Bo La Lot - Grilled Beef in Piper Lolot Leaves in Saigon
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
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One of my favorite Vietnamese foods is something called bo la lot (or more formally thịt bò nướng lá lốt). The basic recipe includes minced beef mixed with just a few small spices, sometimes some citrus, then wrapped into wild betel leaves (piper lolot) leaves (which are slightly different from normal betel leaves, piper betle), then grilled over hot charcoal. Bo la lot is then served with Vietnamese rice paper, a selection of herbs and raw vegetables, sauce, and chilies. Everything is wrapped together and consumed. It’s truly one of my favorite things to eat in Vietnam.
On my trip to Saigon, I was searching online and happened to come across Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt on Foursquare. Since the restaurant was just down the road from where I was staying, I could not miss eating there. Another great thing about this bo la lot restaurant is that they are open for lunch, while many of the street food restaurants that serve bo la lot are only open in th evening for dinner. As we entered the restaurant, I could actually smell the aroma of the grilled leaves, and the owner kindly greeted us as we entered. You’ll recognize Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt by its huge green sign and the inside is also painted green - is this a tribute to the wild betel piper lolot leaves!? I loved it.
The menu was simple and straightforward, even though I only know the names of a few Vietnamese dishes. My wife and I ordered one plate of bo la lot, a plate of bo mo chai, and finally cha gio, deep fried Vietnamese spring rolls. When we ordered the bo la lot and the mo chai, they were tossed on the grill and cooked for a few more minutes before being delivered to our table in aromatic glory. I could smell the beef and the fragrant herbs, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. The bo la lot was served on a plate, topped with a few scoops of crushed peanuts, and a drizzle of fragrant scallion oil and green onions.
One of the easiest ways to eat Vietnamese bo la lot is to first take a piece of rice paper, then add on a few green leafy vegetables like lettuce, then pile on the bun (rice vermicelli noodles), more herbs like Vietnamese coriander and sweet basil, and then add in a bo la lot, and then finally dress with sauce and chilies. The combination of the ingredients, and the salty and sweet beef sausage with the herbaceous green tasting wild betel leaves, was outstanding. The mo chai, which are like sausage shaped hamburgers, were also very good. They tasted very similar to the bo la lot meat inside, but without the outer leaf wrapper. So overall, I preferred the bo la lot, but both were delicious.
Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt restaurant is more expensive than eating bo la lot on the street in Saigon, but the bo la lot was pretty good size (bigger than versions I ate on the street), and I think the meat was better quality. For delicious bo la lot in Saigon, Vietnam, check out Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt.
Address: 321 Võ Văn Tần, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (the restaurant is just a few steps from the southeastern corner of Vo Van Tan and Nguyen Thuong Hien)
Open hours: 10 am - 9:30 pm daily
Price: Our full meal cost 132,000 VND ($6.09), and the owner gave us some free samples of different dishes as well!
Read the full review here: migrationology....
Saigon food map: www.google.com...
Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network
This video was made by Mark Wiens and Ying Wiens
Website: migrationology.... & www.eatingthaif... & www.travelbyyin...
Thank you for watching!
![[ENG SUB] BÒ NƯỚNG LÁ LỐT kiểu mới, ngon đặc biệt nhờ thứ đơn giản không ngờ này | Beef Grill Recipe](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mbU1T5qlVm4/mqdefault.jpg)
I saw a lot of people commented on how Mark should have dipped the rice paper in water first to soften it. While this is true for many packaged rice paper you get in the store here (specifically those in the US), it is not necessarily for fresh rice paper. They are a lot thinner and wayy more flexible. If you can see, when Mark was wrapping, the rice paper was very thin and flexible!
Most of the times, fresh rice papers are made fresh from home factories and are use within a couple days. They are often wrap in banana leaves to keep them moist and fresh. Packaged rice paper on the hand are most often thicker, crisp and brittle so you need to wet it before wrapping.
Hope this helps! :)
a lot of vietnamese people use the lettuce to soften it
i see this in another food vlog from harald baldr
So rice paper is eatable or myb Mark chewed it coz he is a eater?? Help, i don't know
Kyle-_- I totally not agree with the way people use the wet lettuces to soften the rice paper, bz the wet lettuces can not make the rice paper to be softening entirely and that would make the rice paper will be less flexeble. when it is dry you will be difficult to chew it . It suppose to be softened.
Thanks so much for this useful info!!
Mark, the way you talked about star fruit in bo la lot and when you identified taro in the fried spring rolls, it tells me that your understanding of Vietnamese food is pretty deep and frankly impressive. It's good to watch reviews from people who know what they are talking about. Good job, man.
Mark, thank you for putting Vietnamese food and our culture in such a good light.
TheMbn1972 You're welcome, I really enjoy doing it. Thank you for watching.
