It's cold and dry thus I am craving something hot and greasy, especially after my belated 21st birthday drinkfest with my cousins. I want Bún bò Huế. It's a Central Vietnamese noodle dish that consists of rice noodles similar to that of soba noodles, an intense broth flavored by stewed beef bones, lemon grass, chili, and shrimp paste, and assorted bits of a pig and a cow like marinated beef shank, oxtail, pork knuckle, and blood cubes. It is a fantastic spicy salty gamble that can either cure your hangover or give a mighty case of the runs. I was hoping for the former. At six I call my best friend Banana up and ask her what's a good place for Bún bò Huế because she's Vietnamese and I trust my best friend. Most of the time any way. She told me that usually Bún bò Huế is a dish for an earlier meal and that places that usually specialize in it close early typical of speciality restaurants. However, she states that there is a restaurant on Valley Blvd. that has pretty good Vietnamese fare including my latest craving.
Nha Trang Restuarant resides where Brodard Restaurant used to be or at least that's what I found out later from Yelp.com. It also kept the heavily Thai influenced interior of the former restaurant complete with the a bronze statue of the dancing Krishna and drained water fountains. The place seems to still be undergoing the change in management and construction as the beginnings of a boba bar was taking place to left of the establishment upon entering. Stark florescent lighting made the place seem even more sad and tired. I was a little worried, but I have eaten at plenty of other places where the atmosphere was atrocious and the food more than made up for it. Except my fears were confirmed by the waitresses sitting in table near the host's stand. They were speaking Chinese. There's nothing wrong with Chinese people, but if there's anything my parents have taught me is that Chinese people cannot make Vietnamese food and vice versa.
Still my empty stomach and ridiculous yearning for Bún bò Huế persisted and I sat down to order. The table was appropriately filthy, stained in broth and fish sauce. A little sign of reassurance since you can't eat Vietnamese food without a sticky table. Bún bò Huế was $5.50 so each got a bowl and started off the meal with Nem Nuong Cuon, a rice paper roll with roasted pork, which was $3.75. Since the place had recently changed mangement, it was still trying to lure in new customers, there was a 2-for-1 drink special. Most of the drinks were boba bar stuff, nothing special. Probably also trying to advertise their burgeoning boba shop as well. $2 for two green teas.
Nem Nuong Cuon came out first. Beautiful presentation and delicious. The added twist to Nha Trang's version is that they hide a slivers of fried spring roll wrappers to add an unexpected crunch to the roll. However, there was only three rolls rather than the standard four. I ended up eating two because I am a fatty. The dipping sauce was unnaturally hot temperature wise and more sweet than nutty. Also awkward was the fact that despite the rolls being appetizers, the servers did not bring us any extra bowls or plates so that Banana and I could both eat the damn things. We resorted to using makeship plates with napkins until the servers noticed our odd behavior and finally brought one bowl by for us. Meh. It's a restuarant nestled in between San Gabriel and Rosemead. Service is expected to be brusque and minimal, especially since we're only paying for so much. The sheer deliciousness of the rolls made me more excited about my piping hot bowl of noodles.
Finally it arrived and I was disappointed. First, they only gave us one plate of Bún bò Huế accessories. Second, they only had white cabbage instead of purple cabbage! PURPLE CABBAGE IS A MUST! Third, the broth was way too salty and laden with MSG. It lacked the lemongrass and the chili and shrimp paste were absent as well from the broth. Boo. Instead my broth was reminiscent of instant noodle soup. Where was my oily red tastefully savory broth?! Not here. Then finally to add insult to injury, there was Cha Lua in my freaking noodles and the pork knuckle was a pathetic little nugget. Cha Lua belongs with Banh Beon or Banh Mi not in Bún bò Huế! For those of you who forgot or don't know, Cha Lua is known as Vietnamese ham and consists of pork, starch, and fish sauce. It's commonly used as sandwich meat and is pretty salty by itself. Adding this nugget of sodium was the deathblow to an already overly salty soup.
This was the weirdest version of Bún bò Huế I have ever had in my life, not to mention the saltiest. Banana, you have led me astray and I don't know if I can ever forgive you! Granted, the last time she came was for Pho and not Bún bò Huế so I guess I can be merciful. Bill came out to be 18.13 for the both of us. Paid with a twenty and left the rest for tip. A cheap meal, but don't know if I could endure the intense salitness and ensuing bloating in exchange for saving a few bucks.
No pictures for now since I'm a poor student and don't own a camera.
Nha Trang Restuarant 647 W Valley Blvd Alhambra, CA 91803 (626) 281-1840
