Trung Nam Bun Bo Hue

I love this place. The bun bo hue broth is rich and flavorful without being heavy/​greasy, and the tendon is cooked to perfection. They are generous with the cabbage and other veggies, and the place is always clean and tidy.
When I called today to place a takeout order, it said the number had been disconnected. I saw someone had posted a review just a few days ago so I decided to drive down anyway. Sadly, the place was closed and door was chained from the inside when I got there. I hope they just decided to take an impromptu vacation and aren’t closed for good.

Me and my boyfriend come here when we are in the east bay. Let me tell u guys that this place has some of the best bun bo hue and phở around. My boyfriend loves phở and he has said that this place has some of the best phở hes ever had. I feel bad this place needs more recognition, its always so dead. Its a shame that a place like this does not get the business tht it deserves!

I am from the central region of Vietnam and am very very (did I say «very») snobby about Bun Bo Hue. This is the absolute best place in Oakland for this specialty soup. The décor was nice, the restaurant was clean, the atmosphere was relaxed, the owners were personable… what else can I say — if I had the money I’d be there everyday for lunch.

It’s ok. Another good phở place in east Oakland.

Trung Nam Bun Bo Hue has three specialties listed in their window: Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodle soup), Bun Mam (fermented fish noodle soup), and Mi Vit Tiem (duck, egg noodle soup). The space is decorated kinda upscale for an E14th St joint (
) and the waiter said it’s the same owners of the now defunct upscale Vietnamese spot Huynh (both Oakland & Walnut Creek locations are closed) which explains their Huynh menu & chopstick covers (
) which I guess makes financial sense, but just looks odd.
Short menu (less than 20 items) with soups (
) vermicelli & rice (
) broken rice plates and a couple appetizers (
). There are now paper signs on the wall saying Phở is also newly available, though not on their menu yet.
I ordered Cha Gio (Imperial rolls, $ 4.50) and Bun Mam ($ 7.95). The waiter then sized me up and hesitantly asked if I’d had Bun Mam before because «it’s not to everyone’s taste», and I assured him that I knew it was pungent.
Cha Gio are 3 small rolls with a shallow dipping dish of nuoc cham (
). Tasted vegetarian (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I needed to add some fish sauce (on table) to the dipping sauce to kick the flavors up a bit. They were also somewhat inconsistently fried. Not the best value with the small roll size.
The Bun Mam was garlic chive central (
) and come with a bowl of additional vegetation consisting of lemon wedge, more garlic chives, mint, shredded cabbage, and sprouts (
). Some additional variety of herbiage would have been nice like some shredded banana blossoms or perilla; it looked like the BBH bowls received the same assortment.
This is a slightly stronger flavored broth than Bun Mam Soc Trang’s soup (
) and a nice variety of proteins with shrimp, a firm fleshed fish (catfish?), and crispy skinned roasted pork (
). A couple of the pork skin pieces were super hard and I couldn’t chew through them. The spaghetti thickness rice noodles were a bit mushy for me.
FWIW, a Vietnamese friend says the soup here is more like Bun Nuoc Leo, not Bun Mam. BNL is similarly made with the fermented fish, but the broth is strained making it clearer and less pungent. Bun Mam, he says, should be darker /​«murkier» from bits of fermented fish suspended in the broth and «significantly more pungent». This is just my 2^nd experience with Bun Mam so don’t shoot the messenger :)
Cha Gio: 2.5 stars
Bun Mam: 3.5 stars (on my «inauthentic tongue» scale)

A Vietnamese place that specializes in Bun Bo Hue? I’m there!
After realizing Phở King closed on Tuesdays, and not hankering for some Phở Ga (a block over) my next search landed me just across the park from Phở King at Trung Nam. And perfectly, I was hankering for some Bun Bo Hue. I had tried Phở Ao San the previous week and didn’t find anything extraordinary there.
Here, I had the Special Combo #3 for $ 9. Although there were no English translation on what was in it, I did my best to make sure there was no Ox Penis in it. I matched up the lettering with the previous stuff to verify that there was tendon, pork slices, and other things from the #1. Nothing seemed to suggest otherwise.
And luckily, when the bowl of hearty goodness arrived, I didn’t give a damn anymore and started suffocating the soup with the fresh cut cabbage and mint leaves and immediately began scarfing down the noodly mixture.
The broth was clear and not saturated or fatty. This I liked. The meat was also not too heavy and everything seemed to marry well. I’d say it’s pretty damn delicious and I can see myself coming back for more Bun Bo Hue, but as for other things on the menu (no they don’t have Phở) I’d probably stick with this. They do have rice dishes and maybe a seafood variation of the soup noodle, but Bun Bo Hue as it shows on the front of the sign is the key dish here.

