A few years ago, I was working around the Lavender area in Singapore. Two of my colleagues who are Vietnamese recommended trying the Vietnamese stall that sells pretty good beef pho. The stall runs by Vietnamese girls, and they can speak basic English to take orders.
Soon, this bowl of spicy beef pho sets a standard of what beef pho should be in my life. Although the broth is not something close to home-cooked, it is one of the good ones with spices. I liked to add some lime juice whenever I ordered the spicy beef pho. It gives extra flavour to the broth.
The stall has been moving around within the Lavender area a couple of times, on my recent visit I found them at 153 Cafe where the famous 88 Roasted Meat is located too.
Address: 153 Tyrwhitt Rd, Singapore 207566. (It has ceased its operations permanently)
I found this restaurant through an introduction from a Singapore food blogger. I wanted to try out how the Vietnamese food tasted so I dropped by the restaurant on one of my working days for lunch. It is located in Chinatown, Singapore. The Google reviews show it has 4.7 stars, which dropped 0.1 stars since September 2022.
I went to the restaurant with a colleague, and we tried different kinds of noodles for the first time. I ordered the beef noodles and my colleague ordered the pork ribs noodles.
The broth tastes just like a home-cooked soup. It is full of flavours and it does not need to add extra sauce to make it better. The beef noodles are served with plenty of beef slices. If I am not mistaken the types of noodles used in both bowls of noodles are different.
Usually, Vietnamese shops love to provide a lot of different kinds of green vegetables. I did not really know how to eat them raw or go with the noodles. I hope I can learn it again next time when I visited this restaurant with a Vietnamese friend.
Edited on 2022/10/22: I brought my Vietnamese friend to try this restaurant recently. She taught me how to eat raw vegetables. I picked two different types of vegetables for a try. It cooked instantly once I added it to the hot soup.
The restaurant is just behind the Hong Lim Food Court. There is another Vietnamese stall that I loved. It is called Quan Co Ba 2.
Revisited on April 2023
I intended to try the tomato soup noodle but it was sold out that evening. The staff suggested I try the pork noodle soup. The pork soup noodle was not up to my expectation, and I still prefer the beef pho soup. However, I am unsure if they maintain the same standard for the pho too.
In my previous post, I mentioned that I took a bus to Our Tampines Hub, two stops from Changi Hospital for lunch. Before that, I asked the nurse if there is any food that I cannot eat after the surgery. The nurse said, no. I would like to share pictures of the food that I ate after the surgery and some of the events that happened during this one week of resting at home.
Yong Tau Foo
I ordered the yong tau foo without noodles. For additional noodles, it will cost another 50 cents. I was thinking I just needed a quick late lunch and went back home for a good rest. I targeted to focus on protein than carbs during this period.
Address: Jia Le Yong Tau Foo, 495 Tampines Ave 5, #01-32 Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub, Singapore 529649.
I was too tired after my shower, and I went to sleep after I submitted my hospitalization leave. I slept for two hours and by the time I woke up, it was evening time. I settled down by ordering zi char at the hawker centre nearby.
Hong Kong Fried Noodles
I love eating Hong Kong fried noodles, so I ordered them from the zi char stall here. It was my first time trying the zi char stall here. There are many comments about this zi char stall but I did not think further. After trying it, personally, I would prefer the zi char stall called the Tong Garden Seafood at Tampines Street 43’s Everyday Come Eating House or the Jia Le Xian Zhu Chao at Tampines Street 45. However, I think it depends on the chef that cooks it.
Address: 419 Seafood, HDB 01-, 419 Tampines Street 41 (S)520419 Singapore 520419 Tampines Street 41, # 104, 520419.
After dinner, I took my antibiotic pill, showered, and made a phone call to my aunt to tell her all went well before I headed to sleep. I did not really drink a lot of water that day but my poo was dark in colour. I wondered for a while. It could be the body waste from my surgery.
