[San Jose, CA] - Bun Bo Hue An Nam

When I went to the Bay area recently to meet up with a friend, he said that there was a Vietnamese place that was known for their pizzle. Funnily enough, for someone who considers themself down to try just about anything, I hadn't had it before. When looking for this location, be aware that there are two bun bo hue restaurants in the same plaza. If you are facing the front of both of them, it's the one on the left.

As soon as you walk in, you can smell the fragrant soup. My stomach growled, immediately. The menu is simple, the way I like it. There is no hesitation as we all order the bun bo hue with pizzle. I also ordered a soda chanh (lemon soda with seltzer), which was a little bit of a disappointment as there was just a huge amount of sugar sitting at the bottom of the cup. They gave me the can of seltzer to go with it, but that just made the drink initially too sweet, good for a moment, and at the end, just mostly seltzer. 

The bun bo hue itself was fine. I would have to say that to me, it wasn't anything special. The broth was not full of flavor like I prefer - it was pretty one dimensional and not beefy. They only gave me one blood cube which kind of sucked because it was tender and not super iron-y tasting like the old ones that wind up in your bowl occasionally in Sacramento. But, there was a TON of pizzle in my bowl. While they are a bit stingy with the blood cubes, they are very generous with the peen. Don't get me wrong, it didn't taste bad. It was average, overall. I just think that in San Jose, especially on Story Road, it's very competitive. I think just using the peen to get people to go is a bit of a one trick pony (yes, yes, dirty jokes abound). 

As always though, I would recommend trying it for yourself and seeing how you feel about it. I have other friends who love this version (and the peen free versions they also serve). 
Can you find the pizzle? No? It's basically just tendon. The only way to really tell is if you get the tip LOL.

Address:
740 Story Rd Ste 3
San Jose, CA 95122

Hours: 
Wed-Mon 9am-9pm

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