Long Phung Vietnamese Restaurant

In a nutshell
Fudz: Long Phung
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Location: 159 Joo Chiat Road, Singapore 427436
Tiemz: 1200-2200hrs, daily
Dial: +65 6440 6959
Interweb: https://www.facebook.com/Long-Phung-Vietnamese-Restaurant-358263040910561/

The backstory
2015 was a fruitful year of eating for me. I gained quite a bit of weight but unfortunately, that did not reflect on this weblog. I update regularly on InstaGram though because writing captions are wayyy easier than writing a review in prose. The Lazy Bum Award goes to me every year. Thanks everyone.

I picked up the keyboard again because this time, I'm writing about a Vietnamese restaurant. This is some sort of an abnormality. I was wondering if I would EVER write about Vietnamese food because the biased foodie in me is terribly averse to Vietnamese cuisine. I hate mint in my food. I hate parsley or whatever green stuff that they sprinkle on top of EVERYTHING generously. (Almost) Raw beansprouts are the bane of my life. I don't like sweet, sour, salty and minty things all roll into one. As you can tell by now, I had a very misguided impression of Vietnamese food.

I now stand corrected, with an apologetic hunch to show how sorry I am. Here's...

The story
Hammie texted that En En (Mouse) was finally able to meet up for dinner. En had been sick ever since she returned from her trip to Vietnam. We had been trying to fix a day to pig out because... that is what we only do.

"We are eating at that popular Vietnamese place in Joo Chiat."

Two alarm bells. (1) Vietnamese. (2) Joo Chiat.

I'm travelling all the way to the east to eat Vietnamese food!? And it has to be the one with a perpetual queue like how the sun always rises in the east? I was flummoxed.

"I don't really like Vietnamese food," I ventured at last.

"She said it's good. Let her pick," came the cool reply from the Hamster, who can be a real bitch at times.

I tarried on about how far Joo Chiat is and how I don't eat Vietnamese food unless there was a pistol aiming at my head and how the long queue may just cause a dramatic entrance by someone who faints from hunger at their doorstep.

The two rodents were firm. I couldn't fight against two baby rodents. I'm that weak.

I was first in line and we did not wait too long to get a seat. I did not get to do my fainting spell act but that was okay.

En knew what to order. She had been here before. Pho is probably a must-order in any self-respecting Vietnamese restaurant.

"Can you leave out all the vegetables in mine?" I asked the grouchy waitress plaintively. I like things plain. I was close to saying 'those weird green things' but I stopped myself in case they spit in my food.

"Okay," she said without contest. Maybe it was a common request.

My beautiful pho WITHOUT green weird things.

Look at this mess. Who wants to waft through this sludge?

The special bowl of pho (PHO DAC BLET) was very delicious. The pinkish beef (half cooked) was the juiciest. Not that I'm a good judge of Vietnamese food as I seldom have them - but I think this is way better than Nam Nam's.

CHA GIO (top) or fried spring rolls. I like them. They tasted great while eaten hot.
GOI CUON (bottom) have mint leaves in them. Apparently, they are very good for those who love Vietnamese food.

Rolls are great appetisers. If you're a fan of GOI CUON, you must try theirs. Fresh shrimps help. I just did not understand the minty part of the deal but I don't know Vietnamese cuisine. You do. So you go and try them.

SO HUYET XAO SATE 

Just trying to pronounce the name makes me giggle. This dish made the three of us very happy. It's stir-fried cockles with awesome satay sauce. The pepper, salt and tangy citrusy condiments at the side brought out the flavour of the cockles even more. I think I can have one plate by myself.

CHIM CUT

Fried quails. Very crispy. Very flavourful. It is an art to pick the bones clean.

We also ordered avocado milkshakes that were very creamy. While we are getting fat, we may as well try to absorb some good fats. Oh wait, En En is not capable of getting fat so we will leave her out of this. She's as small as a quail. I'm a full-grown turkey next to her.

