Fresh flavours of Vietnam at Caphe East CLOSED
PUBLISHED December 13th, 2012 01:02 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am
Hunting out decent Vietnamese food seems to have become something of an obsession for me, fuelled by trips to Vietnam where Pho and Summer rolls are a daily staple and available on practically every street corner. There are a mere handful of eateries in Singapore which I go to and think – yes! This is what it’s all about. Fuss free establishments which focus on those simple yet delicious dishes which in order for me to be bowled over, I have to love and appreciate their authenticity.
Happily, for those living East-side, Caphe East is all about that. After three years of lamenting at not being able to find good Vietnamese food in Singapore, Mama Truong was persuaded to pack up her bags and be whisked off to our little red dot…and so Caphe East was born. Thank goodness for Mama Truong I say!
The interior here is clean and simple, because really it’s all about the food. And that’s just fine by me.
The menu happily goes beyond the usual suspects – Summer Rolls sit alongside Green Mango Salad and Savoury Fried Pancakes; Pho next to Dry Vermicelli and rice dishes. Oh, and there is a special vegetarian menu for those who prefer their dishes in the way of the green. What you will see here is only a tiny snapshot of all the things I wanted to eat on a light midweek lunch session, but I decided it was better than not sharing with you at all!
Of course, in my book, every Vietnamese meal needs to start off with Goi Cuon, or Summer Rolls (2 pieces for $5 or 4 pieces for $8). Fresh and bursting with flavour, as well as filling (in fact so generously filled are they, that these are rolled in a more loose and rustic way to accommodate the abundance within), choose from those rolled with prawns and sliced pork or shake things up a bit and go for a vegetarian option made with tofu. The special peanut sauce for dipping here is very delicious indeed!
The Green Mango Salad ($7), complete with bright and bold flavours is somewhat addictive. The sweet, tangy, and fresh combination will have your palate wide awake and open, and you’ll probably finish this one off even before you realized you started it.
Though I so wanted to try the Dry Vermicelli, I’m afraid the Pho – my standard measure for any Vietnamese – trumped the choice and I wasn’t disappointed. Choose from beef slices, beef brisket, chicken, prawn or the mac daddy combination of beef, chicken and prawn (from $9 – $13). I opted for Pho Tai (rare beef slices) – just the right amount of beef, served atop silky smooth flat rice noodles, in a richly seasoned, steamy, sweet and comforting broth which you will want to savour every drop of. And that’s exactly what I did.
Wash it all down with a freshly made Lime Juice ($5) or better still a Fresh Coconut ($3) and for those who really want to keep it real, get involved with the traditional Vietnamese coffee served with condensed milk – a welcome blast from the past for those who have visited the Land of the Blue Dragon.
So if you live out or are paying a visit to the East, and are craving those fresh flavours of Vietnam, then head on down to Caphe East, and enjoy some authentic Vietnamese fare, just like Mama Truong makes it.
Written by Ms Demeanour
