Mama Tran, Perth & Ton Sian Grocery, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

My father introduced me to banh mi many years ago, and from my first bite I was hooked on a dish I truly believe is the King of Sandwiches. My first banh mi was from the Ton Sian Grocery store located on Palmerston St in the city. Being a manager with regular meetings in the city, it became a bit of a running joke that my father simply could not come back from a meeting without popping in. This unassuming suburban outpost that began the Tran's Emporium empire may not seem like the most likely place to get an incredible sandwich, but they are so good it became clear just why my father just had to pop in here.

Tra Vinh (Brisbane St), Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

My family were introduced to Tra Vinh many years ago by one of my mother's friends. Located near the corner of William and Brisbane Streets in what is considered Northbridge (but is technically Perth), its hardly located on a busy thoroughfare akin to James or Francis St - especially when you consider our first visit was before the massive rejuvenation that William St has undergone in the last few years. Though slightly out of the way, the place always seems packed during peak times - a situation that has continued even with the opening of a second, more conveniently located branch in Northbridge proper.

Little Lang Nuong, Girrawheen, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

It is often said one must not leave Hanoi without eating a bowl of bun cha, and I'd contend that after eating it you'll forever crave it. Forget about pho- sure, its become wildly popular and trendy in Perth -but for those in the know the porky goodness of bun cha is where its at. However this is a far rarer dish than pho. No where near us seems to do it, and after desperate cravings pushed Alissa into serious online research we discovered Little Lang Nuong in Girrawheen made a version of this delicious dish.

Living in Bateman, Alissa and I would rarely have any reason to travel any further north than Osborne Park, so Girrawheen was a somewhat unknown region of Perth suburbia. Turns out, the main shopping precinct of Girrawheen is something of a Little Vietnam, filled with heaps of Vietnamese restaurants and grocers.

For a restaurant buried deep in suburbia Little Lang Nuong had a surprisingly modern interior, with cool bubble seats along the right wall. This was nicer looking that the decidedly utilitarian interior of places like Tra Vinh in Northbridge. The restaurant specialise in grilled meats, and their menu also includes Cha Ca (grilled fish) and Nem Lui (marinated pork skewers). Of course, we were here for the bun cha so stuck to our plan, along with an entree of spring rolls and a passionfruit pulp drink.

I love the drinks at Vietnamese restaurants as they seem to come up with inventive beverages with flavours like soursop and sour plum that provide both a tart and sweet hit. After taking a sip of the drink, Alissa said, 'ooh, you will like this'. Sure enough, this was very much to my liking being refreshingly sweet and sour. This was a perfect drink for a hot summer day.

The wait for our meal was a tad bit long considering we were one of only two tables of diners in the restaurant, however Alissa and I didn't mind. Our entree of spring rolls were good, similar but better to the kind served at Lido. It would have been nice if they were served with a nice Vietnamese dipping sauce, but we thankfully had the bun cha to dip it into.

Little Land Nuong have three different options for their bun cha - one with nem cua be (the spring roll) for $12, with pork (also $12) or with both ($14). For me you can't do bun cha without either of the two, so we had both. When the plate arrived we were happy to see it presented in the customary DIY assembly style and not dumbed down into a westernised pre-assembled version. As a plus over the version we ate in Vietnam, it was good to know the herbs and vegies would be fresh, clean and not reused for other customers.

The pork came both barbecued and in the burger patty form as expected. The patties were probably not as good as what we had at Bun Cha Dac Kim as it did not taste as flame grilled or as porky, however the grilled slices of pork were excellent - sweet, tender and having a lovely barbecued flavour. I think the fattier pieces at Bun Cha Dac Kim were better, but this was of comparable quality.

The nem cua be was also very good, with the crispy outer wrapping being as delicious as we remembered in Hanoi. Alissa liked this better than what we had at Dac Kim, but I remember the version in Hanoi having more filling, and in a more generous serve to satisfy my greed for nem cua be. Still, it was very satisfying to taste these again in Australia.

The Verdict: Excellent
Alissa felt that it was as good as what we had in Hanoi, however I felt that Bun Cha Dac Kim did it better. For the most part the differences between the two are minor, with the only criticism I would make of Little Lang Nuong being that I felt the broth/dipping sauce was saltier and less sweet than the Dac Kim version. However, this was not a deal breaker and Alissa and I are so happy to have found a bun cha place in Perth to tide us over until the next visit to Vietnam. With Cha Ca and other delights on their menu the return drive to the northern suburbs will be well worth it, and cannot be too soon.