I enjoyed what I ate that night and I believe there are more dishes that I can try for the next visit. Just look at all the great items on their menu! Seafood, soups and everything in between.

So here is another restaurant that the people living in the east can shout about. As always.

Supply & Demand - Modern Italian Trattoria & Pizzeria

In a nutshell
Fudz: Supply & Demand - Modern Italian Trattoria & Pizzeria
Cuisine: Italian-Asian fusion
Location: 277 Orchard Road, #02-13/14, Orchardgateway Singapore 238858 (Flagship is at Esplanade Mall)
Dial: +65 6702 6218
Email: esp@cre8group.com.sg (for reservations)
Interweb: https://www.facebook.com/supplydemandsin?fref=ts
Damage: By the economics of scale, you do the balance yourself

The story

Asians love Italian food. It could be the fact that Marco Polo brought back some of the Asian influences to his country after his travels and that was probably one of the first eastern-western fusions in the history of mankind. To this day, it is still a joy to meld the two together.

A Friday evening demands a good meal to unwind. A meal that erases the fatigue and stress for the entire week spent at your computer desk, talking to unnecessary people and being a useful lego piece to the society. An evening when you can be yourself, with your friends or family or alone, not a provider of answers to anyone's problem but your own.

The same gang gathered at the queue of Supply & Demand. My usual gang of sisters, you-know-who if you've been reading past posts. I eat with other people too but this is my favourite group of people to eat with. Probably because they are more patient with me whenever I want to snap a picture of the food before they can tuck in.

Garlic truffle fries $15

It's hard to eat 'undressed' fries now without thinking it might be better with truffle or parmesan cheese or garlic shavings or sea salt. Check out the cloves of garlic. The thick-cut fries were perfect bases to smear the garlic on. The truffle aroma did not come in as strong. It could have been overpowered by the garlic. S&D also serve sweet potato fries ($9), something I'd really like to try the next time I visit.

Tartufo E Uovo / Truffle & Egg (9" inch - $18, 13" inch - $22)

There's always something to look forward to whenever they leave a soft egg on top of your pizza or pasta. For anyone who likes to destroy.

Aglio olio with shrimps ($14/$18)

All'Arrabbiata with minced pork and pork chorizo ($14/$18)

Ragu di Maiale, rich tomato sauce infused with red wine, bacon, minced pork and oregano ($14/$18)

Frutti di Mare Alla Panna e Aglio, garlic infused cream sauce with mixed seafood ($17/$23)

Pastas come in Tasting or Full sizes to cater to different stomach abilities. There are over 10 different cooking styles of pasta to choose from, with varying ingredients to add to the permutations. We only tried these four during our visit and the general consensus is that S&D does pastas really well. I'm really fond for Ragu di Maiale because of the sauce. It's rich in flavours and simple at the same time. A kind of pasta you like to go home to after a day of hard work.

Lamb rack ($32)

Succulent and tender. This dish is full of heart. I didn't appreciate lamb until this year. When you cut a piece and put it in your mouth, the teenage vocabulary that comes to mind is: AMAZEBALLS. After which, you revert to your adult self and begin to tackle the rest of the meat without words.


Note: I didn't eat anything from the S.E.A menu page. The dishes look exciting. I'm sorry that I missed it out completely. I'll do a follow-up on that. Sorry, no fusion reviews this time round.

Disaster in a jar, chocolate eclairs, brownie chunks, cookie crumble with vanilla cream and banana slices ($15)

Sinful homemade chocolate cake ($11)

Please order Disaster In a Jar. It's absolutely divine. It's far from a disaster unless a disaster can be beautiful in a havoc way. I'm not a dessert person but it tasted so good. The chocolate cake is not half bad but the disaster took the lead and we followed. Other dessert items include Pandan Panna Cotta ($12), Molten Chocolate Cake ($13), S&D Italian Style Tiramisu ($12), gelatos in exciting flavours like pink guava ($7), avocado ($7) and bak kwa ($8), and many more.

This warrants a few more visits before my demands can be satisfied.

Service, presentation and ambience wise, all's good.