Surprise at Phuong Trang (SD)- Beef wrapped in Caul Fat

[geekyfoodie]

Otherwise known as bo cuon mo chai. I know the dish has a few fans on this board, so I thought I'd share that Phuong Trang's version is pretty awesome. The portions are generous, the "tubes" are moist and richly flavored, and there's plenty of greens served with them. Pickled carrots/daikon, fresh cucumber, and pineapple chunks accompany the generous heap of green leaf lettuce, mint, and cilantro. They sporadically include Vietnamese perilla, but definitely ask for it if it's not already provided. $9.50 for the dish, so it's a decent price.

For a picture, check out the ol' blog (it's at the bottom of the post):

http://culinarynerd.blogspot.com/2008/06/random-notes-good-food-and-80s-bear.html

And the resto's website:

www.phuongtrangrestaurant.com

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Phuong Trang Restaurant
4170 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

[septocaine_queen]

Do they serve bo 7 mon ( beef seven ways) there?

[geekyfoodie]

They do, although I can't say it's the best I've ever had. Certainly one of the better versions I've tried in SD, but one of my favorites is Anh Hong in Los Angeles (San Gabriel Valley) and they fall far short of that.

[Lillian Hsu]

So, geekyfoodie, I've had a hard time getting this dish out of my mind since our chowdown at Phuong Trang recently...even though we were there for the whole roasted catfish, this dish was the real revelation for me.

Where else can I try other tasty treats wrapped in caul fat? It looks like Saigon is one possibility. Is it always beef?

(Looking forward to seeing your photos of that dazzling fish.)

[kare_raisu]

At Saigon it is available - along with the grape leaf wraped which I had last time I was there.

[geekyfoodie]

Hehe... isn't it great? Alex is right about Saigon... their version is pretty good. I'm not sure where else to find it, but I'll bet that any place that does bo 7 mon decently should have a fairly good version of it.

[DougOLis]

oooooo, looks good. I love things that are wrapped in caul fat

[Josh]

Yum. Looks great. Thanks for the report.

[geekyfoodie]

I was thinking of you, Josh. ;) It's a smidge more moist than Saigon's, but flavor's pretty comparable in both places.