Da Nang Food to Go

*** Da Nang Food to Go has closed

I'm not quite sure how many times I've passed this little restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard. And I've lost count of the times I've attempted to find parking within a reasonable distance to Da Nang Food to Go. This little restaurant has but 7 little parking stalls that is shared between 3 businesses, and maybe the few stalls in the parking lot of the 7-11 next door, and the curb out front is a no parking zone. So, each time we drove past Da Nang Restaurant, we'd always end up somewhere else...possibly Nhu Y, which is right up the street, or Thien Thanh. But there's a reason we've been pretty persistent about getting a meal here....just read the signs.

Yep, it says Banh Bot Loc, Banh Beo, and most of all Bun Bo Hue. A quick look at the map and you'll see that the city of Da Nang is located in Central Vietnam, South of Hue, and right smack dab on the South China Sea. Even more reason to try and grab a meal here.

We finally figured that we would need to eat there during the evening when the businesses around the restaurant were closed, and indeed on a recent Monday evening the entire parking lot(all 7 stalls) were empty. We felt like we hit the lottery! The interior of this little restaurant is....well quite small, and most of the business seems geared toward take out orders.

The menu at Da Nang Food to Go is small, and limited to mostly Central Vietnamese style dishes. Which for us is a good thing....it usually means a pretty darn good bowl of Bun Bo Hue.

We started with an order of Banh Bot Loc($3.00):

A plate of  8 plump and moist and sticky tapioca flour dumplings made it's way to our table...we could smell the freshly fried shallots, which started our stomachs rumbling. These Banh Bot Loc didn't have an abundance of the smokey, tea like flavor imparted by being wrapped and steamed in banana leaves for a long period of time, but each dumpling held a very tasty piece of shrimp, and a small piece of pork that was a bit less fatty and tough as is normal for Banh Bot Loc. The Nuoc Mam Cham, was slightly spicy and sweet, almost approaching the flavor of sweet chili sauce.

Our garnishes arrived as we were eating our Banh Bot Loc.

In this case mostly bean sprouts....

The Missus ordered Her latest favorite soup Bun Rieu($5.00):

This version of Bun Rieu had a very cloudy broth, with a pronounced sour flavor. It wasn't bad...just different. The noodles were the standard "Bun", the version a bit thinner than the noodles in Bun Bo Hue. The noodles were firm and a perfect al dente. The best thing about the soup was the very good fish cake, and the wonderfully flavored seafood "meatball". The fish cake had a wonderful flavor, and texture. Fried tofu topped everything off. We noticed that this version of Bun Rieu did not have as much tomato as other versions we've had. To sum it up, a not bad bowl of piping hot soup.

I of course had the Bun Bo Hue (no blood - $5.00):

As with the Bun Rieu, this slightly spicy broth was on the cloudy side, and the broth a bit more sour, and not as pungent than I'm used to. The noodles were good and firm. The slices of beef and tendon were okay, on the tough and dry side, and the Pork Hock was most skin. What made this bowl of Bun Bo Hue stand out was the Gio Lua (lean sausage), it had a very strong smokey fragrance, the large pieces of black pepper added a nice zip, and the flavor of the sausage was also a bit more "porky-meaty" than what I'm used too. The dark color also made it a bit unique.

We found out that Da Nang, as many restaurants do, makes their own Gio Lua. In fact, as we ate three people came in to buy the Gio Lua...who knows, I may drop by and pick up one of these banana leaf-wrapped, meat-paste product myself......

Though in our opinion the Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu at Da Nang is not as good as Mein Trung, I'd still give it a try again....and order something else like the Bun Mit Thit Ba Roi(Vermicelli with Pork and Jackfruit), or the Bun Mang Vit(Vermicelli, Bamboo shoot and Duck soup), or the Mi Quang, or.......after all, I'm guessing you all are getting pretty tired of my obsession with Bun Bo Hue by now!

Da Nang Food to Go (aka Quan an Da Nang)
4745 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Comments

[nhbilly]

Hmmmmm all this time my mom has been taking short cut making Banh Bot Loc. I swore there is a different type, similar to Banh Bot Loc but not as chewy, but firm and pretty much with the same filling and wrapped with banana leaf. Anyways my mom would wrap these sucker up and boil them with a little oil to prevent it from sticking and they do keep very well in the freezer...

