Mui Ngo Gai

Mui Ngo Gai
2408 Nanaimo Street
Vancouver, BC

For quite some time already, I have wondered about dishes representatives of a culture. This is somewhat “important” because, when we go to an ethnic restaurant, we want to go there to have a taste of that culture. So, not sure how or why, in the case of Japanese, it ends up being sushi, though there is a showing of izakaya places lately. In the case of Greek, it shouts lamb. But similar to NY style pizza, chicago deep dish pizza (which, technically is a casserole), St Louis style or California style, each region has its unique version. So in a chain of emails with a reader who prefers not to comment, she made a note that “whenever you (as in food bloggers in general) go to a Vietnamese restaurant, you always end up ordering pho or bánh mì and, in-lieu, we should give bún bò hue a try instead. While I have unknowingly tried it once in Pho Maxima, when I went to Mui Ngo Gai, I consciously decided to give this dish a try instead. So, would it change my thoughts of pho and start ordering this other dish instead (if available)?

So that begs the question: why Mui Ngo Gai? Believe it or not, the reason is actually a really interesting one: it is among the few Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver that actually have a website and have their menu on-line! With that option, I knew I could go there and be able to order it; rather than driving around Vancouver to find such a place. Hey, technology working for you!

Upon arrival, I was given the option to sit anywhere and I chose one of the tables closest to the window – sort of. Unlike a lot of restaurants where they let the curtain/blinds open for natural lights, they had their blinds closed, yet there was still some sunlight filtering in. Man, that was some crazy light conditions to take pictures I tell ya, specially when there was flourescent light inside! Anyway, bún bò hue it was, but it has never stopped me from ordering something extra, which ended up being…

A spring roll. Somehow, I wanted the wrapped version rather than the fried versions. Reason? Pork! (Specifically barbequed pork). Yup, I had the option to go for pork and that is what I end up doing. Nothing wrong with that, right? For the most part, not even the herbs managed to make it palatable – it was dead bland. Sure, there was some pork and the pork was actually quite tasty. By together, the rice dampened everything; it was similar to eating a bowl of plain rice cooked only with water. Yup, not even a pinch of salt… So, what “saved” it was the dipping sauce, which I didn’t take a picture but you can partially see from the background. It was peanut based and provided some nutty taste.

Moving to the bún bò hue, if you go by visuals only, I am sure it would have already detracted a lot of people from going for it. Yes, that it is what it is: chunks of cooked pork blood! Huahahahahaha ! In addition to it, there were “sliced beef shank, pork balls, Vietnamese ham and seasoned pork roll”. Alas, the description sounded better what was actually served on the table. Despite the description was to be a spicy beef soup, I didn’t even break a sweat. The meats were OK, nothing extraordinary – hint of sesame was what “saved” it, as it was what provided most of the flavour to the meats. In other words, for the most part, it was… Average?

Now, given the main difference between bún bò hue and the rest of the menu, i.e., it being a Hu? dish compared to the other regions, I am not sure if it would be a good yardstick for the rest of the menu. However, looking at the rest of the customer, for the most part they seem to be enjoying their pho so it seems there is a target audience here. As for myself, actually I see myself coming back to try bánh xèo…

Tagged under: Pho • Soup • Vietnamese