I live for your videos Mark! I'm Vietnamese and I'm visiting Vietnam for the first time in July and I just can't wait! Your videos give me a real authentic glimpse into Vietnamese street food and I really enjoy your descriptions of the food. Keep up the great work.
Lauren Huynh Thank you Lauren, great to hear you'll be going to Vietnam. Where will you be visiting?
Mark Wiens I'll be in Nha Trang for 2 weeks (my family's hometown)! Have you ever been to Nha Trang? I've heard its a popular place to visit in VN
Love your enthusiasm. I don't care how your head moves when you eat. Great vids. My wife and I are retired in Mexico but are very interested in Vietnam, also. Thinking of spending a month wandering the country to see if we would like to stay, long term. What you do helps with our choices. The food in this country looks wonderful. Keep it up and thanks.
I am Vietnamese student who is studying in USA. Seeing your video made me feel very happy. I miss Bo La Lot you are enjoying in the clip. Thank you for traveling to my country and enjoying the street food. Come back when you have a chance!
these look incredible.
Your videos make me want to travel to Asia just to eat the street food
***** u really should :)
You will not regret it :)
***** Thank you Jay, I know you'll enjoy it!
***** Ab-so-LUTE-ly! I could NOT agree with you, more! :)
I assure you it is very delicious
All Vietnamese people like it
You're really good at detecting what kind of ingredients are in the dishes!! I'm always amazed every time you manage to guess them correctly. Which is like the majority of the time. Awesome!
True
I went here last week because of this video, Mark. Thank you for your recommendation. Bo la lot now is my No. 1 Vietnamese food. I went there and the lady was really nice. That fermented fish sauce were to die for.
Mark, I have not been return to Vietnam more than 20 years. Your clip just tears me apart of my home land food staal.. Thanks a lot brother.
The benefits of being a professional food blogger. Free food!
I want to go to Vietnam to eat all of that stuff.
yomamacold he has to pay for all that. wtf
yomamacold I normally pay for everything, but sometimes restaurant owners will give us some things just to try - but I think it's like that whenever you travel, there are so many kind and generous people, not just because I'm a food blogger.
It's always such a pleasure seeing the honest, total joy on this man's face. And... I'm seriously jealous.
Mark Wiens - the way you explain VNese food in English and the way the enjoy it is amazingly incredible, very helpful to me to introduce VNese food to my 2 sons who are 1st VNese American generation. Thanks
My mouth keep watering to watch Mark eat that food because those are my favorite food. I’m sure you can keep eating everyday.
Always love. how much you love to put chilli on everything!
Quang Tran Thanks Quang
Mark, that plain grilled beef was actually wrapped in the fatty "net" taken from the outside lining of the cow's stomach. When you eat the nem nuong pork, dip it in the fish sauce dip. The beef ones goes into the fermented beef pineapple dip. Pork and egg rolls go in to the fish sauce dip. I love this mind of meals too! I am hungry now!
I found your food videos about 4 hours ago. I've enjoyed them very much. As a vietnamese foodie from the north, I learned so much about Sai gon food from you. I did The lunch lady in my last visit to Sai Gon about 6 months ago. I'll try the other places you recommend on my next trip. I also like the way you wave your head around when you have a good bite. That's funny ha ha. Thank you for the fun! Keep it up!
This was a really nice video. I'm Vietnamese and thought this was a very good description. You nailed the pronunciation and show great enthusiasm.
Hi! I am in vietnam. I am very glad that you have introduced the good food of vietnam thanks
I'm Vietnamese. it's nice to know that you like our food. have you try the bánh xèo yet?
DEAR MARK JUST LOVE YOUR TRAVELS AND ALL THE FOODIES
For a moment I thought you were showing us the recipe but then I realized that no, you were actually putting it together to eat. Soo, so, cool!
***** Ha, I've never made this, but I would love to. 1/2 the recipe is just assembling it on your own!
Hi Mark! I read about how this is one of your favorite food in HCMC and I went to the restaurant to try it out today. It did not disappoint! It has quite a number of tourists as well. Thanks for the recommendation : )
I love seeing Mark talk to the employees in Vietnamese as they come by!!
Steven Pham Great thank you Steven, will try to do more filming like that in the future.
Thank you Mark for bringing the world of Asian food to those of us who can not travel to taste them. Through your videos and reviews I feel like I am there. bless you!
teddy teddy Thank you very much, really appreciate it.
Everything you eat looks so healthy and balanced, once again great video mark 👌🏼
Eduardo pena Thank you Eduardo
I am Vietnamese and I like your videos very much
You are so charm and funny in all clips about food. I love the way you talk about food, so cute.
It's 2AM. I'm dying and salivating.....
