Bun Bo Hue An Nam Restaurant

during saturday, we decided to try a vietnamese restaurant called: Bun Bo Hue An Nam in san jose, located on story road. it is a place where you can get vietnamese style spicy beef noodle soup that is very different than you regular pho. a lot of ppl recommend it as being one of the best, but i'll be the final judge on that.

generally i would go to Pho Nguyen located off of calaveras in milpitas nearby my work place to get my bun bo hue craving fixed. anyway, the place was jam packed even though we got there at 1:30pm; yet there was still a line.

gesh... this place must be the delish, otherwise why would these ppl be waiting in line for no reason. the good thing is, the turnover rate is fairly quick, so the wait was no more than 10 mins. it isn't the most baby friendly restaurant, but they did put us in the back private room where there was plenty of space.

if you have a baby, leave your strollers in the car and just bring in the car seat. the isles between the tables is fairly tight, so if you us one of those fancy Quinny, Bugaboo, Stokke or even those big ass Graco stroller, you'll be lucky if you can even make it through the first isle.

take my advise.. leave the strollers in the car, you'll thank me later.

one of the reason why this place is so hot is besides the fact that many ppl come here, mostly young people, is because the bun bo hue has a special ingredient called: OX PENIS!

yup! that's correct ya'll.. OX PENIS! hey guys... it suppose to help you man up on you know where. but it's over-rated though. most of ppl that came here and wrote a review on this place either was too chicken to try it or couldn't even find it in the soup. so, i tried it, it tasted like tendon. it was a bit gamey and chewy, but other than that, it was ok. just make sure when you are chowing down not to think where of how many puntang that has been in and you'll be fine. as for who gave me that idea... you can take a guess. haha

here's the front of the restaurant.. nothing fancy here..

the bun bo hue much pricer than most of other places. the broth is tasty, but not a whole lot of noodle; even for a large bowl. plus the meat, which has both pork and beef, along with pig blood jello, was ok, but the flavor didn't penetrate in all the way. after you finish eating, you will feel like you are ready for another bowl. maybe that's their trick to get you hooked.

but ppl beware, if you are not capable of spicy, order something else. i've seen ppl sweat like pigs while they are eating this. for me, the normal broth is ok, so i had to add more satay to make it pop more. their spicy flavor is not the type that BAM! hits you right in the mouth, rather it's one of those that grow and crawl on your palates after several bites later.

here's the large bowl of bun bo hue with all the veggies on the side for $8.95.

i give this dish: 3 lickity fingers out of 5

ah... here's the mysterious OX PENIS. in case if you are wondering what to look for when you order it. look no further, because i've pointed it out just for your chewing pleasure.. haha

finally to wash the spicy meal down, we've ordered a sugar cane w/ orange juice drink. for $2.99, it's the bomb!

i give this drink: 5 lickity fingers out of 5

so all in all, it was a good meal, but an expensive one. two large bowls plus 1 drink with tax and tip came out to $23. then two hours later... we were hungry again.

would we go back again? perhaps. but with the economy the way it is, i think we can get more bang for our buck elsewhere.