Given the close proximity of Vietnam to Singapore, it's strange that Indochinese restaurants are few and far between here, isn't it? In fact, I have probably downed more pho during the four months I spent in Montreal than in the years spent in my sunny island home!
Although I had vowed to feast exclusively on hawker food during my short vacation back in Singapore, I decided to make an exception for Nam Nam Noodle Bar. It's not common that an eatery- albeit a casual spinoff- under the Les Amis group offers a set lunch for $9.90++, no?
The Southern Rolls, a combination of rice vermicelli, shrimp and a lonely mint leaf wrapped in a cocoon of rice paper, could have done with more herbs. I know the hoisin-chicken liver sauce sounds rather exotic but it adds much flavor to the bland rolls.
Although I had vowed to feast exclusively on hawker food during my short vacation back in Singapore, I decided to make an exception for Nam Nam Noodle Bar. It's not common that an eatery- albeit a casual spinoff- under the Les Amis group offers a set lunch for $9.90++, no?
The Southern Rolls, a combination of rice vermicelli, shrimp and a lonely mint leaf wrapped in a cocoon of rice paper, could have done with more herbs. I know the hoisin-chicken liver sauce sounds rather exotic but it adds much flavor to the bland rolls.
While I have never stepped foot into Vietnam before, a Vietnamese friend of mine proclaimed the pho to be unauthentic. For one, the kitchen was equally stingy with the herbs in the pho- the usual garnishes of beansprouts and Thai Basil were nowhere to be found. As a soup fiend, I love pho for its sweet, robust beef stock. While you'll usually find me slurping up every single drop of soup, the broth here was too plain to be worth drinking. The only redeeming factor of the pho would be, apparently, that no MSG was used.
The iced coffee tasted more like our local kopi than Vietnamese drip coffee. Regardless, do not depend on it for a mid-afternoon caffeine jolt. The beverages that came with the set lunch came in half-filled (or rather, half-empty) cups with a heap of ice.
Given the long waiting time at lunchtime, you'll probably be better off at Ion's Food Opera for a budget meal in Orchard.
