Thursday, November 06, 2008

Vietnam landed in Penang with Miss Saigon

Vietnamese food indeed is rare in this little island and most of the locals have come to live with the fact that it can only be found in the capital or via a cheap flight on Air Asia to the country itself.
Before you get that boarding pass or your passport, halt your steps as the Vietnam cuisine has landed on the island; right smack in E-Gate and facing the coastal highway.

Start getting used to wooden chopsticks and spoon!
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
Miss Saigon is our new Vietnam attraction here in the Pearl of the Orient; maybe it's not that new anymore as I believe this restaurant has been here for a couple of months.
However, I am not sure how long they will stay as I've noticed the high turnover rate of the shops here.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Their menu is extensive in their introduction to the appetizers and specialties.
Look out for the recommendation which is marked with a little leaf beside each dish
For instance, the special wrapped catfish in pandan leaf served with spiced rice (RM18.80)
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

There are about 6-7 sliced portions of the catfish wrapped singly in their own comfort of their pandan hut
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
These wrapped fish are garnished with red slices of capsicum.
It was slightly oily but the fish fillet were marinated with some spices before the wrap
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
I did find it rather unique, and not too bad in taste.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

The rice had a tinge of spices used in the cooking process; but I found it rather dry and bland though.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
The vegetables, on the other hand, were really fragrant with the diced garlic used in the stir-frying.

For meat lovers, you can try their beef in bamboo set (I can't remember the name though) priced approx. RM16-18 as well
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

The beef were uniquely marinated with some thin coconut slices and placed in a bamboo brisket
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
Tastewise, I am sure my meat-lover friend enjoyed it:)

Environment wise, it was pretty nice and even the plain water had a fragrant aroma of pandan leaves in it!
Somehow I don't see a lot of people patronizing despite it being the dinner hour, so let's hope they will stay long enough for us to try more of their dishes.

29 comments:

  1. The beef portion looks so small to me... Is it enough for all the rice? hehe...

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow.. sounds like a really good find! i too would love to try that fish wrapped in individual pandan leaves.. looks fantastic:D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rice set in Vietnam style. Hmm...looks good. Cat fish set seems special.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:50 PM

    Nice to see your review...I get to know more ideas of the type of food.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i like the wooden chopstiks and spoon. they look really nice. and the food looks good too, of course!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The wooden spoon & chopstick look like those decoration item :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. The last round I heard about this restaurant is when PTP's blog get bombard for this restaurant's post.

    I guess you haven't check it out?

    ReplyDelete
  8. The food does looks good. I somehow like the way it's presented. But then somehow I have the feeling that this type of shop usually won't manage to stay long.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:49 AM

    Nice presentation of food ha!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree too, the environment is nice but the food is so os there, just that they are quite unique as we don't used to eat Vietnamese food daily and that's why we hardly compare. However, we were invited to try out the Vietnamese street food next week, hopefully got good feedback that can recommend to you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous6:54 AM

    My family most of time ate Vietnamese food in Pulau Tikus @ Com Viet. They served several favourites of my family that we always ordered. On top of that is their freshly made Apple tart and Cha Phe aka Vietnamese coffee served in percolateur. I blogged about them before. Price maybe slightly pricey but for the taste and experience I think it's worth it. Do call them for reservation because the place is small. First time I was there I thought it's going to be another defunct place but after I sat down and after 7 pm, diners started to pour in. Seemed the place is a favourite for family gatherings.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The beef is very fragrant with a lot of spices and tender. The rice is a let-down cos its dry and tasteless. If I would to go again, I will check out the beef noodle and drip-coffee.

    Pixen, pls give Com Viet location in more detail :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Christy, you are featured in Kwong Wah Jit Poh today!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Aiks, sorry, type wrongly. It should be in Metro . :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hie Cariso, I also just found out!!! :) Thanks for informing too...hehehe:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hie Allie, I think the rice portion was also not as big as you think:p

    ReplyDelete
  17. cumi& ciki, it is really unique indeed, I agree!! I think their little twist of creativity brought a whole new perspective to the normal catfish eh;)

    ReplyDelete
  18. little inbox, yeah, that's why i opted for the catfish set..and I am a fish lover!:)

    ReplyDelete
  19. nkotb, you should....most of them have gone there...hahaha, sounds so kiasu yea:p

    ReplyDelete
  20. ck, there's lots more I haven't tried, think Penangtuapui tried even more!:)

    ReplyDelete
  21. duckie, oh yea...I love them too!! I felt like I was in Vietnam or something;)

    ReplyDelete
  22. mimi, yeah, only these are really used for the food...hehe, and it's fun using them!~

    ReplyDelete
  23. email2me, oh no, I didn't know about that...but I did know they went for another round of testing after that too:)

    ReplyDelete
  24. cutie, hahaha....i hope the owners do not hear that!:p

    ReplyDelete
  25. sgfoodlover, yeah!!:) So ethnic-like and unique...I love the culture too;)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hie Steven, I think I've gotten a pretty good and extensive selection from all of your blogs, after your food tasting session!! Thanks for sharing too!~~

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hie pixen, I didn't know about this Com Viet either....share the address:)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Shuriken, oh yea....agree with that!! :)

    ReplyDelete