Cafe Bunn Mi
After returning to San Francisco, CA after a 1.5 week hiatus overseas, we decided to go to Cafe Bunn Mi for a quick bite on a Sunday morning per the recommendation of our friends Scott and Carmen. Our diet overseas had consisted of a variety of foods, many of which were fried and heavier, so we were looking for some light, comfort food. We walked into Cafe Bunn Mi soon after they had opened (November 4, 2012) so it wasn’t a problem to place our order, get seated, and get served our meals. The menu was written on 4 chalkboards but was extensive enough to have a good variety of foods to cover the gamut of Vietnamese sandwiches, rice plates, noodles, and pho.
A lot of things on the menu looked tasty but we knew we could only eat a couple of dishes by ourselves. In the end we ordered:
- Grilled Pork Saigon Noodles with Imperial Rolls
- Crab Noodle Soup Pho
There was a slight mixup of our order as a Chicken Noodle Soup Pho came out from the kitchen. We realized soon after taking a picture of it, and then sent it back. I had meant to ask the server if they were just going to toss it if they could just leave it for us to try but I was too slow . . . I blame it on the lack of sleep from spending the night at Newark International Airport, the early flight back to SF, and the lack of coffee! It’s too bad we didn’t get to try any of it but it did look tasty.
The good thing with pho is that it doesn’t take too long to prepare so it wasn’t long after that the correct order of Crab Noodle Soup Pho came out. From the picture below you might think that the crab noodle soup pho is a little spicy but that’s deceiving. The fresh tomatoes used in the dish made the soup seem spicier than it really was. There was also an ample amount of crab in the dish which was presented as an egg-crab mixture. The scrambled egg-crab mix had the texture of the brains of the crabs. Some people might not like that texture but I don’t mind it one bit – I’m usually the one clamoring for the crab heads!
The Grilled Pork Saigon Noodles with Imperial Rolls were great. The rolls, stuffed with pork, carrots, taro and clear noodles, were fried perfectly and were nice and crispy. There was also no oily feeling to the fried rolls which was great. The pork was well made and not too dry. The noodle bowl consisted of vermicelli noodles with pickled carrots and daikon topped with peanuts and green onions. Once the noodle bowl was mixed together with the pork and accompanying homemade fish sauce it was simply time to just sample the delicious flavors and enjoy our meal.
All of the dishes tasted great and the meal definitely hit the spot. The portion sizes were generous; some of us even had some leftovers to take home for an afternoon snack. I definitely recommend Cafe Bunn Mi and plan on hitting it up again in the future for more pho or to try their sandwiches.
Cafe Bunn Mi
417 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-8908
Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant
My wife Connie was doing well in her recovery from tonsillectomy surgery a few days prior. However, she was getting a little tired of the apple sauce, juice boxes, and bland soft foods that I had made over the last few days. So, we decided that we were going to eat out for lunch on Sunday February 26, 2012. Initially, we were considering doing Chinese food close by but the restaurant flyer for the Chinese place we were thinking about showed that it actually wasn’t open for lunch on Sundays. So, scratch that idea. We ended up deciding to go with Vietnamese instead since the options would be good for Connie (i.e., palatable soft noodles, flavorful broth that shouldn’t be too spicy) and it should be relatively inexpensive. The closest place, Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant, happened to be just around the corner – bonus!
We got to Mint Leaf around noon. The restaurant was about half full so we were able to get seated right away. After perusing the menu options, we decided to go with:
- Special PHO “PHO Dac Biet” (menu item #21) – rice noodles with rare sliced beef flank and beef brisket
- Hot and Sour Noodle Soup “Canh Chua Bun” (menu item #29) – rice noodles with catfish, prawns, tomatoes, pineapples, jalapeno peppers and sprouts in a savory broth.
Hot and Sour Noodle Soup "Canh Chua Bun" (menu item #29)
To be honest, initially I had actually selected Spicy and Sour Soup “Canh Chua” (menu item #20) but our server pointed out that the #20 was just the broth and didn’t actually have any noodles. So, I opted for #29 which was the same as #20 but with rice noodles. Not surprisingly, the food came out soon after we ordered and was as delicious as it looked. Everything tasted fresh and the broths were flavorful. Nothing tasted too bland, or too salty, and additional sauces were provided on the side in case one wanted to add some more kick to one’s dish. Connie was able to put down the soft rice noodles easily and I could tell she was glad to finally get some real food, not to mention have a real meal with me instead of watching me eat all the good stuff.
Overall, lunch at Mint Leaf was a great choice. If I’m ever in Alameda again and feeling like some pho, I will be sure to hit up Mint Leaf again. I may even hit up their newly opened Berkeley store in the future.
Mint Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant
831 Marina Village Pkwy
Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 522-2758
Foodie Forays 