When I filmed this review, I’d had a serious craving for Bún Bò Huế – a Vietnamese noodle soup known for its spicy, beefy broth and strong lemongrass aroma – so when I spotted this Simply Food Bún Bò Huế, I figured it was worth a shot. It’s the first time I’d seen this dish in instant form, and I was genuinely curious whether it could pull off that mix of richness and herbal heat that makes the real thing so addictive.
Read more: Noodle Journey Episode 160: Simply Food Bún Bò HuếBún Bò Huế is one of Vietnam’s most famous noodle soups. It’s richer and more boldly-flavored than phở, built on lemongrass, chili oil, shrimp paste, and slow-cooked beef stock. The name literally means “Huế beef noodles,” and it comes from the central city of Huế, known for bold, fragrant cuisine. A good bowl of this that I’ve had from restaurants before should balance savory beef with citrusy lemongrass and a deep chili warmth that comes together without being overpowering. It’s a complex dish with layered flavors that are hard to fake (a problem instant phở frequently experiences too), which makes any instant version an uphill battle. Still, I’ went i’m hoping Simply Food can capture at least a little of that trademark spice and aroma.
This bowl came from yamibuy.com for about two dollars, though it’s also available in some Asian grocery stores that carry Simply Food products. It’s a Vietnamese import that contains no real meat, relying instead on artificial beef and real shrimp flavors.
Sodium clocks in at 1,650 mg, which isn’t bad for its size. Inside are thin rice noodles, a powdered seasoning packet, a liquid seasoning packet, and a small pouch of dried vegetables and herbs. The ingredient list includes star anise, cardamom, cloves, basil, cilantro, and lemongrass, plus tapioca pearls, a first for me in any noodle cup.
Once prepared, the aroma hit me pretty hard with basil and star anise but little else. The broth looked rich enough, full of floating herbs, but that promising appearance doesn’t carry through in flavor.
Noodles:
These are labeled as “premium Huế-style” noodles, but they’re more like fragile, poorly-hydrated vermicelli. They cook up thin and oddly chewy with a strange aftertaste. Even after a full five-minute steep, they stayed brittle and underdone.
• 2/10
Spiciness:
Milder than expected for something inspired by Bún Bò Huế. The chili heat barely registers beyond a gentle warmth.
• 2.5/10
Overall:
This one misses the mark in nearly every way. The broth leans overwhelmingly on basil and star anise, drowning out the beef and lemongrass flavors that should define the dish. The lemongrass pieces themselves are too fibrous to eat and stay tough even after cooking. The tapioca pearls add nothing – they dissolve into textureless mush – and the few vegetables that did rehydrate properly aren’t enough to save this. It’s neither spicy nor balanced, and the herbal notes come off harsh instead of aromatic. While I can appreciate the attempt to bring a Vietnamese classic into instant form, I found this bowl to have be utterly confusing and of poor quality & flavor.
• 1/10
Notes since filming:
What a terrible disappointment. Just to be sure I wasn’t crazy, the next time I ordered as-authentic-as-I-could-find Vietnamese food after filming this, I ordered Bún Bò Huế, and it was nothing like this (in the best possible way). Everything about this bowl tastes wrong to me, from the noodle texture to the broth flavor to those suspect little balls floating in the soup.
