18 Lorong Mambong, Holland Village
Tel: 6467 3662

The largest Vietnamese restaurant chain in North America with a customer base that captures the insatiable appetites of customers well beyond the Vietnamese has its Singapore outlet housed in the bohemian enclave of Holland Village . Pho Hoa is the place to go for a bowl of hot and tasty Vietnamese national soup commonly known as “Pho” (pronounced fuh). And since “Hoa” means “harmony” in Vietnamese, its name also exemplifies the way the restaurant chain markets itself: a friendly family style restaurant where one can enjoy an affordable and nutritious meal.

Pho Hoa offers a substantially uniform menu consisting of Vietnamese beef noodle soups. Principal entrée items include various grilled meats with rice or vermicelli and starters, in the form of spring and fried rolls, supplement the menu. There are also helpful images of the food for the uninitiated and they serve to both illustrate the items on the menu as well as educate guests on the various beef parts available as choices.

Knowing your meat is useful when you order their Adventurer’s Choice ($11.00). A potent mixture of various beef parts such as brisket, flank, and tendon amongst others, boiled in tasty hot soup, how could you even miss it? With four different combinations available, order your favourite parts and savour them with vermicelli in hot steaming soup. However, the noodles could be thinner and smoother and the flavour of the soup thicker, which is truly regrettable as pho is what we often identify Vietnamese cuisine with.

Ignore the jerky start and try out their Cha Gio ($2.95), which is a fried minced chicken and vegetable roll. Do remember to dip the roll into the sauce before you take that satisfying bite into its crispy skin. On the other hand, the Goi Cuon ($3.95) is quite a disappointment. Rolled with shrimp, chicken, salad and rice vermicelli, the vegetables seem a tad not fresh and even with the sauce, the taste remains limp.

The Com Ga Nuong ($8.00) and the Bun Ga Nuong ($9.95) refers to the Grilled Chicken and Grilled Beef respectively. They turned out to be the pillars of Pho Hoa as both were just scrumptious enough to lift spirits. Tender and succulent, and served with the usual combo of rice or vermicelli and a generous portion of vegetables, pho can well take a backseat in our minds for now!

Also deserving of compliments is their Banh Mi/ Pho Bo Kho ($8.00), Carrot Beef Stew served with Bread or Noodles. Chunks of juicy beef and carrots bathed in rich gravy will impress the discerning diner. Enticing to the palate and delightfully different from the soupy pho, it is a totally inviting item.

A highlight in their desserts selection is the Vietnamese version of our “Chendol”, the Che Ba Mau ($4.00), also known as the three colours drink. Besides being pleasing to the eye for its attractive colours, it also rejuvenates your senses with its sweet and refreshing taste. Made with coconut milk, sweet corn, and red bean amongst other ingredients, it simply is just irresistible!

Recommended:

1. Pho Noodle Soup with Beefsteak
2. Summer Roll & Fried Roll
3. Vermicelli Bowl

• If you pay using your HSBC Credit Card, you get 50% off first drink with any purchase of main course. Valid till 31 December 2007.

Note: This review was extracted from Street Directory.

Lotus Thai Viet

• My Dining Room @ Kopitiam
  Level 4, The Central Shopping Centre
• Kopitiam
  Basement 1, Vivo City
• Kopitiam
  Level 3, Tiong Bahru Plaza

They are all outlets at food courts of this restaurant called Lotus Thai Restaurant. What I do recommend here is their good value for money pineapple rice (only S$4 for a portion) & their mango salad (S$3.50).

You can also opt for their pineapple set (for S$6) which comes with the normal portion of the pineapple fried rice, a small dish of mango salad and a bowl of tom yam soup. I find the tom yam soup (clear one) not that spicy. They do place a bowl of their chilli padi, normal cut red chillies and chilli powder outside their stalls so you can help yourself.

I’m disappointed by their olive rice though. It doesn’t really give a tasty flavor, so I would avoid it if I were you.

• If you have the kopitiam card, you get 10% discount.
• Add $0.20 for take-aways.

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon

Blk 46 Holland Drive #01-359
Tel: 6778 3691
Opening Hours: 12pm to 2.30pm, 5pm to 11pm, daily

The most famous place you can enjoy the liquor laced dish is here although you will likely chance upon similar versions of the dish at restaurants or food stalls across the island.

A hot spot for both lunch and dinner, this Holland Drive coffeeshop is almost always packed. Animated chatter from the diners and the noisy whir of the wall-mounted fans add to the atmosphere, as bowl after bowl of steaming fish head bee hoon is served. You can smell the tantalising scent of cognac in the bowl of delicious X.O. fish head bee hoon even before it reaches your table. The dish, although a little too milky, comes with a generous serving of fresh steamed fish and thick vermicelli. For the price you’re paying, you’re definitely getting a whole lot of fish with almost 15 pieces of fish head! The price ranges from $7 - $25 (up to 5 pax).

Also not to be missed are crowd favourites like har cheong kai (Shrimp Paste Fried Chicken) (S$7 per plate) and Buttered Prawns (S$15 for 5 pcs).

Hoe Nam Prawn Noodles

31 Tai Thong Crescent
(very near to Lao Zhong Zhong Coffeeshop)
Tel: 6281 9293
Opening Hours: 6.15am to 4.45pm, closed on alternate Mondays
Website: http://www.sbestfood.com/hoenam.htm

Look at the list of awards and recommendations that they got from their website.

The two sisters running the stall say they use pork bones and prawn shells, and the tasty soup is a mouth-watering balance of both.

I personally ate there and I had the soupy version not the dry version, so I’m not sure how the dry one tastes like. I love the tasty soup which has a nice prawn taste. Try the handmade fish cake too.

Tai Seng Noodle House

#02-123 Amoy Street Food Centre
Opening Hours: 10.30am to 3pm, closed on Sundays

This is a one-woman operation, from the making of the wellseasoned char siew and wonton to the cooking and selling. The owner is never flustered, even when she gets a long queue at lunch time. You not only get a smile from her, you also get 10, yes 10, wontons, albeit with more skin than filling, but they taste pretty good. The chilli sauce is just so-so though. And all these from S$2.50 onwards.