64: A tale of two bún bò Huế
And a bonus bowl of bún bò trộn
Welcome to my little dining out (or sometimes in) project. Its purpose is to get more acquainted with Vietnamese cuisine while I have the privilege of living in Vietnam. A tale of two… will see me try the same dish at two different restaurants. Trying something once is great, but two tries, hopefully in quick succession, should offer me (just slightly) more insight into the dish.
Whether it’s something I’ve had before or one that is brand new, my hope is that the small comparison will help me better understand the dish, what variations might exist, and what I generally think of it. I want to become less ignorant when writing about Vietnamese food and a less ignorant resident of Vietnam.
I am also a recovering picky eater and still on the journey of understanding what my more mature palate is. I hope this project will help with that, too.
Previous tales have been on phở; bánh cuốn; bún mọc; bánh mì chay; xôi gà, and trà cúc.
Bún bò Huế was a dish that I had never tried before moving to Vietnam. I had visited the central city of Huế while travelling many years ago and seen the noodle soup on the menu of phở restaurants in North America, but I never partook. I’ve mentioned a million times before how I’m not really a noodle soup person. Back in my more serious picking eating days, I would have seen how a typical bowl is topped with various cuts and preparations of meat and shied away. But feeling as though I’m largely past my aversions, trying the soup soon after I moved here was a priority.
My first bowl was had on a quiet afternoon at a place near where I was staying in Bình Thạnh district. I wouldn’t know it at the time, but it had all the classic Huế toppings (various cuts of beef, sausage, crab-pork meatballs, and a blood cube are the ones that stick out to me the most). I knew enough at that time to order đặc biệt không giò (special, no pork knuckle), as the knuckle or pork hock is still something I’m not into eating, mostly because it requires a little more effort to eat.
This is besides the point. That first bowl was a revelation. It was so different than phở. It was electric. Spicy and sour with a deep savouriness. The various proteins kept my palate on alert as I went from one to another. I’ve said this before about other soups, but the included veg of banana blossoms and water spinach really rock my Vietnamese noodle soup world because they don’t lose all their texture when placed in the hot broth.
When I meet a new group of students, I often ask them if they prefer phở or bún bò Huế. This first bowl made the always overwhelming answer of bún bò Huế make sense.
Its disco of ingredients, including lemongrass and shrimp paste, also indicate to me why it’s harder to find/less well known/overlooked outside of Vietnam. I think about Edmonton, a place that many Vietnamese have made their home and set up restaurants. I think that phở ingredients would have been easier to source, and its less punchy broth would have probably been more accessible to unfamiliar, non-Vietnamese customers. Now is a different story, but 40 years ago?
Regardless, that it took me until I was 43 years old to have a bowl is a shame. Another one is that I never followed up until recently to have another. Blame my noodle soup apathy, yes. But also blame the bún used for bún bò. They are absolutely my least favourite type of rice noodle. They are similar to thick spaghetti, and I find that when trying to eat them they are like small snakes who want nothing to do with being on my chopsticks. They flip and flail around, leaving a trail of anger on my chin and inevitably, my chest. (Thus, blame my chopsticks skills, too, I guess.)
My plan for this piece was to vary my approach to shop choice by going to two places (within easy-for-me walking distance) that have bún bò Huế on their menu, but don’t necessarily promote it as their specialty. Bún bò Huế is not at all hard to find in Saigon, but sometimes you only see it advertised as bún bò, suggesting what’s served there might be more a Southern variation than a textbook Imperial City version. So, I made sure that Huế was clearly on both menus. My order was going to be đặc biệt không giò, and I expected that a shop that has bún bò Huế on its menu would present me with a variation of what I had the first time.
Not quite.
Bún bò Huế 11
Bún bò Huế 1 (BBH1) is near my apartment with a can’t-miss-it location only aided by a large neon sign. Bún bò Huế only gets third billing on its sign, however. Because I almost always eat at off hours (late afternoon, late evening), a quiet restaurant never turns me off. I always place my bets on favourable Google reviews working for me. There was another solo female, her outfit suggesting she was likely in search of a post-work meal like me. I looked at the menu, saw that there were a few bún bò choices, and got a nod when I ordered đặc biệt không giò.
But what was placed in front of me was confusing. Where were the meatballs? Where was the sausage? The blood cube? My large bowl was only full of various cuts of beef and beef meatballs. At the time, I thought, maybe it’s the time of day and they ran out, so they just gave me extra beef. But when I look through photos, I don’t think they include crab meatballs at all and end-of-day dregs might have only meant missing sausage and blood.
No bother, because I devoured this bowl. There was enough variance in the cuts of beef that my palate could still keep itself interested. All the cuts were tender. I appreciated that the meatballs had been quartered, as it makes it that much easier to eat. The bite resistance from a bouncy-style meatball can sometimes prove tricky for taking a bite from when large. So I’ll take all the help I can get. The noodles were the noodles, and I dealt with them as best I could; there were enough to make this feel like a hearty bowl. I may have only had end-of-day meat choices, but the banana blossoms and water spinach showed no signs of wilt.
