Vietnam-eats 🇻🇳

Quick-poached beef slices tossed in a well-balanced nuoc cham sauce-like dressing with peanuts, herbs and lots of red onions. So good, we ordered this twice!

The second one arrived a bit more pink (beef slices) than the first, but I was confident the onion's astringency will take care of anything that survives. 🤣 Must order!

Been wanting to try this ever since I saw @bjornshen posted this and my, oh my, this didn't disappoint. Sure, the freshly made rice roll layers aren't uniform in thickness but it's still soft and chewy. The filling is a simple but flavourful stir-fry of minced pork and wood ear mushroom. Comes with fried shallots, Vietnamese luncheon meat/meat cake, bean sprouts and chopped lettuce. May be a wee bit oily for some, but it's so tasty!

It seems the token Vietnamese dishes here are pretty ho-hum. Filled with mostly vermicelli and two halves of prawn and dry char siew, the nuoc cham dip could only do so much. Will try the fried one next time.

This was the most disappointing out of all we ordered here. Soup was very watered down (esp when you compare it with the pho), and there was no heat at all. Beef slices were okay, but other than that, this bowl left a lot to be desired. Get the beef pho if you must have soupy noodles.

Supposedly one of the best-sellers here. While it was a pretty good bowl of pho (miles ahead of the Bun Bo Hue), we felt this was nothing to write home about. We think they excel better in the sharing dishes; looking forward to trying those instead next time.

Liked the tender pork chop here but the marinade was sweeter than most Vietnamese dishes I've tried (which is generally on the sweet side). Glad I decided against the Bun Thit Nuong (which features the same pork chop), as that ended up being way too sweet with the sweet nuoc cham sauce. I'll probably order something else if I ever come back; saw a Vietnamese lady order two sour crab noodles that looked good!

Note: The menu's wide variation coupled with their tiny kitchen meant much longer than usual waiting time. So don't come hungry! They also substitute items (e.g. the sad sunny side up for a supposed meat loaf) without informing you, so just don't be surprised that it's not exactly like the photo in the menu.

I usually avoid wanton mees with orange-tinged char siew, but the one here didn't look super dry and cardboard-y plus I really wanted to try Vietnamese wanton mee.

What really sets this bowl apart from local renditions is the lemongrass-tinged chilli, which has a pretty gentle bite but lingers on the lips for quite some time. Shiok! I liked both types of dumplings: tiny deep-fried wantons and plump, generously-filled boiled ones in the soup.

While I would definitely order this again, I'm also keen to try the off-the-menu daily specials next time we're here (e.g. banh mis on Fridays)!

Another place that serves pretty good Viet fare! While not as pocket-friendly as Mrs Pho, the food's pretty tasty and legit.

Out of all the items we tried, the highlight for me was the banh mi. The baguette was crisp on the outside and cottony inside, stuffed with grilled pork plus the usual carrot and radish pickles drizzled with nuoc cham (fish sauce + lime + sugar dipping sauce). Apparently they bake their own bread using a special oven to achieve that lovely texture inside and out, just like the good ones you can in Vietnam.

This is probably my default order at most Vietnamese eateries. While they don't actually grill the pork chop here (so no char-grilled taste), the flavours are pretty on point. The nuoc cham sauce was well-balanced, though didn't have much chopped chillies — so if you want it spicier, you can just add more from the self-service condiment tray.
Spring roll was meaty but not freshly fried, so I'd probably skip that next time.

While the baguette used for the banh mi does not have the super thin and crisp crust that I love, the beautifully-marinated char-grilled lemongrass pork slices more than made up for it. I wish the pickled veggies were tangier though – but nothing a good squeeze of Sriracha can't fix.😄

As for the pho, I was pleasantly surprised to taste that the broth was more flavourful than expected. The amount of beef slices wasn't too stingy either!

p.s. Pop by soon to enjoy the value-for-money opening special set meal at $13 nett (inclusive of 1 side, 1 main and hot/iced tea). Add a $1 for coffee.

What's a Vietnamese meal without spring rolls? These are stuffed with a flavourful mixture of minced meat, vermicelli, black fungus, carrots and onions. The stall owners deep-fry them upon order so they come crisp and piping hot with nuoc cham sauce on the side. Absolutely moreish!

I like bun thit nuong more than pho (I'm a sucker for anything with grilled stuff in it), so when I saw someone thoroughly enjoying a bowl we definitely had to order one too.

The portion was really generous, just like the pho that they serve here. The rice vermicelli noodles were springy and liberally sprinkled with roasted peanuts, bean sprouts, herbs, pickled veggies and pork slices. The accompanying sauce was a mild blend of sweet, salty and spicy that didn't overpower the dish. It would have been perfect if the pork slices were char-grilled like they're supposed to, but considering the space constraints (and the price), it's completely forgivable.