Pho Hoa (Holland Village) | ThumbsForFood

Pho Hoa has been around for quite sometime and recently it opened a new branch at Suntec. So how did the food fare?

I did not take not of the exact price. For appetizers/starters, it's about $4-$8. For noodles, it ranged from $12-$20plus depending on the choice of your beef (they have loin, flank and other different parts). 

We ordered 3 types of starters. Fried Roll, Sugarcane Prawn and Scallop Roll. It's an alternative to the traditional type of Vietnamese Spring Roll if you don't really fancy Basil leaf. I felt that the dishes were pretty average. If you would ask me to pick one, I would probably choose scallop roll as I prefer the kind of crust it has. 

Scallop Roll

Fried Vietnamese Roll tasted really like the normal Chinese Spring Roll. Nothing special.

Fried Vietnamese Roll

Sugarcane Prawn

The highlight of the restaurant would be pho, as suggested by the name. Pho is actually stick noodles in soup and depending on your preference, you can choose beef (of different parts of the beef) or chicken. I would think the beef pho would be a better choice since it's renowned for it.

Pho would be served with a plate of taugays (beansprouts) , basil leaf, lime and chili. You can add them based on your preference. 

Side condiments that come with Pho

Pho with beefballs, flank and beef slices

For those not craving for noodles, you can try their rice plates. The rice plate comes with your choice of meat and a side, which is the fried Vietnamese roll. The grilled chicken is quite nice and tender. Other than that, the dish is quite average as well.

Overall, I think Pho Hoa serves comfort Vietnamese Pho, but there is nothing too extraordinary about it. The price is a bit steep compared to other Vietnamese places, probably also due to its location.

Overall Rating: 7/10

18 Lorong Mambong

Holland Village

Tel: 64673662Fax: 64662737

Love, Y

Long Phung (Joo Chiat) | ThumbsForFood

For Vietnamese food lovers, Long Phung would not be an unfamiliar name to you. It is located in Eastern Singapore and is well know for it's authentic Vietnamese dishes.

Long Phung Signboard

Vietnamese food has sauces and condiments for you to adjust the saltiness and spiciness of your dishes. So depends on your own preference, you can adjust accordingly.

For starters, we ordered Vietnamese Spring Roll ($6 -Small). The prawn and basil leaves are wrapped in rice paper together with some vermicelli. If you are not a fan of basil leaves, you'll probably not like this dish. It comes with a dip topped with peanut. A good way to start the meal.

Vietnamese Spring Roll

We ordered Gon Gon ($6) as well. I am a fan of Gon Gon. The best ones will be those that are washed clean and free of sand plus of which flesh is fresh. I feel the gon gon here is not too bad.

Gon Gon

Rice with stewed pork and egg ($5.5) is a simple dish where pork is stewed ans served in a claypot along with rice. I feel that price is reasonable for it's portion. Taste wise, it didn't really surprise me. Not much of an "Oh wow" factor when eating this dish.

Rice with stewed pork and egg 

Chicken Noodle Soup ($5.5) is the traditional pho dish where stick noodles are served in clear soup and topped with either chicken/beef/pork. I would say it's alright in flavor. Not too salty and does not have an artificial MSG taste. Having said that, the soup is really plain so do add condiments to increase the flavor of it. Simple comfort food with not much oomph.

Chicken Pho

My friend ordered Rice with chicken and omelet ($5.5) as she ate very nice grilled chicken rice in Vietnam during her trip. For her she felt the taste was not bad, but, the price was definitely more expensive than in Vietnam. Moreover, they portion was not very big as well. We don't think we'll order this next time to try new dishes on the menu.

Rice with chicken and omelette

Milk Coffee with Ice ($3) is brewed using authentic Vietnamese coffee and served using authentic Vietnamese dripping coffee method. You got to try Vietnamese coffee if you're a fan of good cafe!

Vietnamese Coffee

Overall, we felt prices were reasonable with no GST and service charge. Place would be rather packed during dinner time and they open about 1.30pm or so. The only downside, the place it's situated is really not very accessible.

Our Ratings: 8/10
Must Tries: Coffee

159 Joo Chiat Road
6344 2005

Love, Y

Nam Nam Noodle Bar (Raffles City) | ThumbsForFood

Nam Nam Noodle Bar is a newly opened Vietnamese Noodle eatery at Raffles City. We decided to try it out as we heard that it serves good pho at affordable prices. Also, it is under the same restaurant group as Canele, so it took some area of Canele's. 

Nam Nam Noodle Bar

While waiting to be served

Nam Nam does not charge any service charge! As such, be prepared to do some self-serving. You will be seated. In the vintage cup holding napkins, you will see the order chit and pencil. That's how you look through the menu and tick your choices on your own. I think the menu and order chit is rather straightforward; no frills.

Order Chit

Vintage Container holding napkins and order chit

Other than pho, they do have other food options. They have Banh Mi which is their Vietnamese sandwich. If you're interested in choosing your own ingredients, they do have a Sandwich counter right at the entrance. Prices of Banh Mi, if I am not wrong is less than $10.

The Menu

What caught my eyes are the sauces that are on the table. They have fish sauce, chili fish sauce, Maggi Seasoning and some other Vietnamese-brand sauce. You can feel free to experiment the sauces and see which one goes best with your noodles.

Sauces Galore

The "Bar"

We ordered 3 different noodles. Dried Sauteed Lemongrass Pork Noodle ($7.90) was ordered by my friend who wanted to try something different. The noodle in the dish is thin glass noodles (like tang hoon). Basically it does not have much flavor, because, you are expected to mix the sauces in. My friend added a little of every sauce and surprisingly, her concoction made the noodles good. I like how the sourness of the lime blended with the saltiness of the sauces. It is a dish that is very appetizing. 

Dried Sauteed Lemongrass Pork Noodle

Pho Chicken ($7.80) is the a very basic pho dish. I tasted the soup first without adding the sauces. It was light with the taste of chicken broth and part of the flavor came from the onions and spring onions that were in the soup. For those who prefer something more flavorful, you can mix the sauces in. I felt that the soup was not too salty and it really is comfort food.

Pho Chicken

Pho beef steak slices ($8.90) suits those who are craving for some red meat. The soup without adding sauces taste stronger than Pho Chicken. My friend who ate it finds it salty enough and she did not add any sauces in her soup. I guess, i really is personal preference. Beef Slices wise, it was well-cooked, with it not being too raw nor too tough. 

Pho Beef Steak Slices

The down-thing on that day was that the Vietnamese Spring Roll ($4.50) was served last. I have always thought the dish to be an appetizer. The Rice Paper wrapping, I felt was a big too thick for my liking. I liked the sauce that came with the dish which was a bit like miso with lime. It went well with the Rolls. 

Vietnamese Southern Rolls

Overall, we all felt that the price was reasonable for the quality of the food. However, we all felt hungry after eating our own bowls of noodle and ate Tiong Bahru Bakery. I guess it is not very filling because it is the noodles are light and not too starchy. Plus, there wasn't much other ingredients in the dish. I feel that it would be more worth it to dine in during lunch as they have a Special Value Set Meal (10am-3pm) at only $9.90 with Vietnamese Southern Rolls and a drink to go with your noodles. Pretty worth it!

For Casual dining, and if you're craving for some affordable pho, do make your way there!

My Rating: 6.9/10

Must Tries: Pho and VIetnamese Southern Rolls 

Lunch Set Menu

252 North Bridge Road

#B1-46 Raffles City Shopping Centre

Tel: 6333 0500

http://namnamnoodlebar.com.sg/

With Love, Y