Bun Cha @ Uncle Ho Tuckshop • Obama had it in Hanoi, You should try it too!
Email: newhorizonshappiness@gmail.com
When my colleagues recommended me Uncle Ho Tuckshop as a lunchtime option, I imagine the place to be some kind of factory canteen with an old man selling curry rice. LOL! 😆😆😆
When I arrived the ‘canteen’, lo and behold, what I had imagined was 100% different. Peering through the glasses, this so-called tuckshop turn out to be more like a hipster cafe! Alamak why you call yourself tuckshop sia! 😅😅😅
Zooming in, I realized this tuckshop is actually a vietnamese restaurant. Well, to be frank, other than Nam Nam which is my favourite, this is the 2nd vietnamese restaurant I know in Singapore. Plus, they have happy hour from 5pm to 7pm! Alamak why you call yourself tuckshop sia! 😅😅😅 (copy and paste intentionally to prove that I have serious issue with their restaurant name 😂😂😂)
Due to their misleading restaurant name, I have decided to take a closer look! Wah their foods look so yummylicious and is really restaurant grade kind of presentation. Plus they also have beers so the happy hours is really for drinking promo yeah! Alamak why you call yourself tuckshop sia! 😅😅😅
One special reason why you should check out this vietnamese restaurant is because they have the legendary Hanoi Bun Cha (pronounce it as ‘boon cha’, not bun cha which I also made the same mistake initially).
CREDIT: ANTHONY BOURDAIN/INSTAGRAM
This local Hanoi cuisine became famous is all because of Barack Obama who visited Vietnam as President of US for a foreign affairs conversation. Under Anthony Bourdain’s recommendation, Obama joined him for a dinner at a humble little street-side restaurant which serves nice bun cha. This down-to-earth gesture became one of the highlighted news for Obama’s visit to Vietnam and the dish bun cha immediately became a dish that the world is seeking to have a taste on!
Unlike the restaurant that Obama visited, Uncle Ho Tuckshop interior design is more modern and comfortable with air-con (Singaporeans must have! 😜😜😜). As l was having my team (SAP Cash Application) lunch, we were there early to avoid the crowd. #LaterYouWillSee
There is also a nice chilling corner good for those who are there for happy hours! #Lepak1korner
Of coz, I won’t miss the opportunity to be a camera whore! #LikeABoss
Finally! My bun cha was ready! On the first look, I took immediate notice of the raw vegetable which is my ultimate weakness especially raw beansprout! My first thought about these raw vegetable was:
Very vietnamese cuisine loh!
Anyway, I’m a good boy, so I got at least finished the iceberg cabbage hokay! 😂😂😂 And thank goodness! There were half-cooked vegetables in the soup. Since they were not fully cooked, the carrot and radish tasted very crunchy which added a new texture to the soup as the rest of the ingredients are towards the softer side.
Before the vegetables steal the limelight 😂😂😂, time for the highlights of this dish which are the beehoon and soup. The dish style is almost like Japanese cold noodles minus the cold part! LoL! 😂😂😂
The rice noodle that they used was a hybrid between thick and thin bee hoon that local Singapore hawker normally used. By separating the noodle from the soup, not only the overall presentation became nicer, it also prevents the rice noodle from getting soggy.
The soup was sweet, salty and a little sour. It tasted abit like Thai mango salad sauce in soup style which was very appetizing! Plus the subtle pork fragrant within the soup, made the overall taste becoming quite addictive!
In the soup, there were thin slices of 3-layer meat which were grilled before adding into the soup. The meat texture more towards solid and a little tender inside.
I love their meatballs the most. They were very well-marinated and I could feel the fragrant smell bursting inside my mouth… Unlike italian meatballs which are usually softer, the minced meat texture of these bun cha meatballs were more prominent.
Time to tuck in with my SAP colleagues! Bon Appetite!
I also chiong ah!
At first, I ate this Hanoi bun cha in a Japanese cold noodle manner (slowly dipped the noodles in the soup). But due to time spent on photo taking and food taste note taking, I had no choice but to streamline the whole process by dumping all the noodles into the soup else all my SAP colleagues will be waiting for the slowpoke me. 😆😆😆
Anyway, till now, I am not sure of the correct way to eat bun cha. So please comment below if you know to enlighten me! Thank you! 😅
As usual, been an ultimate troll warrior, upon seeing an uncle in the restaurant, I straight away asked:
Are you Uncle Ho?
The uncle replied:
I am not Uncle Ho. Uncle Ho refers to Uncle Ho Chi Minh!
Been absolutely bad in history, I wondered who is Uncle Ho Chi Minh. I always knew Ho Chi Minh as a city name in Vietnam, then upon googling then I realized Uncle Ho Chi Minh was a prominent historical person of Vietnam! Oh, today I learnt! #TIL #SuaGu
As the clock ticked to noontime, crowds begun to fill in. This place is really popular yeah!
Hanoi Bun Cha $12.90
NOTCHBAD Rating: 4/5 (Imagine you are Obama!)
Uncle Ho Tuckshop
100 PASIR PANJANG ROAD #01-04
Singapore 118518
Opens from 11:00AM to 9:00PM
Visit their Facebook page here for more information.
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