Day 8

Vietnamese food is by far one of my favorite cuisines in the world. Living in California, specifically Los Angeles, I tend to take it for granted since Vietnamese restaurants are almost as common as grocery stores.

Vietnam is a close neighbor to Singapore, yet somehow the food does not transfer well. It is extremely difficult to find good Vietnamese food in Singapore. In fact, it’s almost worth it to take the hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon) just to get that luscious, savory, soothing bowl of rice noodles in rich beef broth with thin sliced tender beef and fresh herbs that is so famously known as Pho.

Never one to admit defeat, I decided to try a place I recently found fairly close to my hotel – Annam Vietnamese restaurant. It was a decision well made!

I especially liked their décor. It reminds me of the French colonial style interiors of the pre war era. It's a fusion of French country and south east Asian artistry creating the "Indochine" imagery regularly portrayed in novels and films associated with this region of the world during that time period.

Going back to the food, I had 2 appetizers because I wanted a light dinner and didn't quite feel like a bowl of noodle soup.  First I had Cha Gio, deep fried spring rolls. Their version was made with whole shrimps wrapped in a weave like rice paper that made the spring rolls look like it was wrapped in crispy, thin threads that resembled a bird’s nest. Every bite was crispy, crunchy, garlicy, with chunks of tender shrimp. Wrapped in butter lettuce and fresh herbs then dipped in a salty, tangy, garlicy, spicy fish sauce vinaigrette made it a perfect meal. I could've eaten it all day!

My second dish and main course was Bahn Xeo, a type of crepe that is made with rice flour, tumeric, and coconut milk. It is then filled with a stir fry combination of savory pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts.  This was the best version I’ve had for the crepe was extra crispy around the edge and crisp, yet still chewy in the middle. At the same time there was just enough coconut milk to bring out a slight sweetness and coconut flavor, giving it a mouth watering aroma. They also garnished it with fried shallots and scallion oil to add even more layers of flavors and aromas, making this dish absolutely irresistible. It was a mess trying to cut it up, wrap it in butter lettuce and herbs, then dipping it in the fish sauce vinaigrette, but it was well worth it.

I then washed it all down with my favorite south east Asian drink - coconut juice straight out of a coconut.

The only downside to this place is all that yumminess comes at a price. For those 2 appetizers and coconut juice I paid about $63 SGD, about $60 USD.  In Los Angeles, that would have probably cost at most $20 USD including tip. Which reminds me of a fun fact. There is no need to tip in Asia because a 10% service charge is automatically added to all bills so they don’t expect a tip. I always add an extra 10% if the service is better than the usual.

Nonetheless, despite the prices, it was a great meal to end my stay in Singapore.

Next stop…Africa! Stay tuned…..