Excellent Bun Bo Hue, in a chic atmosphere that is still family friendly. Right across from Clinton Park, to work off your post-​noodle haze.

I would prefer the Hu Tiu Nam Vang with the «Phở» noodle. It was really good. I definitely should try.
The Bun Mam was terrible. I did not sense any special unique ingredient for Bun Mam. What in there was mainly fish sauce. The soup was so clear that definitely was not a typical Bun Mam. So disappointed. I thought i could find a place near SF to eat Bun Mam. But I guess nowhere can beat San Jose’s Bun Mam.

My boyfriend and I always come here every time we have a carving for Bun Bo Hue. The Bun Bo Hue has the perfect spice and seasoning. I’ve tried Bun Bo Hue in Vietnam and this place is comparable.

This Bun Bo Hue Place is really good. And man I have to said is so Authenthic compare to the old dirty nasty PHO KING. The food is Good and the Place is 5 stars for being very neat and Clean. I am vietnamese myself and I ate Bun Bo Hue all my life and let me tell you this place is the REAL DEAL.

On my quest to try every noodle house in Oakland we came across this. Just having ran Oakland’s half marathon (another review) we were starving for carbs.
The ($ 9) bun bo hue special was authentic and up to par. It had an extra ingredient to it (mam rouc. something very fish) which I was not accustomed to having. That was my first time having it that way. It was plenty spicy and they were enough sauces on the table if you needed more. The special came with pig thighs, cha, pork blood, beef brisket and slices of ROAST PORK. Again the slices of roast pork was a new for me.
They serve individual dishes for your side vegetables which is somewhat different and unique. There were no purple cabbage. :(
The restaurant décor was really new with a flat screen tv almost too nice to be a noodle house.
I would give it four stars but since my pig feet was really a pig toe, I was a little disappointed. You order pig feet for that one piece of meet that’s super tender and since I was charged extra for it, I was a little disappointed since Im use to paying no more than $ 7 for a bowl of Bun Bo Hue.
Overall not bad but they need to add more to their menu to compete with other well known places on Oakland.

As far as bun bo hue in Oakland goes, this place certainly ranks amongst the top. I’ve been slowly working my way through some of the more notable places in Oakland for BBH like Phở King among others. And Trung Nam fared quite favorably to the rest. At first glance their soup looked rather clear, but the flavor was rich without being heavy. There was a decent amount of heat but not so much so that it became a distraction. The tendon was also extremely tender and flavorful and the the pork hock and blood cake also quite tasty. The only thing I didn’t particularly care for was the brisket which was a little tough.
The restaurant itself was immaculately clean with a chic décor and friendly staff. The food arrived quickly, everyone with their own individual soup accoutrement. The price was a little bit higher than Phở King but I certainly think the food was at least on par with PK. I’ll definitely be returning.

So, the search for the best bun bo hue leads us to Trung Nam… which was highly recommended by the notorious Jason G. His quote: «It’s better than the bun bo hue at Phở King AND Bun Bo Hue Ahn Nam in San Jose.» Crazy, right?!
Well, I have to agree. It’s better than Phở King… But Ahn Nam?! Eh?! Not sure about that one. But the décor and cleanliness… ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Especially for a Vietnamese joint off of International! Holy Smokes! I have never seen a Vietnamese joint this clean, modern, and sleek!

