Well, a bunch of us arrived at Pho Street recently to try out their revamped menu. The eatery seems be well contained in a humble space and setting. We also met Chef Hà Vị Cang Kenny, who brings with him more than a decade of experience in Vietnamese cuisine, aiming to whet appetites with the vibrant flavours of authentic Vietnamese dishes. The quiet chef can also speak some Chinese, but he was too shy to do so! So cute! lol.Anyway, getting back to business... who is up pho (fuh) some good pho? lol.

Pho Street is a quick service restaurant which serves authentic Vietnamese street food to people from all walks of life as represented by the street. Knowing that there is a lack of good authentic Vietnamese food in Singapore, Pho Street aims to reignite the Vietnamese food culture in Singapore with an emphasis on the vibrancy of Vietnamese cuisine.

Details

Area:

Bedok (Bedok Mall) / Jurong (WestGate)

Country:

Singapore

Price:

$

Good For:

Small Groups / Friends / Solo / Family

Accessibility:

Approx. 2 minutes walk from both Bedok and Jurong East MRT Station (for either branches)

Let's Eat!

Both Bedok and Westgate outlets has launched a brand new revamped menu since 2 June 2015, which I will be touching on here.

Lemon Cooler with Peppermint & Basil, Passionfruit & Basil Mojito ($3.50 each)These thirst quenching, refreshing drinks had set the tone right for our tasting session.

Cheers! Was glad to have met a few foodies, who have become friends along the way. We enjoy food, we talk about food, we blog about food. That's why food becomes such a passion for us, an enjoyment, rather than just sustenance. We need to feed our souls too, alright?

So cheers to friendship, and continue to join us on this journey!Pho Beef Combination ($9.90)Not being a very pho person, I honestly enjoyed this dish. Its broth is light and flavourful, and contains beef slices, beef balls, shank, tendon and tripe. The ingredients were well cooked as well, and absorbed the lovely flavour of the broth. Remember to squeeze some lime into it for an added zing.Dry Rice Vermicelli with Roasted Pork Chop & Spring Roll ($8.90)Another signature noodle dish from Vietnam not often found in Singapore is the Dry Rice Vermicelli. This noodle is served with a crunchy mix of vegetables, pickled carrots and radish as well as an appetising sweet sour sauce. Another dish I enjoyed too, my little gripe is of the slightly harder-to-chew-on pork chop.

Roasted Pork Chop with Fragrant Rice ($7.90)This wasn't one of my favourites here as the pork chop tasted the same as the one in the dry vermicelli. The sauce cooked with the pork chop was good though, and I ate it with rice, and that's how I pretty much enjoyed it. What to do, I'm such a sucker for rice!

Banh Mi Combination ($6.90)Enjoy not 1, not 2, but 3 types of meats in this Banh Mi Combination, which is a sandwich stuffed with Pork Belly, Grilled Beef and Chicken Ham. Yes, you can also have either of the meats in a whole sandwich, but why not all three! It is also stuffed with pickled carrot & radish, cucumber, chilli and fresh cilantro,

My favourite was the pork belly one. Oh so sinful, but oh so nice.

No time to sit down and eat? Takeaway! Easy for those who are constantly on-the-go.

Vietnamese Snack Platter ($8.90)This comes with 2 crispy fried pork rolls, roasted chicken skewers and 2 crabcakes. A great starter to your meal! Remember to dip in the sweet chilli sauce provided.

Fresh Summer Rolls with Prawn, Pork Belly, Fresh Herbs ($4.90)This is an interesting mix - prawn and sliced pork belly! Did I hear a resounding yes? With the prawn and pork belly peeking out at you from the delicate, almost transparent rice paper, we almost could not wait to get started on this. The rice paper (the skin) was directly imported from Vietnam, so here's another cheers to authentic taste! Remember to eat with the sauce that comes with it too!

Crispy Fried Chicken Mid-wings ($4.90)So crispy and juicy. Who can hate on chicken wings? Seriously. Dip it into its winning caramelised sweet dip and you're ready to fly from all its goodness!

Sesame Rice Crackers with Fragrant Minced Meat and Spices Dip ($6.90)This is another ingredient which is imported from Vietnam. Sesame rice crackers! This is pretty unique to Pho Street as you'd hardly find another Vietnamese restaurant with this type of cracker. Remember, eat together with the minced meat. The meat is so fragrant and addictive, we almost asked for seconds! You'll not regret it if you order this.

Cream of Mung Bean with Coconut Sauce and Crushed Peanuts ($3.50)

This was a great finale to the entire tasting session. The drink had a lovely sweetness to it, due to the mung bean mixed with coconut. The salty peanuts on top also created a awesome texture to this dessert.Go on, sip it all in.

This was an invited media tasting session.

