I recently enjoyed a food-focused staycation in Orange County. Because I would be eating more than usual, I combined delicious food with walks that involved beautiful scenery, such as the Peter’s Canyon Loop in Tustin Ranch. My first stop was Ben Ngu, a Vietnamese restaurant in Garden Grove.
Ben Ngu is Ngu Binh’s sister restaurant located in a corner strip mall with a Japanese izakaya restaurant and a Vietnamese billiards establishment. While I’m not a pool shark, I thought it might be fun to return and have a cultural experience of billiards and authentic Vietnamese fare.
In Vietnam, people enjoy grazing on street food all day long. One of the popular items to find is steamed savory rice cakes topped with ingredients such as dried ground shrimp, pork rinds, scallions, and fried garlic. It is usually enjoyed as a single-serving snack, but it is served for lunch and dinner in LA.
The #8 Combo ($11.90) features Bánh Bèo Dĩa (open-face rice cakes topped with dried shrimp, pork rinds, and scallions), Bánh Bột Lọc Tran (clear dumplings, stuffed with shrimp), and Bánh Nậm, made with stuffed square sheets. The rice cakes have a nice chewy texture, and the nuoc mam cham dipping sauce provides a tasty umami seasoning that adheres nicely to the rice cakes.
While most people are familiar with phở noodle soup, Bún bò Huế ($10.90) is beginning to appear in more LA area menus. The spicy complex broth is made from pork bones and an assortment of ingredients, such as aromatic lemongrass, garlic, and fish sauce. The noodles are thicker than the ones used in phở; pig’s feet, pork blood, and pork loaf provide diverse textures.
Mi Quang ($10.90) is an egg noodle dish with sliced pork, shrimp, fish cake, vegetables, fresh leafy herbs, and a toasted sesame rice cracker with flavorful reduced pork broth. While the umami-flavored broth isn’t filled to the brim like a soup, it was enough to flavor each bite. It was my favorite dish.
Ben Ngu is an excellent way to experience central Vietnamese cuisine without encountering traffic and parking in Little Saigon. If you enjoy billiards, all the better.
Ben Ngu, 10051 Garden Grove Blvd Garden Grove; 714.590.9569