Who would have thought looking for a store would be so hard. Lils and I were looking for a restaurant called A-Wah that specializes in bo zai fan. It says rice casserole on their menu, but what it really is, is rice and ingredients cooked in earthenware pots. A-Wah's is known for take out bo zai fan with the earthenware pot that you can keep. We walked in a circle only to find out that this place was RIGHT next to Golden Unicorn and we walked right past it. It is a hole in the wall.
When we first were looking for A-Wah, we learned that its original location had closed down. It moved to someplace on East Broadway and clearly we were terrible at reading maps. When we finally found this place, we had to wait for the bo zai fan to cook. Next time, we will dine in at A-Wah to try out their stuff. Their cheapest one is $7.50 for a bo zai fan and a lot of others are at affordable prices. It certainly smelled good and looks extremely filling.
It was cold and the things we were carrying were heavy. A few hours earlier we were walking around in East Village and our legs were getting pretty tired. Our stomachs were rumbling and all the seats at the bakery were taken. What pissed us off so much was that one of our bakery spots was occupied by people that absolutely did not deserve to be there. They are ruining business for the bakery and for the customers. How I wished for a hot cup of tea and a pastry in my head, but I know I could not have that today. Based on the area we were near by, I suggested we go to Thai Son, an old spot I use to visit in my high school days. That was perhaps the best choice we made that day.
Hungry and tired, we were delighted to see that there were seats and were immediately taken to out table. Lils said,"It's such a cold day and I come here for the pho." Yes, always for the pho, I agree. But this time I need to try something different. I always order the xe lua (pho with different parts of beef). In the mood for something new and satisfying, I ordered a bun cha gio bo nuong, grilled beef and spring roll over rice vermicelli, for $8.00. Our orders came quick and we were served nice, hot tea. It wasn't shitty watery tea, this was the real deal.
Bun is rice vermicelli. It's a rice noodle, but obviously thinner in size as opposed to pho. Sometimes in markets they may label it as rice stick. As you can see from the photo I snapped, you get 4 pieces of grilled beef rolled up and topped with crushed peanuts and scallions. You get three pieces of pork spring roll cut in half. I pour my dipping sauce all over my bun. The sauce was more on the sweet side which I didn't mind too much. It's a mixture of diluted fish sauce and something else. As I dig in under the bun, I am surprised by a bed of lettuce, cucumbers, and fresh basil. The dipping sauce gave it such a refreshing taste making it a nice garden salad. I thought bun was a warm dish, but it turns out it's a more of a cold dish. However I was still warmed up after eating it. Your beef and spring roll is warm however though not piping hot. To make things more hotter, I added sriracha and immediately remembered how hot this stuff was. Tantalizing, but still a formidable competitor for my tongue. The grilled beef was a little under seasoned to which you can always season it more yourself. However for me, it was a bit too charred leaving a bitter taste. The spring roll is always done right and I have nothing to critique on it.
After so many years since high school, Thai Son has kept up their service and food. I am genuinely pleased. Though the prices may have went up and the portion sizes may have shrunk over the years, I can still forgive that because of the hard times restaurants are going through and the integrity that Thai Son has maintained. So glad that I visited it once more.
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