Southern-style Bún mắm in Danang

It’s been a while since I was so excited to try a new restaurant in Danang.

You probably know that my favourite Danang dish is our bún mắm (anchovy vermicelli salad). There’s something about that pungent purple sauce that is soooo addictive even though it might be a bit too scary/smelly for foreigners. Even since I found out there’s a noodle soup version of bún mắm in the South, it has become one of the main reasons for my trips to Saigon.

So what the hell is bún mắm? Literally, bún is vemicelli and mắm means fish sauce. The Danang style bún mắm is more like a noodle salad with roasted pork, a lot of vegetables, boiled young jackfruit, and of course, the “smell like hell, taste like heaven” anchovy fish sauce. The southern version of bún mắm is totally different: a sweet and sour noodle soup with seafood, pork, fish cake…. The broth is made from a combination of “cá linh” and “cá sặc” fermented fish sauce. So flavourful, so damn good.

Well, sorry Saigon but I think I just lost that reason to visit you as the first Southern-style Bún mắm restaurant was opened in Danang a few days ago. Based on their accents, the shop owners are obviously from the most Southern part of Vietnam where this noodle soup is originally from. Their bún mắm tasted amazing and very original, even the noodle was that thick and round version of the South, not the thin vermicelli that you always find in Danang. One other nice touch was a big red chilli stuffed with grilled pork, very cool!

From danangcuisine.com