Flavor Boulevard

We Asians like to talk food.
Subscribe

Hot soups for the cold winter at Bún bò Huế Cố Đô

December 25, 2008 By: Mai Truong Category: Central Vietnamese, Comfort food, Houston, noodle soup, Southern Vietnamese, Texas, Vietnamese

It was a warm, cloudy day. Few cars were on the road and every store was closed. So were restaurants, but not Vietnamese restaurants. We drove all the way down FM 1960 to Veteran Memorial, and pulled in the parking lot of Phở Danh (with the helpful hand signal of a Vietnamese gentleman, who just happened to stand there for no reason and apparently noticed my clumsy parking skill). But we went next door for Bún Bò Huế Cố Đô, since my mom spotted it out and we were in adventurous mood. There were as few people inside as cars on the road today. Everyone in the neighborhood seems to go to Phở Danh, cuz it’s bigger and more noticeable. We weren’t deterred. So how is Cố Đô?

My dad got the house specialty: bún bò Huế (Hue beef noodle). Rice noodle, beef, beef broth, (sounds like phở so far, isn’t it?), congealed blood, cha lua, a thick side cut of pig leg (not foot), and some good spicy hot pepper. I suppose it wasn’t spicy enough for my dad, so he put in some satay, which makes the broth colorfully pretty. And the whole side of greens (that has more than green):

Bean sprouts, a slice of lemon, plants whose English names I have no idea, and a purplish bundle of thinly sliced young banana flower. The meat was tender and generous, but I’m not so sure if this bowl has everything an authentic Hue beef noodle soup would have. For some reason I had never gotten the crave for it, I must have had it at some point and just can’t remember. It certainly looks good, perhaps a little busy. The noodle is thicker and rounder than the noodle in pho, so bún bò is more filling. The pig leg meat is just all too common pork with a bit of thick skin, pig foot is better and more interesting for the teeth. According to my dad, the soup didn’t quite live up to his expectation, except for being tenderly meaty. But the rest of the crew was actually quite pleased with the other dishes we got:

Hủ tíu mì
Hủ tíu Nam Vang.
They have different names, the hu tiu mi has egg noodle (), and Nam Vang is the Vietnamized name of Phnompenh. Other than that, exactly the same broth, same meat, same ornaments of crab meat and fish ball (the white circles at 11:30-12 o’clock), and a couple of shrimps. The broth has a swift of sweetness, a subtle but confident base. It’s light, warm, and clear. The noodle is hủ tíu dai (chewy), which is made of cassava. It’s thin, clear, and a little chewy (duh). There’s a kind of hu tiu made of rice, called hủ tíu mềm (soft). I prefer hu tiu dai. With sprinkles of chives, coriander, fried shallots, a few slivers of pork liver (the darker piece in the southwest corner of the bowl), cha lua, and plenty of pork, it was a good lunch. Not too filling, either. I can go as far as saying this is possibly the best hu tiu I’ve tried in America, of course with the number of trials countable on one hand. On a side note, often times liver tastes like chocolate to me, perhaps because of the slight bitterness and the smooth yet granular texture, so taking today’s liver intake into account, combining with today’s presents, I’ve had quite a bit of my late chocolate craving satified. Christmas is nice. :-)Since their hu tiu seems too be the better hit, perhaps it should be renamed Hủ Tíu Cố Đô? I suppose without Huế in the name, “Cố Đô” (old capital) doesn’t quite make a ring. Good, clean, quiet place though, I’ll come back for another meal. Lunch for three was only $19.90, and, they do take credit cards!*

*Vietnamese restaurants here, even Lee’s Sandwiches, seem to favor the “Cash Only” theme. I wonder why?

Address: Bún Bò Huế Cố Đô
13480 Veterans Memorial Suite P3
Houston, TX
(281) 537-6760

0 Comments to “Hot soups for the cold winter at Bún bò Huế Cố Đô”


  1. I like this web site very much, Its a real nice office to read and receive information. “Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.” by Epictetus.

    1
  2. Awsome site! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am taking your feeds also

    2
  3. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.

    3
  4. Deference to website author, some good selective information.

    4
  5. Thanks for any other excellent post. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such an ideal method of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such information.

    5
  6. You are my intake, I have few web logs and very sporadically run out from to post .

    6
  7. I’m not positive the place you are getting your information, however great topic. I needs to spend a while finding out much more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic info I used to be looking for this information for my mission.

    7
  8. I have read several good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot effort you put to make the sort of magnificent informative site.

    8
  9. Great tremendous things here. I am very glad to see your article. Thanks a lot and i am taking a look forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?

    9
  10. My brother recommended I would possibly like this blog. He was once entirely right. This put up truly made my day. You cann’t believe just how so much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

    10
  11. I don’t ordinarily comment but I gotta say thankyou for the post on this special one :D.

    11
  12. I was looking through some of your articles on this site and I think this web site is real informative ! Keep posting.

    12
  13. I’m still learning from you, as I’m improving myself. I absolutely love reading all that is posted on your site.Keep the aarticles coming. I liked it!

    13
  14. Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

    14
  15. I precisely wished to say thanks again. I do not know what I would have carried out in the absence of those creative ideas shown by you on my problem. This has been a very frustrating dilemma in my opinion, however , observing the well-written avenue you treated the issue forced me to cry for delight. Extremely grateful for your support and as well , wish you are aware of a great job you are always undertaking educating men and women all through your website. Most likely you have never met all of us.

    15
  16. Hi there! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

    17
  17. I always was interested in this subject and still am, appreciate it for putting up.

    18
  18. Does your site have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.

    19
  19. I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility issues? A few of my blog audience have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this issue?

    20
  20. You are my inspiration , I have few blogs and occasionally run out from to post : (.

    21
  21. I dugg some of you post as I thought they were extremely helpful handy

    22
  22. Regards for this howling post, I am glad I found this web site on yahoo.

    23
  23. Whats up very cool site!! Man .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I am happy to find so many useful info here in the put up, we’d like develop more techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .

    24
  24. Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Many thanks

    25
  25. I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.

    26
  26. Hello, Neat post. There is a problem along with your web site in internet explorer, would check this?K IE nonetheless is the market chief and a big section of folks will leave out your excellent writing because of this problem.

    27
  27. I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.

    28
  28. I simply couldn’t depart your web site prior to suggesting that I actually loved the usual information a person provide to your visitors? Is going to be again regularly in order to inspect new posts.

    29
  29. I like assembling utile info, this post has got me even more info! .

    30
  30. What’s Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & aid different customers like its aided me. Great job.

    31


Leave a Reply