"Bánh Đa Cá Tóp Mỡ" Review
This Bánh Đa Cá Tóp Mỡ shop with special dish and rich ingredients, which I’ve never encountered anywhere else. If you've ever had fish noodle soup (bún cá), you might be familiar with it but bánh đa cá offers a completely different experience.
The shop has a simple unremarkable space, but there’s nothing to complain about it. I’ve written about fish noodle soup many times but this was my first time trying bánh đa cá, and I was immediately attracted to the bright yellow sign with the words "Bánh Đa Cá." Since the shop doesn’t have a menu so I ordered a mixed bowl of bánh đa cá thập cẩm, not knowing exactly what would come with it.
The "bánh đa cá" here has large, thin, and long brown noodles. The noodles are made from rice flour and get their reddish-brown color from either sugarcane or gac powder, giving it a unique flavor that’s different from the typical white rice noodles you find in other fish soup shops. The dry bánh đa noodles need to be soaked in hot water to expand and soften before they’re served, unlike the fresh rice noodles made from rice.
This dish is delicious and full of ingredients. I was really impressed variety in the bowl: from mustard greens, bánh đa, fresh fish cooked with ginger, fried fish, flat fish cakes, fried tofu, crispy pork fat, and minced meat balls. I’s a very diverse bowl of bánh đa cá, and my favorite part is definitely the crispy pork fat. This is a popular snack in Vietnam - made from crispy fried pork fat, cut into bite-sized pieces. It’s often eaten as a side dish with rice or just as a snack, and it’s yummy when eat with bánh đa cá, making it even more flavorful and crispy.
A standout feature of this shop is that they use mustard greens instead of the usual green onions and cilantro that other fish noodle shops might use. The mustard greens are super sweet and fresh, adding a unique touch to the dish. There are two types of fish: fried fish, crispy and fried in oil, and ginger-cooked pond fish (cá rô đồng). The ginger-cooked fish has a fragrant ginger aroma, which makes it so flavorful and different from other types of fish used in other fish soup shops.
The fish cakes are also amazing. They are thinly and absorb all the flavor of the broth. I can’t quite describe it, but it’s so good, and I’ve been trying to find this specific type of fish cake, though I haven’t seen it at markets or supermarkets.
Another unique thing about this bánh đa cá is that it doesn’t have tomatoes like other fish noodle soups. But that’s what makes this dish stand out. Even though it doesn’t have spicy flavors, it’s still incredibly enticing and delicious. One thing I’m not sure about is whether this shop doesn’t serve fresh vegetables, or if my table just didn’t have them, but I feel like it’s a small downside because fresh vegetables usually complete dishes like this.
As for the price, each bowl of bánh đa cá costs 35,000 VND (around $1.30), which is very affordable and fills me up for the entire afternoon even though I only eat breakfast. I love having hot, hearty dishes like this in the morning before work, and after that, I have some tea. I don’t eat lunch or dinner, so a bowl like this keeps me full until evening.
Bánh Đa Cá Tóp Mỡ is a good dish, I will comeback.