Central Vietnam Cuisine: Bun Bo Hue

Food is a very important part of any culture. Food can tell more than anything else where you come from and the beauty of your homeland. Food helps to preserve cultural identity, and we believe in the great importance of some kinds of food or culinary traditions. Many travelers associate Vietnam with friendly people, stunning landscapes, long palm-shaded beaches on sunny days, and of course, food.

To gain a few insights into Vietnamese food, there are 3 different areas including the North, the Center, and the South, and each one has indistinguishable specialties that represent the people and their culture. Besides Banh Mi, Pho, Banh Xeo, there are many more kinds of dishes that are typical of Vietnamese cuisine such as Bun Bo Hue.

Once you have tasted this Central Vietnam cuisine, you will understand why Bun Bo Hue must be among the most special and awesome ones. Bun Bo Hue is a beef noodle soup which is originated from Hue. Hue, located in the middle of Vietnam, an old empire of Vietnam in the past, is the land of rich traditions and of course dishes that represent the true taste of Vietnam. When you come to this city, you can feel the elegant and romantic atmosphere from the people, the historical sites, the picturesque sights, and the flavor of delicious dishes. And Bun Bo Hue reflects all these characteristics of the city with a great combination of smell, ingredients, color, and the flavor of royal cookery.

How Bun Bo Hue is Made

In a more specific way, Bun Bo Hue is a dish containing rice vermicelli, beef, and pork. This kind of soup can be eaten in every meal of the day, from daily meals such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner to more formal events when you want to hold a small family gathering or invite your friends, your colleagues for a farewell party.

A closer look at Bun Bo Hue reveals that there are rather many special ingredients that all play a crucial role in keeping the bowls tasty and catchy. Especially, the 3 major ones including rice vermicelli, pork, and beef. It is quite easy to spot the white rice noodle which is cylindrical, thick, and a bit chewy, unlike Pho noodles.

Bun Bo Hue literally means Hue's beef noodle soup, so the must-have ingredient is beef. The meat is often thinly sliced, and the tendon part of the cow body makes the soup unique. And actually, tons of people like the taste of beef tendon, and the feeling when masticating it is incomparable.

Even though Bun Bo Hue is a beef noodle soup, pork is another important ingredient. The pig pork taken from the leg part is highly popular due to the firm muscle. Also, blood sausage can be a favorable element in a Bun Bo bowl for many people, but that totally depends on each person however luscious it is. In addition, there are some more vital ingredients of Bun Bo Hue, namely onion, shrimp paste, lemongrass, banana flower, and crab sausage.

Where to Eat Bun Bo Hue in Ho Chi Minh City

Now it is easy to try Bun Bo Hue in every corner of Vietnam, especially in big cities like Ho Chi Minh, because the cookery of it is really popular and it can make anyone fall in love after the first taste. There are a large number of restaurants, from small to big ones serving Hue cuisine and they definitely have Bun Bo Hue on the menu. Many of them learn the cookery from the Hue locals while others are from this royal land themselves.

Also, one undeniable thing is that the ways of processing the food in many restaurants can be changed somehow to get adapted to the different tastes of each area. However, the attractiveness and the elegance reflecting the tradition keep unchanged. If you go around Ho Chi Minh City on motorbikes and try the local foods, you can find it interesting to come across a lot of small restaurants serving Bun Bo.

Let's have a look at some restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City where you can taste great bowls of Bun Bo Hue.

Bun Bo Nhan Tri
Address: 295 Le Hong Phong, Ward 2, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 7 AM - 10 PM
Price range: VND 50,000 - VND 65,000

The restaurant is at the corner of the crossroad of Le Hong Phong and Hung Vuong Street, which makes it is easier to be recognized. Also, the space inside the restaurant is rather small, so most of the tables are set outside. Bun Bo Hue here is the favorite of many locals and what can make you impressed instantly is that the bowl is rather big and the color is really appealing. A bowl includes two big pieces of pork thigh, which take up almost half of all but they are super delicious to taste. The beef makes the broth palatable and thin slices of beef create a different texture. Also, the soft and savory crab sausage is the highlight of this Bun Bo.

In addition, the vegetables and the sliced onions help to make the bowl exceptional. There are pork bologna, boiled and raw vegetables, lemon, and jars of spices outside of the bowl that is all at your disposal. But the savor of Bun Bo Hue in this restaurant can be said to be perfect and you need not add anything else to make it better. And to make a summary of Bun Bo Hue in Nhan Tri store, we just can highly recommend coming and checking it out, food must be tried to have a truly authentic feeling.

Besides Bun Bo Hue, there are other dishes on the menu such as Bun Mam - a fermented Vietnamese vermicelli soup, crab cake soup, soup with medium beef, and drinks made of pennywort.

Bun Bo Ba Nghi
Address: 466 Nguyen Tri Phuong, Ward 9, District 10
Opening hours: 6 AM - 2 PM, 4 PM - 9 PM
Price range: VND 45,000 - VND 65,000

The restaurant is in a tube house, blended in with other buildings beside it, but the red name will make it totally easy for you to recognize. It is rather small and narrow, but the space of the restaurant does not prevent it from attracting a lot of customers. On the menu, there are 3 kinds of Bun Bo bowl sizes, and the store also serves other dishes including Hue shrimp paste, the additional portion of pork leg, fried beef, fried crab, and different drinks made of tea, vera, and ginseng.

The flawlessness comes from the great combination of flavor and the right amount of meat, rice vermicelli, and vegetables you put in. There is one outstanding thing about the soup which is the medium beef that makes the combination super pleasant and attractive. And the soup is especially better with crab sausage. Moreover, one sip of the hot broth increases your appetite, and you will like to be in for another taste of it right away. Sitting in the restaurant, tasting Bun Bo Hue, and hearing the sounds of traffic together with the music played is something simple and pure that reflects the Saigonese’s life.

Conclusion on Central Vietnam Cuisine: Bun Bo Hue

Bun Bo Hue, the spicy beef noodle soup, will explode your taste buds. It is a traditional dish from Hue but is now famous across Vietnam. Besides the two restaurants we recommend in this guide, there are others serving Bun Bo Hue that you can try to have a sense of Central Vietnam cuisine as well as Vietnamese culture. Each one is different in the cooking style, the service, and the ingredients but a bowl of Bun Bo Hue will keep you in love and immersed in the food.

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