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Bun Cha Vietnamese (金豪大廈)

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4

4

54 Reviews

Taste

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6650

Sheung Wan

$51-100

Vietnamese Noodles/Rice Noodles Sandwich Salad

32

16

1

pho bo

5 Recommended

kiragrace

Level4

108

0

We eat at Bun Cha from time to time, the pho never fails! Bun Cha is a small cosy restaurant situated just a little walk up from PMQ! It is run by a few lovely Vietnamese people! Today we ordered two raw beef noodle and lemongrass pork chop with rice, it was a lunch set menu that comes with drinks! The broth is good as always, and the beef is not so fatty, which was perfect to soak in the broth! But the pork chop today was on the dry side… The price is very very good considering they don’t charg

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We eat at Bun Cha from time to time, the pho never fails!

Bun Cha is a small cosy restaurant situated just a little walk up from PMQ! It is run by a few lovely Vietnamese people!

Today we ordered two raw beef noodle and lemongrass pork chop with rice, it was a lunch set menu that comes with drinks! The broth is good as always, and the beef is not so fatty, which was perfect to soak in the broth! But the pork chop today was on the dry side…

The price is very very good considering they don’t charge 10%!

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)

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zia zia~~

Level4

225

1

My grandma visited Vietnamese a few years ago, and she has been complaining that the Vietnamese food in Hong Kong is not up to par. A few weeks ago, godbro XO found an article in a magazine about Bun Cha Vietnamese restaurant, and he said that he will check it out with his family and let me know if it's any good. As you can tell from his review, he raved about Bun Cha and the review also got Editor's Choice! So, I made a reservation for this past Tuesday and brought grandma and my brother to

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My grandma visited Vietnamese a few years ago, and she has been complaining that the Vietnamese food in Hong Kong is not up to par. A few weeks ago, godbro XO found an article in a magazine about Bun Cha Vietnamese restaurant, and he said that he will check it out with his family and let me know if it's any good. As you can tell from his review, he raved about Bun Cha and the review also got Editor's Choice! So, I made a reservation for this past Tuesday and brought grandma and my brother to Bun Cha to check it out!

Bun Cha is located on Aberdeen Street, I was going on my own since I was getting my nails done in Central that day, so my brother got to ride with grandma. Grandma is 90 plus, so she really needed to be dropped off right in front of the restaurant as Aberdeen Street is very steep and she can't walk up or down the street. I sent the mapped location ahead of time to grandma's chauffeur, and somehow, they still ended up on Staunton Street, and they had to go around in a big circle to get to the restaurant. (Hint: you have to get to Aberdeen Street from Caine Road)

While I was waiting for them to circle around, I checked out the decor of the restaurant. Bun Cha's decor is very down to earth. There is seating for about 20 people inside the restaurant. When I arrived, there was a small table at the store front that had a decorative vase on it, and later, the staff, cleared the decorations and let 3 people sit there as well since thye had a full house!

Bun Cha has an open kitchen, so you can watch the staff as they are preparing the food. Also, if you need anything, you can just look in the kitchen and grab the attention of the staff!

Once we were seated, the staff at the restaurant gave us menus, which was all in English, so grandma let my brother and I decide on what to order. The waitress was very nice and courteous even though grandma and my brother took their time to pick their drinks. My brother and grandma both ordered the young coconut, and I opted for plain old H2O as I had my eyes set on coffee for later.

One thing I learned from godbro is that you can order items one by one at small restaurants so that the table doesn't get crammed!

So, we started with Tom Cuon which is the shrimp rice paper roll.

The rice paper roll was wrapped tightly and didn't fall apart when I took a bite. I dipped the rice paper roll in their special fish sauce and it highlighted the freshness of the shrimp and herbs.

Next, we had the Cha Nem since Cha is part of the restaurant's name!

Cha Nem is the fried spring roll, and we had it wrapped in lettuce and dipped in the fish sauce. The spring roll had a very nice crunch and the shrimp and pork filling was scrumptious. Maybe it was the lettuce, maybe it was the fish sauce, but this fried spring roll was not greasy at all!

Grandma ordered the Vietnamese salami, since Bun Cha didn't have a Chinese menu, this was the one thing grandma ordered on her own, and the server understood her Chinese order with no issues. (Suggestion to Bun Cha: maybe you could get someone to translate your menu?)

