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

Phuong Chau Ky – First Try

I’ve seen this place before when I passed by on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street but I never realized that this restaurant was on my ‘have to visit’ list (Yes I have a list on my Foursquare account haha). So today I decided to try it out. A bit worried that they don’t have English menu though. But I know a few words in Vietnamese and several types of food, so no harm in trying 😀

20170511_174100
Phuong Chau Key Menu

I came in and the place was crowded! Must be really good (or really cheap.. one of another). They have second floor seating as well, and I sat on one of the small table. The waitress gave me the menu while speaking in Vietnamese. I just smiled and received the menu. I saw on the menu they have lunch menu set which is interesting options. The girl came again (I’ve just opened 1 page!) and spoke in Vietnamese again. This time I told her “Sorry, I can’t speak Vietnamese” while smiling. And she smiled back and tried to explain with her limited English. In conclusion, all lunch set menu has sold out (what??!) only clay pot set menu left, or the ala carte dishes.

Their first page on menu is noodle soup dish (hu tieu), then claypot, rice and fried noodle (mi xao). I didn’t know what to order because everything seemed interesting for me (yes, I was very hungry!). No noodle for sure. I had enough of noodle yesterday 😀 I decided to order Rice with Pork Combination (com thit xao thap cam).

20170511_122615-01
Rice with Pork Combination (com thit xao thap cam)

When it came, I was surprised. Didn’t expect this many vegetables! And I didn’t see the “pork combination”. Just pork meat and mushroom, sauted with green vegetable, onions and carrot. Anyway.. I started eating. OMG! It was very delicious!! The taste was just right and I didn’t have to add anything more. I loved it! The vegetables were also fresh, especially the mushroom. Soo yummy! I really enjoyed it.

While I ate, I saw some people eating dessert. I saw on their menu that they only serve dessert during weekday, so why don’t I try it. Ordered 1 Che! I have no idea what is that aside from the red bean. They were sweet and using coconut milk for sure. I like it 😀

I didn’t order drink because they gave free ice tea. The total cost for rice and dessert was 61k vnd. What a deal! It is a good option for lunch or dinner if you are looking for a cheap and delicious homecooked-style Vietnamese food.

Ciao.

 

Food · Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam

Mam Bac – Vietnamese Restaurant

The other day I went to Bitexco Financial Tower to meet up with my husband, then we planned to have dinner. He brought me to a Vietnamese Restaurant near by. It is called Mam Bac. Located at 94 Ho Tung Mau street, very close from Bitexco.

He said the bun cha here is good, so we ordered one. Another dish we ordered was com tam suon nuong opla (broken rice with grilled ribs and fried egg). For the drink I ordered kumquat juice.

And he was right! Everything we ordered was delicious. The price also reasonable as well for prime location. Definitely a good choice to have lunch or dinner if you are in the area.

 

Food · Ho Chi Minh City

Riverfarm – new Vietnamese restaurant in D2

I had a lunch appointment with my friend but haven’t decided where to go yet. Then my friend suggested a new place in Nguyen Van Huong street. She said it is a Vietnamese Restaurant. And it allows dog! So we decided to check it out. 

The address is 199b Bis Nguyen Van Huong street. If you come from BIS direction, it is located right when the street turn to left. The entrance is quite clear. Should be easy to find. 

They have outdoor seating which would be nice to sit if it was not cloudy and almost raining. We sat under the roof, but still can see the river view. It was good enough. 

I looked at the menu and everything is so expensive! Pork ribs with 5 spices is 150k vnd. Beef skewer with noodle rice is 200k vnd. Since I didn’t know how good they are, I chose their lunch set. They have 3 kind of menu for lunch set. 

Braised chicken with chili and lemongrass

I ordered braised chicken with chili and lemongrass. The other 2 lunch set menu was not appealing to me (catfish, and fried egg with pork). Although my friend said the fried egg was good. 

Each of lunch set menu comes with steam rice, veggie and soup. The chicken I ordered was delicious. Too bad they didn’t serve it hot. The soup was warm as well so we asked them to reheat it. But overall the food was good. And another plus is the price. For one set only cost us 45k vnd! Very cheap for a restaurant with nice view, and very surprising as well because I saw a 200k vnd price on lunch set menu. But when the receipt came, it was only 45k vnd. 

There is a black dog who is friendly and always trying to play with my dog. This place is dog-friendly. Definitely need to come again with our dogs next time! 

Food · Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam

Pho Burger @ Relish and Sons

2016-07-29-11-06-44.jpg

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/)