Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

On this day my car got broken into. My window smashed, my gym bag and expensive shoes stolen. A lesson learned and a reminder given to not leave any belongings in the car. The outcome was l costly. In this case the loss of work time and its payment, the fee to replace what was lost, the deductible to have it fixed, and the lack of peace as I stressed about all of the above.

My partner took the day off work to help me clean my car of broken glass and provide support as I went about getting the widow at least taped up for the day, while we scheduled an appointment to have the window fixed the day after.

After we had everything sorted, as a pick me up he took me out for lunch. His usual craving is for Vietnamese so we looked for that.

When in search for Vietnamese cuisine, we bee-lined it to Victoria Drive. My partner wanted to visit a restaurant we once enjoyed a cup of egg coffee cream at. However, it was no where to be found, and in its place was an Indian restaurant.

So not looking to re-park, I led us to Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen, a Vietnamese restaurant well known for their crab pho, and one that I have visited before.

This is their newer location after moving and expanding. A still new, modern looking restaurant with bright lights and a water feature at the door. Decor is a series of television screen advertising what to order, a collection of painted Vietnamese pointed hats, and a red painted feature wall with all the hallmarks of traditional Vietnamese culture.

There is plenty of seating, necessary on their busier weekends, but we had the pick of the place this Monday.

We started with our usual order of Vietnamese coffee. Dripped at the table, into a cup of condense milk that you would later stir in and pour over ice. Full of kick this is one of our favourite caffeinated beverages. Although one each is a bit much and gets my heart pounding.

We shared an order of their Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings and found it pretty unremarkable. Not enough salt or seasoning as is, but a heavy dunk in the peppery citrus sauce on the side helped. Not quite sure what this was, but we did not find it complimentary, so ordered some fish sauce instead.

We naturally had to order a serving of their crab Bun Rieu. Once again, this is the dish that put them on the map. This is vermicelli noodle with tofu, Vietnamese pork ham, and pork leg & shrimp in special crab soup. There is so much going in bowl, whereas with classic pho you are often left with more noodles or soup than meat. Here, between the bites of bobbing pork and crab, each spoonful is a meaty one. In fact we are often left looking for noodle. So now know to ask for a side helping to add into it once we are done with the first.

This was my partner’s first taste of Bun Rieu. He liked it so much that when looking for Vietnamese cuisine again within the month, he bee-lined it back for more.

During this most recent return I wanted Bun Bo Hue, which was his previous favourite Vietnamese noodle soup. However, they don’t have any here, despite them spelling it out on their feature wall. So looking for a different noodle soup to try, I went for their Hú Tiéu D° Bién Chua Cay.

This is a Seafood Hot & Sour Rice Noodle in Soup with shrimp, fish, and squid & fish ball. With the flavour of tangy lemongrass and the slightly lip puckering sourness it reminded me of tom yum soup. Although, a lot lighter and leaner compared to the crab bowl above, I found this refreshing and one I would order again.

And this time around we shared one glass of Vietnamese coffee.

In short, we found my partner’s new favourite Vietnamese noodles. A spot we would only dine in at for their Bun Rieu. Everything else was just okay. We have had similar items elsewhere that was comparable. In fact, during our most recent Uber Eats delivery order, we tried their garden salad roll and thought there to be too much lettuce and the sauce not peanutbutter laden enough.

Their lemon grass chicken and pork chop rice bowl was average. The flavours standard, the meats dry. We did like the quality egg that was fried on top.

And somehow the Bun Rieu was not the, same split between two take out containers: noodles with topping and soup. It tasted familiar, but did not satisfy the same. So going forward we will only make the drive out to the restaurant when trying to satisfy this craving.

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen
5155 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC V5P 3V1
(604) 321-2711
bunchacahoangyen.com