Edit 21/3/14: we came back to Little Lang Nuong a few weeks later so my parents could try the Bun Cha, and this time it was even better than the first time. I've raised the verdict to Excellent reflect this. Having also eaten Bun Cha at a few other places in Perth, I'm prepared to call it - this is the best Bun Cha in Perth. 

Bun Cha Dac Kim, Hanoi, Vietnam (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 27, Part 1 & Day 28, Part 2)

What if I told you one of the most delicious burgers in the world was not served in bread, but instead came as part of a noodle soup dish? If your concept of a burger relies on it being inside a bun the you might think I'm crazy. That is of course until you've had the pleasure of eating a bowl of bun cha.

Bun cha is a specialty of Hanoi which consists of pork patties and unctuous pork pieces grilled over coals served with fresh herbs and chilli, rice noodles and a salty-sweet broth/dipping sauce. Many a Vietnamese food guide suggests that if you're gonna try one thing in Hanoi it has to be this dish, and as devotees of all things pork Alissa and I were definitely not going to miss out on this - especially after my parents had made us a bowl of bun cha earlier in the year. 

When planning out our meals in Hanoi, I realised that the hotel we were staying at after our return from Ha Long Bay was conveniently located 1 minute away from Bun Cha Dac Kim, a restaurant so famous and synonymous with the dish that it literally is what you see when you look up bun cha on Wikipedia. Considering its close proximity to the hotel it was odd that they were not the hotel's recommendation for bun cha, however trusting my research ahead of the restaurant list they handed us Alissa and I decided to stick to the plan and dine at Dac Kim. 

We were ushered to the second floor of the three-storey restaurant. Being specialists making only one dish the only thing we needed to order was some local beer, while the components of the dish were brought out and placed on the table for us to share:

The rice noodles. Where pho uses a flat, fettuccine-like noodle, bun cha's is more like rice spaghetti.

A massive bowl of mixed herbs - basil, mint, coriander and some other local herbs I couldn't put a name to, plus a bit of lettuce for good measure. The quantity served is way too much for the dish and there was heaps of herbs leftover at the end of the meal (more on that later). 

Chilli and garlic, again in a very generous quantity that is way more than you'll ever need.

The broth/dipping sauce. As you may notice it has slices of fruit floating in it (green papaya I'm told), giving it a unique sweetness. 

We were given individual serves of the hero of the dish - the pork. The pork came in two forms - the small patties and slices of a fatty cut of pork sitting in more of the broth and dipping sauce.

As a bonus, bun cha is served with a delicious side dish of nem cua be, a crispy crab-filled spring roll. 

So when you've assembled a bowl of bun cha, how does it taste? Incredible. The smokiness of the coal-grilled fatty pork gave it a bacon-like flavour, and the pork patties were so deliciously porky and flavoursome that it immediately made me question beef's dominance as the burger meat of choice. Being such a massive fan of salty and sweet coming together in a dish, Alissa went so far as to declare this to be better than ramen. I wouldn't go that far, but for a dish to so expertly combine salty, sweet and umami flavours with the rich unctuousness of the pork and the kick of the chilli in there for good measure, this has got to be one of the all-time great noodle dishes. 

Special mention must be made for the addictive side dish of nem cua be, every bit as good as the bun cha. The crispy skin with the crab, mushroom and glass noodle filling was a real revelation that is far more delicious than the ubiquitous spring roll seen at Chinese restaurants throughout the world. 

One word of warning though - there are some questionable hygiene practices at Bun Cha Dac Kim. Remember how I mentioned that there'd be leftover herbs? When we went back for lunch at the restaurant the next day we saw what happens to all the leftover herbs - they go back into a central pile, are then scooped back out onto a new plate and served again to another customer. The same goes for the chilli and the garlic. We didn't get sick here, but it is something to watch out for.

The Verdict: Excellent +
When we returned to our hotel, the concierge had seen us coming out of Bun Cha Dac Kim and he asked us how we knew to go there. I explained that as a foodie I'd done my research, and he admitted that they were one of the most well-regarded bun cha places in town but that some tourists had not liked it. I'm guessing that the hygiene issue is probably a deal breaker for a lot of people, however if you're willing to turn a blind eye to the reusing of the herbs, chilli and garlic then Bun Cha Dac Kim could not come more highly recommended.