Bột Chiên (Fried Rice Flour Cakes)

Absolutely no nutritional value allowed

Note: Tomorrow is Easter so I’m posting a day early. Enjoy this delicious egg treat and your holiday, if you celebrate!

Bột Chiên has to be one of the most purely fun dishes in Saigon, with really good reason. It is TASTY and serves no nutritional purpose whatsoever. FUN.

It consists of cubes of rice flour (the ‘cakes’) that are fried in a nice amount of oil or lard until crispy on the outside and soft inside, and then an egg (or two) cracked in to finish. Top that with spring onions and serve with shredded papaya and a sweet soy sauce mixture to pour over it all, and you’ve got yourself an absolutely top notch plate of the good stuff, sans any of that pesky health nonsense.

This is typically a street food, and the first and third options are straight up street carts with a very small bit of seating, while option two has a dedicated, cleaner physical location.

Bột Chiên 51

Hours: 12pm-12am

Address: 51 Nguyễn Văn Lạc, Phường 19, Bình Thạnh

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Wndb2pmfxR5w5iFg7

Easily the most bare-bones of today’s options, this takeaway joint makes what might be the platonic ideal of bột chiên. The rice flour cubes are absolutely perfectly fried, and you can tell they’re using fresh oil. To be fair, they’d have to - take a look at my pics below to see just how many eggs they go through every single day. It is a lot. You can get one egg or two, as usual, and there’s only a slight up-charge for a second one.

This road absolutely blows goat chunks during rush hour, so be aware. It is quite narrow for the amount of traffic it carries. Plan accordingly to save face and your sanity - the cart is on the right side going north.

Bột Chiên Đạt Thành

Hours: 1:30pm-11pm

Address: 277 Võ Văn Tần, Phường 5, Quận 3

https://maps.app.goo.gl/hKRWoTHi2yXgchUL7

If you want a proper table to sit down at, this is your destination. They also have a wider menu with some related snacks. The Bột Chiên is undoubtedly the biggest draw, and it’s excellent and very popular.

The only thing I don’t like on the menu is the nui (what vnese call macaroni but is more akin to bastardized, narrow penne the width of a standard drinking straw - and gets the side-eye from me no matter how it’s prepared), but you do you. The chive cakes are also really good, and absolutely stuffed with chives.

This is also, incidentally, the only spot on this list with proper motorbike parking, so if you want to take a load off and not do takeaway, here you go.

Bột Chiên pate, phô mai

Hours: 2:30pm-6pm, CLOSED SUNDAY

Address: 24a Đ. Trần Khắc Chân, Phường Tân Định, Quận 1

https://maps.app.goo.gl/dQU3Y2zJwPFXoKbS7

With a functional name like this, I bet you can guess where this is going. Fried rice flour cubes and eggs too healthy for you? ADD CHEESE! Want to be extra? ADD PATE! Do both! No one will know! With the state of the world the way it is, you might as well go crazy.

As far as novelty dishes go, this might be right up there at the top of the “flatly unnecessary but really decadent and pretty delicious” list. They’re using shredded mozzarella and you’re looking at sitting on little plastic stools at plastic tables in a space that houses a noodle shop in the mornings (which is also good, btw) - luxury this is not. But with a plate of empty calories and fat this good, who cares?

NOTE: The cart says 23A. It is currently at 24A.

To beat a dead horse, this is not healthy, but it IS exceedingly delicious! Sometimes that’s all that matters. Consider it a mental health boost and a fun little splurge after a tough day, or if your country is sliding into fascism so fast it’s making your head spin (for instance).

I’m always looking to top the highs of these spots. Where is your favorite?

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