Homemade Kaya Butter Toast
I bought a loaf of wholemeal bread, butter and a small bottle of kaya from the Fairprice supermarket to make my breakfast. I made it almost every morning. To make it looks like that is selling in the drink stall, I added an extra piece of butter in the middle of the bread. I did not toast my bread. I am unsure if this is still considered a healthy food because of the ingredients used to make kaya butter bread. I should reduce my sugar intake.
Homemade wanton soup
I am pretty good at making wanton soup and I made some too. I can have the wanton without adding noodles to the soup. Making wanton soup at home is quick and easy. Also, I need more protein for my recovery.
Making cold soba at home
On the second day, I took my antibiotic after my morning brunch. It caused me to feel sleepy and I took an afternoon nap. Occasionally, I felt pain around my wound and another part of my upper body. I maintained my carb intake and tried to focus on protein intake. However, I must remind myself about the sugary food.
Economic fried beehoon
Some articles say that I can eat eggs and some say cannot. I am unsure which one is true. An egg is a source of protein too, however, I think, the egg yolk might not be good for someone after surgery. Besides that, in Chinese belief, it is not good to take soy sauce or dark soy sauce after surgery because it would cause the wound darker. It is too late for me to undo what I have eaten. I added soy sauce when making wantons too. On the third day, I walked to the wet market, I wanted to have some walks and sun. Besides that, I wanted to buy fish for dinner. I had fried beehoon for breakfast which I think was a wrong choice because of the usage of dark soy sauce and sugar. On top of it, there were a fried egg and vegetarian goose. But, they were delicious food.
Address: Everyday Come Coffee Shop 天天來咖啡店, 477 Tampines Street 43, #01-190, Singapore 520477.
Salted bun
I think I did not follow much of what I should not eat after surgery. I ate a salted bun that I bought from the same coffee shop on the same morning. Although it is not deep fried or oily, I think I should not eat heaty food too. However, I loved this salted bun, and it is very nice compared to the salted buns from Eastlink food court at Tampines Interchange, U-taste at the Tampines Interchange and Dough Culture at Tampines Mall.
Address: Everyday Come Coffee Shop 天天來咖啡店, 477 Tampines Street 43, #01-190, Singapore 520477.
Home-brewed black coffee
I paired the salted bun with black coffee and ate with Hugo (the soft toy in the background). Hugo has been my breakfast-lunch-dinner buddy since day 2 because I was alone at home. I made my home-brewed black coffee using the coffee powder from Suzuki, a local brand in Singapore. I bought it from Fairprice supermarket.
Home-cooked yee mian with vegetables, egg and sliced gingers
An article mentioned that eating gingers have a variety of effects on the skin that may contribute to improved wound healing. So, I added some sliced gingers to my noodles. I cooked with egg and vegetables. I think I need to eat more leafy and green vegetables. Again, I grabbed Hugo to eat with me while watching some drama. It was quite boring at home alone and eating alone.
I still can feel slight discomfort on and off throughout the whole day. No major issues with my health, wound, or my diet. I still needed to take an afternoon nap after my lunch. I tried to do something different on the fourth day because I have been limiting my activities in the past few days.
Avocado with egg toast
Finishing the avocado that I bought some time ago with an egg. I made the toast using the air fryer. The egg white was not fully cooked but I do not think I should air-fry it longer than 10 minutes. Maybe, I need a bigger piece of bread so that the egg is right on top of the bread. The egg yolk was still rummy when I bite on it.
I took a shower to remove the waterproof plaster that covered my wound as per instructed by the nurse. I could do so on the fourth day. Nothing happened after the plaster was removed. I went out to explore another neighbourhood, Serangoon.
Char kway teow
Cheat day food. I am not supposed to eat char kway teow because it is oily and cooked with dark soy sauce. It came with prawns too. Some myths mentioned that having chicken and seafood slows down wound healing. I took two pieces of prawns with some eggs. The char kway teow is a bit spicy. I think it is best not to eat any spicy food for a week. I broke the rule. I did not encounter any bad experiences after eating the noodles. Days after that, I did have a little discomfort but I am unsure whether it is related. I did not feel pain in my wound area.
