Beef, broth and rice noodles combine in a delicious hot soup.

This soup alone could probably healthily feed a lesser person. But I usually start out a gluttonous family-style meal with my own little bowl. Friends and I have been eating at Nha Trang fairly regularly on Sunday nights, which is good because afterward, all we want to do is pass out.

I mix in plum sauce and sriracha, a sweet and spicy combination until the soup turns a dark shade of purple. Traditionally, the soup is topped with bean sprouts at the table for an added crunch. I prefer to simply snack ont he pile of been sprouts and eat the soup without them.

Beef Ball Soup

This Vietnamese noodle soup has lots of floating meatballs.

Normally I order beef soup, but in an effort to experiment, I wanted to try out the beef meatballs. The soup was good, but in retrospect I rather have had the sliced beef. The addition of plum sauce and sriracha turned the broth into a glorious red-brown elixir, but the balls didn’t really add to the flavor.

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This restaurant has since closed

Nha Trang
249 Newark Avenue
Jersey City

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