Chilgok Vietnamese restaurant: bun cha-style icy cold noodles, Raichen

Daegu is hot now, not just at midday but even after the sun goes down. Last Sunday, when evening came around, I kept craving something cold.

Naengmyeon (cold noodles) felt too familiar, and I wasn't in the mood for kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles) that day. Looking for something different, I found the cold rice noodles that Raichen Daegu had just launched as a new summer menu. I'd only ever had pho in hot broth, never cold, so I was curious and went right over.

Where is Raichen Chilgok Branch, and where do you park?

Raichen Chilgok Branch (라이첸 칠곡점) is across from the Chilgok Homeplus parking lot entrance, next to A Twosome Place. I parked on the street in front of the restaurant!

Opening hours and atmosphere

Raichen Chilgok Branch is open from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM and closed every Monday. I came for a slightly early dinner, just before 6 PM on Sunday, and the place was already pretty busy. There were couples on dates and families out for a weekend meal, yet the overall mood was relaxed and comfortable, which made it nice for eating.

Rattan lights hanging from the ceiling, wooden tables and curtains with a subtle pattern make for a cozy space. Non hats (traditional Vietnamese conical hats) and palm tree decorations are placed here and there on the walls, so it feels like a local restaurant in Vietnam.

What's on the menu at Raichen Chilgok Branch?

The menu has plenty of rice noodle soups, from the basic Hanoi style to southern, central, spicy and offal versions, and a wide choice of rice dishes too, like trotter rice, pork rice bowls, shrimp fried rice and chili shrimp rice bowls.

Each item comes with a clear photo and a short description, so even people who don't eat much Vietnamese food can pick by taste.

There were two of us, and we ordered generously: Raichen's new summer cold rice noodles, plus trotter rice and banh xeo (crispy Vietnamese savory pancake).

While you wait after ordering, you can set up pickled onions and pickled chili side dishes at the self-serve corner on one side of the hall.

We chatted for about 10 minutes after ordering, and then a hearty spread arrived.

What do Raichen's cold rice noodles taste like?

The cold rice noodles at Raichen Chilgok Branch come with the noodles in a slushy, sweet-and-sour broth, and fire-grilled pork and vegetables served on the side. It didn't taste like pho gone cold; it felt much closer to bun cha (Vietnamese grilled pork with noodles).

The cold noodles had pickled radish as a topping on the icy broth, with the rice noodles underneath. There were no bean sprouts in the broth.

Instead, crispy pork with a smoky grill flavor, lettuce and cabbage came out separately on a plate. You can dip them in the broth or eat them on the side, however you like. I love cilantro, so I asked for some too.

It was my first cold rice noodles ever, so I wondered what they'd taste like, whether it'd be just pho that had gone cold. Not at all. I spooned up the icy broth first, and the moment it touched my mouth the coolness spread and the heat just melted away.

In summer heat, hot pho can actually kill your appetite, but the cold noodles at Raichen Chilgok Branch could bring back even an appetite that left home from the heat. The broth is pleasantly sweet and sour yet savory, and personally it felt closer to bun cha than to pho.

Because the broth is cold, the noodles don't go soggy fast, and the combination of chewy, springy noodles, fresh vegetables and pork with a deep smoky flavor was better than I expected. The more I ate, the more it grew on me compared to the first bite.

Why is Raichen's trotter rice a hidden menu item?

Raichen's trotter rice (jokbal-bap) is a full tray with slow-cooked pig's trotter, white rice, soup and side dishes. Raichen is known as a Chilgok 3-jigu place that does rice noodles well, but the real hidden menu item that only those in the know order is this trotter rice.

I'd tried it at another branch before and fell for it, so I ordered it again, and it was just as good.

It came neatly on a big tray with trotter, white rice, soup and side dishes. Plenty of meat clung to the big bones, and the look alone was overwhelming! It was so well cooked that you don't need tongs or scissors; the meat falls off the bone just by touching it with chopsticks.

The sweet-and-salty seasoning soaks right into the tender meat, and from the first bite it's a total dopamine hit.

The meat on its own was a little salty, but on top of white rice the seasoning was just right.

How do you eat banh xeo?

Raichen's banh xeo comes with lettuce, rice paper, pickled radish and nuoc cham (fish sauce dip), and the instructions for how to eat it are stuck on the tablet on the table. The key is to wrap it in rice paper as is, without soaking it in water.

• Lay the rice paper on your palm without wetting it
• Put a piece of lettuce and the banh xeo on top and roll it up
• Dunk it in the nuoc cham and enjoy

The banh xeo was thin and crispy, almost fried, and packed with crunchy bean sprouts, tender pork and springy shrimp. Add the crispness of the rice paper and the freshness of lettuce and it's a texture party. The nuoc cham neatly cuts the greasiness that a savory pancake can have, so I finished it down to the last piece without getting tired of it.