Sacramento: Quan Nem Ninh Hoa

Back in April, we did a little girls' weekend up in Tahoe.  On the way up, we made two very important stops.  The first was in Stockton for tacos at El Grullito.  Those tripas tacos were just as mind blowing as I remembered them being when I went in 2013.  I was a little worried that I might have hyped them up in my own head, but no.  They are indeed the best tripas tacos I've ever had.

Our second stop was in Sacramento.  T led us to Quan Nem Ninh Hoa:

We ordered a selection of goodies and brought them to enjoy for dinner at the cabin in Tahoe.  We got banh beo (10 for $7.50):

Nem nuong cuon or grilled pork sausage spring rolls ($4 for $8.75):

And banh bot loc la (10 for $8.25):

I didn't know that we could get those grilled pork sausage spring rolls outside of SoCal, so I was reasonably excited.  While they're not quite as good as Brodard's (the sauce at Brodard is crack sauce), they're still pretty damn good. 

I thought the spring rolls would be the highlight for me, but that turned out not to be the case.  Instead, the banh bot loc la were a revelation.  These steamed tapioca dumplings came with a glutinous exterior and both shrimp and pork inside:

I'd had banh bot loc la before, but I'd always found them to be bland and uninteresting.  Quan Nem Ninh Hoa's, however, was full of flavor.  The glutinous exterior was peppery, which I'd never found anywhere else.  The meat filling was so savory that you didn't even need to dip them in fish sauce.

We all loved them so much that on the way home, we stopped by Quan Nem Ninh Hoa again just to buy a frozen batch (100 for $45).  It tasted just as delicious steamed or microwaved at home.

I may not go up to Sacramento very often, but now when I do, Quan Nem Ninh Hoa is a required pitstop.  You can bet I'll be carrying a cooler so that I can bring 100 frozen banh bot loc la home with me.

Quan Nem Ninh Hoa

6450 Stockton Blvd

Sacramento, CA 958234

(916) 428-3748