Bun rieu #2 @ Phuong Nga 2, City Heights

After having had that bun rieu the other night from Pho Ca Dao,

I was on a mission...

I remember reading a previous post by Kirk about the bun rieu he had at Phuong Nga 2 (no number in their signage but that is what they are listed under), which is in the same strip mall as Sieu Thi Vien Dong Supermarket. Since it was Tet weekend, the lot was crazy with even a parking attendant guiding cars in.

We knew it was going to rain later that afternoon so we wanted to make sure we had our late breakfast/early lunch over here.  Here is the altar you see as you walk in:

Their menu:

Good to see that their prices haven't changed since Kirk posted last year.  They only serve this soup and several versions of banh cuon. Both Bert and I got their bun rieu; I don't really like VN cold cuts that much to be honest.




I like that they had this informational page in their menu. Good to know!

We sat away from the front since all of the tables were full; it was also pretty loud. This was the back room which was pretty spartan in terms of decor. But you know what, I don't give a damn about the ambience. We only cared about the soup.

Our pair of bun rieu bowls plus our shared vegetable/herb plate  which include bean sprouts, shredded cabbage, purple perilla or tia to, Vietnamese balm (rau kinh gioi), Thai chilis, lime halves and two small containers of mam nem (fermented shrimp paste).  Kirk's post (linked at the end) mentioned shredded morning glory. I'm not sure if it was in here or not. I liked the variety of the vegetable and herb toppings. The shredded banana blossom was nice, adding a bit of texture in the soup.


Maybe the green shredded stems were the morning glory?

The broth was not as richly flavored as the version I had the other night at PCD. However, the variety of meats in this bowl far outweighed the broth. In fact, it was perfect since the meats were flavorful in their own right - stewed pork rib (I wished there were more of that), slices of VN pork loaf, fried tofu cubes (these had a better and more firmer texture than the ones from last night), three sizable chunks of the crab/pork clumps and yes...do you see them?  Blood cubes.


I really liked the pork/crab meat patties in here.  This was much much better than the version we had at PCD.  Like way better.  The fresh herbs were refreshing and the shredded firm vegetables added even more texture of a bowl already filled with wonderful ingredients.

The only thing I didn't really eat was this, the coagulated blood cube. I did take a small nibble and yep, I still don't like it. I prefer my blood liquefied in dinuguan, a Filipino blood stew known comically as "chocolate meat".


These bowls were pretty filling. I liked the noodle texture in these bowls better as well. So far, so good!

Here is Kirk's most recent post from Phuong Nga 2:
February 2018 (he mentions the different iterations of this restaurant space; I remember going a few years ago when it was Van Hoa)

Phuong Nga 2
4016 54th Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
(629) 582-2642

There is no website but here are the sparse (9, count 'em 9) reviews from you know where

I still wanted to do more research...