I can count on one hand the number of banh xeo I’ve had that have been really good, and not just passable: San Jose, Orange County, Vietnam, St. Louis, and in Melbourne… Oh, wait, and at home, too, because I’ve mastered the recipe that Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American cookbook author I love, has made public. The few times I’ve tried ordering it in New York, whether it’s been in Queens or Manhattan, it’s been pretty terrible. The texture is soggy, there’s no coconut milk flavor, and there’s zero crunch. But tonight, at Madame Vo, a popular modern Vietnamese restaurant that has opened in the East Village, I actually sat there a little stunned when the beautifully plated banh xeo came to the table. As soon as the server set the dish down, I could smell the coconut scent wafting towards my nose. When I eyed it carefully, it was seared properly so the edges were crisp. You could see brown fry marks on it. And when I actually bit into it, as big-headed as it sounds, it almost tasted like what I’d produce at home. This place is pricey, but it’s also a keeper. It’s the only place in all of New York City that can produce a banh xeo I’d actually willingly pay for. And it’s comforting thing considering that it’s such a labor-intense dish to make.