Address: NAN YANG DAO 南洋岛, Blk 262 Serangoon Central, #01-85, Singapore: 550262.
Three-layer coffee
Three-layer refers to the three layers of coffee, evaporated milk, and palm sugar syrup. The drink is usually served cold. The differences in density among these three ingredients give the appearance of three layers of colour. I shall avoid sugary sweets and sugary drinks.
Address: NAN YANG DAO 南洋岛, Blk 262 Serangoon Central, #01-85, Singapore: 550262.
Ice-cream
I am not sure if ice cream is allowed as the website that I used to check what I can eat after surgery mentioned that I can eat plain ice cream. What is plain ice cream? I think it may refer to vanilla ice cream. I have two more chocolate cones inside my freezer. I need to keep it for another time.
I failed my fourth day of recovery with plenty of carbs and food that I should not be eating. They did no good for my recovery. I skipped dinner on the fourth day. I ate something light before I took my medication and went to bed. It took me a while before I fell asleep too.
The fifth day was not pleasantly good, I did not have enough rest the night before. I dreamt a lot through the night and was unable to catch some quality sleep. After I woke up from my sleep, I went to check my emails and re-sent the leave application to my HR as an update. I did not go back to rest immediately. Instead, I planned to go out for lunch. I travelled out to the Bedok area and tried to have some slow walks around the area as part of my exercise. My working exercise did not affect my recovery at the moment.
Zhong Xing Ban Mian
A little disappointed with the ban mian that I ate at Bedok Interchange Food Center. I ordered the dry version which I should not have, yet the sauce was not up to the taste. Compared to the L32 Handmade Noodles, this stall needs to improve its sauce for the dry version. The soup was salty, it should go well for the soup version. I tried a little bit of the chilli paste for a taste. It needs improvement too. For the carbs portion, it was generous, and they served with plenty of anchovies, minced meat and a cooked egg. I would prefer the egg to be placed in the soup.
Address: Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, 208B New Upper Changi Rd, #01-46, Singapore 462208.
Duke Bakery
I went to buy a loaf of bread from the Duke Bakery as I was around the area, so why not? I chose cranberry walnut bread. It would be my breakfast for the coming days because the wholemeal bread was going to finish.
Home-cooked chicken soup
With the remaining ingredients that I have, I cooked a bowl of chicken soup again without noodles. The shredded chicken from the chicken soup was then added with seasonings so that I could wrap it with my sandwiches. From the picture below, it looked dry and unappetizing. I cooked the shredded chicken with onion and parsley for quite a long before I off the stove, hence, the sauce dried up. Still, it went well with my plain sandwich.
On the sixth day, my medication would finish and I did not need to look for breakfast or brunch to eat before taking medication.
Initially, I planned to return to work on the sixth day so that I could work on the deployment work, however, due to a change arrangement, my DevOps team would not be in the office for me to work on it. Therefore, I dropped the plan to work in the office. I continued to work at home to clear up some of the emails and backlogs. Since I skipped breakfast, I decided to go out early to get my lunch and I could take my medication after that.
341 Beach Road Pho
I ordered the beef pho. Eating beef is a good source of protein that good for my after-surgery recovery. I added some lime juice into the soup, and of course, I tried the original taste too. The soup is tasty and mild. I prefer something stronger. Even adding the lime juice did not greatly enhance the flavour. Unlike another Vietnamese stall that I liked, this stall gave onions and beansprouts only. It did not have other greens that usually come with it. It is fine because I did not eat all the vegetables used in Vietnamese food. There were about 5-6 pieces of medium-sized beef with a generous amount of pho.
This eating place was quite crowded so I did not spend a lot of time finishing up my bowl of noodles and made a move to another place. I went to Golden Mile Food Centre for more options. I thought I wanted a second round before I went back but I decided just to take away a cup of coffee from this stall called Kopi More.
