Ca Phe Saigon

 

Pho Hoa

Propaganda Bistro

Banh Mi Kitchen

Pho 24

Bon Banh Mi

Vicky's office gang introduced her to banh mi (Saigon style sandwiches).  Bon Banh Mi along Mayapis St. in Makati is one of their favorites, and she made it a point to bring us there last weekend.  The bread is crispy, and the filling has authentic Vietnamese flavor.  We took a roast beef sandwich and a traditional pork sandwich, and found that we had tummy space for an order of spring rolls.  You don't spend much, each order is just about P100 on the average.

Vina Trang

Vicky and I were on our way home when we realized that the traffic situation would keep us on the road for another hour or so.  It was already around 8:30 pm, and we were hungry. We decided to take a short stop for dinner at Vina Trang Vietnamese restaurant along Sampaloc Street in San Antonio Village in Makati.

The owner is Vietnamese, so you can expect the food to be authentic.  The spring rolls (both fresh and fried) with the specialty sauce are not bad at all.  We had beef pho, which came to the table with lots of good aroma.  Vicky taught me how to sprinkle the soup with just the right amount of bean sprouts and basil leaves.

They make their own yogurt, which we had for dessert.  Even bought some for take-out, Andie loves this and we wanted her to have some.  P400 per person is enough to keep your tummy quite full.

Phobobo

Hoa Tuc

The first item on the agenda was to have a late lunch.  Since we were pressed for time, we opted to look for a nearby place, and Hoa Tuc was the immediate suggestion.  The restaurant is located right at the very building where Indian opium used to be refined by the French colonial government.

I particularly liked the wok-fried beef strips atop a bed of watercress.  The meat was tender and the aroma was startling.  I don't know what spices the chef had used, but the dish was quite outstanding.

The sea bass was topped with mango and came with sweet potatoes and cassava.  Not bad. The barbecued chicken though was ordinary, and the only indication that we were in Saigon was that it was served with bean sprouts and coriander on the side.

Zao

Ninoy Aquino day was such a rainy day, so instead of crossing the Pasig to go to Manila, we decided to spend time around the Shangrila Mall, with a side visit to Monique's ninong at the adjoining St. Francis tower.  Vicky spied the Zao Vietnamese Bistro at the new wing of the mall, and we thought this would give us an interesting lunch.  We learned from the food attendants that the restaurant belongs to the Pasto group, and knowing this, we had high expectations as we sat down.  We started off with crunchy fried lumpia, Vietnamese style.

Without missing a beat, we started to scoop out the next viands that came in--prawns in garlic, and pork chop, which was flavored with toppings that were distinctly Vietnamese.  It was a good thing that the fried rice came just a couple of minutes after these viands were delivered--we were quite hungry and started to dig in fast.

The beef stew was a very delicious treat, one that I recommend you try.  It's not like the caldereta style that is tomato based, and while similar to the braised Chinese style, the flavor has a slight lovable twist.

The vermicelli (bihon) noodles were topped with cut lumpia, some barbecued pork and chicken bits.  We also had garlic kangkong, which a bland and a bit disappointing, but the hot seafood pho (noodle) soup, which came in last, was flavorful and delicious.  Prepare a budget of around P700 per head if you want a variety of flavors.  Service was reasonably fast, considering that there were only 3 or maybe 4 attendants, and that people had to stand in line to get a seat.