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Ho Chi Minh – again..1 month later , Pho 24 and Phuoc Hoa

Another visit to Vietnam….when for a walkabout somewhere near Ben Tharn market, and I saw this 1Malaysia stall..

Had dinner at Pho 24, I have tried pho ( beef noodles ) and the broken rice  but hadn’t tried the vermicelli noodles (Bun), so I opted for the Bun + spring roll + grilled pork  version and for drinks I ordered pamelo juice. I thought this was something soupy but err..it was a dry dish. The vermicelli was nesting on top of bean sprouts..oh oh…I am not a fan of raw bean sprouts. The vermicelli were surprisingly moist yet non sticky and rather pleasant really. The fried spring roll were tasty and so was the grilled pork.  Pamelo juice was perfect as a refreshment.

Can I get a refund for the beansprouts ?

The next day, we traveled to Binh Duong, visit some customers and took them out for lunch. Lunch was at Phuoc Hoa , the place was air-conditioned and the setting was basic but serves its purpose.

I was told that these red chilies are not as ‘innocent’ as the red chilies we see back home in Malaysia, these packed a fiery kick-  i dare not give it a try , chicken !

I was asked to guess what these were :I thought i was so pandai  and said ‘oh, I know, these are the eggs from the bird (quail)’  and became the object of mirth  for those around the table.. these were the small bulb egg plants ! It was crunchy and the texture was graining at the centre when you bite into the seeds. This was slightly salty as they were soaked in salt water.

Each of us have our individual pot of steamed rice

Stir fried beef with some kind of flower buds, the flavour was very light, which gave  the flavour of the beef the center stage, the beef was chewy but not tough, this was nice.

Catfish in claypot – this dish has a multitude of flavours including bit bit sweet, a bit bit of spicy and then lots of  pepper. The fish was smooth and sweet, there were no earthy taste from the fish. Yum

Blanched pumpkin leaves – this was cooked just right, the pumpkin leaves/shoots were tender, the flavour wasn’t overly green. This was usually eaten by dipping in some sauce, but I find the leaves taste well enough on its own.

Fried eggs – err…this tasted like the usual fried eggs loorr

I find that the Vietnamese uses a lot of dips/ sauces, there is almost 1 sauce for each dish.

Fried squid rings- the squids were tender and fresh. The batter were thin and did not get into the way of squid. Ah..a  joy with each bite..

Bitterguord soup with minced pork – this was a very simple dish and I am not sure what was it but the flavour reminded me of an olden lost flavour that I used to enjoy. The soup was strongly flavoured with lots of pepper. I find the bitter guord slices a bit too green and too crunchy, if this was back home, we would have boiled it until all the slices would have turned soft and yellowish.

Steamed chicken – being used to the soft and muscle-less  ‘ayam daging’ back home, the chicken in Vietnam is kinda tough – but tough in a good way. I guess these chicken were not pumped with hormones or  cooped up all day hence the tougher texture and better chicken-y flavour. Yumm

Overall, a simple meal but an enjoyable one.

Location:

Beef Stew breakfast and dinner at Ben Tharn

Day 3, same modus operandi as Day 3- we got our 6 a.m pick up to the factory, and before going into the toll station, we stopped at a shop for breakfast.

Our hosts did the ordering, so I did not know what we were having for breakfast. First – the baguettes and plates of vegetables were delivered to our table, the a bowlful of something which turned out to be beef stew, I wasn’t sure how to go about eating it, you know la..we all, kampong people dunno what to do with the baguette also one lah.. ok ok…just break the baguette and then dip the smaller pieces into the soupy stew. OOOHHH Laa laaa… this was the best meal I had for the last 3 days  ! The beef chunks was tender, the gravy/soup was beefy, peppery and oh so wonderful…

Work work work work….and then it was dinner time…As  this was our last night in HCM, our hosts suggested that we moved from Lucky Hotel to stay closer to the city area so that it will be more convenient for us to get to the airport the next day, good idea. We decide to have dinner at the Ben Tharn night market and was joined later by the expat guy from the factory who took us to his favourite stall and took charge of ordering dinner.

The guys had a few beers

Fried squid…rubbery and tasteless..

Fried chicken wings ..same taste as the fried squid, i.e tasteless..lucky the chicken wasn’t rubbery like the squids..hehe

The savior of the day, prawns coiled in potato and deep fried. I am still wondering how they achieved getting the potatoes in such find strips and then coiled around the prawns and then deep fried. The prawns were fresh and the potato added an interesting taste and texture to the dish.

Stir fried kangkong- this tasted of pepper and garlic –and i mean it not in a good way..

Fried rice – this taste like butter fried rice, it was a bit too dry and very bland..

Overall- fantastic beef stew breakfast and a forgetful dinner !

This was one of the food stalls at Ben Tharn …but not the one we had dinner at.