Song Huong Eatery

Many years ago, I would visit Song Huong out on Nanaimo for their Vietnamese fare, in particularly, their Bò 7 Món.  For those who are not familiar, this is seven courses of beef that is usually served during celebrations.  So when they opened a second location near me, I knew I had to go.  I actually went twice with the second visit being the one I had their Bò 4 Món.  Yes, they no longer have the 7 courses, but hey, I'll take 4 courses!

But before, we got to the 4 courses of beef, we had the Bánh Cuốn Chả Lụa Bánh Cống on our initial visit.  This consisted of steamed rice rolls with ground pork and wood ear mushroom as well as deep fried fish cake and Vietnamese ham.  I thought the sheets of rice noodle were a bit firm, but still soft enough.  Filling was tender with the crunch of the wood ear.  Fish cake was crispy and soft in the middle.

Of course we have to try the Phở Tái Nạm Gân and this featured a broth that was fairly clean and not overly fatty.   I would say the overall impact and flavour of the broth were good where we had some meatiness and I also could taste some of the usual components including star anise, daikon and charred onion.  Noodles were al dente while the meats were tender.  However, the portion size was concerning.  Sure, I do have a bigger appetite, but really, this would be more of snack for me.  At least maybe offer the option of an XL and I would gladly pay the higher price.

As for the Bún Bò Huế, there was definitely spice and a touch of brininess, but as for depth, it didn't have the hit of lemongrass that I would've liked.  It was there and not strong enough, or not there at all.  Even the brininess could've been dialed up by 3 times.  Also, the portion size, like the Pho, was pretty small with a limited amount of noodles and only just enough meat.  Again, an optional larger size would've been appreciated.

Moving away from noodle soups, we had the Lemongrass Chicken and Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl.  There are pros and cons about bone-in chicken, but for me personally, I'm not a fan of bone-in as it makes it really difficult to eat.  With that being said, the chicken was moist and flavourful though.  Spring roll was great with a crunchy rice paper wrapper.  Pork and veggies in this was sweet and briny while being juicy.

Here we are with the Bò 4 Món with the first course being the Sliced Beef in vinegar hot pot.  All the fixin's were there including rice paper and the hot water to dip them into (you only need to dip it for a few seconds!).  Rice noodles, herbs, pickled veg, bean sprouts, onions and anchovy sauce were also there to wrap inside the rice paper along with the beef.  There was a small amount of lemongrass, peanuts (on the side because my daughter has sensitivities) and chili sauce as well.

The next 3 courses consisted of Grilled Beef Rolls (Satay Beef, Beef wrapped in La Lot Leaves and Beef wrapped in Caul Fat).  Naturally, these were all very similar where the ground beef was juicy and tender.  They were well-seasoned being a bit sweetness while nicely charred and caramelized.  We enjoyed wrapping the meats and making our own salad rolls.  I really wished they still had the 7 courses, but I guess it might not have been a big seller, so it is understandable.  Overall, the food is pretty solid at Song Huong, but portions are either too small or just average in size.

The Good:

- Decent eats

- They have Bò 4 Món

- This location is spacious and clean

The Bad:
- Portions are too small (should offer larger portions for an extra charge)

- Service is good, but sparse

B&D Authentic Viet Cuisine

So here we are again, on the corner of Kingsway at Salisbury in Burnaby...  Why is this so significant you ask?  Well, the restaurant on this corner has changed so many times, I've lost count.  If someone can help me out, please fill in the missing restaurant...  Right now, it is B&D Vietnamese (and the subject of this blog post), and before that, we had (in descending order) Asian Cuisine by 18 Chefs, Queen's Cafe, Wonderful House, Private Home Cuisine and ???.    Okay back to B&D, we finally headed out there to give the place a try.

We stared with the Salt & Pepper Crunchy Wings with a side of pickles.  These were indeed crunchy as the skin was well-rendered and firm.  Since they fried these pretty aggressively, the meat was on the drier side, but not overly so.  The wings did have some flavour, but could've benefitted from more salt and pepper.  Loved the pickles on the side, they added nice crunch and tang.

Next, we had the Mini B&D Spring Rolls stuffed with ground pork, taro, carrot, jicama, wood-ear fungus and vermicelli.  These bite-sized springs rolls were fairly firm due to it being filled with plenty of ingredients and also being wrapped tightly.  Would've preferred rice paper, but these were still good with lots of texture (especially the taro).  They were a little light on the seasoning, but the side of fish sauce helped alleviate that.

Our last appie was the Papaya Salad with shredded unripe papaya, pickles, shallot, Vietnamese herbs and prawns.  This was a good version as the textural crunch from the unripe papaya was both appealing and bright.  Herbs added aroma while the pickles provided tanginess.  Add in the fish sauce and this was full of flavours including the usual fermented saltiness.  I personally like this salad to be on the spicier side and I wished there was that option.

Onto the mains, my daughter had a hard time deciding (as she usually does) and finally took our suggestion to try the Bò Kho (Beef Stew Noodles).  As you can see, there was no absence of beef shank which was super tender and flavourful.  The broth was aromatic and had good meatiness in addition to the seasonings.  The noodles were also prepared properly being al dente.

For my mom, she went for the Braised Duck Noodle featuring 6-hour braised duck leg, fresh coconut broth, shitake mushroom, sher-li-hon, red date and goji berry, served with egg noodles.  Although the broth was rich and full of depth, it could've used maybe a touch more salt.  Besides that, the duck leg was fall-off-the-bone tender while the egg noodles were appealingly chewy.

My dad had the B&D Special Pho with 18 hr simmered beef broth, rare beef sirloin, flank, tripe, tendon, and beef balls.  This was blessed with enough toppings to make this a fulfilling bowl of noodles.  The meats were tender, including the soft tendon.  As for the broth, it was not bad with sweetness and a background meatiness.  It was clean and pleasant.  Noodles were perfectly al dente.

My son went for the Grilled Pork Chop Rice featuring pork chop marinated for 24 hrs with our house sauce, green onion oil, and fried egg, served with cucumber, tomatoes and fish sauce.  This was a large portion of food with 2 nicely charred pork chops.  They were fairly tender with good marinated flavours.  Rice was dry and chewy, great for accepting the fish sauce as moisture and flavouring agent.

Viv and I waited a long time for our dish being the Lẩu Bò Đà Lạt (Da Lat Beef Hot Pot) featuring 24 hr simmered beef broth, beef flank, beef bones, beef tendon, taro, tofu, egg noodles, and veggies served with house special fermented tofu sauce.  This was more than enough food for both of us where the broth was flavourful with some lemongrass and meaty notes.   I found the brisket cubes in the broth to be a bit chewy while the tendon was soft.  Generally, this was satisfying but I would've been happy with my own bowl of Pho.  In the end, we found the food at B&D to be pleasant if not needed just a bit more seasoning.  Prices were completely fair for the portion sizes and the service was friendly.

The Good:

- Nice people

- Fair portions

- Fair prices

The Bad:

- Maybe more impactful seasoning needed

- The wait for the hot pot was very long