long phung, joo chiat.

i only really started to like vietnamese food a lot after being to ho chi minh. prior to that, my knowledge of vietnamese food was limited to banh mi, pho and spring rolls. the trip really exposed me to a range of vietnamese food, and one that i particularly took to was bun thit nuong. so that was why i had bun thit nuong ($7.50) instead of the pho that most people have at long phung.

not my first time at long phung. the first was quite some time ago, at dinner, and i remember having to queue for a seat. but at off peak lunch time, the restaurant was only half-filled, so i snagged a seat with ease. was briefly considering getting a chicken salad side to go with my noodles, but then realised that it was priced at something like $12- probably more for sharing, so i made do with just the noodles.

service was fast and efficient. my noodles probably came five minutes after i placed my order. at first glance, i was slightly disappointed because of the large amount of noodles, while the amount of vegetables looked to be negligible. one of the things i love most about vietnamese food is the amount of fresh vegetables they give. however, after digging around, i realised that the amount of vermicelli was an illusion. the vermicelli looked like a formidable amount only because it was covering a mound of crunchy beansprouts, and that discovery made me happy again.



the grilled pork was awesome. it was piping hot and had a respectable char. the best part, though, was that it wasn't fatty pork. i know most people have this thing for fatty pork, but i'm not one of them, so i appreciated the leanness of the pork (usually i find myself digging and cutting away the fat bits, but for this, i didn't have to at all). there was a sprinkling of peanuts and fried shallots over the noodles, but i found myself wishing there was more. it came with a salty-sweet sauce that had pickled carrots and radish. portion-wise, i found it to be just right.

i can fully understand why long phung has remained so popular over the years. will come back to try more of their stuff- in particular the bun thit bo xao called out to me.

long phung
159 joo chiat road