Seven Days bites into the Vietnamese trend
Two years ago, there was one place in Vermont to get the lemongrass-scented, fish-sauce-rich cuisine of Vietnam. Two Saigons had fallen: Café Saigon, which occupied the building that now houses A Single Pebble in Burlington, and Little Saigon in South Burlington. Their demise made Vietnam Restaurant [1], a small storefront in Essex, the only option.
During this dark age, many pho faithful were reduced to sipping the fragrant beef and noodle soup in Montréal. Then, a miracle: Pho Dang [2] opened in Winooski, a hot spot for recent Asian immigrants. Pho Hong [3] followed, bringing its gauzy, atmospheric décor to the former Burlington bus station. Between May and November of this year, three additional Vietnamese eateries cropped up. M-Saigon [4], a homey restaurant on Shelburne Road, opened just before Phuong’s Kitchen [5], housed near a Slurpee dispenser in a North Avenue convenience store. Most recently, Vietnam Restaurant [6] launched a better-decorated sequel at the foot of Church Street.
By now, most local Asian cuisine fans know their pho — or at least know they like it. But where’s the best place to get the goods? With all the options, it’s hardly obvious. So we took on the arduous task of vetting the vermicelli.
As frequent visitors to some of these locales, we had our prejudices. That’s why, to be entirely fair, we tasted blind. Similar dishes from each restaurant were labeled with codes and sampled side by side. Our aim was to determine whose spring rolls had the most spring, whose pork brought home the bacon, and whose pho was, well, un-pho-gettable.
******
As we realize that not all our readers have supped on Southeast Asian, we’re pairing our evaluations with quick primers on the dishes we tested.
First, a note on a common Vietnamese ingredient: Fish sauce is what it sounds like. Called nuóc mam in Vietnamese, the funky condiment is made from the fermented remains of our friends in the sea. Blended with vinegar or citrus juice, water and sugar, it becomes a zingy dip called nuóc cham, which comes with many Vietnamese dishes.
One can start a Vietnamese meal without cha giò, but we don’t recommend it. These blankets of fried goodness may be translated as spring rolls, egg rolls or imperial rolls. Pork almost always makes an appearance in the filling, and vermicelli ride shotgun. The accompanying dipping sauce can’t break a good cha giò, but a good one can make it.
Wildly different versions of the classic roll from Pho Dang and Pho Hong — the former fit for consummate carnivores, the latter more nuanced — both hit the spot.
Many modern diners consider slurping pho to be something of a religious experience — the street food even enjoys tribute groups on Facebook. Pronounced “fuh,” the noodle soup is made from long-simmered beef bones. Chunks from every part of the cow can enhance the meaty potage. Among Asian eaters, tripe and tendon are particularly popular. We opted for rare beef (usually thinly sliced flank steak) and meatballs. A far cry from what you’d find in Nonna’s kitchen, a Vietnamese meatball should be chewy and dense as a brick.
Pieces of meat are not the only chunks in the soup: Onions, scallions or shallots deepen the flavor, and mix-ins such as thick bean sprouts, sprigs of herbs and lime wedges come on the side. If you’re not dining in, the rice vermicelli will be packaged separately, too, to combat sogginess, but it’s meant to be added to the mix.
In this category, Pho Hong came out the winner. The soup-er sip featured gorgeously fresh accompaniments. While some other restaurants’ meatballs had a disturbing gristly texture, the Hong’s were springy and finely grained.
In keeping with its name, we pronounced the pho at Vietnam Restaurant 2 second best. The broth was light and onion-flavored, with a strong hint of lemongrass. The meat, although not the leanest, was perhaps the best seasoned.
When it came time to choose an entrée from each menu, we went with the approachable bun thit nuong, a combination plate that comes with a salad, grilled pork and rice noodles. The starchy stuff is nothing without nuóc cham to moisten it, so in this case, the sauce was key.
Given the simplicity of the dish, we were startled by the variety we discovered. The best of the bunch came from Phuong’s Kitchen, where the lean, tender pork was bathed in a sesame-and-ginger marinade, much like that of a Korean bulgogi.
Pho Dang was the bridesmaid. Its thick slices of marinated pork were chewy but packed with flavor. M-Saigon’s lemongrass-flavored entry was also notable.
Our mixing, sniffing and sipping concluded, we decided that some good food is available at each of the five Vietnamese joints. Overall, Pho Hong performed the best, coming in first for its spring rolls and its namesake soup. Pho Dang and Phuong’s were the two runners-up, making us wonder what it is about the letter P.
Of course, all these eateries have points in their favor — the rainbow of bubble teas available at M-Saigon, for instance, or the unbeatable atmosphere of Vietnam 2. Here’s a detailed breakdown of our findings:
******
M SAIGON
370 Shelburne Road, South Burlington, 865-8383, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday & Saturday
Cha Giò — Vietnamese egg roll
Pho Tai Bo Vien — Beef noodle soup with beef strips and meatballs
Bun Thit Nuong — Grilled pork over vermicelli
Overall
******
PHO DANG
215 Main Street, Winooski,
655-0707, 10:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., seven days a week
Cha Giò
Thick, glossy soy-based sauce topped with oxidized peanuts. Alice Levitt found it “cloying.”
Pho Tai Bo Vien
Bun Thit Nuong
Overall
******
PHO HONG
325 North Winooski Avenue, Burlington, 865-8031, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Cha Giò
Pho Tai Bo Vien
Bun Thit Nuong
Overall
******
PHUONG'S KITCHEN
1130 North Avenue, Burlington, 658-4148, 10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Sunday; 10 a.m. - 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Cha Giò
Pho Tai Bo Vien
Bun Thit Nuong
Overall
******
VIETNAM RESTAURANT 2
169 Church Street, Burlington,
859-9998, 2-8 p.m. Sunday; 10:45 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Cha Giò
Pho Tai Bo Vien
Bun Thit Nuong
Overall
Links:
[1] http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=376&=vietn
[2] http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=793
[3] http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=845
[4] http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=974
[5] http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=976
[6] http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=994