Bun Ba Hue

What can I say about Bun Ba Hue other than that you have not lived until you've tried it.

Matt and I LOVE noodle soups...ok...so we're kind of obsessed, and we'll go far and wide in search of the perfect bowl. (...that and it's the best cure for the morning after a three hour wine festival).

Granted that Pho has its deliciously savory 5 spice broth that is absolutely one of the best hang-over cures. But ladies and gents, I have to say...Bun Ba Hue has surpassed Pho in the noodle soup race.

The Bun Ba Hue broth is a force to be reckoned with--it's savory, it's sour, it's spicy--everything a Southeast Asian dish should be, and absolutely everything I love about Southeast Asian food is epitomized in that bowl of noodle soup.

The broth is poured over thick rice vermicelli, fish balls and fish cakes with large black peppercorns embedded in them (it's like minesweeper, every time you bite into that unsuspecting peppercorn, it's like an explosion of spice and flavor in your mouth), a cube of coagulated porks blood (LOVE!), beef brisket, and pig's knuckle. It's served with a side of julienned cabbage, raw bean sprouts, lots of different herbs (which I recognize the taste and looks of, but have no idea what the names are) and a wedge of lemon.--slide all that into the bowl and you've got a perfect combination of cool and crisp, with meat, spice, tang, and salt. Irresistible.

Bun Ba Hue (We found this restaurant by accident. We were looking for a highly recommended pho place and in the process of searching we found this restaurant which had a sign--a real sign, not a banner--that said BUN BA HUE. If you've put the money into making a real sign for your Bun Ba Hue...then we have to try it! --It did not disappoint)

I fished out my pig's knuckle--it was huge...

Herbs for the Bun Ba Hue

I don't like egg rolls (never have) but these were pretty good, and Matt insists on getting egg rolls at almost every Vietnamese noodle soup place that we come across. (I've come to the conclusion that all boys...love egg rolls...)