Bun Mii Vietnamese Café on George Street is one of the newest additions to the Asian dining scene in Nottingham. I popped over at the weekend to try them out as I heard a few whispers on the street that there was a place in town serving authentic Vietnamese food that I really needed to get to.

My first impressions were great as I saw that there were a lot of Asian people dining in there and more coming in and out. That is always a good sign, it also seemed to be run by some very friendly people who looked like they probably cooked the same food at home. Basically I am saying that it was not run by a bunch of hipsters who once went backpacking to Vietnam. 🙂

They have a nice simple menu that covers the main classic Vietnamese dishes that I had at least heard of. I love a good Banh Mi sandwich, those Vietnamese Baguettes are always a great choice, I was really close to ordering one of those but I knew that was going to be too much of a safe option.

The Bun thit nuong almost made it as my choice, this was a dish that I have not had before to my recollection. “Vietnamese rice vermicelli noodle with BBQ pork” sounds quite enticing

However, I had kind of already decided in advance, that I was going to be getting the Beef Pho, I was on a bit of a mission in fact! 🙂

The Beef Pho came in a really large bowl and first impression were that looks like a lot of broth and a lot of noodles to scoff down!

The menu notes that “Our Beef and Chicken Pho comes with the finest rice stick noodle in a bowl of our signature beef, chicken, or vegetable broth.  All are served with spring onion. coriander and Asian herb”

That seemed to be pretty accurate! The broth in the bowl as you can see was covered with a flotilla of green herbs, slices of green spring onion and coriander leaves all bobbing about on top. Large slices of thinly cut beef took up most of the rest of the bowl and somewhere underneath it all you could just about make out those soft white noodles. Things were looking good so far.

I slurped up my noodles with as much grace as I could muster, fishing huge strands out with my chopsticks before shovelling them in to my gob. I grabbed as much broth as I could manage with the spoon ladling it into my mouth with as little decorum as I had used for the noodles. Part way through my meal a couple of Asian ladies sat alongside me to eat their bowls of Pho and I saw that I was doing it all wrong!

I found the broth to be a little light in beef flavour and although I was expecting a richer stock with more developed flavours, it was actually just about perfect for me. I had been suffering with a bit of a cold over the last month so maybe it was my taste buds being difficult.

I read that there are regional differences in terms of what flavours are added so it might be that I had some previously prepared by Vietnamese from a different part of the country where they add stronger flavours such as fish sauce and sriracha to the bowl to enliven things.

I managed to clean out my bowl and I only had a minor spillage situation on my shirt so I was pretty smug anyway that I made it through without asking for a fork and without drinking straight from the bowl 🙂

To go along side my Pho I had a glass of Ice Lemon Tea, which was really a cold tea with ginger, lemon, some mint and other flavours that I could not quite place. I really enjoyed this drink, it was not exactly what I had expected but it was the perfect drink for the moment and I am probably going to pop in to have another one next time I am passing. Forget the evil generic chains, come here and get a real refreshing drink!

I really enjoyed my visit to Bun Mii Vietnamese Café. The food all looks good and the fact that is was so busy with the local community was a great sign as well.

They are Located at 38 George Street, NG1 3BG in Nottingham

Check them out on their Facebook Page

It is a little hidden away down at the bottom of the Street, so just keep walking down and you will spot it at the end of the street nearest to the Victoria Centre

I did note that it was pretty handy if you are getting the bus as there is a major stop right across the street, one that I get off at if I use the Park and Ride from the River.

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