NJ Dining: Binh Duong (UPDATED)

Binh Duong
East West Shopping Plaza
61 1/2 Belleville Ave, Bloomfield NJ 07003
(973 )680-8440/8441

There has been a recent resurgence of Vietnamese restaurants in Northern NJ, with the re-opening of “Little Saigon” in Bloomfield as Huong Viet. Recently, another local favorite, Binh Duong, also did some minor renovations and I’d like to report that this tiny restaurant’s food and service is as excellent as it ever was.

Binh Duong, which is named for one of the southernmost provinces of the country, is a little hole-in-the-wall traditional Vietnamese restaurant with huge menu. They’ve got every variety of noodle soup imaginable which go great with the type of beat-you-to-death weather we’ve been having. The service is great, and they’re also dirt cheap.

Binh Duong Storefront in the East/West Shopping Plaza in Bloomfield (August 2007).

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Binh Duong is a very cozy Vietnamese restaurant with a devoted customer following. The restaurant has excellent service, but don’t bring a group of more than four people here as quarters can get very tight. Also, if you sit towards the front of the restaurant in the wintertime, you’ll be hit with an arctic blast whenever someone opens the front door. But don’t let this deter you from dining here.

Shrimp Salad with Green Papaya, a great way to start off a meal. (2007)

Summer Rolls, or Goi Cuon. These are rice paper wrappers filled with shrimp, pork, basil, noodles, chives and accompanied by a peanut/hoisin/fish sauce dip. (2007)

Miniature spring rolls or Cha Gio.

Cha Gio (2010)

Shrimp and Pork Salad (2007)

Sauteed Beef Cube Salad (2007)

Pho Tai, Saigon beef broth soup with rice noodles and rare beef slices. Great in summer and as a winter pick-me-up, it’s the national dish of Vietnam for very good reason. Served with fresh limes, herbs and sprouts, I like to add a little bit of Hoisin and Sriracha chili sauce to it to kick it up somewhat. (2007)

Herb condiments for Pho: Sawtooth (Also known as Recao or Culantro), Asian Basil, Coriander, Sprouts, Lime, fresh chiles (2007)

This is a spicy crab noodle soup. Also very good. (2007)

Bun Bo Hue, a spicy noodle soup from the central Hue province. If you got nasal congestion of any kind, this will fix that up real quick. (2007)

Fried Squid. A great appetizer. (2010)

Curry Mussels (2010)

Asparagus Soup with Crab. A nice small soup if you don’t want to commit to one of the big ones above. (2007)

Sauteed Lemongrass Tofu with Peppers and Onion (2007)

Shrimp Fried Rice (2007)

Quail Appetizer (2007)

Grilled Pork with Rice Noodles (2007)

The pieces of grilled pork are wrapped up in bundles of rice noodle and herbs. (2007)

Sauteed Pork with Preserved Vegetables (2007)

Sauteed Pork with Preserved Vegetables (2007)

Chicken Curry (2010)

Curry with Pork and Cellophane Noodles (2007)

Beef Rolls (2010)

Sauteed Water Spinach with Garlic (2010)

Ginger Chicken (2007)

Corn Pudding Dessert (2007)