Kopi More
It was just for a try. I am not fancy about its way of preparing the coffee and the price for a cup of coffee from this stall is more expensive than other stalls in the same food centre. I waited patiently for my kopi-o-kosong, coffee without milk and sugar. My review is the coffee tasted like a double espresso without any sugar. It was really strong and I was not able to finish it immediately. I took it home as I have a meeting to attend.
Address: Golden Mile Food Centre #B1-49, 505 Beach Rd, 199583.
I attended the meeting with a few of my colleagues with a cup of strong coffee. I could stay awake while listening to my colleagues. I complained a lot after that. Then, another colleague asked me why I attended the meeting when I was still on hospitalization leave. My colleague told me to go rest and not to work. I listened to the advice.
Home-cooked fish and broccoli
Both are good sources of protein and vitamins that are good for my after-surgery recovery. I steamed the fish and broccoli.
On the seventh night, I dreamt a lot again but they were not really something important to remember. Lately, the dreams were about completing tasks or events. I did not sleep early too. I stayed alert even at 12AM.
Green Bean Soup
For dessert, I ate green bean soup. Green beans contain some of the vitamins that I needed after surgery such as vitamin B, iron and zinc.
Two more days before I resumed working, I intended to travel out to get my lunch instead of cooking at home. I chose to have a bowl of fish soup for my recovery. There is a stall that I wanted to try but cannot make it because it opens on weekdays and closes early too.
Mei Xiang Black & White Fish Soup
I do not really like fried fish, however, this stall did not have any other option on the menu. It consisted of both fried fish and fresh sliced fish. It came with a bowl of rice. I was not impressed by the fish meat. However, I liked the soup. It was flavourful yet not too strong. It went well with the white rice.
Address: Berseh Food Centre Stall 44, 166 Jln Besar, Singapore 208877.
After lunch, I went for a walk around this area, and I found there were two other food courts nearby that have some stalls with good ratings or reviews. I hope to try them one day and add my reviews to my blog. I was supposed to have dinner around the same place too but I was tired and sleepy after lunch.
I headed back home for a rest, and I took a nap. I did not know why recently I would feel sleepy in the afternoon. I needed a nap. I was hoping that on the day I back to the office, I would be able to skip napping and stay alert.
Having soup base food for this week seemed to be something that I looked forward to the most. I ordered the pig organ soup from the Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup too for dinner.
Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup
On this visit, I was able to order a side dish because a friend joined us for dinner. We ordered the minced meat with chestnut. I did not stay long at this stall because I wanted to drop some of the IT books at Hackerspace SG. Also, I needed to rest more and did not want to stay out late.
Address: Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup 正文志记猪什汤大王 , 24 Foch Rd, Singapore.
So far, I have made chicken soup at home and eaten fish and pork soups at the food court. Next, I would try the beef and mutton soups too. If you have any good recommendations for Chinese-herbal-style beef or mutton soups in Singapore, especially on the east side, please leave me a comment. For the time being, I would prefer to avoid the Malay style of mutton soup.
On my last day of hospitalization leave, I cooked one pot of soup for lunch and dinner by having some different ingredients for lunch and dinner with the same soup. However, I put the same ingredients such as tofu and green vegetables for both.
For lunch
For dinner
Thank you for reading it until the end. That is all about my food and my days after the surgery.
That is the Vietnamese stall name that I found from the picture took with my friend during our recent visit. It happened before Singapore went back to the no-dine-in period starting from 16 May 2021. It was my second visit to this place called Leisure Food Space that located at Gemini @ Sims. It has two stalls selling Vietnamese and Western food. It occupies two floors and you can sit outside of the shop, along the corridor. It was a peak hour during my visit and it was quite crowded.
The Vietnamese stall seems to be run by a Chinese couple or at least the lady at the counter can speak Mandarin. She is a bit forgetful on the day she served us, maybe it was a busy Wednesday. On the first-time visit last year, my friend and I tried their mookata. It was quite nice, and the ingredients served during that time was generous. It was a good portion for two persons.
