Bún and Ba Ba
While exploring new restaurants in Oakland California we stopped in at Le Cheval. A great restaurant with a large and varied menu specializing in Vietnamese cuisine. Excellent food. Saigon Export and Saigon “33” Export (Sometimes called “ba ba”. Ba is three in Vietnamese) seemed like the making for a perfect Vietnamese pairing.I have to say that both were not very memorable and were similar in appearance, aroma, flavor and finish. The only real difference was color. 33 was slightly darker and shared a slightly increased malty sweetness in the flavor compared to the Export.
Alone they didn’t deliver an exciting tasting experience, but they were both great for washing down our spicy menu choice of Bún bò Huế with Imperial Egg Rolls. The grainy, one-dimensional lagers mellowed our selection of spicy sauces. If nothing else the beers helped cleanse our palates for the next flavorful dish.
Dô!