Restaurants
Buncamita for southern flavors
By SGT
May 16, 2007, 12:56

This restaurant strives for a harmonious balance in its food to make its dishes more delicious and to benefit diners’ health.

If there is pho in the North, bun bo Hue (Hue beef noodle) and Mi Quang noodle soup in the Central region, there is the charming bun ca (noodle or rice vermicelli with fish) in the South.

Saigon has many restaurants and eateries selling bun ca, which has its origins in the Mekong Delta. Though those restaurants are very common and not luxurious, they are very professional and have special characteristics that make them attractive. One of those restaurants is Buncamita.

Compared to the original bun ca, that to be eaten at Buncamita is subject to many variations. Salted fish is the basic ingredient that is the soul of a bowl of bun ca. It can be very appealing to those familiar with the taste, but to newcomers like foreign tourists, there is a lot of reluctance to overcome. Therefore, the restaurant's cooks add the hot flavor of ginger, making the smell of the salted fish more pleasant.

This creative feature of bun ca at Buncamita does not only make a dif­ference to the taste and smell, but also expresses the yin and yang balancing philosophy in the art of eat­ing and drinking. If the cold flavor of salted fish is yin (negative), then the hot flavor of ginger is yang (positive). The parallel presence of yin and yang makes the harmonious balance for the bowl of bun ca. Not only does it help make the dish more delicious, but it is of benefit to diners' health.

Protecting the diners' health is important to the restaurant. So, there are no chemical spices, or any ingredients that can cause obesity. The restaurant has a rule of No Meat, No Fat, No Seasoning Powder and No Cholesterol.

That is the reason, too, why Buncamita pays so much attention to food hygiene. Since its beginning, the restaurant has received fish vegetables and natural drinks only from prestigious suppliers. The restaurant's corner devoted to washing dishes was designed to ensure absolute hygiene.

With the aim of creating more alternatives for its customers, the restaurant also serves fish hot pot and roasted ca loc (roasted snake head fish), two of the specific dishes of the waterway region. In its menus, the restaurant also covers several Western dishes, such as salmon bread, crackers with salmon and sushi.

   Buncamita
     Add: 51 Le Thi Hong Gam St, Dist 1, HCMC