In the heart of the old town, the bun cha stall is nestled in a small alley on Hang Quat Street. The sign at the beginning of the alley is simple, and if you don't pay attention, few people will notice it.
Bun Cha Hang Quat has been around for 25 years, serving lunch from 10am to 2pm. The space is modest, but during opening hours, customers come and go busily, lining up from the beginning to the end of the alley. What makes the bun cha restaurant so popular all the time is its traditional Hanoi flavor.
The restaurant stretches along an alley about 1 meter wide and 30 meters deep. At the beginning of the alley is the cooking area with a table displaying ingredients, a meat grill, a spring roll frying area, and an iced tea stall. Dining tables are arranged indoors and in the yard at the end of the alley. Customers park their vehicles opposite. In the processing area, each person is responsible for a stage such as grilling meat, arranging meat in bowls, and pouring water.
Owner Dao Thi Mai Lan (pictured) said that every day the restaurant prepares hundreds of servings, selling from 10am until the ingredients run out. The restaurant has no leftovers, so many latecomers have to leave.
The preparation of ingredients and the preparation of raw vegetables, dipping sauce, meat, and sausage usually starts at 7am. The cook will put the meat on the grill and grill it over a fire in the morning, and then grill it again when the customers come to eat.
The soul of the dish is the sausage. There are two types of sausage: pieces and balls, made from half-lean, half-fat pork. Mrs. Lan always orders fresh meat, which is soft and fragrant when grilled.
A crucial step in making bun cha is grilling the meat. The restaurant uses a charcoal stove. The griller must concentrate, one hand constantly flipping the grill so the meat doesn’t burn, the other hand fanning the fire, adjusting it so that the fire is even, not too big or too small. The grilled meat is pierced through the fire, each layer of fat melts out and gives off a fragrant aroma.
Cha patties are thinly sliced meat while cha balls are minced meat shaped into balls about 3 cm in diameter. The meat balls must be charred at the edges to be considered delicious.
The dipping sauce is a mixture of fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and filtered water with a sweet and sour taste. The dipping sauce bowl also has pickled carrots and papaya, which are crunchy and crunchy. When eating, diners can add minced garlic and chili. The noodles are handmade and have chewy strands. The raw vegetables include lettuce, perilla and bean sprouts.
A serving of noodles, grilled pork with dipping sauce and raw vegetables costs from 45,000 to 50,000 VND. The price has not changed much over a long period of time, which is also a factor that helps this noodle shop retain long-term customers.
In addition, customers eating bun cha can also order fried pork spring rolls, served by the restaurant next door. Each spring roll costs 10,000 VND.
The dining area is located at the end of the alley. There are many customers coming for lunch, the restaurant has about 10 tables both indoors and outdoors, always full. Customers can also sit in the cafe next door and order more drinks. Not only local customers but also many tourists come to enjoy.
Some diners said that the rustic, cramped, somewhat old-fashioned space with the culinary characteristics of the old town did not make them uncomfortable. Although the restaurant was crowded, the service was fast and enthusiastic.
vnexpress.net
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