Pho 24 at Millenia Walk

LJ and FJ got me excited when they had informed me that Pho24 can actually be found in Singapore! We had fond memories of their food during our trip to Vietnam last year and I was eager to reminisce the taste of tradition pho and Viet coffee.

So I took a special trip down to Millenia Walk after the ante-natal course with Xiaomin and we were so happy to see the familiar logo. We promptly placed our orders and enthusiastically waited for the food to come.

But we were disappointed.

Firstly, the "Thit Bo Ga" or the quail eggs that we ordered was not even de-shelled properly. There were 'craters' or broken skins on them. When I feedback that they should have run the eggs under cold water immediately after cooking them so as to make de-shelling easier, they defended by saying that the 'central kitchen' had prepared them so there was nothing they could do.

Secondly, the soup for the pho and the quail eggs were too salty and tasted 'MSG-ish' which left an unsavoury aftertaste on my tongue. The beef was okay but the quality of the soup was somehow inferior than what I remembered.

Thirdly, the size of the filter for the Viet drip coffee seemed to be a tad bigger than the grounded coffee they use so we had a bit of the residue. The coffee was also not as aromatic as the ones we had in Vietnam. Do they even use coffee from Vietnam, I wonder?

Lastly, and most disappointingly, they actually RAN OUT of basil leaves! HOW COULD THEY! Who serves pho without basil leaves?!? Ridiculous for such a renowned establishment to actually overlook this. This kind of attitude and oversight is the bane of such an industry. It was so appalling!

You can say I am being too fussy but I just feel that if you undertake a franchise, at least adopt the correct and determined attitude to doing it right. NEVER think for a moment that the customers and the general public can be taken for a ride. People dun mind paying for good food but such slack and "Aiyah... no one can tell" way of business would only mean one thing:

Suicide.

"Astons" Power

The steaks are very good (perfectly grilled) and the prices are very reasonable! The ambience, crowd and their crews are quite hip too. No wonder the queue is always there! A place I would definitely recommend to dine, to see and to be seen.

Eggs

It's not as easy as it looks to cook a simple hard-boiled egg to perfection. Temperature... timing... etc etc etc... Here are a few tips I've picked up:

1. Be sure that the temperature difference between the water and the eggs is not too great. For example, never put eggs from the refrigerator straight into boiling water. The eggs will crack for sure due to "热胀冷缩". Hence, we can warm the eggs (with warm water or our hands) first before putting them into the pot. And turn down the heat to make sure the water is not boiling hot when we put the eggs in.

2. Add salt or vinegar to the water so that should the eggs crack, the whites will coagulate faster to prevent further seepages. I prefer salt cause the smell of vinegar is too strong for me. Salty whites taste nicer too... haha...

3. Roll the eggs about in water for the first 30sec to 1min after you put them in the pot. This action will attempt to "centralize" the yolks in the center of the eggs rather than stick to the sides. Purely for aesthetic purposes.

4. Put the eggs in cold water immediately after you have cooked them. This will make it easier for you to remove the shell. The whites inside will contract and not 'stick' to the shells.

The egg in the pic was boiled for about 5-6min under small heat. The yolk was not fully cooked for the best taste and easy digestion. A fully cooked one would take about 9-10min.

If you have any more tips. Do share them here!