Vietnamese Salami

Grandma says this was the only disappointment of the whole meal as the Vietnamese salami is just ok and the rest of the dishes were all outstanding!

Since we ordered Cha, we must order Bun as well! We picked the Lemongrass pork neck bun since we've already had a few shrimp dishes.

I mixed the bowl of bun with some fish sauce and tossed it around to get it thoroughly mixed. The noodles were light and not mushy. The pork neck was succulent and seasoned nicely. The combination of the noodles, pork neck, herbs, pickled vegetables, and fish sauce was very refreshing in the hot weather!

Next, we ordered what we came for... the Pho Bo! We ordered 2 bowl to split between the 3 of us since grandma has a small appetite.

Yay, the beef slices were pink and tender! We've been trying pho in many restaurants in Hong Kong and had many occasions had tough overcooked beef in them! So, we were extremely happy to see these pink tender slices of beef! Next, I had a spoonful of the soup which tasted like they spent hours stewing the broth without adding artificial MSG to it! Then, came the actual pho, which they use authentic Vietnamese flat noodles and not the local mushy kind! The noodles were al dente and didn't even get mushy as we were eating the pho! Grandma said it... Finally, a good bowl of pho in Hong Kong!

To conclude the meal, my brother and I each had a cup of Vietnamese coffee.

Vietnamese Filter cafe with condensed milk (cold)

The coffee had a delightful aroma, and the coffee flavor was strong which we loved!

The food was so good at Bun Cha, we even ordered take-away items for mom who wasn't feeling well and stayed home! Grandma said that we should come back when my uncle and aunt visits HK next month!

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)

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Date of Visit

2015-09-15

Dining Method

Dine In

Spending Per Head

$200 (Dinner)

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lolleroll

Level2

18

0

Vietnamese food, specifically pho bo is one of my favourite kinds of comfort food. But coming across a good bowl of beef pho is not the norm when eating Vietnamese in Hong Kong. Usually you get served Chinese ho fun noodles that’s gone just a little too soft with a few slices of uninspiring overcooked beef.Nha Trang and Bep (featured in my 5 Restaurants Worth Revisiting Again and Again) are probably among the tiny handful of Vietnamese restaurants in Hong Kong serving pretty decent bowls of pho.

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Vietnamese food, specifically pho bo is one of my favourite kinds of comfort food. But coming across a good bowl of beef pho is not the norm when eating Vietnamese in Hong Kong. Usually you get served Chinese ho fun noodles that’s gone just a little too soft with a few slices of uninspiring overcooked beef.

Nha Trang and Bep (featured in my 5 Restaurants Worth Revisiting Again and Again) are probably among the tiny handful of Vietnamese restaurants in Hong Kong serving pretty decent bowls of pho.

But the best one I’ve had (and it was only as recent as last week) has to be the one from Bun Cha Vietnamese Cafe & Restaurant. I think it’s opened by a Vietnamese woman (who you’ll likely see in there), operated by Vietnamese staff and all this authentic-ness shows in the taste of the food.

Beef Pho *must order*
It’s really hard to capture how good this pho bo tasted in a photo. Some telling factual descriptions include: they use actual pho which was still very al dente when served, I think I drank half of the soup base and the beef was medium rare (that you can see) and fatty.
Tastes aside, it’s also a good portion at a very reasonable price of HK$68!

Cha Nem (Spring rolls)
One bowl of pho bo each was an instant decision we made before even sitting down. But I always struggle on what else to order at any Vietnamese restaurant. The waitress enthusiastically approved of the Cha Nem (spring rolls wrapped in lettuce) and it turned out to be an excellent recommendation.

