The best Vietnamese sizzling crêpe/banh xeo at Banh Xeo Ba Duong in Danang

The banh xeo (which translates into English as “sizzling crêpe”) at Ba Duong in Danang was one of my most memorable meals in Vietnam. Lena T., my food guide for Danang, showed us the proper way to eat Madame Duong’s banh xeo, which is to wrap a portion with some nem nuong (grilled pork sausage) and fresh veg in rice paper, and then dip the roll in the “miracle sauce” (as dubbed by locals, according to Lena). The sauce reminds me of the addicting accompaniment to nem nuong rolls from stateside Bodard, a restaurant found in Little Saigons across America. Ba Duong’s banh xeo rolls are amazing, covering a spectrum of flavor, texture, and temperature—you get the salty from the sausage, sweet from the crêpe batter, bitter from the herbs, and sweet and savory from the sauce. The banh xeo is crispy, the filling tender, and the lettuce and cucumbers crunchy. The sausage and banh xeo are hot, while the raw vegetable accoutrement cool.Side note: I’ve noticed that most of the rice paper (banh trang) served in VIetnam never come with a side bowl of warm water for reconstituting. I learned that a bowl of water just takes up unnecessary real estate on the table, and that the rice paper should be thin enough for the moisture from the raw vegetables to rehydrate the paper once stacked for wrapping.The hubs, BIL, Lena, her boyfriend, and I devoured the sizzling crêpe and grilled pork sausage, which are the two dishes I highly recommend ordering. If you need more food, the bo la lot—grilled beef sausages wrapped in betel leaves—are great, too. And, of course, everything goes down with a healthy dousing of that miracle sauce. Oh, and order corn milk! This was the first time I’ve ever had corn milk, which seems to be sweetened milk infused with corn, and it was amazing!Madame Duong’s eponymous restaurant is down at the end of an alley, so it might be difficult to find at first. But ask any local, any cabbie, and they should know who makes the most famous banh xeo in town. I’m not sure if Ms. Duong is still cooking, but supposedly all her daughters have taken over the family business. The place is busy during weekend mealtimes, but on the two occasions we went (yes, we loved it so much, we had to get in another helping before flying back to HCMC), we didn’t have to wait for a table.Ba Duong makes the best banh xeo, in my opinion. Who makes yours?Banh Xeo Ba DuongK280/23 Hoang DieuDanang, VietnamPhone: +84 051 1387-3168