Va Va Voom

Whoever said that this was the best vietnamese restaurant

in Singapore has never a) eaten at a vietnamese restaurant b) eaten vietnamese

before - or eaten in c)vietnam.

 We came here for dinner on the strength of the mixed

recommendations

 It's a bad sign when the Viet restaurant has no Vietnamese people in it - and the menu has no Vietnamese words on it.

 I order the "authentic;' grilled pork chopped with

dry noodles. otherwise known to everyone as bun thit nuong.

 Where do i start with the litany of woes that is this

dish - that i eat at least 3-4 times a month from a viet hawker store - yummy

viet - or long phang?

The nuoc cham was just that - super cham. it was flat,

had no balance of flavours and was just salty. I'm guessing that the use knife

brand fish sauce which is to say the least of it, f***** up beyond all

redemption. no pride in your fish sauce is like an indian with no pride in his

curry. a chinaman who can't cook rice. you get the idea - it's

just.not.done.like.that.unless.you.are.s uper,super knnbccb

 Take it from someone who's traveled up and down Vietnam in 3 different trips over 4 years, in the early 2000's, who's had a

vietnamese roomate. And good (chef) friends who've lived there from 6 months to

years - and have cooked for me, this is not Viet. this is someone who thought a

viet cafe would be cool but has ZERO respect for the cuisine.  this restaurant is the equivalent of some ang

moh in an australian/english/bumarse food court cooking singaporean noodles.

 The peanuts were not toasted.

 The meat was marinated, too salty and soggy beyond belief

- and worst of all, had no umamai garlicky hoisin flavour.

 There was no basil. i had to ask for it.

 Drinks were good though. Come here for cofffee. Eat hock

lam beef noodles next door.

 The beef with rice was ok, tender meat, too much starch

in the gravy, rice was steamed with pandan (quite nice) and authenitc in that

the kem was kinda like broken rice like they serve up and down Vietnam.

Wanted to catch a show at Drama Centre and found this Viet shop that's got pretty good ratings. So our party of 3 ordered: 

1) Fish Cake - as starters but I found the fish cake were ok, nothing to rave about lah... 

2) Chicken Wings - nicely deep fried but also nothing to shout about 

3) Pan Fried Fish Fillet Dry Noodle - hubby no like soupy dishes so he opted for this version. His verdict is that it's got a weird mix of flavors but they kinda make sense still. Not great but ok. 

4) Sliced Beef and Beef Balls Pho - we ordered their Pho which they mustn't get wrong. Afterall, Pho is as basic as it gets to be a Viet dish. When served, we were a little shocked that it's not Pho noodles but kuey tiao. I have no issues with kuey tiao but this is PHO!! The beef slices were fresh and tasty. Beef balls were normal nice. Soup was also slightly blend. I honestly find the Pho Hoa restaurant chain much better. 

I'll just head straight to Pho Hoa for my Viet makan cravings.

it's been awhile since I've come back to this place to dine.

and the price has gone up. at least $1 each item. the whole management has changed, layout is a bit different (the cashier is now further inside the place, which I find is a bit ridiculous. imagine just walking out of the place without paying and they wouldn't notice :D it's just two younguns doing the service)

deco is a bit different. the two younguns have drawings on the shelf where used to be sweet vietnamese ware. and now there's doodlings with the world "SLUT" written and an arrow pointing towards the male cartoon which i assume to be the male service staff, and also assume that the drawings are done by the girl. NOT VERY PLEASANT, my dear staff...customers can and do notice such things and really, not a very nice thing to see and think about the staff like that.

anyway, it's great to know the food still tastes as good. I still enjoy the beef noodles and the lemongrass drink. though, boil the lemongrass a bit longer, it's a bit too light. fragrance, yes, but still light. let the colour of the water change a bit more greener/yellow. i still don't understand the brisket thing. there's nothing much of it? and it's $1 extra for the noodles with the brisket but really... how worth it is that, i do still question?

i may or may not come back. who knows.

I had a farewell lunch here at Va va voom, and 5 of us ordered Hanoi Chicken Pho. The noodles were soft and bouncy, and the soup was quite rich with the chicken flavour. The portion of chicken was also very generous! The lime provided could have been of a bigger piece though! 

We also had sides - fresh spring rolls, which were crunchy and not 'nua', fried prawn rolls which had a crispy skin and moderate amounts of prawn, and also the fishcake, which was not remarkable. 

Still, the food is value for money, and there is no service charge, which means to say I will probably come back again. This is one of the few places that I can eat and not be sick of the food! 

Owned by good friend Sean, this restaurant is known to be the best

vietnamese restaurant in Singapore. Try out the authentic pork chop, the

chicken wings and the morning glory salad! But usually, I just go

straight for the stir fried beef dry noodle. It's my favourite!

It was really a very impromptu visit cos we were clueless where to head to for dinner. Decided to dropby here cos we had been wanting to go but didnt find the time on other days.

1. Plum Lime Soda - 6/10

There were 4 of us, a fren and I ordered this while the other 2 had Calamansi & Lime Green Tea w/ mint. Cant comment abt the latter but for my own drink, we tot the sour plum had been soaked in the soda for too long. It felt like a normal soda drink. No lime taste either.

2. Summer Fresh w/ prawns & chix - 7/10

We shared this side item. It's a spring roll thingy and tasted a bit bland at first bite (maybe it WAS meant to be tat way?) but went well with the sauce. Refreshing after a few more bites.

