Hi, I’m Alice. Today I visited a small noodle shop in Mai Dinh – Soc Son. The shop’s name is “Bún cá rô đồng”, and it just opened recently. This place replaced the old “Thành Béo” fish noodle shop that I reviewed before.
I don’t know why the old shop closed. Maybe the price was too high, maybe not many customers came. Personally, I liked the taste at Thành Béo, but the space was small, hot, and a bit messy. The food was good but too expensive
This new shop surprised me. It’s clean, has two air conditioners, and is much cooler inside. The space is still small, but because they closed it with black glass doors and added cooling, it feels nice even in summer. For me, eating hot noodle soup in a hot room is like torture, so I really care about air conditioning.
This shop sells "bún cá rô đồng", ( noodle fish) which means they use wild snakehead fish, not farmed fish. Wild fish is smaller, but the meat is firmer and more flavorful. The owner doesn’t just fry the fish like other shops. Here, they fry the fish then cook it with turmeric, so it has a yellow color and a unique smell. I really liked this part. The strong turmeric sauce soaked into the fish, making me want to chew slowly to enjoy the flavor better.
The broth is clear, sweet, and rich – I could tell they used real fish bones to make it.
The bowl also has a lot of fresh vegetables, and the portion is big. The price is 35,000 VND, which I think is cheap for a tasty and full breakfast like this. Compared to the old Thành Béo shop, which sold a bowl for nearly 40.000 VND but had a hot space and very little fish, this new place clearly puts more care into their food and service.
One small thing I didn’t like:
the fried fish wasn’t crispy enough. Some pieces still had soft bones, so I had to pick them out while eating. It’s not a big problem, but I hope they can improve that.
The shop is on Mai Dinh Street, near some factories, so there are many people living and working nearby. It’s in a busy area with a lot of locals. I think the shop will do well here.
They also give free iced tea, which is a nice touch. Overall, I enjoyed my meal.
Cool air, clean space, tasty soup, and a good price – I will definitely come back again.