Chef Minh Vietnamese Pho – Authentic Vietnamese Pho from $5 in Bukit Batok

Helmed by 33-year-old Ngo Nhu Minh, Chef Minh Vietnamese Pho is a newly-opened stall in a coffee shop in Bukit Batok (located just beside the rather popular Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun). As the name of his shop suggests, he only offers Pho. Patrons can look forward to variations such as Beef Pho and Shredded Chicken Pho ($5).

I went straight for his Signature Beef Combo ($6.50) that came with a myriad of toppings. At first glance, I spotted some beef slices, a piece of beef shank, tendon, tripe and a beef ball atop a generous portion of thin rice noodles. The raw onion and bean sprouts contrasted the chew of the noodles nicely as they melded together in my mouth. The homemade beef ball was bouncy and had a nice bite to it.

The highlight, though, would undeniably be the thinly sliced beef slices! Here, the boiling beef broth doused over it cooked it to the perfect temperature. Needless to say, the slices were tender and almost buttery even! My only gripe with this would be the amount of meat to fat ratio in each slice ; I would have liked more meat than fat.

The tendon and tripe had a mild beefy taste and were slightly jelly-like and chewy. I must add that these ingredients are rather acquired tastes. So, if you’re like me and these ingredients aren’t really your vibe, you can just head straight for the Beef Tender Slices Pho ($5.50). Or if you’d rather a stronger-tasting, tougher cut of beef, you can opt for their Beef Shank Pho ($6).

Regardless, one constant across all the Beef Pho would be the piping hot beef broth that had been simmered with a total of 7 spices, cloves, star anise, cardamom, coriander seeds and cinnamon sticks. When I had my first mouthful, the taste of the broth seemed rather mild and herbaceous. Strangely enough, the more I dug into my bowl of pho, the more flavourful and robust the broth got. The zest from the squeeze of lime gave a refreshing touch to the entire dish as well.

For spice lovers out there, you can choose to mix their bright red Chilli Padi into the broth. Just a word of caution : the chilli packs a punch.

I also had their Summer Roll ($4) to pair with my main. This spring roll came with a side of the usual Hoisin-Peanut dip. Wrapped in the rice paper were 2 halves of a prawn, a small slice of pork belly, lettuce and rice noodles. The cucumber and carrot were pickled so they added a tinge of acidity to balance out the creaminess of the dip.

With the dishes served limited to Pho and a summer roll, you definitely won’t have too hard a time deciding on which one to gobble down. That said, if you’re in the area and craving for a hearty bowl of Pho, Chef Minh Vietnamese Pho is for you.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.