Vietnam Kitchen

I love Vietnamese food! From the first time I squatted down in a tiny shop to eat a steaming hot and fragrant bowl of pho at 5am in Hanoi, I was in love! So, on Monday night when parents and brother were craving something light and simple, Vietnam Kitchen nearby was an easy choice!

We hadn't been to Vietnam Kitchen in a while and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had revamped their menu. Their menu is more extensive now and filled with all sorts of mouth-watering pictures. But with the new menu comes new prices! It's a slight increase from the last time we've eaten there but I guess that's inevitable with the petrol hike!

It featured snacks, mains and drinks. The leftmore picture is a plate of Vietnamese cold cuts and ham. We tried it once when it very first opened and it was an interesting dish. It was a little like the European cold cuts but with a much stronger and meatier flavour.

There's a myriad of pho (or rice noodle soup) available with all sorts of combinations. We settled for the Beef Combination Pho. And what a coincidence it is that my sis ate pho too in her earlier post!

They have lots of interesting drinks too, like ciku shakes! Dad had the Vietnamese water chestnut drink (left) while Bro had the Vietnamese 6 Treasure drink at RM3.90 a piece. Dad's drink had strands of egg swirling in it and generous bits of water chestnut. It was nice cold but got a little filling and cloying after a while. Bro's was a sweet concoction of snow fungus, red dates, jelly strips, longan and preserved grapes. I can't remember the 6th "treasure"! It's refreshing and tasted a little like our lin chee kang.

Service is fast and we didn't have long to wait before our 1st order came. This is the Vermicelli Combination Plate (RM23.90). It's my parents' favourite order. Clockwise from the top are: vermicelli, stirfried beef, stirfried chicken, cha gio (crispy spring roll), beef balls, minced prawn on sugarcane, fresh lettuce, fresh beansprouts, starfruit, sliced cucumber, preserved carrot and mint leaves. And in the centre are two dipping sauces - Nuoc mam (fish sauce) and thick sweet sauce. It comes with a plate of dry rice paper sheets and a bowl of hot water and brush to soften the sheets.

This is how you assemble it! Soften the rice paper, lay a letture leaf, pile on the veges, beef/chicken, wrap it up like popiah and enjoy! You can either dip it in the Nuoc mam or sprinkle some on before wrapping it up. It's refreshingly delicious and a nice starter to have, or it can be a meal in itself if you're a small eater.

Next up is our pho. It's hor fun type noodles in a beefy broth with slices of tender beef, tripe and beef balls. It comes with a plate of mint, raw beansprouts and a wedge of lemon. Pour them all into the soup, squeeze the lemon over it and get ready to tuck in! The soup has a nice, clean beef flavour accentuated by the sharpness of the onion and lemon. Delicious! :)

Our last order was a 1 person portion of Duck Porridge at RM9.90. We were shocked at the size of the porridge bowl! A huge portion for one! It was an interesting style of porridge - rice cooked with green mung beans and sprinkled with a generous portion of fried and spring onions. The mung beans lent it a sweetness that was rather unique.

It came with this side plate of duck. Underneath all that peanut garnish is a generous portion of sliced duck sitting on a bed of blanched beansprouts. Dad truly enjoyed it, especially since it was right in front of him! It was an interesting dish though, something different and new to try!

Our bill came up to approximately RM60 for 4 of us, with tax and service charge. It wasn't too bad as the portions were generous and everyone enjoyed their meal tremendously. A small price for great family time together.