Bún riêu cua - tomato crab noodle soup

Bún riêu cua, crab tomato noodle soup

Outside Vietnam, bún may be lesser known than its brother phở, the flat rice noodle, but within the boarders of this country full of fresh flavours, you will see far more dishes with bún than phở. It seems to be more versatile; served not only in soup, but also without soup base as a cold noodle salad (bún thịt nướng, with bbq meat), or inside fresh rice paper rolls (gỏi cuốn) or just "dry" with sauce on the side to dip in (like bún cha cá lã vong, with fried fish & dill).

This restaurant is a nice place to explore a in-soup version, bún riêu cua and a "dry" with dipping sauce version, bún chả.


Bún riêu cua means bún in crab soup. The soup base consists of tomato with tamarind and pounded shrimp patties float on top of  it. Here, they serve them with deep fried tofu and a somewhat more luxurious herb salad on the side. The salad contains bean sprouts, mint, coriander, Mexican coriander/sawtooth herb (ngò gai), which taste like very strong coriander, and Vietnamese perilla leaves (tía tô). This variety of perilla tastes more fragrant. The topside is green, while the bottom is purple.

Vietnamese perilla leaves, tía tô

Bún chả, is "dry" bún with roasted pork meatballs that are seasoned with garlic and fish sauce and have a nice sweet BBQ flavour. This dish is actually a specialty from the north, Ha Noi. The meatballs are served in a sweet and sour sauce, made with fish sauce and sugar, and the noodles are served on the side, meant to be dipped in the sauce. It is a good alternative if your into some noodles, but not the warm soup.

nem cua bể (on the very left) and bún chả in the middle

The restaurant also make nice crab spring rolls, nem cua bể. You can order them with or without "dry" bún.

And try the tea in this restaurant! Unlike the regular trà, this version tasted like a light herbal tea with hints of licorice; quite refreshing when surviving the hot weather out there. Just like other places, tea is for free.


Details:

I didn't spot the name of the restaurant. It is an indoor restaurant with decent chairs instead of the often seen children stools. This is probably why the higher price for noodles. It seems to be open all day everyday. It is only a few shops to the right of the vegetarian restaurant.

58 Thái Phiên, Đà Nẵng

Again, this address may not appear on the right spot with google maps, therefore I've included a map with the coordinates instead of the address below.



How to order:

bún chả - bun with roasted pork meatballs 35 kVND

bún nem cua bể - crab spring rolls with "dry" bun like bún chả 35 kVND

nem cua bể - crab spring rolls 15 kVND per portion (in picture are 2 portions displayed)

bún ốc chuối đậu - apparently it is also a tomato snail noodle soup, have not tried this one 35 kVND

bún riêu cua đặc biệt  - đặc biệt means special, that's all I know as I haven't tried this version either 40k VND

bún riêu cua - tomato crab noodle soup 35 kVND

bún riêu ốc - tomato snail soup 35 kVND

trà đá (pronounced as cha deh) - iced tea, for free

(prices date from Feb2015)