Meatball Dry Pho Was scrolling around social media and got to know about the existence of the new Bep Mai at CHIJMES — Bep Mai takes up a spot situated beside POCZARICA within the CHIJMES complex; for those whom are familiar with CHIJMES somewhat, Bep Mai can be found within the same vicinity as where the now-defunct Prive outlet used to be within CHIJMES. Bep Mai takes up a fairly decently-sized space within the CHIJMES; the interior comes with a pretty well-sized dining space that sees the use of wallpapers featuring mosaic elements, as well as elements of dark green and brown — all matching up with the wooden furniture and fittings that can be found throughout the entire space and gives the space a pretty chic and modern vibe with familiar Vietnamese elements whilst at it. The feature wall that can be found within the establishment seems to feature the life story of Chef Mai from her birth to the opening of Bep Mai; an establishment of which is being described as one that “serves her mother’s recipe with love”. It is also noted that the dining furniture at Bep Mai is configured to accommodate for diners visiting the establishment in pairs to up to groups of six (6) pax; there is also bar counter seating right outside the kitchen that would work well with patrons whom are visiting the establishment alone as well. The food menu is split into categories such as Must Order, Good for Sharing, Beef Pho, Chicken Pho, Wagyu Beef Pho, Bun Cha, Banh Mi and Fried Rice, while the beverage menu comprises of sections dedicated to Vietnamese Coffee, Specialty Drinks and Beers.
One of the things that caught our eyes when skimming through the menu was the availability of Dry Pho on its menu; the typical soup pho is something that one would most likely be able to find at Vietnamese dining establishments that are located all across the island, though dry pho is pretty much a rarity with only a small handful of Vietnamese establishments serving the dish here. Bep Mai offers its patrons with three (3) different variants of Dry Pho — the Vegetarian Dry Pho, the Beef Brisket Dry Pho and the Meatball Dry Pho. Going for the Meatball Dry Pho, the menu describes the dish to feature elements such as beef brisket, beef meatballs and rice vermicelli. Giving the dish a little bit of a toss before digging in, it seems that the Dry Pho here features the same exact noodles that one would expect to see in a standard pho; served dry, the noodles are being tossed in a soy sauce mix that is lightly savoury that provides quite a bit of flavour to the rice noodles on its own without being overwhelming. The rice noodles came with sufficient sauce to keep them moist enough to avoid the rice noodles to become clumpy and all stuck together; all that whilst coming with a springy, QQ texture at the same time. The beef meatballs do seem to have been fried to achieve a slightly crisp exterior; the interior of the meatball still firmly packed together but tender, whilst it also does not carry any strong gamey notes as well. The beef brisket comes sliced pretty thin here; almost akin to that of which that one would expect for Shabu Shabu; we absolutely loved how these were tender and moist with sufficient fats to keep things melt-in-the-mouth — all that whilst also being not particularly gamey at the same time. The chicken soup that is served on the side is also exemplary; does seem to be the one that they use for their Chicken Pho offerings which was especially light yet flavourful and was a sheer delight to have on its own. Definitely something different from the usual that is worth giving a go considering the rarity of the dish here.
During the same visit, we also found ourselves going for the Grilled Chicken Bun Cha; this was an item that is being described on the menu to come with elements such as Hanoi street-style grilled chicken, rice vermicelli and pickled sauce. This would be pretty much the standard Bun Cha item that one would come across and most other Vietnamese dining establishments — other elements that is observed to come with the Grilled Chicken Bun Cha would be peanuts, carrots and fresh herbs; just to name a few. Going for the item with the pickled sauce being mixed in, the picked sauce comes with fish sauce that is typically what one would expect for a Bun Cha dish — there is this hint of savoury and umami notes that come through when it gets mixed around the rice vermicelli noodles in the bowl; this would also largely be the most dominant flavour that one would be able to pick up from the dish. The addition of other elements like the peanuts further adds another dimension of texture and a nuttiness to the item, but the other star here would be the Hanoi street-style grilled chicken that comes juicy and tender whilst also carrying a slight smokiness amidst the savoury notes that it brings. We liked how the flavours of the various elements within the Grilled Chicken Bun Cha are fairly balanced here. Have skimmed through their variety of Vietnamese Coffee that they have to offer, we noticed that Bep Mai offers the Egg Coffee that we tend to go for whenever we see one being offered. The Egg Coffee comes default as a cold drink here, though it is noted that the Egg Coffee is served hot with a cup of ice on the side. The black Vietnamese coffee comes strong with a very robust caffeinated kick; all that whilst the egg-infused mousse layer sitting on the top — it does seem that the egg-infused mousse does come flame-torched for a slightly crusty texture, though we really liked how there was a distinct egginess that came along with a slight sweetness pretty similar to the flavour profile of the pudding in Creme Caramel here.
Being a dining establishment that focuses on its offerings on Vietnamese cuisine, Bep Mai is a spot that some might feel that is a little pricey considering how there are many alternatives for Vietnamese cuisine that serves up the same dishes for lower price points. The items listed in the Beef Pho, Chicken Pho, Wagyu Beef Pho, Bun Cha, Banh Mi and Fried Rice sections of the menu are priced from $16 to $46; the lowest-priced item being the Classic Ham Banh Mi, while the priciest item is the Power Wagyu Pho — a dish that is described to come with lightly poached and seared fatty wagyu beef. Despite the high price point for food here, we can still feel the difference that Bep Mai is serving up in terms of the quality of their offerings; the offerings do seem to showcase a lot of sincerity from Chef Mai to serve up flavours that she has grew up with prepared by her mum in its best form to Bep Mai’s patrons — food prepared with a lot of heart and soul hat is homely and hearty and is slightly more than what one would expect out of a typical Vietnamese establishment. A promising spot that is slightly tucked away from the main walkways of CHIJMES that one would simply walk by, we do hope that Bep Mai gets to showcase what it is all about to more patrons in the days to come — especially considering how there are definitely challenges faced by slightly more upscale Vietnamese establishments that makes their appearance in the local F&B scene here.
