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Nha Trang, Family-Run Vietnamese in Eden Center - Specializing in Nem Nuong (Sausages) and Lau (Hot Pot)


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I must say that I absolutely love going to Eden Center for lunch. It's such an adventure and I can do it every day, or almost every day.

Today I visited the last restaurant that I haven't tried in Saigon East. It's a place called Nha Trang, and it's listed as a cafe under Eden's website. The menu sure doesn't look like a cafe, but they do cater to drinkers.

I was greeted by a teenager and given a menu. She is Vietnamese but speaks perfect English (unfortunately she wasn't very helpful, as explained below). I was intrigued by the last page of the menu (attached) notwithstanding the seemingly hefty pricing. I wanted to try the fried crabs so I asked if they were available. The waitress informs me that she has to check with her grandma. She comes back and says no crabs. So I asked if there are clams available. She checks with grandma and they confirm there are clams. So I order a bun bo hue and some clams. My waitress tells me that clams are usually ordered by people who come to drink at night, not wondering lawyers on their lunch break.

So a little later, her father comes by to ask how would I like the clams. I'm a little confused, because I didn't notice they have two clam dishes - a hot pot (#72), and fresh clams (#75) which doesn't specify how they're cooked. I was thinking clams with black bean sauce or grilled clams like the ones I had at Seaside Crab House. He suggested that I try the steamed clams. I said whatever, just bring it on. There was also some confusion as to whether I wanted bun bo hue or clams. I said both.

First my waitress brings me a bowl of noodles which has a clear broth and fish in it. I point it out to her that's not bun bo hue, and she looks at me and says it is in fact bun bo hue. Then she changes her mind, and takes the bowl to another table. She then brings me the bun bo hue but not the herbs. I was kind of disappointed but then she did bring out the herbs. Ultimately she got things right and it was a good bowl of noodle soup.

Then they set up the clams. Apparently it's cooked table side. The clams and broth came out cold, but it was set on a burner and fired up while I ate my noodles. The clams are huge - not little necks like I thought they would be. I think there were 16 to 20 clams in that hot pot. There were two sauces, a fish sauce/hot sauce concoction and a bowl of salt/pepper with some liquid. The weirdest thing is that after I ate the clams, I poured some stock into a bowl with hot sauce and it was sweet! I did enjoy the clams, which was steamed with lots of herbs, which I think included lemongrass and ginger.

The place was pretty crowded for weekday lunch. They accept credit cards.

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Been a while since I was there, but this place was know for nem nuong cuon (grilled pork rolls) which are grilled pork saugage wrapped in rice paper with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, daikon and mint and served with an orange dipping sauce and thai chili peppers. The rolls were excellent. Not quite as good as what you can get at Brodard or Dat Thanh in Little Saigon, but still great. I dip the roll in the sauce and then eat one thai chili pepper with each bite.

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I had a bad experience with baby clams and rice crackers once at Present (listed as appetizer #5 banh da xuc hen, banh da means rice cracker). Having never had it before, I just assumed that's the way it's supposed to taste and that it's just something I don't like. For some reason, I decided to try this dish again at Nha Trang and I liked it. Unfortunately, I don't know how to describe the flavor and there isn't really anything else that I can analogize it to. The best that I can do is to list the ingredients from someone else's recipe (which do not necessarily reflect what's in the version served at Nha Trang, e.g., there were crushed peanuts in the version I ate). I'll say that the clams themselves are so small that their flavor is pretty indistinct. In fact, I can't really taste too many ingredients individually. They all blend together. Grandma also cooked me some stir-fried egg noodles with vegetables - which I enjoyed.

3 big cans baby clams

1 lb pork belly (diced) (you can also use crumb up bacon for quick version)

3 white onion (diced)

6 garlic cloves (minced)

1 bunch of scallion (diced)

1-tablespoon fish sauce

1-tablespoon chile powder

1-teaspoon ground chili

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 tablespoon mushroom seasoning (no clue what that is)

1/2 tablespoon shrimp paste

2-tablespoons vegetable oil

5 fresh red chili, (thinly sliced)

1 cup coriander leaves (chopped)

2 Lemon or lime

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Been a while since I was there, but this place was know for nem nuong cuon (grilled pork rolls) which are grilled pork saugage wrapped in rice paper with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, daikon and mint and served with an orange dipping sauce and thai chili peppers. The rolls were excellent. Not quite as good as what you can get at Brodard or Dat Thanh in Little Saigon, but still great. I dip the roll in the sauce and then eat one thai chili pepper with each bite.

Had this for lunch today. 4 rolls for $7 - delicious. There is one additional ingredient not mentioned, it's a fried roll that you can see in the photo. It adds more crunch to an already crunchy roll (provided by the cucumber and sliced carrots). I don't know how that sausage is seasoned but it's really good, and I like the yellow/orange dipping sauce as well. It's about 10x better than the typical summer roll. I didn't dare eat the chili pepper (you can see it under the half eaten roll). I ate a whole one in one bite by accident a week ago in a noodle soup.

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Had this for lunch today. 4 rolls for $7 - delicious. There is one additional ingredient not mentioned, it's a fried roll that you can see in the photo. It adds more crunch to an already crunchy roll (provided by the cucumber and sliced carrots). I don't know how that sausage is seasoned but it's really good, and I like the yellow/orange dipping sauce as well. It's about 10x better than the typical summer roll. I didn't dare eat the chili pepper (you can see it under the half eaten roll). I ate a whole one in one bite by accident a week ago in a noodle soup.

It's a fried roll inside a summer roll? Not sure I've seen that. One thing's for sure: if this was your entire lunch, you're eating healthy.

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It's a fried roll inside a summer roll? Not sure I've seen that. One thing's for sure: if this was your entire lunch, you're eating healthy.

It's something fried and rolled and then stuffed into the roll. See the thing next to the sausage (which is on the lower left). I also had some veggie stir-fried egg noodles, which I didn't finish because those 4 rolls were quite filling.

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It's something fried and rolled and then stuffed into the roll. See the thing next to the sausage (which is on the lower left). I also had some veggie stir-fried egg noodles, which I didn't finish because those 4 rolls were quite filling.

It's probably just "fried fry" (that term was coined here - my institutional memory is pretty amazing, I have to say).

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Thought I'd revive the Nha Trang page by saying this is one of my usual spots to hit at Eden Center along with Huong Viet, Banh Cuon Thang Long, and, well, Thanh Son Tofu.

The nem nuong rolls are still spot on, they have probably the best chao ca (fish porridge) that I've had at Eden Center, and I really like their banh canh cha ca (fish filet and fish cake with noodles; I think this is a "classic" dish from Nha Trang).

And fair warning, it gets pretty crowded on the weekends!

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