The broth gave all that I was hoping for, not too much Southern sweetness or salt. It had the sour-spicy notes, but I wouldn’t say there was a strong aroma of lemongrass. The onion flavour was strong. I added both a squeeze of citrus and a dollop of sa tế to up the acidity and heat. I had the same feels as my first bowl two years previous: this broth is exciting and makes me feel… alive. With feelings of hunger and interest and a hope that it’s bottomless.
But here is where I must add, as I did in the phở tale, that I am not experienced enough to know if a broth has been aided with MSG, or rather, too much MSG. All I know about MSG is that it makes things taste good. So again, as with my feelings on the phở I ate, if BBH1 tasted good to me because of MSG, so be it. Same goes for Bún bò Huế 2 (BBH2).
Bún bò Huế 2
Which I enjoyed, as well. BBH2 is also on a busy thoroughfare, but it’s one that’s much more saturated with dining competition. At the same hour of the day, the small place was very busy, so I had less fear of end-of-day meat dregs. I also think they do a much more robust delivery service than BBH1. Bún bò Huế is a specialty of BBH2, but they actually more strongly market a more niche item than the noodle soup, so that was how I justified a connection to BBH1. Their menu had a few protein choice options, and one was basically đặc biệt không giò so it made it easy for me. QR code menus on the table made it even easier. I ordered an extra serving of the pork-crab meatballs, as they’re my fave. I like how they’re not quite seafood-y and not quite pork-y, but bring benefits from both. I also find that they generally are more tender than an all-meat ball.
My first impression was that the bowl was slightly smaller than BBH1 for a similar price. I guessed I was paying for a bit more of a modern space, the QR, location etc. The range of beef cuts was more interesting than BBH1, so that could also affect the price (e.g., there was some tendon). However, some pieces were too chewy. When a cut was tender, it was meltingly so. Sausage was there, but similarly no blood. Noodles still noodled in the way I don’t enjoy, but the fresh veg put forth what I wanted.
The broth was lighter than BBH1 and didn’t have as strong of an onion flavour; I upped the sa tế. Whether by accident or design, there were no citrus wedges on tables for me to further doctor my broth. My extra meatballs came on the side in some, and it was apparent how the broth for soup is furthered seasoned upon ordering. My assumption is that if a customer knew more about the process, they could ask for more or less of it. Despite me saying the broth was lighter than BBH1, it was still very flavourful and moreish. I didn’t enjoy it any less.
On that note, you will find both spots mentioned in the next Restaurant List update. Were they representative of the classic soup? I don’t think so. Were they good? To me, definitely. They were both compelling bowls that made me happy and satisfied to be eating them.
I now see connections between the noodle soups I do like — bún bò Huế, bún riêu, Nagasaki champon — in that they are all soups that have a lot of different things going on and can be as much or more about the toppings than the noodles or the broth. They are not soups that make you stop and think about the perfection of the broth because you’re too distracted by picking up another piece of x, y, or z. BUT. The broths are still great, of course. As someone who isn’t a broth person, that’s the initial attraction. Then I’m reminded how much I do like the respective broths because of their pizazz. Maybe I should adjust my noodle soup apathy label to describe myself as someone who likes a noodle soup that keeps me busy.
The same same but different aspect of my two bowls is just another example of how narrow your definition has to become when figuring out a typical bowl or “the best” or even good, for that matter. That is, can the best be not textbook? Is it even BBH if it’s not textbook? Questions I don’t really care about, but those who do care about listicles should ask themselves.
Bonus: Bún bò trộn
I had eaten the wares of BBH2 before this tale because the dish that they market more heavily in my opinion is their bún bò trộn, which is “mixed” bún bò. It’s noodles with no soup and instead a proprietary sauce that is meant to mimic the flavours of the broth. I had ordered it for delivery once a long time ago and enjoyed, but I decided to do so again soon after the bowl of the soup to compare.
As a meal, I much prefer the dry noodles on that aspect alone. The noodles are much easier to handle, and I just like noodles as noodles instead of in soup. The sauce is good, but it in no way measures up to the broth. I like this trộn bowl for what it is: a bowl of tasty noodles with a variety of toppings and fresh veg, which is spicy and sour and satisfying. I dig in for those reasons. With the soup, I dig in because I can’t get enough of the broth. Go figure!
My only real issue with the trộn is that because the beef doesn’t have time to soak into a broth, it’s overall more chewy. You do get a serving a broth with a bowl, and I put it to good use to soften the vegetables and loosening the noodles when necessary.
I wouldn’t say it’s a good primer for those unfamiliar with BBH, but rather an interesting alternative for those who already like it. And definitely a great option in the city for those of us who’d prefer soupless noodles.
I’ve decided to switch up the format this tale by simply breaking it down by each trial instead of by ingredients. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you.
wow I'm so glad Alicia Kennedy led me to your substack! I'll be in HCMC sometime next month and I can't wait to eat!!! 🤗