Vietnamese Coffee

I find that Vietnamese Coffee is a specialty for the way that it's prepared. The grounded coffee bean is poured into the metal or ceramic "filter", the hot water that is vaporised will then drip down as coffee to the cup. Whoever that has visited Vietnam, will always bring home this specially made container as a souvenir.

I need coffee to start my day, thus I've suggested to try out the Trung Nguyen Coffee or the so-called "The No.1 Coffee" that is observed with tonnes of franchise in Ho Chi Minh. We've decided to try the Drip Vietnamese Coffee that can be either hot or cold or being served black or with condensed milk. We're reminded to wait for about 3 minutes in order to let the coffee to drip down completely and only then we're allowed to pour the black coffee into the glass. I don't really like Vietnamese Coffee as it's actually quite sweet and I'm especially not fancy with the weird aroma. Comparing to the Weasel Coffee that is claimed as Coffee of The World, the drip Vietnamese Coffee costs only half of the price. This is my 1st time to try the expensive coffee, it's indeed thicker and smoother yet still with a sweet ending that I think it's from the sugar that has been used to fry the coffee beans. Luckily that the Weasel Coffee is still better or tastier than a normal drip coffee due to the bitterness. Patience is very important in enjoying a nice cup of Weasel Coffee. The dripping process is taking a long time due to the fine texture of the grounded beans.

Passion Fruit has been a very refreshing drink due to the sourness. Surprisingly that Vietnamese prefers sweetness? My glass of fruit juice is indeed too sweet.

It's a nice experience for me to know about the Vietnamese Coffee. Anyway, it's a torture for myself without a proper coffee that I can really enjoy.

The Tradition of Baguette at Pat' a Chou

Being influenced by the French colonisation, the Vietnamese has indeed developed themselves as good chefs in baking delicious Baguette. Baguette is seen and sold everywhere in Ho Chi Minh, starting from the roadside stalls to the big bakeries. Looking for the most authentic and traditional bakery and we've decided for Pat' a Chou that is located at Hai Bà Trưng.

It's a normal bakery that is selling bread, pastry, cake and cookies; it's also a cafe that is serving sandwich and coffee. They've a wide selection of sandwiches and cakes that we've to take some minutes to decide, "which?" and we've finally chosen the Sandwich au poulet rôti. It's a Baguette or the long-shaped bun that is filled with shredded chicken, cucumber and lettuce. The Baguette is very crispy at the outer skin yet it's still soft at the inner. Being coupled with the shredded chicken that is salty from the soy sauce, I think that this is is the most special sandwich that I've ever tried. Just feeling a little weird about the combination of the Western Baguette with the Oriental Chicken, it's delicious anyway! Preferably that the filling is more.

Our greediness for sweetness, we've taken the Feuilleté À La Crème. The layers of crispy and fluffy pastry skin being sandwiched with the compact butter cream, this is the most marvellous dessert that I've ever tasted in my life. The chilled butter is smooth and thick in taste, coming with a nice aroma yet it's not filling at all.

We've enjoyed our meal at Pat' a Chou despite the bad coffee in Vietnam. I'm just a little regret that I've not takeaway the dessert back to Penang.

Pho, A Must to Try!

Vietnamese noodle is a must-try specialty that is not to be missed, whenever you're visiting Vietnam. Pho is alike our flat rice noodle in Malaysia but it's apparently softer. It's regularly taken as breakfast, lunch or dinner in Vietnam. For its popularity, this dish is available everywhere and even being franchised at Pho24.

We've ordered the Chả Giò or the Fried Spring Rolls as our starter. The spring roll is made of meat and the size is just nice to be fitted into the mouth. It's quite tasty except that I find the skin is slightly too thick that it's chewy.

As May Fong doesn't take beef, thus we've decided to share the Phở Gà or Pho with Chicken Fillet. Pho is  indeed a healthy dish whereby it's served together with a big plate of basil leaves, bean sprouts, lime and chili. The vegetable is then to be poured on top of the bowl of noodle soup that has been garnished with slices of steamed chicken and spring onions. I like the addition of basil, lime and chili that have not only added a nice aroma but the sourness and spiciness have as well enhanced the refreshing taste of the soup that it's very appetising. It's just a little disappointment that the chicken meat is slightly hard and dry.

Triggered by the deliciousness of the Phở Gà at Pho24, I'm eagerly to try out the Pho for once again before departing back to M'sia. My breakfast in Grand Hotel Saigon, I've decided to take the Phở Bò or the Beef Noodle. The soup tastes very refreshing from the natural sweetness of the cow bone with onion. The soup is not oily despite its strong taste and it as well doesn't contain any unease beefy smell. Being completed with the juicy and tender beef slices, I've definitely fell in love with my bowl of soup. The only disappointment is the rice noodle that is not so succulent if comparing to Pho24.

