones in Saigon. Another difference was the size of the meat patties. Whereas the cha in Vietnam are about the size of silver dollars, the ones served here were super-sized. Oh, America.

I once read that the Vietnamese food in Vietnam tastes better because of ambient factors like motorbike exhaust, stumpy stools, napkin littered floors, etc., but wasn’t sure if I agreed. After eating in sanitary Little Saigon, I must admit that I badly missed the real thing.

Tastes Like Hanoi

Published by Gastronomer on December 13, 2007 in Bun Cha, Pho Cuon, Restaurant Review, Saigon, Street Food and Vietnamese. 4 Comments

December 12, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

140 Vo Thi Sau Street
District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: none
Website: none

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Pho Cuon (15,000 VND)

Bun Cha (15,000 VND)

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Asia Life HCMC, a lifestyle magazine aimed at the expat crowd, is one of my food inspirations. In every issue, the editors profile a lesser-known regional Vietnamese dish that I have usually never heard of. While flipping through a dated issue recently, I learned about a Hanoi specialty called pho cuon that is supposedly all the rage these days up north. With a little help from the restaurant directory in the magazine, The Astronomer and I tracked down the dish for lunch yesterday.

The eatery, located inside an alley, consisted of an open kitchen, tables, chairs and an awning. We ordered one helping of pho cuon and two portions of bun cha.

The pho cuon was served first and was comprised of lettuce, basil and grilled meat rolled up in a thick sheet of rice paper that reminded me of banh uot. According to the magazine, the rice paper is actually uncut sheets of banh pho. A watered-down nuoc mam and vinegar dipping sauce with sliced carrots and diakon was served on the side.

The smooth rice paper was the dominant flavor, while the meat and greens were merely background noise. The dipping sauce moistened the roll and tied the flavors together. Since this was my first time eating pho cuon, I can’t say whether or not this was an especially good rendition. The pho cuon was tasty, but not nothing to go crazy about.

The bun cha arrived next. Bun cha is made up of three components—herbs/greens, vermicelli noodles (bun) and little patties of grilled minced pork (cha) dunked in a watered-down nuoc mam and vinegar dipping sauce with sliced carrots and diakon.

Rumor has it, northerners eat this dish by adding noodles and greens directly into the bowl of cha. Since we were down south, we were given an extra bowl to make little portions using all of the ingredients.

The little patties of grilled pork were smaller than a pog, and sweet and savory in all the right places. Served with a heap of noodles, I found it impossible to stretch the two tiny patties as needed. The Astronomer and I have had bun cha on numerous occasions, we were neither disappointed nor thrilled with this version.

I am looking forward to traveling to Hanoi next year to taste these regional gems on their home turf.

Xinh Xinh – Ho Chi Minh City

Published by Gastronomer on August 10, 2007 in Bun Cha, Com Tam, Goi Cuon, Restaurant Review, Saigon and Vietnamese. 1 Comment

August 1, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

65 Tu Xuong Street
Ward 7 District 3

Phone: 9321099
Website: none

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Goi Cuon – summer rolls filled with shrimp, pork, rice vermicelli, basil, mint and a hoison dipping sauce (15,000 VND)

Com Tam Bi – thinly shredded pork and thinly shredded pork skin served over broken rice with fish sauce (12,000 VND)

Bun Cha – charcoal broiled pork with rice vermicelli (20,000 VND)

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Xinh Xinh is one of a handful of restaurants neighboring our office on Tu Xuong Street. Our colleague Binh recommended that we try the eatery for lunch on our first day of work.

Unlike the majority of restaurants in Saigon, Xinh Xinh has an extensive menu spanning 10+ pages. Besides being 9 pages too long, the other strange thing about the menu was the lack of prices on certain items. This sort of situation sometimes occurs in American restaurants on dishes affected by market forces, such as lobster and is generally denoted “M.P.” However, I don’t think that was the case here. Perhaps after a few more visits I’ll figure out their pricing scheme.

The Astronomer and I both ordered from the section of the menu without prices and hoped for the best. He had the com tam bi, while I had bun cha. Both items were superbly prepared and actually priced lower than the other items on the menu. The pork in the bun cha was seasoned well with nouc mam, sugar, salt, and other spices. Combined with the cool noodles, herbs (mint, lemongrass, basil), and nouc mam vinaigrette, the dish really hit the spot.

The Astronomer enjoyed his com tam bi as well, but as usual was left unsatisfied due to his enormous appetite. To supplement our entrees and to avoid leaving hungry, we ordered three spring rolls. The goi cuon was extremely fresh and contained lots of little shrimps, which I appreciated because the goi cuon in the states always contain wimpy shrimps sectioned in half. Xinh Xinh’s spring rolls are definitely the best ones we’ve had in Saigon thus far.