Banh Mi (Sandwich)
She also said the Banh Mi is very good here so we took her suggestion again. There was some very juicy pork meat in there with a whole bunch of other stuff that made the sandwich very tasty. Though honestly I’ve probably only had Banh Mi one other time in my life, and the beef pho had left me too in awe to judge anything else…

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)

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Date of Visit

2015-07-24

Dining Method

Dine In

Spending Per Head

$170 (Dinner)

Recommended Dishes

silverthoughts

Level4

3.1K

12

Growing up in Canada with a huge Vietnamese community, I was used to eating excellent pho. That beautiful, yet simple Vietnamese noodle dish of noodles and rich beef broth. It was inexpensive. It was hearty. It was comfort food at it's best. Since moving here, the pho has been rather lack luster. Majority of places here think that pho is just pounding out the MSG to make it flavorful. There are some days I wonder if meat was even involved in making the broth. That is perhaps why every time I go

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Growing up in Canada with a huge Vietnamese community, I was used to eating excellent pho. That beautiful, yet simple Vietnamese noodle dish of noodles and rich beef broth. It was inexpensive. It was hearty. It was comfort food at it's best. Since moving here, the pho has been rather lack luster. Majority of places here think that pho is just pounding out the MSG to make it flavorful. There are some days I wonder if meat was even involved in making the broth. That is perhaps why every time I go home for the vacation or go to the USA or Australia where there are also huge Vietnamese communities, the first thing I eat is a delicious bowl of pho. My trips to Vietnam also had me downing bowls upon bowls of delicious pho morning to night. After living in Hong Kong for quite some time, I started to accept the depressing bowls of pho that everyone else seemed to love but me because it was simple as that. Pho is weak in Hong Kong. I must accept it.

Until now.

I was reading a blog that talked about this place. How much he downed bowls upon bowls of pho. How it was like he had it back home in Australia. So, I knew ... I must find this place. I MUST see for myself ... is this the real deal?

I can tell you one thing. Yes. Yes, it is. I have entered pho heaven.

Located on Aberdeen Street, just a bit above PMQ, is this little (and I mean little) restaurant called Bun Cha. Named after the wonderful Vietnamese noodle dish of grilled pork. Seating is cramped as the shop is small. When we arrived on a Sunday, every table was filled but they still made some room by shifting a few things around. By the time we finished eating, there was a line and they made tables outside as well. For a place not listed on Openrice, it was pretty popular.

Menu is in English only. The staff are all Vietnamese though they do speak an acceptable amount of Chinese. It's a cash only establishment and there is no service charge. As it is new, the menu is still changing.

On every table was this bottle of hot sauce. It was all in Vietnamese so we assume it was their version of the ever popular American sriracha as it tasted like it.

Lime Soda with Mint ($32). Actually on the menu it read fresh lime, mint with spices so when I ordered it this way, there was a bit of confusion as the staff asked "lime soda with mint?" Um..yeah. Anyways, this was pretty good. It wasn't just mint stuffed with Sprite like a majority of Vietnamese places here but actual soda and lime to crush it with. There was a lot of mint to make me happy and it was a nice refreshing drink.

lime soda with mint

Bun Thit Nuong ($68). As it was hot out, the cold noodle dish was in order. We chose the grilled lemongrass pork. The pork was a bit dry but it was strong in the lemongrass marinade. The basil and vegetables were fresh. The noodles were not stuck together. The fish sauce was not watered down but a nice balance of salty and sour. Mixing it all together it was a great dish for a hot summer day.

Pho Bo ($68). This is what we came for. And this is what we got. The beef was tender and soft with no need for it be some overly fatty wagyu beef. THIS is what beef should be! The noodles were ... wait for it ... real Vietnamese rice noodles! Not that ho fun stuff that majority (and I mean EVERY ONE) serve here in Hong Kong. And the broth? Rich in beef flavor. Not pumped up MSG. This is what the broth should taste like. We ate everything and even drank the soup. At the moment, the best pho in town and tasted like what I had back home in Canada.

Canh Go Chieu Bo ($48). We shared an appetizer of lemongrass chicken wings with butter. It tasted as beautiful as it looked. Usually, I don't like this as it's overly oily and just tastes like I'm eating a block of butter. But this was not dripping in oil. There was a rich butter taste but yet it was also fragrant in garlic and lemongrass. The skin was crispy and not soggy at all. Excellent dish.

canh ga chieu bo

Service was friendly. It seemed to be run by four Vietnamese women. Price is reasonable. Place is tidy and clean. Hopefully, they keep their standards up as I have already told my friends who lived abroad and miss a good bowl of pho. I would definitely come again.

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)

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Date of Visit

2015-08-02

Dining Method

Dine In

Spending Per Head

$110 (Lunch)

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