Food · singapore

Uncle Ho Tuckshop – Authentic Hanoi Cuisine

Since I moved to Singapore, I’ve been looking for a place that serve authentic Vietnamese food. I love them! One of Vietnamese dishes that I like is Bun Cha. Yup, not Pho. I’m not a big fan of Pho. I prefer their Bun (vermicelli) dishes.

Bun Cha is a dish from North Vietnam. I tried it in Saigon and people said Saigon version is ‘sweeter’ than Hanoi version. Well, for me at least it’s already great lol. Maybe someday I will have a chance to try the real Hanoi’s Bun Cha. But hey, I’m in Singapore now so what is the chance of finding a Bun Cha (any version is okay!)? Quite big chance actually. There are a lot of Vietnamese here, so I’m sure there is a decent Vietnamese restaurant around (not those chain restaurants). And here it is, I found Uncle Ho Tuckshop! I don’t remember how did I find this place, but that doesn’t matter 😀

Uncle ho Tuckshop front door
Uncle Ho Tuckshop front door
Uncle Ho Tuckshop interior
Uncle Ho Tuckshop interior
Uncle Ho Tuckshop review
Uncle Ho Tuckshop interior
Vietnam Corner
Wall Decorations

I decided to try this place out. The place is pretty easy to find. They have a big signage, you won’t miss it. The interior is simple. There are some Vietnam-themed decorations at one corner. You can sit in that area to feel the ambience. Other parts of the room are just like a normal restaurant. Or.. more like a canteen, with their big tables.

Looking at the menu, it seems authentic. And of course, my eyes are only looking at Bun Cha ❤ I didn’t really read other dishes. Just go straight to Bun Cha! 😀 I ordered at the cashier, paid them and waited for the food. Once it’s ready, they will call us out and we need to collect them.

Bun Cha
Bun Cha

I was so excited with my bowl of grilled pork and the vermicelli! Without delay (after taking photos), I dig in to try. It was sooo yummy! I’m happy with the meal. Grilled porks looks awesome. There are also pork belly. And, the soup contains young papayas as well. Authentic!

Do you know how to eat Bun Cha? A friend taught me like this : Take vermicelli, dip it in the soup, put it on top of lettuce, add in meat and other leaves, make a roll then enjoy! But since we’re not in Vietnam and they didn’t give many lettuces nor small bowl, this is what I did : Take the vermicelli with chopsticks, dunk them into the broth then enjoy it~ Eat it with the meat and vegetable as well. Yum! The soup can be too salty for some. If so, just dip the vermicelli a little so it won’t soak too much of the broth.

I would recommend this place to anyone who’s looking for great bun Cha. The only downside of this place is the location. It’s very far from the place I live and there is no nearby bus stop, so need to walk a bit. Unless you go there by taxi/grab.

Have you tried this place as well? Or do you have any recommendation of Vietnamese restaurant to try? Let me know in comment below.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Food · Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam

Pho Burger @ Relish and Sons

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One of the unique burger at Relish and Sons. Pho Burger. Yes, it sounds weird, but I’m a fan of pho so I need to try this one.

The bun was made from rice noodle. Patty was made from sliced beef, just like beef in pho. It came with pho soup, sauce, and veggies. 2016-07-29-11-08-31.jpg

Interestingly it tasted like eating pho! Yummy burger and innovative if I must say. You have to try it. It’s a burger with a taste of pho. It’s pho burger!

Relish and Sons (http://relishandsons.com/)

 

Food · Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam

My favorite pasta at Pizza 4Ps

Everyone here knows pizza 4Ps (maybe not everyone but at least most of the people know about it). It is very famous especially among foreigner, but there are many local people eating there as well. Their pizza is excellent. Made with special recipe and baked perfectly. I like most of their pizzas. But do you curious about their pasta as well? I did. That’s why we sometime order pasta and pizza for 2 persons, and of course their camembert cheese as well.

From few of the pasta I’ve tried there (except for the one with tomato sauce), I have 2 favorite there. The first one is clam and basil in pesto sauce. To be honest this pasta is not as good as before when I first tried it, but it still better compared to others. I would say this pasta is my 2nd favorite one.

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Clam and Basil in Pesto Sauce

My number 1 favorite there is Cheese and Pepper Pasta. In Italy, they call it cacio e pepe. I tried this type of pasta when I was in Rome. It is a very simple look pasta, but delicious! And even though it looks as simple as aglio olio, the process to make it is not that simple. Trust me, I’ve tried (and failed 😦 ) It uses 2 types on cheese, and need to be mixed at the right time to make it still al dente after mixing. And pizza 4Ps nailed it! I love this pasta very much. You should try it as well if you are a cheese lover (or even if you aren’t, just try it! It won’t hurt ;)).

