Call it an obsession, or call it justified passion. Bánh xèo is one of the most famous dishes amongst foodies of Vietnamese cuisine. Literally translating to “sizzling pancake”, it is rice-based batter cooked to crisp perfection, folded over with fillings of meat, shrimp, bean sprouts, and spring onions. Its crisp texture is derived from the thinness of the pancake, a result that is sought by many home-cooks and frequently to no avail – or at least not quite how it is back in Vietnam.
It isn’t just the texture that caused its cult popularity amongst people all over the world. It’s also a lot of fun to eat. Served with a variety of fresh vegetables and rice paper rolls, the hands-on experience of personalising your rolls makes the food taste even better.
Da Nang even has its own style of this popular dish. Rather than the familiar nước mắm (fish sauce) of much of Vietnam, Da Nang’s bánh xèo is served with a peanut and meat sauce, ramping up the flavours to even higher levels.
But with a dish as important as bánh xèo and a huge sense of FOMO on the most delicious version of it we could possibly find, the question was not whether we would have time for it. Rather, where was the best place to eat it?
Of course, in our research, we referred to good old Google, and virtually every blog yielded one name, hailed as the supreme choice: Bánh Xèo Bà Dưỡng. However, a dozen meals in Vietnam compelled us to revise our initial plan, and to perhaps delve a little deeper. Cue Foody (and no, we are not sponsored by anyone), the Vietnamese equivalent of reviewing websites such as Yelp and Zomato, with the life-saving English option for even easier pursuit of good food.
And, it turns out, Bánh Xèo Bà Dưỡng is really not too well-received by the locals. It’s commonly regarded by locals as expensive and impersonal, a common phenomenon amongst restaurants with such fame. Certainly, we wouldn’t stop a soul from enjoying the food there, as many thousands have done so, judging by the Google reviews.
As such, we encourage people to give other smaller establishments a go. And to make it easier, we tried out one of the most highly reviewed bánh xèo restaurants in the Da Nang area according to Foody, to tell you of the incredible experience in eating there.
Bánh Xèo Bà Tuyết
At the time of our research, the score for this restaurant on Foody was just below 8 out of 10 (with scores over 7 usually regarded as very good). As of uploading this, the score was even higher still, with the quality of the food rated superiorly. For this reason, we decided to disregard the lower Google ratings and give it a shot anyway.
The location is a little out of the way. And by a little, we mean that it’s down at the end of a narrow alley that otherwise happens to be a long row of residential homes. In fact, the restaurant itself doesn’t seem anything more than a house, with only a handful of low tables in a room no bigger than a lounge. But to us, that made it only more promising; nothing is rated that well if it’s comparable to an average household’s cooking.
They had menus on the wall and printed in English, which made for exceptionally easy ordering. The English menu displays đ50,000 (~US$2.20) for bánh xèo, which is a set of 5 pancakes. If you’re looking for a different number, you can request as many as you’d like at đ10,000 (~US$0.45) each. Besides that, the pictures make for easy ordering.
Bánh Xèo (savoury crispy pancakes) đ10,000 (~US$0.45) each
Unsurprisingly, this is the dish that many people come for, and it requires a little patience as it’s cooked to order. Da Nang style bánh xèo are not quite the size of an omelette, but more suited for two bites and often cut in half. We discovered that one half contains prawn, and the other pork mince, meaning that each pancake results in 2 different flavours and textures – a nice surprise!
The staff demonstrated how to form the rolls, which we appreciated. Generally, there is no set rule, but there were enough rice paper wraps for 2 sheets to be layered. This was then topped with one half of the bánh xèo unfolded, filled with salad, herbs, and pickles, wrapped tightly, to be dipped in the peanut sauce.
As for the taste… where can we begin?
Just looking at the process made us quake in anticipation, and on the first bite we understood how it had such a cult following. Each ingredient contributes to a variety of textures, each of them satisfyingly crunchy with subtle differences – the cucumber, pickles, salad, rice paper roll, and the thin, perfectly cooked bánh xèo, the salad bursting with freshness, and the fillings meaty and moreish. The pickles were sweet and refreshing, but one of the most outstanding components of the dish was, without a doubt, the peanut sauce.
Thick and dark, it looked more like the drippings left over from roasting meat, with a rich savouriness from mince, and sweet, roasted flavours from the peanuts. Despite its meaty base and its appearance, it isn’t overwhelmingly greasy, its richness complementing the fresh salad and sharp pickles well. With the addition of the Da Nang chilli jam, the sweet spicy components just sent it into overdrive.
This is a dish that is as texturally satisfying as nachos, fresh French fries, crisp, juicy apples, and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies all together, but even more so. It’s multi-dimensional and unparalleled. This one dish was one of the best meals we ate in Vietnam, and an exceptionally good reason to go back in the very near future.
It is, without a doubt, a must-eat.
Nem lụi (grilled pork skewers) đ6,000 each (~US$0.30)
Spiced mince pork grilled on skewers makes for a great supplement to a meal involving crispy bánh xèo. Tender and smoky, the pork skewers alone are a delightful, savoury side but goes even more excellently with the provided rice roll ingredients. Due to the variety of crunchy textures in the wrap, we didn’t miss the crispy pancakes, and instead thoroughly enjoyed the fragrance and flavour of the meat.
This fills the few gaps that bánh xèo could not. And at such a low price, it’s worth picking up a few to go with the meal.
Bánh hỏi thịt nướng (rice vermicelli with grilled pork) đ25,000 (~US$1.10)
A dish similar to bún thịt nướng (a vermicelli salad topped with grilled meat and a fish sauce dressing), bánh hỏi refers to woven bundles of rice vermicelli that makes for easy picking up. For this dish, they didn’t teach us how to eat it, possibly as at that point there were more diners in the restaurant. It came with nước mắm (fish sauce) for dipping. It seemed to us as, dare we say, deconstructed version of bún thịt nướng. Alternatively, we used some of the wrapping ingredients to roll, which was equally delicious.
For us, it was delicious enough, but the dish was a little too disproportionately large if we wanted to focus more on the incredible bánh xèo. It was good at best, but not outstanding. We much preferred the other two dishes.
If a conclusion is necessary for this article we might assume you haven’t read it. That’s fair. It is fairly wordy, most of which sings odes to the dish that is bánh xèo. To put simply: due to the unique style in which Da Nang serves this dish, it puts it as a must-try dish if you’re in the city. We’re sure that any restaurant you visit will make for an amazing experience, but we would highly recommend Bánh Xèo Bà Tuyết without hestitation.
Bánh Xèo Bà Tuyết
k25/16 Trần Quốc Toản, Phước Ninh, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam
Mon-Sun 10am-8:30pm
