Hue is sort of the culinary center of central Vietnam—known for such delicacies as gently steamed glutinous rice cakes. There’s a brand-new Hue restaurant in town, Kim Huong, and it’s damn tasty.

After only a few weeks, there’s already a big line at lunch. That’s ’cause the food is good, says zippo, like a delicate, tasty bun bo hue—the traditional Hue noodle soup of thick noodles, pork blood hunks, pork trotter hunks, and meatballs.

Mi bo kho—vermicelli noodles with beef stew—is excellent, with a bit more body and more complexity to the seasoning than most competitors, says twocents. Perhaps Pho Ao Sen’s version has a broth with a little more body, but they don’t have the fine touch with the seasoning that Kim Huong has.

This is a small, family-run operation, by first-time proprietors.

Kim Huong [East Bay]
304 10th Street, Oakland
510-836-3139
Map

Pho Ao Sen [East Bay]
200 International Boulevard, Oakland
510-839-6821
Map

Board Links: Kim Huong, Hue-style Vietnamese, opens 3/22 in Oakland Chinatown

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