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Cheese and Pepper Pasta

What is your favorite pasta in Pizza 4Ps? Do you have the same one as me? Please let me know in the comment so I can try it as well.

Ciao!

UPDATE :

October 2016 – They don’t have Cheese and Pepper Pasta anymore 😦

Food · Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam

Ganh – Vietnamese Restaurant

There are a lot of Vietnamese Restaurants in District 1 Ho Chi Minh City. From a very local place with cheap price to a fancy restaurant. Ganh is one of the medium level I think. It is located in 91 Hai Ba Trung, near the city center. Good location indeed. It is a Nha Trang food restaurant. So if you want to try the food from central Vietnam, you don’t need to go there (unless you have time to travel there of course). It’s not as good as the authentic food from Nha Trang but it’s already yummy enough!

I’ve been here one time and I love their Nem Nuong. It came with various items on a big bamboo plate (?) To eat this, you need to make a roll with lettuce leaf. Spread the lettuce and put the grilled pork, leaves, cucumber, mango, carrot,  and crispy rice paper on top of it, then wrap it all together. Dip it in the sauce and enjoy! Very delicious~

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Nem Nuong

This time we also ordered another dish (sorry I forgot the name! >.<) It consists of spring rolls (cha gio), rice noodle (the white thing on the center. I know.. it doesn’t look like noodle) and some veggies. This dish also yummy. You should try the rice noodle. It’s unique and it is delicious!

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Last dish we ordered was disappointing. Oyster omelette. My husband couldn’t ate it because it was too fishy. Even me who like fishy food also couldn’t ate it. Another thing was this omelette so bland, no taste. Just fishy from egg and oyster. They came with soy sauce, but it couldn’t be helped. Tasted really bad. We didn’t finish this one.

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Oyster Omelette

Have you tried the food from central Vietnam? How do you find the food? Do you like it? Tell me in comment!

Ciao!

Bread · Drinks · Food · Ho Chi Minh City · Snacks · Vietnam

Thao Dien Coffee – not an ordinary Coffee Shop

UPDATE : They have been closed down 😦

When I first heard about Thao Dien Coffee I thought of an usual coffee shop, where you can enjoy coffee, enjoy small bites (cakes, bread, salad) and no proper meal. I was wrong. They do serve food as well, and they are delicious! I’ll tell you my experience there.

My first visit was on an event organized by Relocation Vietnam for A.R.C (Animal Rescue and Care). Thao Dien Coffee was the venue for that event. That time they only served finger foods, so I couldn’t tell yet about their main course but those finger foods were really good! I needed to wait at the bar to grabbed it before all other guests came and finished it. Yes, they were finished so fast! At that time I had a chance to look around and I must say the place is very relaxing and peaceful. Especially the second floor. So I was thinking.. maybe it’s not a bad idea to hang out here sometime and try their food.

 

My second visit was for a meeting. We had a meeting there on second floor around 11.00 am and it was perfect time. No one else beside us on second floor. I heard that many families came here on the weekend, so I was a bit worried if it might disturb the meeting. I ordered Japanese Smoothie. It was sooo good! Delicious smoothie with unique taste of black sesame.

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Japanese Smoothie

After the meeting, it was past lunch time so I needed to have lunch. One of my friend also stayed for lunch, so did I. Time to try the main course!! Most of the menu are for vegetarian. There is also menu for vegan. They don’t serve red meat at all if I remember correctly, only chicken and fish dishes.  I ordered tuna sushi roll. It was really good. Oishi! Delicious! Each piece of the roll was quite big.

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Tuna sushi roll

My visit didn’t end at that time. Another day after dogwalking, I stopped by as well with my friends. We brought our dogs and sat outside. This time I ordered the sandwich for breakfast. Mushroom and camembert sandwich. Again, it didn’t disappoint me. Yummy food. The mushroom was cooked in garlic, so delicious. Good camembert cheese, and crusty sandwich bread. You have to try it!

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Mushroom and camembert Sandwich

I love the food here! Even tho I’m a meat lover, I still enjoy their food. It was tasty and healthier as well than meat.

Recent buying at this restaurant was vegan sushi. It was sushi roll filled with eggplant and teriyaki sauce. Delicious! I like eggplant, and I never found sushi using it so this one made me happy! I didn’t take picture of it because I was really hungry at that time lol, and it was take away order.

So if you are vegetarian or vegan or..just want to try a healthier option of food (but still delicious), you can try Thao Dien Coffee in District 2.

Address : 38 Tran Ngoc Dien, Thao Dien, Distric 2, Ho Chi Minh City.

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/thaodiencoffeevietnam/

Ciao!