Must Try Dish Vietnamese Food

So today I'm out in Po Duc district, which is really far away from the center of the city, and we're going to go get the best Bun Cha in the city. It's very rare that I'm out this far in the city, but I'm going to pass District 2 on my way home. And I've been hearing about this Bun Cha spot in District 2 called Hai Hoi Quan, I think it is. Some people have told me it is the best Bun Cha in the city. So we're about to find out. I love Bun Cha and I'm never going to say no to a good bowl. So let's go try it. This is located in the Tao Dean area, which is definitely the most kind of upscale area in District 2. And really in the city, it's a very, very modern area. I would say the only thing that kind of sucks about this part of the city is there's a lot of big highways you got to be on and off of. But I think I'm just going straight. I guess so. Stay with the car. All right. Always good idea to use the car as your shield when you're driving. District 2 can be a little confusing the first couple of times you drive it. These highways are hard at first. I'm sure if you live here, you get totally used to it. And you can see this construction for the new subway or the new train line that's coming in. This part's not a subway, but in the center of the city, this all goes underground up here. It's elevated tracks. So I don't think this is running yet, but it's close. That'll be really cool when it does. Have you never heard of Bun Cha before? It's like one of my favorite dishes ever. One of the best dishes in Vietnamese cuisine, one of the best dishes in the world. It's fantastic. Basically, it's kind of a deconstructed grilled pork noodle bowl. There's a grilled pork meatball and a grilled pork belly that are sitting in fish sauce. And then we dip rice noodles and dip herbs inside of it. Something that comes from northern Vietnam, from Hanoi. And it's something that I think pretty much everybody loves. It's so damn delicious. It's weird to me to see all these giant overpasses here. Just starting to feel like Philadelphia a little bit. All right, now we're going to merge on the big highway. So this kind of stuff is so rare. I drive on roads like this. These roads don't really exist in D7, not in the same way or District 1 or anywhere in the center of the city. This is kind of District 2 and out. Because if you're trying to get to any part of central and northern Vietnam, if you're driving to Nha Trang or driving to Dalat, you always come this way. So that's why these roads are huge here. But I'm sure it's probably interesting to see how a highway handles all these bikes coming through it. And of course, they usually have lanes just for the bikes and lanes just for the cars. Although during the busiest parts of traffic, some of the bikes will switch to the car lane, even though it's illegal. You'll see these guys doing that right now. I have a new bun cha spot close to my house, so I've been eating it a lot recently. I love it. But the spot we're going to today, I've been wanting to try for a long time. I heard about it a lot. I think I'm going to the right. Most people are going right. I'll go with the crowd. I don't know. We're probably on the edge of Tau Dien right now. I don't know if you can see this Tau Dien or not. There's a lot of big apartment complexes here, big malls here. It is a pretty cool place to live as long as you don't mind the highway too much. We stayed over on the left side for a period of time for an Airbnb. That was really nice. And we're close to Megamar, too, which is that giant supermarket I did a video about a couple of weeks ago. So there's a lot here. Can I keep going right if I go right? Does that keep working? I think so. OK. I'll avoid the highway if I can. I'll stay in the shade. Well, look at this. Look at this chaos going on here. No problem. That's normal. Welcome to Vietnam. God damn, I'm so hungry. It's like two. It's probably like one thirty, two o'clock. I haven't eaten anything yet. So even if this is mediocre, I'm going to enjoy it. There's always there's so much construction going on here, too. The roads and the paths are always changing. This one walk home. No, I don't want to go over that bridge. Oh, crap. Don't make me go over the bridge, please. Let me have another right. OK, good. Walk home. OK, this is it. Nice. OK, cool. All right. Take a right. And there it is. Bada bing, baby. I just ordered special, special plate and a spring roll. Yeah. Come on. Yeah. Biggest spring rolls here. So this is all comes in like separate portions. So we have some rice noodles, some lettuce and herbs. I'm going to season mine up with some pickled garlic. I love on the table here. They have a ton of pickled garlic. That's awesome. And I'll cut some chili in here, too. They have dry chili and fresh. I'm going to go fresh today. And then we have the star of the show, a super light, but sour fish sauce soup almost or a fish sauce dressing. You can think of it. And inside there, we have some grilled pork patties, some grilled pork belly or some pickled carrots and some pickled green papaya. And then we'll throw some herbs and lettuce inside. We'll give this a mix. Let's try it. Their fish sauce dressing here is seasoned really nicely. It's got definitely got some sour notes, which I really enjoy. It's not overly sweet. It's got a lot of flavor. The meat here is cooked really well and has a nice charred flavor to it. Not all the places have like a nice char. I do appreciate the char here. The meatball is always my favorite part of this. But the pork belly here is seasoned well as well. Although usually when I'm going to my local spot now, I just get only meatballs. I don't even want pork belly anymore. Most places will also sell spring rolls as well. So I had to get one. These do not come with the portions. You have to order these on the side and they're about a dollar each. But they are huge. Big old boy. Let's try this thing. It's OK. It's OK. I've definitely had much better spring rolls. This one to me is is good. Not great. Usually these places will have a crab and pork based spring roll. I don't think there's any crab in here. I think it's just a straight pork roll. The spring roll is definitely not bringing any extra points in here. It's just good to have. I'll definitely I'll always order it every time I see it. But it's not my favorite part of this. But this is a really good bowl. I like the rice noodles a lot here. The thinner the herb selection is fresh and clean. And they give you a lot of pickled vegetables. So I like that. Oh, my God, I'm so full. Thank you. How much is it? It's 56,000. Thank you. There's your spot. Right across from Chuoc Cafe. All right. This is definitely a very good bowl of Bun Cha. Probably my favorite part is the meatball. It's always my favorite part. Pickle. The rice noodle is really thin. I like the rice noodle a lot here. And the fish sauce dressing. I mean, it's just balanced well, it's seasoned well. Is this the best bowl of Bun Cha in the city? I don't think so. Not for me. I think this one is very good. I think if you come at the right time when they're grilling the meat fresh. So you're here probably at 11 a.m. You might even get a great bowl because if they charred that meat right away and threw it right in the fish sauce is going to be better. So you might even get a great bowl at the right time. But the spring roll is not very good. I mean, the spring roll is just fine, just normal. So it can't be the best bowl of Bun Cha if it doesn't have one of the best great best spring rolls in there. I mean, definitely if you're in District 2 or staying in this area, for sure. Come here. It's very, very good. But if you're living in District 7 or living in District 3 or 5, is it worth driving out here to get it? I don't think so. I have some Bun Cha spots in District 7 that I think are pretty damn close. Definitely a better spring roll. Maybe the fish sauce or the meat is just comparable. It's just up to your personal preference. So I can't say it's worth an hour drive to get it like it was for me, but it's definitely worth a 10 minute drive, 15 minute drive for sure. Just in case you really love points, you want me to give a point. I probably give it 8 out of 10. Very good bowl. Very good bowl. I think this spot, because it's in Taodian, because it's right in a very touristy foreigner district, it probably is the views and the ratings or reviews are pumping up just because there's a lot of foreigners around this area. It's a good bowl. Deserves to be recognized. But for me, not the best in the city. Not so far. I'll keep looking. I think that's it. Quick little video today. If you enjoyed this video, subscribe to the channel. Check out checkcookingup.com if you want me to take you around the Saigon to eat. Until next time. See you later.