The Hungry Bunny

Our little island is well into monsoon season, and we were craving something warm and soupy and comforting in the middle of yet another thunderstorm, when we happened upon Madam Saigon . Located at the restaurant stretch of Millenia Walk facing Conrad Hotel, the intrepid little eatery wasn't the most inviting: its utilitarian, garnish aesthetic and bare occupancy didn't exactly bode a delicious meal. There were buzzier, more popular eateries along said stretch, but I'm a sucker for pho, and so we walked in. Turns out my weakness for pho was a good thing. and Madam Saigon has become one of our favourite go-tos for a conveniently-located, low-fuss, authentically delicious Vietnamese meal. Also, service was surprisingly gracious for a casual mass-market bistro. A big gold star point, the staff were atypically generous with our requests for fresh herbs. The Saigon Fried Spring Roll ($6.90) was pretty stellar, with crunchy vegetables a-plenty and fried to a delightful cr...

Uncle Ho Tuckshop has been around for a couple of years now, but recently garnered frenzied attention after President Obama's much-publicized visit to some hole-in-the-wall roadside stall in Hanoi with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Why, you may be puzzled, would a foreign visit to another country's stall cause a local Vietnamese eatery so much buzz? Well, the POTUS dined on bun cha, a classic Hanoian street fare, and Uncle Ho's Tuckshop very cleverly capitalized on it by putting out posters claiming to serve the very thing the leader of the free world ate. So while Uncle Ho's Tuckshop had previously drawn in an ample lunch crowd from the Pasir Panjang working hinterland, it's now impossibly crowded for lunch, and dinner. Housed in a non-descript commercial building, the ground floor canteen can now be distinguished by a small queue leading out to the main street. Oh well, at least the turnover's fast, and so is the kitchen service. The self-serviced ca...

Nam Nam Noodle Bar may not be our first port of call whenever a Vietnamese food craving hits, especially since they make you pay for the usual accompanying herbs (seriously, what's that about!), but it is convenient, minimally fussed, and budget-friendly. The Hubs was starving like a marvin while we were out shopping, so we made a quick pitstop at the self-serviced bistro. The food's substantive and churned out fast, so we didn't have to wait very long to satiate (and soothe) the Hubs' hangry pangs. The Pork Ham Snack Platter ($5.90) was pretty decent, texturally interesting with crunchy black fungus and chilli weaved into smooth mashed-up pork. A lovely bite and lively flavours. I suspect it's a proprietary blend made in-house. A signature and our favourite appetizer here, the Crispy Imperial Rolls ($5.90) were wonderfully crispy on the outside, and bursting with a juicy medley of carrots, black fungus, glass vermicelli, beansprouts and pork. A little less ...

Tanjong Pagar Road may be known as Little Korea for its multitude of Korean eateries, but there's the occasional oddball that bucks the pattern. Pho Stop , a sensible little outfit sandwiched between 2 Korean barbecue eateries, churns out notable Vietnamese cuisine for those not keen on bulgogi or kimchi. Which was exactly what we were thankful for when we found ourselves stuck in the area without a brolly in the middle of a thunderstorm. We'd thought a steaming hot bowl of soupy noodles would hit the comfort button in rainy weather, so we walked in even though Pho Stop 's clean, modern aesthetic didn't quite inspire confidence for authenticity. Turned out the food was great. Not as great as Long Phung , the undisputed best Vietnamese restaurant in sg imho, but great for its centralised location, less brusque service, less shabby ambience and wallet-friendly price points. The Cha Gio ($5.50) a cornucopia of minced root vegetables and pork mince, was a lot more meat...

A relatively enduring fixture of Holland Village, Pho Hoa was where I first had Vietnamese pho. Once an extensive presence in Singapore, it's now just the one on our sunny shores, with many of their franchised counterparts scattered in North America and East Asia. I suppose, in this day and age where Vietnamese establishments are a dime and dozen, Pho Hoa pales in comparison. It's not to say their food sucks, afterall, there's gotta be a reason for their longevity in the revolving door of eateries in the bohemian village. The casual diner passes muster, but barely, and their price points are probably a huge factor in their staying power. A word to the wise: bring lots of deodorant; Pho Hoa 's poorly ventilated so fully expect to walk out reeking of the day-old frying oil and a mish-mash of bone stock. The Cha Gio ($6) was decent flavour-wise, but seemed more like the usual Chinese spring rolls than a Vietnamese rice-paper wrap. The Bun Ga Nuong ($13.95), a m...