On the recent visit, my friend and I tried the steamboat. The ingredients looked quite similar, but I felt the portion has reduced. Obviously, I saw the fresh prawns have changed to cooked prawns and from what I think maybe four pieces to two pieces of prawns. The prawns’ freshness is maintained even it is cooked. The steamboat set seemed missing the scallops. From the picture above, the meatballs looked handmade, but I could not recall. For the vegetables, maybe mookata has the glass noodle, but not for steamboat. Both mookata and steamboat are said for two to three persons.
The highlight of the steamboat is the soup base. The clear soup is a soup base that I liked, cooked with some cilantro and sliced onions. On the other side is the sweet-spicy soup. The taste is quite similar to one of the Thai condiments, the Thai chilli sauce. The spicy level is mild, and I liked to neutralize a little bit with some clear soup.
They served the sliced pork belly and some chicken meat. I do not have much preference for meat. And, I think it is different meat compared to mookata, which has to be marinated. Overall, it tasted like I was eating a Thai steamboat because of the MAMA noodle. I was expected to have some pho or vermicelli to go with the steamboat. I do not really have other Vietnamese steamboat dining experience so this is based on what I think it may be included.
Both mookata and steamboat maybe a good try for first time. I would prefer to try other Vietnamese dishes or maybe a try on the Western menu if I re-visit the restaurant later the year(s).
Rice vermicelli with grilled chicken and deep fried spring rolls
It was nicely presented in the takeaway box by the Deliveroo’s staff when my colleagues and myself dine-in the Deliveroo’s Kitchen at CT HUB 2, Lavender, Singapore. It comes with some chilies mixed fish sauce in a small container.
The amount of grilled chicken is very generous, definitely enough for you to go with the rice vermicelli and the meat is well cooked, just it looks a little bit dry and it is not oily.
The deep fried spring rolls are disappointed, why? When it means deep fried, I expected it to be less oily if the cook knows how to deep fried food. Maybe, deep fried spring rolls are different than other deep fried food? But hey, the amount of yellowish oils dripped down on to my plastic spoon is not healthy at all and it looks pretty disgusting. I have to use the table tissues to absorb all the excessive oils, or you may want to say (sauce!). I’m sure, not going to order this anymore. The deep fried spring rolls need improvement, or just serve it fresh.
Address: 221 Rangoon Road, Singapore 218459.
This is the second branch of Mrs. Pho, the Vietnamese cuisine restaurant. It is called Mrs. Pho House. With the nice decorated interior of the restaurant, it tends to go on slightly above medium class price range and choices of food. Here, the menu is different, however, the basic ones which you can find at the Beach Road are there. This branch serves more dishes which are good for those who want to try more Vietnamese food with a big group of people.
We went to the Rangoon’s branch for the Feb 5 free pho’s offer. The portion of the pho, the sliced meat and vegetable and the food quality remained same even it was free. It has no different between the two branches.
The soup broth is delicious, sweet and not oily. Again, if you like adding the lime juice, it gives extra kick. I like their original broth.
We specially ordered it to try, just nice for four of us, it is the Vietnamese mini pancakes with prawns. It is quite uniquely tasted for me.
Additionally, we order the Vietnamese crepe to try. It is simple delicious and the portion is very generous. It consists of meat, either chicken or pork which is well marinated, wrapped with Vietnamese style crepe, made mostly of eggs. Besides meat, they put plenty of beansprouts and onions. Dip it with the sauce, it is nice and well tasted.
Mrs. Pho serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine which some of my colleagues liked them. They have another branch located on Rangoon Road, which serves almost the same kind of dishes and the interior of the restaurant is a lot better than the Beach Road. Both restaurants serve their best and most authentic food.
As usual, I will order the Beef Pho for my lunch. The portion of noodles with the sliced beef sometimes can be not consistent. However, there will be at least 6-8 slices of beef and plenty of vegetables, prefer them to give more vegetables, just like the local Vietnamese food stalls in Vietnam do.
The soup broth is the best together with the delicious, tender beef served with the al-dente pho. To add a bit more taste, sometimes adding some lime juice to the soup brings up the taste. You can ask for the lime from the waitress if you do not see it on the table.
