Bé Ù Silverlake- Vietnamese street and home style comfort food

[hppzz]

Cathy Chaplin of Eater recently penned an article about Bé Ù and decided to swing by Virgil Village neighborhood during lunch today.

I passed by lines at Sqrl (have people forgotten already?) and one block over is this tiny takeout spot. The smell coming from the kitchen was def. of some thit nuong so it was promising sign as I took my order. No lines or any fanfare, just a few locals picking orders.

The menu is small with some apps , several banh mi, and Vietnamese home staples. While the banh mi will most likely be the draw for this restaurant, what interested me most was the thit kho.

But first, I do know how much this board like a good egg sandwich @A5KOBE @Sgee @Ns1 so I got the banh mi op la. It’s not the soft scramble like Saigon Bakery or Ba Le, but sunny side up style.

Opening the box, these two gorgeous perfectly fried eggs with goey yolks stared right back and I knew it was going to be delicious. But I resisted and inspected the banh mi first in regards to the bread and veggies. The bread was light and crackly and crumb not too dense, sourced from Pacific French Bakery. Not simply just a vessel for the ingredients, a good baguette is def. prerequisite and this one checks the box.

Ratio of veggies to protein is easier to visualize on a thit nuong banh mi, but clearly it had plenty and wasn’t skimpy. You’ll have to see my IG for the yolk ooze porn but it was very messy… While I did miss the classic pate, the vegan pate substitute was still quite tasty and worked well with the banh mi. Did I think about how adding a squirt of Maggi seasoning sauce could improve this? Yes, for for a second I thought about BYOM. But the second didn’t last long as I quickly devoured the sandwich and licked my fingers. Definitely recommended.

I honestly thought about putting in the comments to add thit nuong when i ordered online, but since it was my first time ordering, I wanted to taste the original, but for the rest of you, that would be something I would consider in the future.

TBC with thit kho…

[LAgirl]

I picked up lunch there last weekend. I got the lemongrass pork banh mi and chicken summer rolls. I liked the Bahn mi— very good quality ingredients and really tasty. Not “traditional” per se but I enjoyed it. I would have preferred shrimp in my summer rolls… the order comes with 2 rolls. One of them wasn’t rolled/sealed very well and completely fell apart when I picked it up. Again, good quality, flavorful ingredients, no shrimp on the menu so maybe tofu or mushroom would be a good thing to try in the rolls.

I would def return-- the people were really nice, the food was tasty and I’m always up for supporting small businesses. Next time I think I’ll try some of their noodles and I also want to check out the hipster beer/wine shop next door.

[attran99]

Hand-cut do chua or machine shredded?

[hppzz]

bummer about the summer rolls…hopefully they work the kinks out.

[hppzz]

NOT food processor do chua… maybe mandoline, which wins extra bravery points.

[LAgirl]

@hppzz

bummer about the summer rolls

I was actually surprised that the roll wasn’t rolled…but it still tasted good, I just needed a fork…lol

[Srsly]

Went here a couple weeks ago! Really enjoyed the porridge and the noodle plates. Proteins were great, and the mango cucumber salad was bright and spicy. Will be back for Banh mi.

[LAgirl]

sounds like noodles are worth trying, I’ll have to check those out for sure on my next visit. I may get over there again this weekend since it’s close by.

[rlw]

A friend lives near by and recommended Bé Ù to me (he’s a Vietnamese food expert so I took his rec very strongly) and over the couple times that I’ve gone I’ve absolutely loved every single bite.

Mango, Cucumber, and Mint Salad

I started off with this, scooping everything up with the rice chips. The spicy dressing was a great balance to the sweet mango and crunchy cucumber.

Lemongrass Chicken Bánh Mì

This is about where my knowledge of Vietnamese food starts and ends (ok, ok I kid, but really beyond bánh mì, summer rolls, and pho I haven’t done as much exploring) so I figured this would be a good baseline. Was this the best bánh mì I’ve ever had? Yes, probably, or at least I want it to be. It also kicked off a little bánh mì obsession over the past couple months, but that’s a post for another topic.

The chicken’s incredibly juicy, and it has all the components for what makes me love this kind of sandwich. I have to give special recognition to the patê too, because I often find that to be the essential x-factor that takes bánh mì to the next level.

Bò Lá Lốt

This might hold the record for the fastest-eaten-appetizer. These small but mighty betel leaf wrapped ground beef and jicama sausages were perfectly seasoned and so damn good. Their website says “limited” when ordering, so if you see them available I strongly recommend picking them up, even if you know they’ll disappear in an instant.

Bánh Mì Ốp La

As @hppzz points out, the gorgeous fried eggs are the first thing you’ll notice. I actually forced my dining companions that day (aka my folks) to recognize/praise the color on the yolks. Everything else they mentioned is spot on, from the ample amount of vegetables (I really like how thin and delicate the mix of pickled radish and carrots is) to missing the regular patê even if the vegetarian version holds up. Bottom line, I’ll still probably get the bánh mì in the future, but if it’s before noon and I’m in a breakfast-y mood, this is it.