HAPPY NEW YEAR YA'LL!! I know I've been MIA for a reeeeeeeallyyyyyy loooooonnnnnnggg time, but I was occupied swimming with dolphins down under (more on that later in my NZ posts). In fact, half of 2015 was spent in a country other than sunny 'ol Singapore...which probably explains the sporadic erratic blogging the past year. Hur Hur Now that I'm back proper, and less jet-lagged (I think!), and have resolved to be more consistent in my blogging (a sidenote: this resolution will probably last longer than the lose-weight-and/or-get-fit one). This was one of the highlights of 2015, notwithstanding the frighteningly surly and curt service. Long Phung , a Vietnamese joint along Joo Chiat (a short aside: the once-seedy strip has quickly become a Little Vietnam of sorts; the street is lined with a gazillion Vietnamese shops!) is renowned for serving up the best pho ever. And having had the best pho experience ever in Hanoi, I wanted to see for myself how this little eate...

Mrs Pho is the one of the many in the wave of hipster restaurants gentrifying the Kampong Glam enclave. At first blush, a little Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall may not sound hipster, but the low-frills eatery, tricked out to look like a Vietnamese alleyway, is kitschy and artificial, almost gaudy. That said, it does resemble at the street stalls of Vietnam. Just a lot spiffier. Though a squishy tiny place, service is speedy, friendly, and helpful. Our dishes arrived barely 5 minutes after orders were taken, in quick succession. The traditional fare at Mrs Pho may be a little clunky, but had a rustic, homestyled, authenticity to it. The Hubs loved the Cha Gio ($3) Vietnam's answer to the Chinese spring roll. A lovely chunky texture, with wonderfully juicy porky flavours. The Nem Nuong ($3.50) purportedly "Mama's secret recipe" of Hanoi pork meatballs, were decent, but failed to leave an impression, in light of the most amazeballs minced patties in Hanoi just ...

Com Nam is the sister restaurant to Nam Nam. Located next to Nam Nam at Raffles City, its menu is centered around rice-based dishes. But, unlike the never-ending queues at the pho-oriented Nam Nam, Com Nam hasn't quite taken off. There's hardly a queue to get into the self-serviced eatery. Perhaps the "broken rice" concept isn't quite as distinguishing as Vietnam's national dish - the comforting pho. The Spicy Beef Rice Noodle Soup ($9.90), loaded with beansprouts, and pork balls, was a robust mix of tangy and spicy flavours, but let down by the tough chewy thick slices of beef and undercooked beansprouts. A must-try, the Vietnamese Sizzling Crepe ($10.90), swaddling thick slices of tender pork belly, and succulent prawns, was excellent fodder for fresh lettuce, pickled radish and julienned cucumbers. Skip the beansprouts, these had an undercooked alkalinity. Another excellent option was the Napa Cabbage Soup ($5) sweet and delicate, and choc-a-...

The Fat Cow is the premier steakhouse of all things Japanese and wagyu. To be perfectly honest, I don't usually make the leap from 'steakhouse' to 'Japanese' because steakhouses are more commonly associated with America or Australia, but then I remembered that Japan gifted the world with wagyu and kobe, the most prized and luxurious of cows. A little off the main thoroughfare of Orchard Road, and tucked away in a corner of the Camden Medical Center, the nondescript restaurant is an oasis of low-lit, pinewood-ed tranquility.  The food's a mix of Japanese sashimi and anything bovine-related, distinguished by a distinctive Japanese twist. Every dish was flawless, exquisite and perfectly executed, but it all comes at a price that's eye-poppingly expensive and in portions that were depressingly petite. Little wonder, then, their set lunches are a lot more well-received than their ala carte dinner. Reservations aren't really required, because it's a...

There's a terrible dearth of authentic Vietnamese restaurants in Singapore. Take, for example, So Pho , the new-ish Vietnamese eatery tucked away at the far corner of the Paragon food basement. The casual Vietnamese eatery sprouted up in Da Paolo Gastronomia's old locale after the latter took over the now-defunct Canele's premises. The extensive, affordably-priced menu had seemed full of promise, but eventually turned out clunky and insipid fare.  The Mien Xao Bo ($9.80) stir-fried glass noodles littered with rubbery sesame-d beef, kailan, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and eggs, barely scraped the passing grade. Still, it was the best of the lot, so you can just imagine how lackluster the rest of the dishes were.  The Ga Nuong Sa ($9.80 for half portion), a lemongrass-infused spring chicken was grilled too dry. The Cha Gio Chien ($4.80), fried spring rolls were nice in a first-year-home-economics-cooking-class-in-an-all-boys'-school way. The biggest di...