-
-
Ad Space
(728 x 90)
Survey
Bun in the oven A fistful of Wellbutrin is one way to treat seasonal affective disorder, but a bowl of warm carbs is an infinitely tastier alternative. Mac and cheese, long the preferred drug of choice, now has a worthy rival in bun rieu Mekong ($12) from Bun (143 Grand St at Lafayette St, 212-431-7999), Tony Lam’s Nolita shrine to modern Vietnamese cuisine. Bun rieu (pronounced “boon ree-oo”), typically a stew of seafood, vermicelli and vegetables, is a triumph in the hands of chef Michael Huynh, in large part because of the actual presence of seafood. (At lesser restaurants, the potentially satisfying dish tends to comprise a gummy mass of noodles, one or two shrimp, and a token rubbery scallop.) Huynh’s savory tomato-based broth, which gets its briny depth from lobster heads and dried shrimp, is packed with fat shrimp, crabmeat and melt-in-your-mouth basa fish. How there’s still room in the bowl for pillowy rice noodles, spinach, scallions, an egg yolk and fish sauce is anyone’s guess. Though Lam and Huynh are already hard at work on Bun’s spring menu, we hope the bun rieu Mekong doesn’t disappear once the cold weather does. Now
that would be depressing.
—Rebecca Flint Marx
See previous Critics' pick