Paradise Group is famous for its Chinese cuisine. With the popularity in Thai food amongst Singaporeans, they have decided to venture into Thai food, with Parathai, an addition to one of their many restaurants.How did I think they fared? Check out the review below. It's like stepping into an art gallery, inspired by young budding artists and the every growing art scene of Bangkok.

Accessibility:
Approx. 5-7 minutes walk from Paya Lebar MRT Station

Let's Eat!

Thai Iced Tea ($4.20) and Thai Cendol ($5.80)The iced milk tea is strong and a tad too sweet for me, with the addition of gula melaka. The chendol was right up my alley, and is like a mini dessert to freshen you up for a hardcore Thai meal.

Homemade Minced Pork in Rice Noodle Wrap ($6.90 for 4 pcs) This is a mildly sweet, lovely starter. Minced meat was flavourful. Comes in 4 pieces, great for having one each for a group of 4, just nice to begin the meal!

Homemade Pandan Leaf Chicken ($8.90 for 4pcs)This was oily and juicy. It's too oily for me though. The chilli dip makes it better because it adds a slight sweetness to it, and you probably won't be focusing on the oiliness.

Tom Yum Soup with Sea Prawns – Tom Yam Goong ($19.90 per pot) This was good. Delicious. Yummy. We liked it so much we actually had another bowl of this. The prawns tasted fresh and the broth was very appetising and spicy just the way we liked. A must-try.

Traditional Thai Green Curry Chicken ($12.90) One of my favourites. I definitely am biased towards this dish as I do love the spice, the meats, the entire concoction. They were generous with the meats, the vegetables in it - eggplant, beans. Must have with their pandan leaf rice ($1.20), love it!

Stir-fried Pork with Basil Leaves ($11.90) Spicy and flavourful, just the way I like it, with the lovely taste of the basil, which was also just nice - not overpowering. Another great dish to go with rice.

Steamed Seabass with Lime and Chilli ($29.90)I love the sauce from this dish. It was slightly sourish, spicy, so appetising. The fish meat was soft and tender.

Stir-fried Mini Asparagus with Egg Beancurd and Mushroom ($12.90)Eat too much meat, must have some vegetables to balance it out. I liked this with rice also, because I'm such a gravy person.

“Crying Tiger” BBQ Beef Steak served with Homemade Sauce ($16.90) Chewy and really well done. As in, the meat texture. It'll be nice if the beef steak could be slightly more tender. Remember to dip it with the sauce to enhance its flavour.

Mango Sticky Rice served with Coconut Milk ($6.90) Good. The mango was fresh and the sticky rice was delicious, topped with sesame seeds. Pour on the coconut milk and you're ready to go!

Red Ruby served with Jackfruit and Coconut Milk ($5.90) Another one I'm super biased about. This was flavourful and the red rubies were crunchy. Did I also mention that the red rubies were handmade by the chef everyday, hence there's a limited number of bowls they sell for this? Another great reason for you to order this (best at the start of your meal, then ask them to serve later).

Sweet Tapioca served with Coconut Milk ($4.90) This was just alright for me, as I'm not too much into tapioca. But you must have this with coconut milk, which will make this a better dessert to have. Still, I think it's a little heavy to have the filling tapioca, unless you didn't order too much of the mains.

Deep-fried Banana Fritters served with Honey ($5.90)It was hard deciding which dessert we actually liked. This banana fritters was amazing! While it's a little oily for me, you really need to eat with while it's hot, it's so crispy I cannot even describe. With or without the honey dip, it still tasted good, but the honey dip just made it better for those who love a sweet ending to their meal.

These are just some of the dishes they serve up at Parathai. There's like more than 80 other authentic Thai dishes in the menu, by Chef Meaw and team. Overall, they did cater to the consumer's tastebuds. They are having a promotion now!

This was an invited media tasting.

Yes! I'm here at Choo Choo Chicken. This was a super overdue post.

Was it a smooth ride on this chicken journey, or did I try to pull the brakes to a screeching halt? Check out my review below!

Accessibility:
Approx. 2 minutes walk from Somerset MRT Station

This place is super small. I think it can hold up to about 18-20 people, max! Let's Eat!

We ordered the full chicken ($32) with the choice of 4 flavours: Soy, Original, Yangnyeom and Garlic. The flavours were honestly, at best, average. The chicken marinates didn't seem to absorb well and it was definitely not only of the best Korean Fried Chicken I had.

I didn't exactly enjoy the outer layer of the chicken too. It needed to be more crispy and I didn't feel the oomph biting into it. I did like that the chicken meat was pretty tender, though only at some parts. They really do need to work on its fried outer texture. A better balance between the sweet and spiciness of the yangnyeom sauce would also be appreciated.We did enjoy the beers and the makgeolli though! Lovely!Thank goodness for good company, though. (Pictured: Luna and me)(Missing from picture: Hannah and Fidelia - one is busy pouring the makgeolli, the other is busy eating chicken haha)

Low-Down
The best bit: The makgeolli.

