Stall 1084 - Bun Moc
You can't stop the broth on Ben Thanh market. Bun Moc is yet another vermicelli noodle soaked soup and this time the dominant theme is spam. In all, you'll find three different kinds of mashed pork in among the chopped spring onions and light stock which constitute a bowl of Bun Moc at stall 1084. Of all the noodle soups blogged up from the market floor in recent months, this has to be the blandest of the bunch... so far.
It comes with all the usual suspects in a side dish (beansprouts, lettuce, the crunchtastic stripped morning glory, saw tooth herb and mint). A light shower of deep fried shallots followed by a dusting of pepper finished off the chef's prep. before my bowl was plonked down in front of me at this empty lunchtime stall. You can add sliced chilli, minced red chilli, various sauces and lemon halves, but I opted for the straight up version on this visit. First, the stock. There's little to distinguish it from stock cube stock whereas something along the lines of a simple Banh Canh stock would have worked very nicely here.
The spam sticks were all much of a muchness. The lighter and smaller one, just visible at the bottom of the picture above, gave out the spiciest vibes. I almost feel bad at not giving this a higher rating as those spam sticks are a time consuming ensemble to assemble... Oh well. Wouldn't rush back here for this dish, but I would try it elsewhere for comparison purposes. A big bowl of Bun Moc will set you back 10,000VD. This stall also serves Bun Rieu with Cua or Oc (Crab or Snail) for between 6-8000VD. View the business card.
Noodle pie,
I was going to ask. Are all of these stalls in the same general area? If so, you have quite a bit to choose from. Judging by your many posts, it seems that Vietnamese people love soups/noodles...or is that just your preference? It seems like there is just an endless variety of tasty noodle soups if you ask me!
Posted by: Reid | July 17, 2004 at 12:07 PM
Yes - all in one corner of the covered central market. I think there are 48 stalls altogther. Incase you haven't already guessed I plan to cover the lot... The noodle soups are not just my choice, but snack/lunch dish of choice for many.
Posted by: pieman | July 22, 2004 at 03:52 AM
Hey Noodle pie,
Guess you're feeling a bit better now. I kinda guessed that you were making your way through this "hawker" center. Hope you find many more delightfully good dishes to try!
Posted by: Reid | July 24, 2004 at 07:29 AM
Why have we had the name "BU'N THANG"???
Posted by: Ha | April 28, 2005 at 07:37 PM