Bên Tre, Vietnamese at 2418 18th Street in Adams Morgan in the Former Yarmas and Shawarma Spot Space - Closed

[turbogrrl]

I spent all day feeling terrible and craving soup, so when N came home we wandered over to 18th to try out Ben Tre, which apparently opened in August. I've been craving canh chua for weeks now, and I already knew that Pho 14's version doesn't really do it for me. But, man, did I score tonight! The soup hit all the high notes- sweet, sour, spicy- with yummy bits of pineapple and lots of tomato. There were little puffy bits of pork belly in there, too, and okra and pepper flakes. It was amazing and perfect.

The shrimp toast appears to be shrimp paste, on toast, and then the whole thing appears to be battered and then deep fried. 3 pieces to an order. It is both good, and a little horrifying. N had a spicy beef soup which was also really tasty, but not what I wanted. Which was fine, because I was blissfully happy with my own soup. Now that I have found this place, I may be here at least once a week, it's a 5 minute walk from home.

[DonRocks]

On 2/3/2017 at 10:55 PM, turbogrrl said:

The shrimp toast appears to be shrimp paste, on toast, and then the whole thing appears to be battered and then deep fried. 3 pieces to an order. It is both good, and a little horrifying.

Am I the only one who thinks this borders on being laugh-out-loud funny?

[notquiteanonymous]

On 2/5/2017 at 9:41 AM, DonRocks said:

Am I the only one who thinks this borders on being laugh-out-loud funny?

It's like the Simpsons meets Vietnam...

 

[Gadarene]

We ate here yesterday for the first time and enjoyed it.  The bun bo hue soup had nice flavor and generous helpings of beef, and the quail appetizer was quite tasty (although I'm not sure why they give you a salt-pepper condiment for it, since the sticky sauce it's slathered with is plenty flavorful on its own).  My girlfriend had one of the vermicelli bowls and was pleased that the noodles were well-cooked, rather than slightly soft as is often the case.  The place also has an interesting menu that warrants repeat visits to try different things; it's good to see some stuff -- even standard stuff, like broken rice with porkchops -- that you more commonly see at Eden Center rather than within the district.  As someone without a car, I appreciate that.

[Gadarene]

I looked for a thread on this restaurant and didn't find one, but it's more than deserving.  Nestled in the heart of 18th Street in one of those Adams Morgan spaces that seems to see restaurants come and go with the seasons, Ban Tre is an unassuming one-room lunch and dinner joint with a surprisingly extensive menu and lots of care taken in its flavors and ingredients.  I've only had a few things there so far, but they've all been quite good -- the standout, probably, is their lemongrass caramelized pork chops, which were just as crispy-juicy-hint-of-fish-saucy as I was hoping.

Perhaps not a destination restaurant, but certainly one that is worth your time and patronage.

[bertandherb]

Some good dishes, but no exception to the rule that if you want good pho, you have to leave the city. And they don't have a liquor license.

[eatruneat]

2 hours ago, Gadarene said:

I looked for a thread on this restaurant and didn't find one, but it's more than deserving.  Nestled in the heart of 18th Street in one of those Adams Morgan spaces that seems to see restaurants come and go with the seasons, Ban Tre is an unassuming one-room lunch and dinner joint with a surprisingly extensive menu and lots of care taken in its flavors and ingredients.  I've only had a few things there so far, but they've all been quite good -- the standout, probably, is their lemongrass caramelized pork chops, which were just as crispy-juicy-hint-of-fish-saucy as I was hoping.

Perhaps not a destination restaurant, but certainly one that is worth your time and patronage.

I think this is the thread you are looking for.

[Gadarene]

2 hours ago, eatruneat said:

I think this is the thread you are looking for.

Dammit all!  I thought I remembered reading about it here, but I used the Americanized spelling when I searched. 

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Gadarene said:

Dammit all!  I thought I remembered reading about it here, but I used the Americanized spelling when I searched. 

[I'm sorry about this - I'm actually going to be moving more-and-more towards using foreign accents, etc., if they're in the name of the restaurant - that would include Chinese restaurants, for which I'll put the Chinese name first, and the American name in parentheses. Why? Just to show some respect, I guess - that strategy is definitely not Google-friendly, and never has been, but I've never gunned for popularity .]