Sizzlin’ Crêpes

January 26, 2008
Cuisine: Vietnamese

607 Nguyen Kiem Street
Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: none
Website: none

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Banh Xeo (25,000 VND for 10)

Bo La Lot (28,000 VND)

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“Look for the flames on the left-hand-side of the road,” instructed Zach.

With such spot-on instructions, The Astronomer and I easily located this banh xeo and bo la lot joint in an unfamiliar part of town.

Phu Nhuan District is a good 30 minute ride from District 4, but one bite of their banh xeo, and the long trip is completely worth it.

Unlike the giant, paper-thin, slightly soggy, ton-o-bean sprouts banh xeo served up at 46A and Long Huy, the ones in Phu Nuan are more like those I ate in Da Nang.

The banh xeo are made in front of the restaurant in small griddles over large flames. The smoky environs lend a welcomed char to the saffron beauties.

Measuring four inches in diameter, these banh xeo are wonderfully crispy and filled with grilled pork pieces similar to thit nuong, a few bean sprouts, and a smattering of whole mung beans.

Wrapped up in mustard leaves and dipped in nuoc mam, these banh xeo were so so good. Without the help of Zach’s ESL students, we would have never found this place.

The Astronomer and Zach are both very fond of bo la lot—grilled seasoned beef wrapped in betel leaves. The ones made here are grilled out front next to the banh xeo and have a nice ratio of meat to leaves.

Whereas I like to eat bo la lot without adornments, the boys take the time to wrap theirs in lettuce, herbs, and rice paper and dip them in nuoc mam. Either way, they’re a great complement to the banh xeo.

Long Huy

October 23, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

129 Cach Mang Thang Tam Street
District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 8342859
Website: none

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Goi Cuon (3,000 VND/roll)

Banh Xeo Dac Biet (25,000 VND)

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The Astronomer and I drive on CMT8 daily as part of our commute to work. While he’s concentrating on delivering us to our destination safely, I am on the lookout for new eateries to try. Long Huy has been on my list for quite sometime, and we finally dropped in for lunch a few weeks back when we weren’t in the mood for our usual vegetarian fare.

Long Huy is a very pretty restaurant and was packed on the afternoon we visited. The entrance houses a fairly large open kitchen with rows of woks for sizzling-up the restaurant’s signature dish, banh xeo. The dining room is spacious with plenty of chairs and tables for the hoards of patrons in need of a crepe fix. In addition to banh xeo, Long Huy’s menu includes over 300 other Vietnamese items.

We began our meal with goi cuon—three for The Astronomer and two for me. The rolls contained large boiled shrimp, boiled pork slices, vermicelli noodles, and greens. The accompanying hoisin-based dipping sauce was well-executed, as were the rolls.

While visiting Da Nang in early September, I chowed down on banh xeo for lunch daily. Although I was unaware at the time, The Astronomer thought I was eating an omelet. As an egg-hater, he never sampled the dish. Ever since discovering that it is in fact not an egg-y creation, The Astronomer has been wanting to revisit banh xeo.

Unlike the tiny crepes in Da Nang, Long Huy’s banh xeo were humongous (see head to “head” comparison below). The Astronomer and I shared the banh xeo dac biet, which was filled with bean sprouts, shrimp, squid, ground beef, and pork and served with nuoc mam and a tray of herbs and lettuce.

The giant crepe was damn fine and on par with grandma’s, which is saying an awful lot. My only complaint is that with such a large banh xeo, much of the filling goes towards the center, leaving the outskirts barren. If Long Huy can figure out how to evenly distribute the goods, they’ll be golden!

Phú Hồng

August 29, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

19 Yen Bai Street
Da Nang, Vietnam

Phone: 0511829979
Website: none

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Bo La Lot (40,000 VND)

Banh Xeo (12,000 VND)

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Another day in Da Nang, another banh xeo joint. Life is good.

Our friend, colleague, and Da Nang resident Cathy took us to Phu Hong for our second lunch in the city. Dining options are a bit more limited in Da Nang than in Saigon, so Cathy has eaten at this place five times. She highly recommended that we order the bo la lot, and since I was still craving banh xeo, we ordered a big plate of those to round out our meal.

I won’t go into much detail about the banh xeo since they were fairly similar to the ones I had the day before on Pasteur Street. Let’s just say they were super and leave it at that.

Bo la lot is my favorite course of Seven Course Beef, so it was a fine treat to have a huge plate of them! Similar to banh xeo, the local way to eat it entails wrapping the meat in rice paper with some greenery. But once again, my laziness got the best of me and I just popped ’em in my mouth. Bo la lot has a nutty flavor and texture that’s truly unique; I’m not sure if it’s due to the leaf (la lot) or something mixed in with the meat, but anyway, it’s excellent. The Astronomer loved the bite-size bo la lot as well and is more stoked than ever to try all seven courses of beef.

Nice call, Cathy.

Ba Ngoc

August 28, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

24 Pasteur Street
Da Nang, Vietnam

Phone: 0511817080
Website: none

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Bun Thit Nuong (10,000 VND)

Banh Xeo (9,000 VND)

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Following the staff retreat, The Astronomer and I spent several days in Da Nang visiting EMW programs and beneficiaries. Ba Ngoc is located a hop, skip, and a jump away from the office. We bounced in there for a quick bite to eat before heading off to see good works.

The Astronomer had one of his favorite dishes—bun thit nuong—vermicelli noodles topped with grilled pork, herbs, lettuce, and nouc mam. Vietnamese BBQ isn’t saucy like Alabama ‘cue. The typical marinade consists of shallots, garlic, fish sauce, salt, sugar, and black pepper. The result of these simple ingredients is a smoky meat that’s sweet and delicious. I love how the smell of grilled meats fills the air outside restaurants serving up this style of ‘cue.

Note to self: learn how to make thit nuong ASAP upon returning to the states.

I ordered three banh xeo, which are often referred to as Vietnamese crepes. These “crepes” consist of rice flour, unsweetened coconut milk, tumeric, sugar, salt, and water and are stuffed with shrimp, pork, onions, and bean sprouts.

When my grandma cooks banh xeo, she prepares them in a huge frying pan, which results in a dinner plate-sized crepe. The ones served at Ba Ngoc were itty bitty in comparison and contained little meat (one shrimp, one piece of pork), but were yummy nevertheless. The banh xeo were crispy around the edges, just the way I like ’em.

Back at home we pour some nouc mam on top of the banh xeo and dig in, but in these here parts, the banh xeo is wrapped in rice paper, lettuce, and herbs and dipped in nouc mam. I must admit that wrapping the banh xeo is pretty good, but it’s just too much work! I enjoyed the banh xeo so much that I sought out more the following day.