3. Fish cake - 6/10

Another side item, but we found it a bit too oily.

4. Frens'order: positive comments

Grilled pork chop w/ rice - I was told to post this as VERY nice. =)

Grilled pork chop w/ dry noodle

Grilled chix chop w/ dry noodle

5. My own order: Beef Feast Combo Soup - 8/10

Generous portion, nice soup base, excellent ingredients.

However, beef slices were all in lumps, altho they were thinly sliced. Perhaps chef could do with a quick stir before serving? I dunno was it becos they do not want to overcook the beef slices and just thrown it into the soup base, so when it was served to me, everything was in lumps.

Nonetheless, it was tasty la.

i was totally wow by the place. initially, i declined invitations to try viet cusine due to unknown fears. but after a twist of fate,i ended trying at va va voom and i find viet cusine very appetizing.

like the prev comment, i am aware of new mgmt, but did not try the food before they took over. but i find the food in very generous portion.and very flavorful.

me and my friends enjoy sitting at their sofa corner,lazing while eating.

below are a list of items tried (over a period of time)

chicken wings- the chilli sauce with it is so nice.. not a chilli lover but cant help dipping the wings in it. the chicken wings are very crispy and well marinateed.

summer spring rolls- very big rolls and fresh. i like the sauce that come with it, taste like peanut sauce. every bite is very crunchy with all the vegs rolled in.

stired fried beef with morning glory- was quite surprse, you mean you can eat morning glory? but hey, it was very appetizing.slightly sourish, but nice.

tofu- had it once.the tofu was very well handled,crispy on the outside yet very very soft inside.

my favorites are lemongrass beef, porkchop rice. braised pork soup.generous portion and very fresh.

remember to try the green bean cake and banana cake. the taste is heaven, pairing with ice cream just wow me further. when the hot meets the cold, the taste will whirl in your tongue.

i be back. again and again..

keep up the good work folks.

Date of Visit - 10 Jan 2010

Celebrated a close friend birthday at Va Va Voom 

I first visited this restaurant i think 3 years ago, I cant recall what I ordered.

This time I ordered the Beef Pho Combo  that comes with Sliced Beef and Beef Brisket. The soup is very light, too mild for some of us. I personally find it okay since I have tried a number of Vietnamese Beef Pho at other places, they are quite similar.

we ordered some appetizers to share. The fried silky tofu was good! Better than agadashi tofu! The batter is thin, the tofu is so silky.

We also ordered the paper rice rolls, I find the rolls were filled with too much lettuce, cant taste the pork slices at all.

I cant remember the prices but I remembered the menu prices were affordable.

fyi - this eatery has a change of ownership a few months ago, not sure if they have changed the chef.

After looking for wedding cards at BBC, we were staving and needed dinner. We decided to check out Seah Street, instead of eating (again) at Cedele.

The Other Half suggested the place, since The Arch looked expensive, and what a great choice!

The Summer Spring Rolls at $5.80 were great. Chock full of basil and vegetables, they had some chicken in each and half a prawn. What held everything together was the fabulous sauce. Replete with ground carrots, chilli, fried onions and other stuff, it was great with the rolls.

We both also had the lemongrass tea with honey - they don't serve water, but the drink was great! Fragrant, infused with lemongrass and just sweet enough, it really quenched your thirst.

Now, to the main courses. The pho here is served in huge white bowls, with white spoons which remind me of ramen restaurants - large. I had the noodles with sliced beef ($6), while he had the beef feast ($7.80). The soup was delicate with enough oomph of beefiness. While the stock was not very thick, the broth was very tasty. I was about to drink more when the Other Half said the last time he came and drank a lot of the soup, his throat was parched. I didn't have that problem this time though. Anyways, there was a lot of sliced beef - a very generous portion and every spoonful of noodles that the succulent beef. A handful of beansprouts and tonnes of basil! Just fabulous. The noodles come with a dish of sauce, but I found the sauce from the Summer Rolls provided a whole lot more punch, and gave the beef a sublime beefiness.

Service was great and the servers friendly and helpful. While we ate, there were 3 tables of Vietnamese. I think that is its best certificate of authenticity. Vietnamese art hangs on the walls, there is a cozy corner with magazines and sofas and they provide tissue! We ate at about 8pm, and the time we were there, there were 11 other customers. I'm sure this place is packed at lunch. With it's value for money meals (we were completely stuffed - no place for desserts), I'm sure this place has a hoard of regulars.

We've already decided that the next time we are in the area, it's pho!

Had lunch there and ordered the beef feast pho...the soup is always the most important part for pho. However, in Va Va Voom, it's a bit too watery, not much beef flavour to it. They don't have regular water so you will have to order bottled mineral water. In view of that, I decided to have a sugar cane with lime but tasted neither like sugar cane nor lime... I think hawker stall does a better job than this lot does! Had gula melaka for dessert but again it's a total let down. The taste of gula was just not rich enough. For the 4 places I have been to for Vietnamese, namely Orange Lantern in Harbour front, Pho Hoa in Suntec and Holland V, Va Va Voom and there is one in Suntec food court by the post office, I think Pho Hoa is the best for the food and services.... Don't waste your time and money elsewhere. Pho Hoa it is for now until I find a better place.