At first, I didn’t know what to make of Bún Box, 2600 N. Classen Blvd., mostly because I couldn’t find it.
I parked nearby in a vacant lot, and although they had a few lawn signs pinpointing the location, it was like navigating a corn maze to find the spot. And once I did locate it, I had to do a double-take, as it was desolate, barren, and, even worse, had an ordering window that turned into the turgid street.
My girlfriend and I quickly scanned the menu and placed our orders, and as I sat in the small vestibule with the frigid wind blowing in my face, this didn't seem like a good place for lunch. At all.
But, as I slowly acclimated to the character of my surroundings and their architectural choices, the place started to grow on me. I felt like I was in some other place, perhaps a hidden spot in Hanoi, far from the flat lifeless plains of Oklahoma City. Then the food arrived and I was instantly sold.
Based on a concept from the brilliant minds of Lee’s Sandwiches, Bún Box mostly features Vietnamese vermicelli bowls – with your choice of grilled pork, shrimp, chicken, vegetables, or egg rolls.
After a few minutes of temperate waiting, my number was called and the tray of packed boxes was taken to the wobbly table.
My girlfriend went with the Lemongrass Pork ($11.00) and a vegan eggroll ($1.00).
While the eggroll was alright as far as eggrolls go, the grilled pork topped the vermicelli admirably, with the side of shredded cucumber, pickled daikon, and various Vietnamese herbs all dowsed in the fish sauce that made the whole dish very tart. It was a most perfunctory meal!
For my selection, I went on-brand and chose the Vegan Bun ($11.00), which according to the menu, is apparently crafted by OKC Eggroll. It contained a section of lemongrass seitan, curry tofu, oyster, beech, and shitake mushrooms for the most part.
It was a perfectly baller lunch, with the homemade bún and its curry tofu and shitake mushrooms leading the pack in taste. With the spicy sauce drizzled on my vegan plains, it is quite disarming when looking for a backwoods taste, but it works!
As I put the finishing touches on this review, which was delayed a week after a battle with the flu, a large sign for Bún Box went up, making the eatery easier to find in the cold, dark traffic down Classen.
As Oklahoma's two-week autumn transitions to a torrid winter, I will have to give the spot and its now-charming patio a second go around when everything thaws.
Cómpralo ya!
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