Lemongrass Chicken Rice Noodle Plate

With the rice noodle plates you’ll get a choice of protein over a bed of vermicelli rice noodles, along with a bunch of other components like bean sprouts, julienned cucumbers and their pickled radish and carrots, in addition to a fish sauce dressing. Once everything is mixed up, this is such a wonderfully fresh and filling dish.

Lemongrass Chicken & Tofu Protein Greens Plate

The protein greens plate is very similar to the rice plate, including your choice of protein, but it’s a bit lighter with a sub of the noodles for a salad green mix. It’s really in these plates that you get to see the high quality of the protein shine. The chicken was exploding with flavor, and when I started eating everything mixed up, I don’t think I came up for air until the bowl was cleaned out. The tofu isn’t a slouch either, and does a great job also soaking up that marinade if you’re looking to avoid meat for the day. I do really love the fish sauce dressing here as well (and think it’s pretty essential) but they do have an option to make it vegan if you wish.

Tofu Summer Rolls

The summer rolls were fantastic as well. They’re pretty big and hearty, with the same high quality ingredients you’ll find in Bé Ù’s other menu items. At this point, it’s pretty clear that they have a bunch of the same components, but use them in different ways to give you multiple options no matter what you’re feeling that day. The rolls were well sealed, but not tightly packed, so yeah you’ve got to get a good grip on them once you’ve taken a bite, but other than that they were just so damn enjoyable I didn’t mind it getting a bit sloppy.

I love Bé Ù and you will too.

[JeetKuneBao]

Looks pretty damn good!

[Ns1]

@rlw

Bò Lá Lốt

Without even going here this seems like the deep cut to get - rarely seen outside of “7 courses of beef”

Looks like indoor seating only?

[LAgirl]

@Ns1

Looks like indoor seating only?

no seating right now— you either order online/phone and pick-up or order at the door/window to go. It’s a very small storefront anyways— I imagine there will only be room for a couple of small tables if they open up for indoor dining.

I hit them up again earlier today— was going to get the noodles, but it was still cloudy, cool and overcast so I went with the banh mi once again (w/ pork). They were busy with lots of take-out orders and a large family order. The balance of my sandwich was a bit off compared to last time, but I still really enjoyed it.

Interesting mix of beer, wine, cider and grocery items at the shop next door but too dark in there to see what they actually have. I probably would have bought something if I could see the items more clearly (lol and it’s not due to the fact that I’m getting older).

[LAgirl]

@rlw

The summer rolls were fantastic as well.

as was that peanut sauce that came with them-- not overly sweet and nice crunch from the add-ins

[hppzz]

Great overview of of the restaurant—it has the making of a neighborhood favorite. Especially if it can consistently deliver the favorites interspersed with the specials such as bo la lot and whatever they plan on the future.

I think they have to rework the spring rolls because @LAgirl also had issues with it too. There are better brands of rice paper that won’t break apart and perhaps more training of the staff.

The homestyle dishes such as thit kho will also set them apart as well. These are the type of dishes as a Vietnamese you grow up with and crave.

The thit kho with braised pork belly was good and will remind you of your mom’s or auntie. The broth is clear and has nice caramel and fish sauce notes and the pork belly pieces are fairly are decent size compared with an com which I found too small and is plenty of broth to ladle over rice. The 2 eggs weren’t rubbery and yolk wasn’t chalk dry (which can often happen in this dish if you aren’t careful )

The only quibble was that pickled mustard greens that it comes with was just too sweet for my liking, but could just be our personal preference. We like ours just with salt without any sweetness.

[rlw]

I really hope that the neighborhood picks it up! Especially as mentioned that it’s just around the corner from the crushing lines in front of Sqirl and Courage Bagels.

Since they’re still relatively new, I’m sure they’ll get those generously portioned summer rolls more tightly wrapped soon

[LAgirl]

@rlw

I really hope that the neighborhood picks it up!

I think they are already starting to get clued in— seemed like steady orders today when I was there (busier than the last time I went) and the group of people waiting on the sidewalk for their food drew looks from every car passing by on their way down Hoover. So, enjoy while there is no line down the block…

[attran99]

I love a thit kho where the eggs take on the flavor of the broth via osmosis. It takes a few days to for even the yolks to have the essence of broth. Growing up, I preferred leftover thit kho to fresh…and plenty of broth to slosh over my rice.

[Ns1]

Oh my god this color is incredible

[hppzz]

didn’t try that, but the pennywort drink is fantastic on a hot day. just slightly sweetened and very pleasant floral vegetal taste that will do well in the neighborhood if only people give it a try considering how popular SQRL turmeric tonic is…

[JeetKuneBao]

Damn that does look pretty good.

Been craving Phin Smith’s Sua Da lately