-bill

[mizducky]

Interesting! Just a few weeks ago, I wound up sharing a table at Saigon with a Vietnamese gentleman--he was tickled to see a Caucasian woman enjoying a bowl of bun bo Hue, and recommended a place he described as right next to the 7-Eleven as being his favorite for that soup. I'm thinking he must have meant this Da Nang place you review here ... unless there's another bun bo Hue restaurant jammed into that same little strip mall! I may still try to fight my way into that parking lot one of these days, though now that I know about Mien Trung, I'm a little less motivated to do that. Ah--so many bowls of soup, so little time! :-)

[Aileen]

I've seen the place many times. I've always wondered what bun reiu tastes like outside of the kind that my mother in law has taught me how to make. hmm but a sour taste?? that's odd..anyhow Like your missus.. it's definitly a favorite of mine!

[ed (from Yuma)]

I Never get tired of your bun bo hue obsession. As obsessions go, it's a good one to have.

ed

[Trent]

Yes. As the weather cools, reading about great places for hot soup is a must.

[howie]

It amazes me that you're still able to find these great little places after blogging for so long. Yet another one to add to my BBH todo list.

[elmomonster]

Now that's what I call Bun Rieu. Not the dark, tomato soup thing I had a while ago.

[Cuong kingkong5]

Hi Kirk!

Glad to see you made it back from vacation A-OK! Next time you are up in the OC, you have to try Bun Bo Hue So 1 (translated - #1 Bun Bo Hue) on northeast corner of Brookhurst and McFadden, across from the Pho 54.

My wife is really picky about her Bun Bo Hue, and she says this place is the best. Give a holler next time you're up here and I'll buy your bowl of Bun Bo Hue.

kingkong5

[eatdrinknbmerry]

haha kirk. it's funny, a lot of the asian strip mall restaurants have like 8 spots. 4 of which are occupied by restaurant employee's.

[Kirk]

Hi Bill - Sounds great to me!

Hi Mizducky - Well maybe you should check Da Nang out...I'll probably be having the Mi Quang next time.

Hi Aileen - Yes, it was a bit on the sour side....too much lemongrass & lime juice???

Hi Ed - I'm afraid it's getting to be one of many...obsessions, that is.

Hi Trent - And if you enjoy Vietnamese soups, there are no shortages of places to try.

Hi Howie - There are a few more places in the area...then i'll have to move on to University.

Hi Elmo - I must say that Mien Trung's version of Bun Rieu is quite good...just enough tomato.

Hi KK5 - Thanks for the recommendation, I've added it to my list. And I may take you up on that offer!

Hi EDBM - Yes, I've noticed that in a few places...even the parking configuration here is terrible.

[Aileen]

Hmmm - really? Lemongrass in bun rieu? I've never heard of that.. interesting.. Do they normally serve bun rieu without ongchoy? I can't imagine it without..

[Chubbypanda]

Hey Kirk,

As always, you challenge me to move beyond the confines of my usual Pho Dac Biet, and I thank you for it.

Cheers,

- Chubbypanda

[Jack]

Your obsession, our benefit! I haven't really been in the mood to go out and have soup but at least I can do it vicariously through you.

[Kirk]

Hi Aileen - Don't know if it was lemongrass lending that flavor...but it sure seemed like it was...it was quite sour. And no, no Ong Choy....funny, the 3 recipes I have all have Ong Choy, and 2 also have sliced banana blossom, but I've yet to have either - though I've had banana blossom with Bun Mang Vit.

Hi CP - Good Bun Bo Hue is most excellent.

Hi Jack - I know, it's been a bit on the hot side...bun as the temperature drops again....

[Trang]

Kirk, Having lived in Central Vietnam (Mien-Trung), I grew up eating bun-bo (also called bun-bo Hue) at home and in food stands. Yes, bun-bo has always been my weakness. I can still remember visiting our local breakfast stand, the old cook in black satin pants and peasant top sitting in her low wooden stool, gently stirring her laddle around her huge steaming pot of stock in search for the best piece of beef, tendon or ham. I can still taste the beefy, salty, lemony, and spicy red broth, the pungent smell of mam-nem and the clean taste of green onion, cilantro and limes.

Since moving to the US, for some reason unclear to me, most restaurants in the US make their bun-bo broth quite plain but with an odd sweet after taste. As for me, I like to order the bun-bo when I hear the cook's Hue accent. Hue women are famous for being perfectionists in their kitchen; they make the best bun-bo and will never serve you a bad meal.

Thank you for writing about this place, the pictures are great too. It brought back some good memories. I usually go to Hoai Hue for my bun-bo Hue fix; I now have another place I can try. But first I am going to check whether its cook has a Hue accent.

[Kirk]

Hi Trang - Welocme, and thanks for taking the time out to comment. I'll be interested to know how your visit turns out....and if you've ever tried Mien Trung, what did you think of that restaurant?

[Jack]

Thanks for posting this Kirk. The 7-Eleven next to Da Nang is my local atm and this has been a place that I haven't gotten to yet.

[Kirk]

Hope you have a chance to check them out Jack!