Restaurant: Anh Hong
City: Milpitas, CA

Had Vietnamese food for dinner tonight with my parents and my mom’s coworkers. This restaurant is known for their bò 7 món (7 courses of beef). My mom remembers having bò 7 món when she was a kid in Saigon. If you’re coming here for the bò 7 món, be sure to come when you’re really hungry as you’ll be very full at the end! (I had late breakfast and skipped my lunch.)

The following are the 7 courses of beef offered at Anh Hong’s Milpitas location (they are also located in Berkeley and San Francisco), with most of them posted individually:

1.  Gỏi Bò – Beef Salad
2.  Bò Nhúng Dấm – Beef Fondue in Red Wine Vinegar Sauce
3.  Bò Lá Lót – Grilled Beef Lot Leaf
4.  Bò Nứơng Xả – Grilled Beef Lemongrass
5.  Bò Mởi Chài – Beef Sausage
6.  Bò Chả Đùm – Beef Meat Balls
7.  Cháo Bò – Beef Porridge

Bò 7 món is served with rice paper, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, bean sprouts, and variety of mixed mint leaves. Fish sauce (nước mắm), shrimp paste (mắm ruốc), and chili pepper sauce were also provided.

Bò bảy món, on menus often “Bò 7 món” (literally “seven courses of beef” in Vietnamese) is a selection of beef dishes in Vietnamese cuisine, which is typically served at weddings. Multi-course meals such as Bò 7 món are representative of higher-end Vietnamese cuisine. The cooked beef portions are then wrapped (by the individual eating it) with rice paper, a variety of herbs (rau sống), lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots and then dipped in mắm nêm. This slightly chunky sauce is made with anchovies and has a sweet and tangy flavor, due to the pineapple that is often added to achieve sweetness. This sauce is much more pungent in flavor than its cousin, nước mắm (fish sauce), and is not homogenized, allowing the textures of the original ingredients to characterize the sauce. A similar but less popular multi-course meal is the Cá 7 Món (literally “seven courses of fish”). (Wikipedia)

Bo 7 Mon is a popular Vietnamese meal consisting of seven different types of beef preparations usually served at weddings. The exact origin of the seven course dinner is not known. Historically, beef is not very popular in Vietnam. It was also very expensive as cows were a highly-prized domestic animal in the agriculture-based country. It is possible that the dish evolved to suit the tastes of high-class Vietnamese families who wanted to use the expensive meat to showcase their wealth and cooking. (iFood.tv)

Anh Hong Restaurant was established in 1954 in Phu Nhuan, Vietnam. Our restaurant is best known for our 7 Courses of Beef or Bo 7 Mon menu with its fresh Wraps & Roll. Our family created the Seven Courses of Beef Menu and this menu is now regarded as one of the many authentic dishes of Vietnam. In fact, this menu has become a part of the traditional Vietnamese dishes. We are extremely proud of this accomplishment. (Anh Hong Restaurant)