You eat it by cutting off a little piece, the waiter explained, and wrap it in lettuce with cilantro and mint. "You like mint?" he asked. "Of course," I confirmed, didn't want to tell him I'd probably been eating Vietnamese food longer than he'd been alive, but then again this was a new dish for me. And dip it in the fish sauce, right? Gently he instructed I could, but more you take a spoon and pour some over.
It was delish, eat it up yum. He told me he would eat 3 of them with a big basket of the vegetables on the side. He said the dish was supposed to be eaten heavy on the vegetables.
Kim Son in that location is kind of skewed towards Americans. You can tell by the American music and the lack of fish sauce on the table. The mixed fish sauce he brought me was weak and I complained about it. I asked him to bring me some fish sauce to add to it. He reassured me it was the right mix, made for everyone, I was like no, made for American tastes. We went back and forth for a minute and finally I looked at him and said, "Is this how your Mother makes it?" He paused and then admitted, no, she makes it a bit stronger. Boo-yah.
I used to go to Kim Son when they were located at Wilcrest & Beechnut, which is very close to where I live. Now we frequent Que Huong, fortuitously in the same strip center on Wilcrest & Beechnut. We originally tried Que Huong cause we were tired of pho places either closing at 4 or 5pm or giving us bad service. As far as I can tell, the people at Que Huong treat us the same as they treat the Asian patrons and also serve us the same food they serve the Asian patrons. The best part of this is a few years later, we heard Que Huong has a reputation as one of the best if not the best Vietnamese restaurant in Houston.
Anyhow, went there in search of the Vietnamese crepe. They do not have it, but the waitress suggested banh hoi since I was wanting to roll things up in lettuce. Pick a meat she said, so I selected grilled beef.
Comes out with a plate of rice paper, a bowl of hot water for softening said rice paper, meat, vermicelli, plate of sliced cucumber, bean spourts and picked carrots, and a big plate of lettuce and herbs, including cilantro and mint. Plus a bowl of fish sauce.Turns out to be sort of a DIY spring roll.
Let me tell you, it was fabulous! Messy, but so good, I've been back twice trying different meats. Waitress suggested for next time I do the shrimp-wrapped sugarcane.
Btw, if you're in the Fountains shopping center in Stafford, drop by JosABank and say hi to my friend Scott! :)
