Pho24 @ Ly Tu Trong, Ben Thanh Market (Ho Chi Minh)

Lunch place on our first day in Ho Chi Minh city. Had lunch here prior to exploring the nearby Ben Thanh market.

shop front

They have menu in English, so ordering is not an issue.

menu

Ordered a bowl of steaming hot phở bò (beef noodles soup) and can opt for tái/ chín/ nạm (fillet/ flank/ brisket). We also had a plate of fried spring rolls to share.

garnishes for pho: beansprouts, chilies, Thai basil and lime

pho bo (beef noodles)

closer view

The soup was nice and soothing. The serving size seemed small though, and the meat was just a few slices. Not sure if my tastebud had went haywire, but I thought the noodles tasted slightly funky. My friends seemed to enjoy theirs though.

The fried spring roll was also surprisingly small. And I thought it would be filled with beansprouts but instead, it was just meat fillings.

fried spring roll (chả giò)

meat fillings (pork?)

For drinks, my friends opted for fresh fruit juice, while I chose the hot coffee with condensed milk (cà phê sữa nóng).

coffee with condensed milk (hot)

end result

My first impression of Vietnamese coffee? The coffee was just lukewarm, and it tasted a strange mixture of sweet and salty. Hmmm...

The meal costs about VND300,000+, so it was about SGD20 and fed 4 pax.

Itacho Sushi @ Bugis Junction

Located at B1 of Bugis Junction. Visited on a Tuesday afternoon and there was no queue. Got a table after a few minutes of waiting time.

towel (no charge)

recommended by Ricky

green tea (no charge)

Ordered salmon with soy sauce (max. 4 pieces per pax) and salmon lobster salad roll at 50% off. Hahaha, it's quite a kick to get items at a steal!

look at the oil!

yummy salmon aburi sushi (40cents per piece only!)

Loved the salmon with soy sauce because it's super duper worth it @40cents++ per piece, tasty and oily. Yums!

Next item on promo is the salmon lobster salad roll @$3.60++ for 2 pieces.

not sure where is the salad though.. maybe its the salad sauce?

yummy salmon and lobster

Also had single pieces of the fatty salmon sushi, hotate (scallop) sushi with green tea salt and zaru shell sushi.

fatty salmon sushi

hotate (front) and zaru shell (back) sushi

My colleague had the Matsu sushi lunch set @$9.90++. It has 9 pieces of sushi plus a bowl of miso soup.

colourful Matsu set

salmon sashimi (@$3.60++)

Service was generally promt and genial. Water was constantly refilled.
We had another colleague having the unagi don (lunch set) and total cost came up to about $45 for 3 pax.

Eating 9 pieces of sushi in total and plus one miso soup, this made a very very filling lunch indeed!
 

Sashimi House SAKURAYA @ Anchorpoint

Tried the Ladies Lunch Set (@$18++) today. As usual, the hot green tea and appetiser are complimentary.

appetiser, beansprouts

The set comprises of salad, rice, miso and an assortment of items (sashimi, tori karaage, deep fried prawn, fried salmon, maki, tamago, tako and konnyaku) and a dessert.

salad

overview of the Ladies Set Lunch items

pickles

konnyaku with miso

fried salmon

sweet tamago

The konnyaku was basically QQ and tasteless on its own. But didn't quite take to the miso and konnyaku combi.

Japanese rice

I really liked the rice. Nice and sticky (but not overly) and not too much. Just enough to eat with the petite ingredients.

deep fried items

sashimi (maguro, hamachi and ebi)

tako with seaweed and cucumber

dessert: yuzu sorbet

The food was not spectacular but it allows a sampling of small individual items. So that made it somewhat interesting.

Total cost was $21.

The Wok & Barrel @ Duxton Hill

Located at 13 Duxton Hill. But for people not familiar with this area (that's me), there could be some problem (yep, couldn't find the place!) in locating this place. Amongst the landmarks that you'll see if you're walking towards the place; 7-eleven, open air car-park, Flor Patisserie...

My friends reached at 7pm, so they were tasked to do the ordering of food. So half an hour later from the appointed time and I needed one friend to come out to 'rescue' a lost lamb, we're finally ready to eat. Sorry guys to keep you all waiting!

