A lot of good Bun and Pho dishes could be found in Saigon in hole-in-the-wall places. The oft mentioned Pho-24, for example, is a chain restaurant serving the ubiquitous Vietnamese noodle dish. It was therefore a surprise that when a friend recommended Bun Ta, we arrived at a place beyond our expectation. It certainly was not a hole-in-the-wall eatery; instead, it looked like a house that had been converted to a restaurant. At the dark of the night, the place looked light because of its white interior paint. My partner and I were seated at the front patio, directly facing the busy traffic. At first I objected to it, thinking that the fume from the cars and bikes would be horrible a companion for dinner, but surprisingly, despite its proximity to the busy road, I could not smell anything except for the food served in the restaurant.
I asked what the specialty was, and a wait staff recommended a dish with the restaurant's namesake "Bun Ta," which was explained to be a tri-colored cool