Love the way you gracefully handle the food and explain. Its amazing even watching it...thanks
for those who are new to this dish, the dipping sauce is called "mắm nêm" which is made from unfiltered anchovy sauce (stronger smell than regular fish sauce), diluted with water, crushed pineapple, sugar, lime juice, chili pepper, garlic, and lemon grass.
My mouth is watering. Nice video Mark!
Steve Fernandes Thanks Steve
gotta compliment you on your great pronunciation, you sound like a real Vietnamese there man
This is my favorite dish especially the sauce. Thanks for the video Mark. This makes my mouth watering 🤤😋
Hello everyone that argues about the rice paper that is not needed to be wet before wrapping the food up. I see it does exist when i visited Vietnam last year. The rice paper that don't need to be wet with water is more softer in texture and thinner and more flexible. If you are not sure, ask the waiter or waitress to clarify. this rice paper comes from the central Vietnam cuisine such as Qui nhon, Binh dinh , Nha trang, Hoi an..ect..they are used to wrap finger food and vegetables. BTW, I am Vietnamese born in the South.
dude i watch your show specifically for your facial expressions and how you turn your head..usually to the right!! oh and the food looks awesome too. you do a great job with your commentary...so complete and your pronunciation is great!
I was just in VN last week, back in the U.S. now... Love it so much over there, going to visit again in January!!
You are most welcome to visit any time Mark
For those that want to try this in the U.S, just know it's considered and expensive meal, usually call 7 beef coarses, $20-30 per person. Anyway, like other said, soak the rice paper first to make it malleable and easier to wrap. The dipping sauce is anchovies paste, it's take getting use to, its' salty and smelly, add pineapple chunks to balance out that saltiness and tone down that smell.
Undoubtedly my very favorite Vietnamese dish!
Mark Am drooling watching you eating man . Thank you so much for fantastic video. You're eating very authentic Vietnamese foods. We make those at home sometimes. Thanks Mark.
What an impressive video. You really know how to form a spring roll with all the right ingredients. Props to you bro.
I'm obsessed with your videos Mark! I need to travel ASAP. The food looks amazing!
We are in Saigon now and I got to say this place is the cheapest, freshest, best tasting food in the city. It's not hard to find. Just go there if you love food.
Just an advice/suggestion: You might want to ask them for a bowl of water to dip the rice paper in to soften them. And ask for an extra plate to spread the roll out, so you can start assembling your roll! Otherwise, looks awesomely good! :)
punkrage Trust me thats not a good idea. XD its preferred very tiny amounts of water.
I think it's just a preference thing. I just had them (soften) with nem nuong the other night...God, can't describe the experience! SO GOOD!
punkrage it kinda depends what type of rice paper you're using. Most vietnamese rice paper are very thin so its not a good idea to put it in water or else you won't be able to wrap it.
Wetting the rice paper will allow you to bind the ends and sides together and hold everything together. However, the general rule is to not overstuff the banh chang (rice paper) with so much vegetables and herbs because it's so delicate when soften/wet (so, it breaks). Again, it's a preferential thing.
Well Mark, YT is suddenly including your Vietnamese old videos from years back. I started to follow you way back before this series. I think this is a sign for you to go back to Vietnam again. It’s overdue. lol
You can use the vegan to wipe the rice paper so it won't break when you roll. And put the chilli in the sause, it's better! Glad you enjoy our food! Sr for my poor english! :3
Never get bored with your videos :)
Hi Mark, love all your videos and the best of all is your signature "happy boy" expression of satisfaction:)-... Wish you and your family all the best in the world.
I watched few saigon’s video from you and all the food places you’ve visited are my favorite places. Thanks for ur video , it makes me feel like I am in Saigon now.
One of my wife's favorite! We always have this as part of Bo 7 Mon or 7 course beef.
Hi,
Any particular restaurant in HCM? Will eventually go back...
B/c the one that I went to (in Saigon) wasn’t as good as what we have in Montreal.
For bo 7 min I mean. Err 7 mon.
Hooray! I found the Vietnam videos! Thank you! The food looks amazing!
My mouth is watering watch mark eat this..I LOVE VIETNAMESE FOOD😋😋😎
He likes everything. There is no dislike button on his tongue .
Mark, I too love that dish and anything wrapped in charred leaves! Nice video fellow Tastemaker :)
For everyone who is questioning: You can use wet veggies to soften the rice paper. You don't need to dip it in water, it may be to wet :D
MAN! Super hungry now! Wish I could teleport over to Vietnam and eat some right now. It's just not the same when it's made in America xD
Soumi Thanks!
Awesome video once again Mark! With respect Mr.Molina San Diego California!
Mark! This is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes too! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Trung Ngo Yes, great to hear that Trung, thank you for watching.
