There are many different styles of travel, and of all the umbrellas you could possibly fit under, spontaneous is not one that TwinSpeak could really fit under. Rather, our fear of missing out on good food, or worse, eating bad food results in our itinerary being planned to careful detail. In fact, to the free-spirited backpacker we may even be considered somewhat restrictive. But when we’re taking one huge trip in a bid to discover ourselves (albeit without the yoga and meditation), part of it inevitably involves going against what we’ve been comfortable with.
Admittedly, however, the decision to try Bún Thịt Nướng Kiều Bảo without prior research came pretty easily. We spotted it coming home from an absolutely delicious dish of cơm gà (chicken rice) just the night before, because it was so difficult to miss. With the interior brightly lit and the entrance spilling with patrons and local Grab delivery drivers hauling bag after bag of orders to awaiting customers, everything about it suggested that this restaurant was worth eating.
Besides, bún thịt nướng is a must-eat dish in Vietnam. Though each restaurant will have its own variation, it often comprises of a cold thin rice vermicelli (the bún), fresh salad vegetables and herbs, grilled meat (the thịt nướng), and the ever-present sweet-salty-spicy-savoury nước mam (fish sauce) dressing.
The ordering comes easy – as we’d learned, simply put your faith in the first menu item. In this case, it conveniently came with all the trimmings: grilled pork chop, nem (spiced grilled pork balls), and chả giò (spring rolls).
The surprise, however, came to us when it was served. Rather than the constructed bowl of noodles that we were accustomed to back home, this one came with little else other than what was mentioned on the menu. Rather, the salad vegetables came separately to be added as you pleased to your dish. This could be topped up without extra charge, and so were the noodles.
And the nước mam? Sitting in a gigantic bucket on top of our table, alongside a ladle for to scoop to your heart’s content. This was a dream come true. Having ordered this dish an unreasonable number of times in Vietnamese restaurants back home, nothing was worse than working through a dry heap of noodles and undressed salad.
If it came to it, we were prepared to drown our noodles. This was especially true as the nước mam was delicious. It was perfectly balanced, incorporating the basic flavours of salty, sweet, savoury, and sour that Southeast Asian cuisine perseveres so hard for, and even better with a touch of fresh chilli to give the burning spice to dial the dish up a notch.
However, our concerns were entirely baseless. Rather than the unfortunate yet familiar situation of the dressing pooling to the bottom, the vermicelli soaked up every last drop of the nước mam, saturating the bowl with boundless flavour. In fact, it even helped to draw out the chargrilled flavour of the meat, dissolving it through the dressing and incorporating it throughout the dish.
In addition was the texture. Soft, springy noodles, firm but tender meat, crispy vegetables, and crunch from peanuts. Though mixing the dish caused the same components to be eaten with every bite, the combination of textures and flavours meant it never became tiresome to eat.
Certainly, taking advantage of the complimentary extra noodles and vegetables could easily result in eating two solid bowls of noodles. But let’s be fair – the portion was generous, and we couldn’t possibly fit in any more. It was so good, that it was, without argument, obviously the best bún thịt nướng we’d had in our lives. And, without the opportunity to eat another in the following weeks travelling the beautiful country, we can safely say it still remains at the top.
Setting us back only ₫26,000 (US$1.15) per bowl, we could fault absolutely nothing. If we could only offer one meal in Ho Chi Minh City, dare we even suggest foregoing the phở and giving this a shot?
Bún Thịt Nướng Kiều Bảo
139 Đường Đề Thám, Phường Cô Giang, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Mon-Sun 11am-9pm