I've finally achieved my mission to try out the Phở Bò in Vietnam. The biggest problem of mine now, shall I fly to Ho Chi Minh again for the dish?

Hai Lúa by the Roadside

The night market at Ho Chi Minh is very merry and busy. One of the most happening sight is the roadside stalls whereby the workers are frying and grilling while the customers are eating and drinking. The business is running smoothly despite with simply the plastic tables and chairs that are covered only with the clothes. The only point that I'm respecting is the professional outlook such as the chefs with their high hats and the waiters with their vests and ties, under such warm tropical night.

We've chosen to dine-in at Hai Lúa and being recommended by the waiter, we've decided to take the Mì Xào or fried noodles with mixed ingredients such as octopus, pork meat, skin, intestine, straw mushroom and various vegetable. It's more alike fried seafood whereby we've hardly find a sufficient portion of noodle for each of us. I dislike this dish because of the very light but weird taste that may due to the intestine. Luckily, the spicy chili has been a great helper to add flavour to increase my appetite.

We've then ordered the Red Snapper Grilled with Salt and Spicy that is spelt in Vietnamese as Cá diêu hồng nướng muối ớt. The fish has a nice aroma of char-grilled and I love the burnt skin for its crispiness, despite it's unhealthy. The juicy and tender fish meat tastes a little salty, spicy and the deliciousness is enhanced by the mixture of salt, pepper seed and lime. The dipping sauce has added a refreshing taste to the fish itself.

This is a nice experience to try out the roadside stall in Ho Chi Minh even though I'm not really amazed by the food here.

Luxurious Vietnamese at 138

Our 1st meal in Ho Chi Minh, May Fong has suggested that we should check out the luxurious Vietnamese restaurant that we can relax in a leisurely pace and especially to cure my tiredness after the flight transition. Quán Ăn Ngon 138 is famous among the tourists and locals due to its unique village market style whereby the diversity of Vietnamese cuisine is presented at various stalls that are setup independently in the restaurant.

For starters, May Fong and I have decided to try both the fried and transparent spring rolls that are called Chả Giò and Gơi Cuộn respectively. The fried spring roll has an even brownish skin that is very crispy while the inner is very compact being filled with mixed ingredients that range from minced meat, yam, glass noodle to sliced carrot. The spring roll is juicy and it tastes very appetising to go with the spicy and sour dipping sauce. The transparent spring roll consists of shrimp, rice vermicelli, bean sprout and Thai Basil whereby the non-frying is a good idea to maintain the authenticity and freshness of the ingredients. It looks plain but the taste is very appealing from the nice aroma of the Thai Basil and the sweetness of the thick dipping sauce. Don't leave the transparent spring roll being aired too long as the skin tends to get chewy over time! We've fell in love with the dishes as they're really very delicious. The biggest problem of mine is, this is the best Vietnamese Spring Rolls that I've ever tasted and I can't find them yet in Malaysia.

We've then shared a plate of Cơm Chiên Ngon or the Fried Rice in Ngon Style. This is simply a rice-dish with ham and mixed vegetable. My personal opinion is that the Chef has intended to make it tasteless as it's served together with a bowl of soy sauce that has indeed added saltiness to enhance the tastiness of the fried rice.

We've enjoyed our meal in a cozy ambient that we'll definitely remember the deliciousness of the food here. I'm highly recommending this restaurant in HCM city!

Official Homepage

Pork Pork Party

Continuing from the success of the "Pork Pork" party that has been carried out, we've decided to organize the function again. Is it the enthusiasm? Is it the experience? Kong has designed the "signboard" for our function. It's the word "Pork" in combinations of Chinese and German, 豬 and Schwein. The location is fixed at Gertak Sanggul, just by the beach during the romantic sunset hour.

For this round, CK has decided to order the roasted pig from PFS, Phang Foong Sin 鴻盛燒豬王 that is located at Batu Maung. Look at the big pig, does it trigger your eagerness to start? Who's the Master of Butchery? This is definitely not for CK, the position is still strongly hold by Hong Pin. The skin is very skin while the meat is very tender and we've definitely indulged into the saltiness that has enhanced the deliciousness of the pork.

Besides, Uncle Oh has got a Chef to prepare the Fried Rice Vermicelli and Curry Chicken. Yummy, the thick curry sauce is matching the rice vermicelli perfectly! Both of the dishes are so tasty that they've not only filled our hunger, but also completing our taste buds.

Not to forget the side order for the night, the beers! Everyone has enjoyed the eating and drinking. For me, it's more alike a "social linkage program" that we've fun with the colleagues.