Little Vietnam - Part One
Exploring Joo Chiat Road, we found the sleepy enclave of ‘Little Vietnam’. In the middle of the afternoon, the place is quiet. Most of the karaoke pubs that only open later at night and only a few eateries were open.
The day starts late here. The Vietnamese eatery we visited was half full despite it being well past lunchtime. The customers included some girls (probably having their first meal of the day), Vietnamese students coming for a meal after school, couples, and the occasional uncle having a beer. The eatery, Long Phung, at 159 Joo Chiat Road, is open from 12p.m. to 1a.m. daily. The late opening hours are to cater to the lifestyles of the people frequenting the area.
None of us have much knowledge of Vietnamese food and so we order at random, choosing from the appetizing pictures on the menu(and peeking at the food that other customers are ordering).
Here are some of the photos. (Sorry for their half-eaten state, we were too hungry and forgot to take photos till halfway through the meal).
The prawn roll was really unique. At first glance, it looked like the normal popiah, but the skin was different, and so was the stuffing. The prawn was really succulent and fresh. And there was the vegetables and vermicelli? (I’m not sure what it was exactly.) But the whole combination went exceedingly well with the dipping sauces.
We also had seafood noodles soup. With fresh seafood and a savoury broth, it was simply delicious!
Lastly, there was the spicy beef stew noodle soup, which was just the right bit of sweet and spicy. And the beef was plenty of tender.
Although, not being familiar with Vietnamese cuisine, we were unsure of the authenticity of the dishes, but we decided to take the steady flow of Vietnamese patrons as proof of its authenticity.
When we went to foot the bill, we made use of the brief lull in business to interview the lady boss of Long Phung. She was a Vietnamese bride who had come to Singapore 14 years ago. (Saying that, she pointed to her son who was doing homework behind the counter, “See, my son is already 9 years old!”) After coming here, seeing how there were many Vietnamese working in the area and there was a demand for Vietnamese food, she decided to set up shop in Joo Chiat a few years back. Many of the helpers in the restaurant are Vietnamese brides as well. She had put up hire notices in Vietnamese and they had applied for the jobs.
Just for fun. We found a traditional Vietnamese conical hat hanging from a bicycle parked outside a shophouse.
DATE: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
TIME: ||10:19 PM ||