It has been a norm for us to add on the cockles whenever we visit the restaurant. It is cooked with some sweet spicy sauce. According to my friend, it is the fish sauce fried with lard and it gives this kind of savoury on the cockles’ shells. It tastes delicious even to go without the salt.
The lards can be sinful, however, this dish is not at all. It is worth the try. Just another tip of eating the cockles which I just learned during my last trip to this restaurant recently, smell it before you put it into your mouth.
Why?
Well, during that visit, our plate of cockles was not fresh, or smelly and we were unable to enjoy the fullness of the dish as usual. It is important to ensure the freshness.
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Rice Paper
Address: 245 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia.
After walking on my own for quite a while, I texted my cousin asking for guide for food in Melbourne, and she suggested to me to look for the Vietnamese food which is quite famous with its beef noodle. Australian’s beef is great, so does the Vietnamese beef pho.
It is a must to try the beef pho when you are in Melbourne. There are plenty famous Vietnamese restaurants in the city, I went to the Rice Paper which is located at Swanston Street, not too far from where I was at that time. There were quite crowded when I went into the restaurant during the dinner time.
There is no issues ordering the food because the menu is in English and the waiters and waitresses are able to speak English too. Simply put down the order number on the order form and the food is ready within the 15 minutes wait. They provide complimentary hot tea serves in the big thermal flask.
Here is the picture of the beef pho which I was quite surprised by its portion, it is quite a lot for me. For this price, it is very worthy and satisfying. The beef is generous, well done and the noodle is springy. The soup broth is not oily and salty. I added some chili paste into my soup to bring up some spiciness. Their chili paste is good to go with the beef too.
Another try of the Vietnamese food at this authentic Vietnamese restaurant which is located at Foch Road, next to VXX Cooperative cafe and the famous pig organ soup shop.
The setting of the restaurant is authentic with low height’s tables and chairs. They are famous for Vietnamese BBQ. During lunchtime visits, there are no people around except my colleagues and myself. I think they are doing night business more than the afternoon session.
The beef pho has almost equal quality to the beef pho at Mrs. Pho. The soup broth is good but they added some pepper into the soup which gave an extra kick. I am not sure whether it is original.
The noodles and ingredients are generous, and the price is the same as Mrs Pho if want to compare with Mrs Pho, perhaps, Mrs Pho will be the better choice for me.
2023-01-02: Updated this entry because of the broken photographs. Also, I have updated the new location of the restaurant in Aeon Maluri, Kuala Lumpur. The Google rating is 3.6 stars. I think most of the reviews are related to the cake service.
I went back to Kuala Lumpur for Christmas last year and spent a week with loved ones. I feel very happy when I returned home and spent such a long time with them. It is happier because I did not bother much about my work. It is a real holiday.
I went for lunch with my aunt at the nearby shopping centre. We ordered the set lunch, the Vietnamese beefy noodle and Western chicken chop with mushroom sauce. It comes with a drink of your choice.
Vietnamese Beef Noodle
The beef noodle soup is great and aromatic. How to make it? The ingredients consist of sliced beef, meatballs, some bean sprouts and lots of fried onions.
Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce
The chicken chop is tender and goes well with the amount of mushroom sauce given. They have black pepper sauce too. The plus side, they give sweet corn. It comes with a small portion of rice, not plain rice.
All-set lunch comes with a drink of your choice, and I chose A&W soft drink.
The restaurant is quiet, and not crowded. There is a limited number of seats in the branch. The service is fast and the waiters are responsive. The lunch set is quite nice and worth giving a try. Even if you do not like the set lunch offers, the ala-carte menu does offer many other dishes. Both of our choices taste good.
I used to hear people saying that Secret Recipe’s food is microwaved before serving it to their customers. Is that true? I did not have a strong sense to detect the microwaved smell but sometimes their food look drier.
Address: Lot No. S07, Second Floor, AEON Taman Maluri Shopping Centre, Jalan Jejaka, Maluri, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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