The worse bit: The outer layer of the chicken.

We gathered at TomorrowFree KaFei for a tasting session in mid-July, when it just opened its doors to the crowd near Tai Seng MRT Station. The name alludes to the owner's idea of encouraging his guests to always look forward to spending a carefree and fuss-free "tomorrow" with him in his cafe, looking forward to familiar faces return to his cafe, both "tomorrow" and beyond.With their desire to preserve the cultures and flavours passed down from previous generations, it is clear to see why they chose to offer only Singapore's popular local eats with a homemade taste.

One popular local method of traditional coffee making, is to 'pull' it. Yes, pull. One might ask, how to pull coffee? If you've been to kopitiams a.k.a hawker centres in Singapore, you might already see that action happening. Similarly at TomorrowFree KaFei, they use a thin 'sock' (a tiny butterfly net with a wire handle) to brew their coffee and tea. The sock is lightly rinsed after each use, ensuring the oils and residue of the coffee beans and tea leaves are retained, also explaining why each brew is intensely rich in flavour.

Accessibility:
Approx. 3 minutes walk from Tai Seng MRT Station





Let's Eat!

Chee Cheong Fun and Yam Cake ($3 for 2 pieces each)Chee Cheong Fun with chilli

I loved 2 of this dishes, as it reminds me of my breakfast mornings with my family. The chee cheong fun was nicely steamed and I did like how the sweet gravy complemented its texture.Yam cake

Fried Chicken Wings ($1.40 for 2 pcs)You cannot go wrong ordering this. Served freshly deep fried, it is fragrant and super crispy. Loved it!

Mee Siam ($4) Sorry, I took this dish when it already become a little dry, but actually, it is fully served to customers when it is erm, 'wetter' with more gravy. Flavourful!

Bak Kut Teh ($7)A comforting starter to any meal, we understand that there are many return customers for this dish!

Curry Chicken ($5)Another favourite dish of mine. But I did think that the gravy was a little too thick, it would have been perfect if the gravy was not so thick. But that's also because their curry doesn't have any floating chilli oil in it, ensuring you only get the goodness of the full curry!

Chicken Chop ($13.90)The classic chicken chop, with colesaw and baked beans. This chicken chop was flavourful, topped with peppery gravy. It may prove to be a little too peppery for some, but if pepper is your thing, this dish is way up your alley. Like, my alley. haha.

Braised Pork Rice ($5)"Eh, can I have second helpings of the braised fatty meat?"

This is one dish I cannot stop eating, because it was braised well and its meat absorbed the braised flavours. With the layers of fat on the meat, it was delicious and very good with steamed white rice. However, I did hope that the gravy given was more, because being cantonese, I love gravy over rice! (Personal preference, sorry. LOL)

Overall, we did enjoy the food, and we are free to eat to our heart's content as their food only use all-natural ingredients, without additional flavourings or enhancers. Just like how our mothers would cook our meals!This tasting session is by invitation.

Over its huge furore on its provocative advertising campaign, I was curious to try out their food after coming across its branch in Orchard Road. To a certain extent, I guess the noise (positive or negative), worked for them.Also under the umbrella of the Lo & Behold Group, I recently reviewed their The White Rabbit when I went there for lunch, which was a major disappointment for me. How's Overeasy? Here's my review.OVEREASY is a modern American-style diner and bar serving up comfort food classics and blissful beverages.

Accessibility:
Approx 5 mins walk from Orchard MRT Station

Let's Eat!

Chocolate Millkshake & Smokey the Bear ($9 each)The chocolate milkshake is super chocolatey, and doesn't let chocolate lovers down. As for Smokey the Bear milkshake, it's main ingredient is banana mixed with smoked maple syrup. The entire mix tastes good and not too sweet. What's more, it's topped with a glazed short piece of bacon!

All-day Diner Breakfast ($24)A traditional breakfast as can be. It comes with 2 eggs with any choice, but they didn't check my choice with me. Anyway, I went with the surprise option and it came sunny side up. Chicken sausage, house-made rosti, crispy bacon and a side of toast. While I enjoyed it, I did think that the cost of the meal was quite expensive for what was served.

Truffled with Wild Mushrooms Mac & Cheese ($16)I loved this! It's so cheesy, with the right amount of truffle. This was really tasty and we enjoyed this thoroughly.

Texas Chilli Cheese Fries with Cajun Spice ($14)The fries were not crispy enough, while the toppings are tasty! The portion is for sharing, unless you're only ordering this. Good enough for 3-4 people, for sharing!

I also heard that their buffalo wings are pretty good. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try them, but I just might, the next time I return.

Low-Down
The best bit: The Smokey Bear milkshake, and the truffle mac and cheese!

The worse bit: The texture of the fries.