Phuong Cua
One of the things I enjoy doing most in Vietnam is hunting for supper. Most of the time, you will end up at some street stall or street restaurant because honestly, they served the best food and have the best taste.
This particular restaurant, in the day, is a shop restaurant and by night, is a street restaurant. The shop owned by a well versed and friendly Vietnamese owner who throughout the years brought success to this restaurant.
Do not misjudge the appearance of the street restaurant with basic renovation, foldable wooden tables and chairs. Basically, most street restaurants look similar but ultimately, it is the taste that matters.
You will definitely be well attended by the staffs because there are so many of them. Once you are assigned to a table, you will be given a thick and heavy menu. Trust me, for the first time, you will probably need awhile to digest the long list of variety they have Crucially, the menu is well-categorized based the different types of seafood to main dishes and so on. Well, I didn’t have the chance to try every single dish but I am sure there are 1 to 2 dishes worth to talk about.
I like the Thailand Hotpot especially during the raining season in Ho Chi Minh City, I really enjoy sitting by the street side, having a Hotpot of seafood, looking at bikes passing by and listening to the rain singing. The ingredients served will be sufficient for 2 which consist of beef, fish balls, fish slices, shrimps. cockles, crab rolls, a plate of rice noodles and a big plate of vegetables. The soup base is not spicy and has its unique taste of its own unlike the usual Tom Yum Kung we have.
However, the 1 dish which is the star dish for me will be the Frog at the Castle. Unique name isn’t it but is a dish I will always order when I am there. Maybe I have never tried anything similar in Singapore, but this is a very delicious way of eating frog for me. It is deep fried with the skin separated from the meat. The meat is sweet tasty and the skin is crispy crunchy. Every friend whom I recommended this dish to, enjoys it.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The only reason why I can’t give it 5/5 is because there are times when I observed the staffs having problems communicating with foreigners due to the fact that most of them can’t speak English. Having a restaurant at district 1, apart from the locals and regulars, it is important that we also depend on tourist support especially the people from China because without boundaries and obstacles, this will lead to the next mild stone for expansion. At least basic English will be necessary.
Phuong Cua
228 Ly Tu Trong P Ben Thanh Q1 TP HCMC
