Some dishes simply need more time.
Bep is a pop-up Vietnamese eatery open only on Monday, when the host venue, Simple Café, takes time off. Perhaps because the culinary engine goes cold six days a week, it's hard to start it up for a special like Hanoi chicken soup ($10); the broth was bland, as were the shredded chicken and the slices of pork and fried egg, and the vermicelli quickly fell limp. I tasted mint in my first slurp, but not again. In addition to the customary (tiny) dish of bean sprouts, sliced peppers, and lime, several squirt bottles sidled up to the bowl; the fishiest sauce was also the most amenable. Perhaps the cha gio (spring rolls) and banh mi would be better choices, at least till Bep lands a kitchen it can call its own.
Bep at Simple Café
346 Bedford Ave. (at South 3rd St.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718-218-7067
Monday only; Tuesday through Sunday, the venue operates as Simple Café
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