My quest to sample the best; LA's 101 best, one stop at a time.
Of all the places I've been, Ngu Binh is among my favorites so far. It's one of those no-frills, all-thrills, affordable-food joints where you just go for the food. Basic tables, open early, fresh, hot food all day.
The menu is a single page, 20 numbered items, starting with a fantastic (1) Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet. Slightly spicy, savory soup with pork knuckles and cubes of blood. The broth has a real pop to it, and it's one you'll drink to the last drop.
A combo platter (5) lets you sample Banh Bot Loc, Banh Beo va Banh Nam. Banh beo is the classic rice cake discs with shrimp and pork. Banh bot loc is little bits of shrimp and pork wrapped in chewy tapioca. Banh Nam is more like a rice cake roll, long, flat squares full of shrimp.
(20) Nem Chua makes a tasty little snack, a cold bit of fermented pork in between hot bites. Only order if you actually like gelatinous, fermented pork. This one is an acquired taste...which I have fully acquired.
(14) Mit Zuc Banh Trang is another cold option, a refreshing jack fruit salad. It's bland without the fish sauce dip, but I just can't diss fresh jackfruit.
They're known for these (18) Banh It Kep Banh Ram. A complex cloud of glutinous rice cake filled with pork and shrimp sits upon a crispy saturn-ring of the same fried rice cake, basically mochi on top of more mochi. It is glorious but it is rich. A single one of these will fill you up so be sure to share.
I think this dessert is called Banh Da Lon, a layered sticky rice cake, slightly gelatinous with a mildly sweet mung bean filling. Green with pandan aromas, these little discs are too pretty not to eat. Just be prepared, these are more about texture and subtlety in flavor. You'll have to get your sugar rush somewhere else.
The food is so good here. Everything is exquisitely made, the perfect blend and balance of sweet, sour, umami, and everything else. I've never had a bad meal in Garden Grove, but I don't know if I'll want to go anywhere else after this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment