Banh Cuon Hoa II in Bellaire
If I had to pick one Vietnamese dish made from rice flour and eat it everyday for the rest of my life (whole grain white rice doesn’t count), then bánh cuốn would be it. These rolls of thin rice sheet, filled with minced pork and woodear mushroom, gently dipped in nước mắm, make the perfect warm breakfast, light lunch, and quirky dinner. The question is where to find them. Bánh Cuốn Tây Hồ tops the chart everywhere from Texas to Cali, but does Bánh Cuốn Hoa II come close? Maybe rival? Miss by a long shot?
I cheated a bit at the beginning. The first picture isn’t bánh cuốn, but bánh bèo, a rice flour spinoff drafted in the shape and size of waterferns, hence its name. Flooded with nước mắm, they make great appetizers while we were waiting for bánh cuốn.
Bánh bèo comes with a few toppings: fried shallot, chopped green onions, and tôm chấy (dry fried shrimp). The tôm chấy I usually have are totally desiccant, ranging anywhere between flaky and powdery, but these (I’m guessing homemade) shrimps are still plump, and more sweet than salty. It’s not a bad twist from the usual though. The flour part is a bit tired, they broke easily into pieces the moment my chopsticks pinched them. Bánh Hỏi Châu Đốc does it better.
Because it is very hard to go wrong with grilled meat, it’s always safe to get bún thịt nướng on first try at a new restaurant, also a friendly choice for those who have not had Vietnamese cooking before, want to try, but are still cautious. There’s no weird stuff, just rice noodle, crushed peanuts, vegetable and honest grilled pork. Nước mắm seasoned with a tidbit chili paste, a lot of sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice would spike the taste to infinite pleasure. Bánh Cuốn Hoa II nailed it with a supertender juicy marinated pork.
As much as my dad is a fan of grilled meat, my mom is loyal to noodle soups. She ordered bún măng vịt (vermicelli soup with duck and bamboo shoot), which actually comes in two parts: the duck salad (gỏi vịt) and the bamboo shoot soup (bún măng) with no duck. Dunk the duck into the soup and you get duck soup :-).
The broth is quite pure and slender, free of fatty bubbles floating on the surface, not as heavily seasoned as pho or hu tiu broth, simply refreshing. As for the bamboo shoots, there were both the fresh kind and the re-hydrated dried kind. The dried kind is a tad firmer and more squid-like than the fresh kind. A lovely texture. Boiled duck is also very tender and flavorful.
Bánh Cuốn Hoa II has a pretty clean look. Varnished wooden chairs and tables, high ceiling, humble paintings of Vietnamese countryside sceneries on the walls. I took a peek into their kitchen to capture the banh cuon production line.
Clockwise from bottom left: 1. stirring the liquid batter (rice flour with water); 2. spreading a laddle of batter on a hot flat surface; 3. making a roll; 4. 3 kinds of final products: normal bánh cuốn (with minced pork and mushroom), bánh cuốn tôm chấy (dry fried shrimp), and bánh cuốn thịt nướng (grilled pork).
The lady was just too fast for my camera, I missed capturing the crucial step where she gently used a long chopstick to take the thin rice veil off the cooking surface and whip it aside for the rolling chef.
So here it is, the restaurant’s signature plate: bánh cuốn topped with cha lua, bean sprouts, greens, and fried shallots. The filling is good. The sheet is thin and not oily. But the flour has a sour hint. Bánh Cuốn Tây Hồ is still the champion of bánh cuốn.
Price: a very reasonable lunch for 3:
1 bánh bèo + 1 bún thịt nướng + 1 bún măng vịt + 1 bánh cuốn = $24.57
Address: Banh cuon Hoa II
11169 Beechnut St. #K
Houston, TX 77072
Take a look at RavenousCouple’s recipe for bún măng vịt, it’s my new fav noodle soup.
Update: the amazing pictures and recipe for homemade banh cuon, also from RavenousCouple.
할인코드를 활용하여 쇼핑을 할 수 있는 것은 항상 기쁜 일이죠! 케이스티파이의 할인코드를 발견하셨다니 정말 대단하시네요. 좋은 제품을 합리적인 가격에 구매하시고 만족스러운 쇼핑이 되시길 바라요.특별한 혜택을 누리세요! 케이스티파이 할인코드
1수원치과를 방문하고 나니 치과 걱정이 사라지고 안심할 수 있었어요. 전문의의 친절한 안내와 최신 시설로 편안한 치료를 받을 수 있어 정말 좋았습니다. 다음에도 믿고 찾을 수 있는 곳이에요. 수원치과
2수원치과에서는 친절하고 전문적인 치과 의료 서비스를 받을 수 있어서 정말 좋아요. 치아 관리에 많은 신경을 쓰고 있는데, 여기서 정기적으로 치아 검진을 받으며 건강한 미소를 유지하고 있어요. 직원들의 친절한 응대와 깨끗한 시설도 매력적이에요. 다음에도 꼭 수원치과를 방문하고 싶네요. 수원치과
3수원교정치과는 정교한 치아 교정 서비스로 유명한 곳이에요. 전문적인 의료진과 친절한 안내로 환자들을 책임지며 건강한 미소를 선사해주죠. 저도 이곳에서 교정을 받고 있는데, 좋은 결과를 얻을 수 있을 것 같아 기대가 큽니다. 특히 시설이 깔끔하고 편안한 분위기라 방문할 때마다 편안함을 느낄 수 있어요. 수원교정치과
4강서치과는 친절하고 전문적인 치과 진료로 유명하죠. 여러분의 소중한 미소를 지켜주는 곳으로 소개되어 있어요. 친근한 분위기와 최신 시설로 환경 역시 편안하고 안정감 있어요. 건강한 미소를 위한 선택으로 강서치과를 추천해드립니다. 강서치과
5성남치과에서 친절하고 전문적인 서비스로 치아 건강을 유지하고 예쁘게 웃을 수 있어서 너무 좋아요. 여러 치과를 다녀봤지만 여기가 제일 만족스러웠어요. 치료 과정도 꼼꼼히 설명해주시고 시술도 정말 깔끔하게 해주셔서 믿고 맡길 수 있어요. 직장인이나 학생들에게도 추천하고 싶은 곳이에요. 성남치과
6수원교정치과에서는 정확한 치아교정으로 아름다운 미소를 선사해주는 것으로 유명하죠. 전문의의 전문적인 시술과 친절한 응대로 환자들에게 안정감을 준다는 평판이 있어요. 제 친구도 여기서 치아 교정을 받았는데, 결과물에 너무 만족해하더군요. 전문성과 친절함을 동시에 갖춘 수원교정치과는 정말 선택하기 좋은 곳이라고 생각해요. 수원교정치과
7이곳 ‘상지카일룸 밤섬’은 정말 아름다운 곳인 것 같아요. 자연의 소리와 함께 휴식을 취할 수 있는 이런 곳은 찾기 힘들죠. 사진을 보니 마치 동화 속 섬에 온 것 같은 기분이 드는군요. 여기서 하루를 보내고 싶다는 생각이 들 정도로 멋진 곳이네요. 상지카일룸 밤섬
8브라이튼 여의도는 런던의 번화가 속에서도 청정하고 평화로운 분위기를 느낄 수 있는 곳이에요. 강가를 따라 산책을 즐기면서 시원한 바람을 맞으며 도심 속에서도 자연과 조화를 이룬 풍경을 만나보세요. 꽃들이 피어나는 공원과 함께 한잔의 차 한 모금, 이곳에서 즐기는 여유로운 시간이 일상을 잠시나마 잊게 해줄 거예요. 브라이튼 여의도
9더파크사이드서울은 도심 속 자연의 아름다움을 담은 휴식처입니다. 시끌벅적한 도심 속에서 조용한 휴식을 취할 수 있는 이국적인 분위기가 매력적입니다. 편안한 숙소와 탁 트인 전망이 독특한 경험을 선사해줍니다. 여행자들에게 즐거움과 안락함을 동시에 선사하는 곳이죠. 더파크사이드서울
10이곳은 정말 아름다운 ‘운정아이파크포레스트’네요. 숲 속을 걷는 느낌이 신선하고 즐겁게 느껴지는 곳이에요. 푸른 나무들과 싱그러운 공기가 마음을 편안하게 만들어줍니다. 자연 속에서의 힐링 타임을 즐기기에 딱 좋은 공간이라고 생각해요. 다시 한 번 방문하고 싶은 곳입니다. 운정아이파크포레스트
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