Bahn Cuon
A very fresh salad
After hearing good things about this place, we decided to check it out. If you drive too quickly on 8th street, you'll miss it. There aren't any major signs pointing you to the restaurant, so keep your eyes open. The interior is small and cozy and the servers are doing their best...with that said, I'll move on to the food. Our dishes were fresh and tasty. I would highly recommend the Bahn Cuon - steamed pork dumplings (very flavorful and garnished with loads of fresh herbs) and the pumpkin soup (if it's available). The soup had a clear broth and nice, large chunks of pumpkin with a bit of fried onion for garnish. For our main dishes, we ordered Bun Thit Nuong and Fried chicken with spicy sauce. The food was very fresh and I have nothing bad to say about the quality of the ingredients. Overall I was pleased with the food, I just wish the grilled pork in the Bun Thit Nuong would have been grilled a little longer.
Would I recommend this place to my friends...yes and no. Yes, if you are willing to wait almost an hour between appetizer and entree. No, if you are in a hurry and need something quickly.
One thing that I found odd about the restaurant, the main server made it seem as though she was giving us freebies with comments like, "oh, I'll just give you the appetizer" and "I think you deserve a lemonade". At the end of the night, those little treats appeared on our bill. I certainly don't mind paying for dishes, I expect to do so, and we did. But, I don't like it when servers hide their "up-sell" by being shady. The food is good, but I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.
