Vietnamese Restaurant Chain Pho Vietz Lands in Singapore and We Love It

Vietnamese restaurant chain Pho Vietz has opened its very first flagship outlet in Singapore at Bugis Junction. Founded by Ho Chi Minh City native Chef Kenny Ton who started off with ten outlets in Malaysia before expanding it to the US and Hong Kong, Pho Vietz presents Vietnamese cuisine signatures like pho noodles and banh mi, together with regional specialties from the city of Hue.

Singapore residents have welcomed the restaurant with open arms, judging by the never-ending queue on this weekday evening. Service was brisk, and we began our meal with side dishes like the Vietnamese Prawn Salad (S$10.80), a refreshing, light salad with crackers and jelly topped with fresh peanuts, topped with a zesty dressing. It was a great palate cleanser to set us up for the many dishes to come, and reminded us of how Vietnamese cuisine is. One could eat a lot of it but would not be overwhelmed by guilty sentiments of having too much of a good thing.

One cannot miss spring rolls on a Vietnamese menu. Here, there are the classics like rice paper prawn rolls, and the crispy fried Vietnamese Spring Roll ($6.80) which we liked, but what was more interesting was the texture of the Steamed Flat rice rolls with Minced Pork (S$8.80). They remind me of cheong fun, but are much more filling with a pleasant chewy and sticky texture. Each rice roll skin is made fresh to order and then rolled with the filling, whose other components are glass noodles, black fungus and prawns. I would be happy to eat a plate of this on my own.

Surprisingly and a bit regrettably, a quick first flip of the extensive menu quickly reveals that desserts are not among the many offerings at Pho Vietz. Nonetheless, there is a good selection of beverage choices to make up for it. Ranging from the classic Vietnamese drip coffee with milk (S$4.80) to the  Ginger and Lemongrass Drink (S$5.50) and Six Treasure (S$5.50) that we nursed until the end of our meal, Pho Vietz just about manages to get away without offering sweet treats.

Moving on to the mains, there are plenty of familiar crowd pleasers that will appeal to local palates at Pho Vietz, such as the eponymous pho noodle soup. Among the phos on the menu is the Pho Vietz 4 Beef Combo Noodle Soup (S$17.80), a perfectly orchestrated version of the popular dish that features sliced beef, beef shank, beef ribeye, and beef balls in a broth that has been simmered for eight hours with beef bones and marrow. The large beef balls are addictively large, crunchy and uneven in the way only hand made ones can be. I have not tasted such juicy and tasty beef balls before.  The other bountiful pieces of beef in the soup are premium cuts, and definitely makes this dish one of the better beef phos I’ve tasted. Indeed I was disappointed that there was a pork ball pho but no pho that features only these delicious beef balls.

If you like beef but your experience with Vietnamese noodles has only been limited to pho until now, try Hue Style Spicy Beef Noodle Soup (S$16.80), more commonly known as Bun Bo Hue. The robust stock was more complex than the lighter, beef notes of the earlier pho, as this one was also simmered for hours but with beef and pork bones, lemongrass and fermented shrimp paste, and finished off with a fiery chilli oil. Unlike the flat pho noodles, Bun Bo Hue features thick, round rice vermicelli noodles. Like the previous pho, the serving size was huge, and the pork rib pieces in the soup that were fall-off-the bone tender were also large and meaty, making for a very satisfying meal. I then understood Pho Vietz’s appeal and the queue outside, in this challenging era for dining out, where consumers face dwindling portions amid rising prices.

The menu has other interesting dry noodles that are not so common in Singapore, such as the Nam Vang style pork dried noodle, a braised beef stew noodle and the Pho Vietz 4 Beef Combo Dried Noodle (S$17.80), where you can choose either wanton noodle or flat noodles dry tossed with minced beef, while the beef balls and other slices of beef are served in a side of soup. This did not leave much of an impression. However, it is a good option for those who prefer to order dry bak chor mee, yet have their soup (albeit a smaller portion) too.

Besides noodles, there are several rice dishes with curries, stews and grilled meats. We had the Grilled Marinated Pork Belly Rice (S$14.80), a wholesome rice set that came with a fried egg, crispy crackers, a salad, and a large serving of tender and fatty pork belly with crisp edges. Pour over the sweet and tangy sauce served at the side called Nuoc Cham, and this is a wholesome comfort food akin to a Vietnamese ‘nasi lemak’ – even more similar if you order the version where you get grilled lemongrass chicken chop instead of pork belly.

The highlight of the meal for me was the Famous Vietnamese Baguette ($11.80). This ‘flagship’ sandwich at Pho Vietz is a pork fiesta that is a must-order on your first visit-even if you may be tempted by the other options. We somehow ended up eating this late into the meal, but the baguette remained crusty and soft. There was steamed ham, fried ham, gammon ham and the impressive unmistakeable crunch of pig’s ear that livened up each bite. This is probably one of the more authentic pork banh mi you can get in Singapore.

At the end of our very satisfying and filling meal, we were reasonably impressed with Pho Vietz’s authenticity and its overall extensive and well planned menu. Many of the condiments, spices and noodles are imported directly from Vietnam. The menu even has a vegetarian-friendly section where several dishes have been adapted to a meat-free or ‘mock meat’ version. Indeed, other than the oddity of not offering any desserts, Pho Vietz has kicked off its Singapore journey auspiciously with an exciting range of dishes, large portions and central location.

Pho Vietz Singapore
B1-08, Bugis Junction
200 Victoria St
Singapore 188021

Opening hours: Sun to Thu – 11am to 930pm; Fri to Sat – 11am to 10pm