I had arrived to a table-full of food.

nasi lemak rice (top left), beef rendang pizza (top right) and chicken wings (bottom)

We had ordered nasi lemak (rice and ingredients are ordered separately), achar, rendang pizza, chicken wings, 5-spice roast pork.

nasi lemak rice (@$1.90+)

Liked the liberal scattering of fried ikan bilis (anchovies), and the two different types of sambal chilies to go with the rice. Half my table couldn't take much of the sambal because it was a little bit too spicy for them. I thought it was just right and it'll be perfect if there's a hardboiled egg to counter the spiciness.

chicken curry (@$8.90+)

5-spices roast pork (@$9.90+)

The chicken curry was good! Two huge drumsticks in there. The meat was fork tender and the gravy was thick and full of flavour! Gravy + rice + sambal = triple yums! My friends liked the 5-spices roast pork. One likened it to the meat in 'bak zhang'. Myself, much preferred the chicken curry (drools).

Don't forget to order the chicken wings. Or rather, you MUST order the chicken wings. Crispy on the outerside, and juicy on its inside. Well marinated, and doesn't feel oily. We loved the chicken wings, drumlets and all. 

rendang pizza

The beef rendang was quite mild and that actually surprised me. Had thought that it would be heavier on the taste and flavour. Subtle flavours and slightly chewy dough. Best to eat it while its hot.

My choice of drink for the night was 2 Brothers Gypsy Pear Cider (Australia). Sparkling cider that can be passed off as *gasp* champagne? Just kidding. But seriously. Nope, still kidding. Taste wise, it was semi-sweet and crisp.

Thirsty? Have a Gypsy, but not too much, don't wanna be too tipsy~

interior

Service crew was friendly and they'll come to clear the plates once you're done with the food.

What's next? How about some desserts? Aren't you guys too full from all the food? I asked. Yes, but we can still eat desserts! They said. Sounds familiar? Probably happens all the time for girls.

So, being cautious, we placed an order for "Shen-dol". Think I heard my friends saying they wanted a cake or something too. But decided not to be overly ambitious with our makan 'prowess'. Phew.

Coconut Pannacotta with Red Bean ice-cream (Shendol)

yummy coconut pannacotta

Have to commend Madam Tan for a dessert that bears her name (yes, right?) It is good. Loved the coconut pannacotta paired with gula melaka syrup. Deliciously soft pudding bursting with salty coconut cream flavour, and countered with sweet gula melaka and topped it off with red bean ice-cream. Yums. Deconstructed chendol.

The meal costs about $79 and fed 4 people. There is no service charge, only GST.

White Dog Cafe @ Vivocity

Located at Level 2 of Vivocity. We walked in at around 12+pm because its hardworking waitress had called out to promote the $10.90++ 3-course set lunch. Abundance of main course items to choose from but some need to add a few dollars more.

menu and interior

water served freely

The set lunches come with add-ons for drinks as well. So we topped up $1++ for ice-lemon tea.

is this beer or ice-lemon tea?

Unfortunately, the ice-lemon tea was unsweetened. Not sure whether it was intentional or accidental, we don't know. Didn't mind the non-sweetened version as we consoled ourselves that it was healthier this way.

Two types of soups to choose from; minestrone or leek and potato. I had leek and potato soup while my colleagues had minestrone.

leek and potato soup with salad (here are the course #1 and course #2)

The leek and potato soup was quite thick and feels starchy. But, it was quite enjoyable with the soft leek and potato bits inside. My colleagues liked their minestrone as well.

Didn't finish the salad though, as it tasted like a milder version of coleslaw without the tanginess...

For the main course, I had the sirloin steak (+$4). My colleagues opted for the grilled pork chop and pan-fried red snapper. All main courses come with butter rice and vegetables.

sirloin steak with butter rice and vegetables

medium rare (only at the middle part, elsewhere are medium)

The slab of steak was of uneven cutting, so probably that's why the doneness differs too. The pan fried red snapper fillet looks enjoyable. Had a taste of the pork chop and it was good. In fact, felt that the pork chop tasted even better than the steak. However, my colleague who was having the pork chop commented that some portion was too tough.

The butter rice was rather mild, and not much butter taste. The texture was good as it was neither too hard nor too soft. Best eaten with the vegetables in tomato sauce, while it's still warm.

The total cost was about $48 for 3 pax.