>Hong Mai — less than stellar fare

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If you want bun rieu (pictured), don’t come here. It’s definitely not a bowl of bun rieu you’d want if you were craving it. For those of you who don’t know what bun rieu is, it’s a Vietnamese crab roe tomato soup noodles which when done right is absolutely breathtaking. When done wrong, it can be very very disappointing. Here, it is disappointing. The broth is watery with hardly any crab roe at all, just a few bits in the soup. The condiments they give you are also very scanty. A couple pieces of tofu is thrown in, but other than that, there is nothing but noodles in this bun rieu. I also tried the nem nuong cuon — grilled beef ball rolls — but here again, they’re stingy on the grilled beef balls and the flavor is less than average. If you want bun rieu, go to Ha Noi Avenue. For nem nuong cuon, go to Brodard or Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa. This place isn’t worth coming back to. The only memorable thing about it is that their decor is nice and the place is clean… but I’m here for the food right?