The famous and very hidden “Banh Xeo 46A”
The famous spot has been on my things to do list forever now. Finally found time to venture out to this side alley street and discover the famous Banh Xeo 46A joint. Made famous recently by Anthony Bourdain himself with his show “No Reservations”. Since then, this local hotspot has been a well known destination for food lovers all over. This IS the place to go for banh xeo otherwise known as Vietnamese Crepes
What is Banh Xeo you may be asking? This is definitely not as popular as dishes like Pho, Goi Cuon, Cha Gio in most vietnamese restaurants around the world. Ask any Vietnamese and they’ll tell you it is a scrumptious flavorful dish with a wide range of flavors dancing away in your mouth. Banh xeo is a crepe stuffed with an abundance of pork belly slices, shrimp, bean sprouts and onions. The true and proper way of devouring a banh xeo is by wrapping up a piece of the crepe in greens and herbs and dipping it in nuoc mam (aka that fish sauce Vietnamese use for every other dish!) . As you can tell from above, the lady of the house cooking the banh xeos surrounds herself with 6-7 claypots filled with wood chips burning profusely as she pours batter into the skillets, throwing some beans, sprouts, shrimp and pork or whatever the order was customized to be, juggling everything from beginning to end.
Now being that we are in Vietnam, once doesn’t get the run of the mill green leaf lettuce. We get the local steroid injected ones… these wrap nicely with fresh crepes hot off the pan. Although some of my friends had other intentions for it…
There’s not much to say except if you find yourself yearning to try some different dishes of Vietnam? Make your way to this alleyway, grab a stool with some friends and enjoy an afternoon snack with good friends and just alone. I promise you won’t regret it!
Banh Xeo 46A
46A Dinh Cong Trang Street : District 1 : Ho Chi Minh City
+84 4 824 1110
