Bún
Well, it's been awhile since I made a post. I think all of my energy blogging has instead been focusing writing letters to Michael who is in Marine Boot Camp. Today, after class, I decided to go stag and go to Chinatown and try out a new place simply called Bún which was Vina Thai Gormet which was Gom Hong restaurant before that.
Side note: the original facebook account for Vina Thai Gormet was closed but apparently there was a second account made? Or was this the first one before somebody decided to make the second one for whatever reason?
Anyway I wanted to try this place ever since I found out that Vina Thai closed down. Looking at their menu I was trying to see what would be interesting when what do my eyes come across? Banh Hoi! But it was $15, which is five dollars more than if I would have bought it at Huong Binh.
Once the dish came out though it was a completely different story as it looked like I got a shit ton of stuff! Take a lot at this beauty:
Click to Enlarge
First off I was asked if I wanted to get rice paper to fold all of that food in together and I said sure. The rice paper added a whole other dimension of flavor to the dish itself that you have to try for yourself. It's pretty good and if they offer you the option you should totally take up on their offer.
Even without the rice paper the dish taste pretty darn good! The fish sauce is more of a sweet flavor than a overly salty flavor and even though it has some chilli flakes and seeds in it it wasn't that spicy at all. That's a big plus for me!
There are two things that are on the dish that you wouldn't get at Huong Binh. At the top of the dish, the one that looks like chicken cut into pieces Teriyaki style, is actually a very tasty fish patty. Basically it's ground up fish into a paste and pan fried.
Secondly you get an egg roll which tasted pretty good. I would like to have them cut it up since I'm using my hands to wrapped the food and all of the other things come in easy to wrapped pieces; even the noodles are cut up into chunks so you can just grabbed a little here and a little there and you would be cool instead of grabbing overly one thing over the other.
On the far left dish, on the left hand side, are some pickled dikon raddishes, anc pickled carrots. There are things that you would normally find in other noodle "salad" like dishes but this is the first time I have seen it offered in Huong Binh. Not only that but that dish was holding plenty of lettuce instead of the measly two pieces you get at Huong Binh.
The only complaint I would say against them is that they over cooked the shrimp because it was more hard then soft. It wasn't too hard and/or overcooked that I had to discard the entire skewer of shrimp, and I still enjoyed it despite this fact.
After I got done with my dish the waitress was kind enough that she gave me a complimentary Fried Banana desert that was topped with coconut milk and some peanuts.
Overall I really felt like I got my $15 worth. I would be more than happy to return here again and give them my business. It would behoove you to try out those two places and see which one you like the most. Honestly you can't really go wrong with both choices though.
-Peace
P.S: Someone at Seattle Weekly has posted almost all of the take-out menus in the International District! Check it out!
Edit 3/29/14: It looks like the original person who made the website has decided not to keep it up and closed it down :( But today I found a great alternative! Check out the International District Pintrest for a more comprehensive look at I.D. take-out menus!
Side note: the original facebook account for Vina Thai Gormet was closed but apparently there was a second account made? Or was this the first one before somebody decided to make the second one for whatever reason?
Anyway I wanted to try this place ever since I found out that Vina Thai closed down. Looking at their menu I was trying to see what would be interesting when what do my eyes come across? Banh Hoi! But it was $15, which is five dollars more than if I would have bought it at Huong Binh.
Once the dish came out though it was a completely different story as it looked like I got a shit ton of stuff! Take a lot at this beauty:
Click to Enlarge
First off I was asked if I wanted to get rice paper to fold all of that food in together and I said sure. The rice paper added a whole other dimension of flavor to the dish itself that you have to try for yourself. It's pretty good and if they offer you the option you should totally take up on their offer.
Even without the rice paper the dish taste pretty darn good! The fish sauce is more of a sweet flavor than a overly salty flavor and even though it has some chilli flakes and seeds in it it wasn't that spicy at all. That's a big plus for me!
There are two things that are on the dish that you wouldn't get at Huong Binh. At the top of the dish, the one that looks like chicken cut into pieces Teriyaki style, is actually a very tasty fish patty. Basically it's ground up fish into a paste and pan fried.
Secondly you get an egg roll which tasted pretty good. I would like to have them cut it up since I'm using my hands to wrapped the food and all of the other things come in easy to wrapped pieces; even the noodles are cut up into chunks so you can just grabbed a little here and a little there and you would be cool instead of grabbing overly one thing over the other.
On the far left dish, on the left hand side, are some pickled dikon raddishes, anc pickled carrots. There are things that you would normally find in other noodle "salad" like dishes but this is the first time I have seen it offered in Huong Binh. Not only that but that dish was holding plenty of lettuce instead of the measly two pieces you get at Huong Binh.
The only complaint I would say against them is that they over cooked the shrimp because it was more hard then soft. It wasn't too hard and/or overcooked that I had to discard the entire skewer of shrimp, and I still enjoyed it despite this fact.
After I got done with my dish the waitress was kind enough that she gave me a complimentary Fried Banana desert that was topped with coconut milk and some peanuts.
Overall I really felt like I got my $15 worth. I would be more than happy to return here again and give them my business. It would behoove you to try out those two places and see which one you like the most. Honestly you can't really go wrong with both choices though.
-Peace
P.S: Someone at Seattle Weekly has posted almost all of the take-out menus in the International District! Check it out!
Edit 3/29/14: It looks like the original person who made the website has decided not to keep it up and closed it down :( But today I found a great alternative! Check out the International District Pintrest for a more comprehensive look at I.D. take-out menus!