One of the Vietnamese dishes not easily found in Prague is Bánh xèo, which is a crispy, stuffed rice pancake, typically with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. The name refers to the sound a thin layer of rice batter makes when poured into a hot frying pan.
It’s usually served as a pancake folded over the filling and cut into smaller pieces (see this stock photo), with greens on the side and sheets of rice paper on which you assemble the pancake and greens and roll it, then dip it in a sweet and sour dipping sauce flavoured with fish sauce and maybe chili.
Google tells me it can be found in two places at SAPA, Quê Hương and CHI HAI – Street Food. Funnily enough, the two restaurants are almost directly opposite each other.
I chose the former because it was simpler and had a more basic menu. That’s usually a good sign. Furthermore, Google tells me that Bánh xèo is exactly what guests choose when they eat there.
The restaurant is small and has a very simple interior. I was welcomed and placed my order, which was immediately put into action. I was the only guest at the time, around 13:00.
The dish arrived on the table and the presentation was a bit surprising, because it wasn’t a ‘do-it-yourself’ portion. Instead, the rolls were already made and cut in half, ready to dip in the sauce and pop in your mouth. On the one hand, I kind of missed the process of sitting and rolling the filling into rice paper, on the other hand, there’s no way my old western fingers have mastered the art of doing it perfectly well.
They were filled with pork, prawns and bean sprouts, and they were rolled with onions, lettuce and coriander. I would have liked mint and perilla leaves as well, but I don’t know how easy the latter are to get here in Prague. Here you can see the ‘back’ of one of the rolls and admire how nicely the greens are rolled into the rice paper.
They tasted nothing short of marvellous. Just the right amount of crispiness from the rice pancake, the filling that didn’t dominate but was there, and the fresh greens with coriander in the background. There was a hint of chilli in the dipping sauce, and it had a little after-kick. It could have been a little spicier.
Surprisingly, there were no condiments on the table at all, which is by no means typical.
The portion size was just right, and I would have been sufficiently full even if it had been a slightly smaller portion.
I paid Czk. 180,- and it was good value for money.
The restaurant can be found here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JQjVWhdJMMz2MpzKA
The whole street it is located in is highly recommended. There are lots of interesting restaurants and many of them specialise in something different, so you could spend days exploring or, even better, go as a group and order a dish to share at each place (or many of the places).
On the map I’ve marked the street and also Quê Hương
