Vietnamese: Help with Selecting a Dish

I live extremely close to Argyle and tonight I'm meeting up with an old friend for dinner.

We used to go to the restaurant near the Red Line stop with the large red awning on the north side of the street. She helped me find a noodle dish, which I enjoyed and ordered everytime we went. It was essentially a bowl of noodles, with vegetables, pork and Thai spring rolls, served with the sweet and sour-ish, translucent looking sauce. Oh, and I've also had the catfish in a clay pot at Hai Yen...wonderful!

I'd like to spread my wings a bit, but I'm clueless as to what might be a good choice. The menu is overwhelming!

Any thoughts?

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm extremely adventurous, but I'm always curious as to the most popular dishes for all ethnic foods. I seem to drift towards street food when it comes to other Asian cuisines.

TIA!

Hi Carly---

While I'm not a real aficionado of Vietnamese cuisine, I absolutely love the marriage of Asian & French qualities, along with the addition of fresh vegetables & herbs. It's also a very healthy cuisine.

You will not go wrong if you stick with these Viet staples:

Bun Bo--thin rice noodles topped with marinated & sauteed onions and satay beef, shredded raw carrots, cucumber, bean sprouts and cilantro, and dressed with a slightly spicy vinegar sauce and chopped peanuts. Hot & cold together, magnificent.

Lemon Grass Chicken--boneless breast or thigh, wokked with onion with lemon grass (a phenomenal aromatic herb), served over lettuce leaves with steamed rice.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee--in a tall glass filled with ice, sweetened condensed milk mixed with Viet espresso that traditionally drips down through a metal filter. Believe me, a perfect complement to the food above.

I wouldn't try the Bun Bo Hue just yet because it is an acquired taste due to the spiciness of this dish and the smell of the "shrimp paste" (aka mam tom) used in the broth ))

Other milder suggestions would be:
- Pho (beef or chicken)
- spring rolls (Goi Cuon)
- cold noodles (Bun) with marinated BBQ meats (beef, pork, chicken etc.)
- crispy Vietnamese pancake (Banh Xeo)
- cabbage salad (Goi)

Nghe

Hey Nghe---

Bun Bo is served cold as a type of vermicelli & vegetable salad with the warmed satay beef & onions on top. There's no broth or nuoc mam in it.

I'm confused. Bun bo hue is noodle soup, no? Bun thit nuong is cold noodles with meat, no?

Pho, no doubt is reliably good.

jnm123 wrote:Hey Nghe---

Bun Bo is served cold as a type of vermicelli & vegetable salad with the warmed satay beef & onions on top. There's no broth or nuoc mam in it.

My bad!
I was reading too quickly and was confused between Bun Bo and Bun Bo Hue.

We ended up going to Tien Giang, the red awning place.

I tried the Bahn Xeo, but was clueless on what to do with all of the fresh greens. Obviously they went with the pancake, but it was stuffed so much already with bean sprouts, shrimp and pork, it was kind of hard to eat.

I also had my usual: Bun Heo Nuong...I forgot how large the portion is. The pork portions seemed larger than normal and overall, I love the fresh taste.

Maybe next time I'll spread my wings a bit more...