Bò né (Vietnamese dish): where have you been my whole life?

I can't believe that I have lived in Vietnam for as long as I have (several years) and while I had seen signs advertising this I never tried it until a week ago. It wasn't even my choice either because I groaned a bit when my friends said to meet him at this place. I wanted to go somewhere for an English breakfast but they were closed so he suggested a different spot and I reluctantly complied because well, we do things for friends right?

I can not stress enough how absolutely magical this dish is.

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I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feeling when I say this but for the most part I don't think Vietnamese food is anything worth writing home about. The most famous dish, Pho, in my opinion is very bland. It just seems like watery noodles and they are rather tasteless until you spice it up with all the additives and yes, I understand that is the point. My Quang noodles are slightly better but I think it is actually the peanuts and whatever that crispy cracker is that comes with it that I enjoy moreso than the actual broth.

Bò né on the other hand, is something that you absolutely must try if you ever find yourself in Vietnam.

From the very first bite I was hooked even though it is essentially just steak and eggs. I do not know what the marinade is but it must be something really special because Vietnam, and south east Asia for that matter, isn't exactly highly regarded in the beef world in terms of quality.

It is served to your table still sizzling in the iron plate that they cook it on and for me anyway and I would imagine most Americans, the experience was very similar to getting fajitas at a Mexican restaurant only instead of tortillas you are served a fresh baguette on the side.

I ate it like this: I eat all the steak and eggs and seriously savor the flavor and then when the drippings and whatever the hell it is that the cook along with it in the pan remains, I use the baguette to sop up all the extra goodness.

It comes in a variety of different forms but since my understanding of the Vietnamese language is quite limited, I just chose the one that was at the top presuming that is was the "base" item and probably the most popular.

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I highly recommend that if you are going to eat this that you do it at the shittiest looking establishment you can find, preferably one that is busy. I have had this dish at 4 or 5 different establishments and as strange as it may seem, the cleaner the place looks and the nicer their furniture is, there seems to be a direct negative relationship between how good it is. The places with the nice furniture and air conditioning always had the worst Bò né and the ones with barely any tables available and shitty plastic chairs all over the place always had the best.

If it has a poorly constructed sign out front standing on annihilated pavement out front, it might be the best in the world.

Seriously, if you ever find yourself in Vietnam, or you are currently living there you will see this sign frequently. Don't let your lack of speaking the language frighten you away because this is seriously something special. I was so surprised when I had it that I actually apologized to my friend for moaning about having to go eat there. It was also less than $2 whereas the place I wanted to go to would have easily cost us near $10 each.

I'm not going to bother recommending a place in general because I have been to many and they all seem to use the same recipe but just remember, a busy place is probably a good place just in a general sense. This dish is not to be missed! Well, unless you are a vegetarian I guess :)