I enjoy your travels and various foods that you encounter...travel and taste the worlds exciting foods..I envy you are 😋👍
I swear. It is very good. Any kind of rolls are good with special fish sauce, vegs, all kind of meat. We eat things like this almost every week. We put so many kind of herbs in the rolls.....uhmmm yummmy. Bo la lot is so so good. If you live in the U.S., u can find some restaurants have it like in California, houston, Dalas texas.....
Good job Mark. Make me wanna go back to the motherland one day. Keep the videos coming!
I think I might need to go on another Saigon trip real soon. Missed this delicacy, and the Vietnamese restaurant in my place doesn't serve these.
Seeing all this makes me want to visit this beautiful country!
Hilco88 Thank you, hope you can visit.
Xem thôi mà tưởng tượng ra cái mùi thơm lừng nứt mũi của nó rồi. Tôi rất thích món này.
omg i am so hungry from watching all your videos that u were in my country.. love all my country food...so tasty and yummy
You take the most enormous bites! My mouth is watering!
Makanan sehat dan menggugah selera
VietNamese people are so kind and friendly. I'm traveling at VietName right now. Soooo good !
don’t get robbed!
I love this dish one of my fav. Also my mom's favourite! Great I'm very hungry now
When I watching your video my mouth keep leaking water..make me hungry, Bo nuong la lot it the best street food ....thank your video...
Akon Lee Thank you!
Have been waiting for this video of yours for too longggggggggg
Lee Linh Thanks for watching Lee, finally out!
your videos are amazing Mark, we loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Mark makes me hungry every time i watch his videos.
This is the best food i had in vietnam khrub.
Cheap, clean and excellent!
Hi Mark, you need to soften the rice wrapper by dipping into water before wrapping. :)Enjoy your channel
The sauce is called mắm nêm, another kind of sauce made of fermented fish. Unlike nước mắm (the traditional Vietnamese fish sauce), this is fairly thick and more pungent so to sooth it out to use as a dipping sauce, there's pineapple, sugar, a dash of water added to it.
Andy Nguyen Tran Thank you very much Andy, really appreciate it.
Your pronunciation on “nem nuong” is actually spot on. I thought for a second a Vietnamese person was speaking and not you. (in the beginning...not quite when you were in the middle of eating it...haha I think the food got you all distracted)
@ everyone complaining about the rice paper. The rice paper he uses, and that's used in a lot of restaurants or food stalls in viet nam is thin enough that you don't need to wet it, it's a special type of rice paper. Yes a lot of rice paper you do have to wet, but not this. Even Helen's recipes talks about this in one of her videos.
watching you eat makes me hungry. My mouth starts watering.
Salivating here at midnight. Thanks for ruining my night again, Mark. LOL!! And you are right, nothing should go to waste!! I would be scraping the peanuts and that other stuff up onto the wrap too! 😁 Great video of another dish I've never seen! Love it!
Alexis Yaj Haha, you're welcome for that Alexis, thank you for watching!
My favorite Vietnamese dish! So freaking delicious!
Mam nem is one of my favourite dipping sauces. Really goes great with bo la lot :)
making me hungry watching you eat all the time. will try it when i go back around tet.
I do find it a bit funny that your experience in Saigon has involved such pleasant people. Most Vietnamese expats (especially around here in Canada) tend to go back and go "I forgot how rude people in Vietnam can be".
+BrianTheAsian There are nice or rude people any where around the world... Some are just lucky to encounter nice people, while some are unlucky to meet the opposite...
This easily is my favorite dish. Thanks for making this vid Mark.
Good introducing Vietnamese food, watching this channel makes me drool. I like watching you first bite.You are so funny. Thank you for sharing.
One of the best looking beef dishes ever
XDavidX10 Thanks
Your welcome
I love your videos and make me love my foods so much more!!!
Thanks!!!!!
Nguyen Phuong Thank you very much!
You make me really miss Vietnam and wishing I can go back soon.
I love this dish a lot.
beside beef we also use pork and fried-bo la lot is also delish! eat with hot rice, nothing's better. btw, your vietnamese is very impressed! cheers!
most of the tourists cant eat mắm nêm , they think its stinky but im glad you enjoyed it
I love this! Grilled these up for a bbq once and it was awesome!
CheekiexMonkiee Great to hear that, glad you love them too.
I'm happy you like bo la lot! It is one of my favourite viet dishes, especially during the hotter days, which I feel isn't too popular (or isn't available) in Western countries sadly :(
looks absolutely delicious
My favourite dish of all time!!!
The food looks great especially with the veggies! We don't get the veggies here in California when we order the bo la lot.
I think that woman put on her best PJs for the video @ 5:22
Oh I just got a little jealous of you Mark. Bo La Lot is one of the best meals I have ever tried. Last time I ate it was two years ago in Hue.
CNBG74 Thank you, so glad you love it too!
This place looks absolutely AWESOME for lunch!!!
TheSpritz0 Thanks, it's a great place to eat if you visit Saigon!