Meals Under $8: PPQ's Bun

Pho Phu Quoc Beef Noodle House (1816 Irving), better known as PPQ, has 10 different kinds of Vietnamese vermicelli noodles, or bun, on the menu (priced from $6.75 to $7.95). Pictured here is the bun with imperial rolls and charbroiled pork ($7.95). Before you say that it doesn't seem like much, what you can't see is all of the good salad stuff underneath that combines with the vermicelli noodles and the rolls to give this dish its filling heft, including lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, and cucumber.

It is left for you to mix the ingredients and the sweet nuoc mam sauce all together, though some prefer to eat and dip in different layers, tasting all the individual components first. And PPQ knows its way around the deep fryer; the imperial rolls are light and delicious instead of weighed down in wrapper and oil. If you want to avoid fried food altogether, you're honestly missing out on a treat -- but seven of the varieties come without the imperial rolls and with toppings like pork sausage, five spices chicken, and charbroiled shrimp.