4.5 stars
Quite possibly the best Bun Bo Hue I have had in the San Francisco/​Oakland area. I don’t even like BBH to begin with but boy… this was a good bowl of noodles. Came here with Andy N. and he told me that this is the best place in Oakland for BBH. He has eaten here three times this week and after eating, I didn’t question why he came here so much.
All the components just worked here. The spices, broth, noodles, fresh condiments, and the lemon all worked. This is what you expect from a well seasoned, hole in a wall Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose. The good thing about this place is that this place is clean. The ingredients were fresh, the price is very reasonable, and the portion was huge. The way it was prepared and presented can pass for a mid/​high end restaurant.
I will definitely come back here for my new found craving for BBH

My lady, along w/​her family introduced me to this place and I liked it. At first I thought it would be similar to phở, but it’s totally different. I like the Bun Bo Hue’s style of the taste; great hot and refreshing noodle. It was my second time checking in and will look forward for more future visits when I’m in the area.

This restaurant is OKAY. If you want real authentic and flavorful bun bo hue I suggest going somewhere else (phở king). But if you’re down with a decent bowl of soup then fine. I love bun bo hue and am a connoseiur.
*The noodles were overcooked and was too mushy
*Broth was not flavorful at all (watery) I had to add lots of crushed peppers
*So it didn’t REALLY taste like Bun Bo Hue
*The vegetable garnish was missng banana shoots and not enough cabbage, and only 1 stem of coriander (rau ram) not enough
*Delicious fresh pickled jalapenos
*It was COLD in there!
The service was good, but since we were the only ones in there the waiter kept staring at me, making me feel uncomfortable while eating my soup. Definitely better service than most vietnamese restaurants. but I didn’t come for the service I came for the soup!
The Atmosphere was good, it seemed sterile. It was very cold and nicely furnished. Definitely much cleaner than most other vietnamese restaurants as well.
SUMMARY, I won’t go back to this restaurant as there are 2 other good bun bo hue restaurants in Oakland. But I will come back here as a last resort. The soup was not good enough for my taste. The place was clean, cold, and nicely decorated.

It always nice to see a specialized restaurant open in that area especially since my favorite Phở Ga restaurant went out of business. The place is quietly hidden in a semi busy street in the East Lake District. Took me three glances before I walked over to look at the menu.
Food:
For a restaurant opened and directed toward Bun Bo Hue I was expecting more but it was not bad.
Service:
We were the only customers at the time. Service better be good!
Environment:
New design though odd structure and it was pretty cold in there.
Price:
Decent price.
Food: 3
Service: 4
Environment: 4
Price: 3

Trung Nam Bun Bo Hue is a few doors from quickly. the décor is very modern for a viet eatery
flatscreen: vietnamese videos music: vietnamese folk songs
sampling: bun bo hue (7.25)
–broth consists of fish sauce, chilis, and msg
–contains generous portions pig feet, pork blood. thin lean pork slice & beef slices
–noodles didn’t seem plentiful
–accompanied by raw veggies plate of cabbage, basil, lime, and bean sprouts.
leftovers
–chopstick cover had huynh logo on it. affiliated? probably.
–menu almost all in vietnamese. bun bo hue and cha gio (imperial rolls) recognizable.
–bun bo hue enjoyable, not a natural broth but fish sauce, chili pieces and msg.
–service ok. teapot left on table.
–mostly vietnamese patrons here.
–parking difficult to find.

Visited this new vietnamese restaurant with my girlfriend on the day it was open.
This is what i have to say about their Bun Bo Hue: IT’S SO FREAKING GOOD, the only problem i have is i WANT MORE and MORE after one sips of the soup, move over Bun Bo Hue An Nam in San Jose because Trung Nam is taking over.
Above all, the price is right and the food is delicious and its closer than San Jose ! I can’t ask for more
Would recommend !!!

my first visit here at Trung Nam was very pleasant. i enjoyed it very much.
I wasnt a fan of bun bo hue to begin with and i wasnt even hungry. so i already had doubts about the place.
but as the saying goes, dont judge a book by its cover. not saying the cover was ugly. this place was beautiful by far. the ambiance and décor was outstanding.
from the first bite of the noodles and soup, my whole perspective changed. the bun bo hue became best friends with my tastebuds and are now keeping in touch. looking forward to future visits already. i might be one of the biggest fans of bun bo hue now.
the service was great. friendly and very attentive, in a good way of course.
welcome to oakland, Trung Nam Bun Bo Hue and enjoy your stay.
Basically, come one, come all. you wont regret it. I went from an anti-​bun-​bo-​hue dude to the number one fan.