Dining Out at Việt Nam Kitchen, One Utama Shopping Centre

When talking about exploring Vietnamese food in Malaysia, I am so excited. Maybe my 5 years old living in Ho Chi Minh City make me very easy to hunt for the best Vietnamese food in town. My last Vietnamese food was at AbsoluteViet at SetiaWalk Puchong which is very nice, but yet less authentic as the recipe is slightly "Viet Kieu", referring to Overseas Vietnamese taste.

Our visit to Vietnam Kitchen at One Utama Shopping Centre was unplanned but really give us an interesting experience. This restaurant is very spacious around 3000sqf with Vietnamese "Nón lá", the conical hat as one of their decoration item on the restaurant's wall. 

We've been greeted by a Vietnamese staff, and I am glaring to the menu. A lot of Vietnamese "look authentic" foods in the menu and as usual, I will decide what will we order and give a personal comment in terms of the authenticity, taste, presentation as per Vietnamese standard (Ha..ha..ha)

Oh ya. While waiting for our foods delivered, the staff put a small serving of steam nut on our table, and we finished it all. Guest what? It is not free. 

After a sufficient time of waiting, our first food arrived, the Hue Style Beef Noodle "Bún bò Huế". We get a bigger serving of this noodle compared to other Vietnamese restaurant in town. Anyway, Bún bò Huế is a very famous Vietnamese rice vermicelli noodle which consisted of beef and originally from Huế city (located in central Vietnam). I can say that the noodle in Vietnamese Kitchen is almost authentic as the street foods in Ho Chi Minh City. The spiciness, sour, salty and sweet flavour of the soup make the noodle very unforgettable. And again, I love my big portion of this noodle.

Next, we ordered something that I never find in Malaysia. They call it as Chicken, Spring Roll and Vermicelli, but in Vietnam we call it as Bún chả giò. Slightly different, but taste good. The golden rule of eating this food is put some fish sauce and chili flakes and mix it all in the bowl with the vermicelli and the fried spring roll. The different in this Vietname Kitchen is is they were adding some grilled chicken instead of pork (as if in Vietnam) which they might call it Bún chả giò Thịt Nướng (grilled meat). Anyway, I am happy this food as this is my very first time to have it in Malaysia.

Finally, we ordered Bánh xèo or I will call this as Vietnamese pancake with stuffing inside. The skin of this Bánh xèo is made from the mixture of rice flour, water, turmeric powder and it is almost the same like the Malay "Lempeng". Then the stuffing inside can consist of prawn, green onion, bean sprout or maybe meat as well. The pancake in Vietnam Kitchen is another story, I love the presentation, but the taste is a bit different. The stuffs inside the pancake really reminds me to Char Kuey Teow and slightly oily. 

How are you going to eat this? You need to cut it into pieces and stuff it on the Salad leaf and add some other veggies. Then, you roll it and dip it in the dipping sauce on the side. When people having Bánh xèo by using fork and spoon, I think that is not the authentic way of having Bánh xèo.

Oh ya! If you never taste the original Vietnamese coffee, you should get it here. Traditionally, they are using coffee filter and its good to have it hot or cold.

Ka Ching! We spent RM56.40 for 3 main course, 1 unexpected appetizer (the peanut) and 1 Hot Vietnamese Coffee.

RM14.90 Bún bò Huế

RM11.90 Bún chả giò

RM12.90 Bánh xèo

RM2.00   Peanut

RM6.90   Coffee with Milk

RM4.80   Service Charge (10%)

RM2.92   Tax

Will come back here? Yes, once in a blue moon for the big portion of Bún bò Huế, Bún chả giò and the "expensive" Vietnamese coffee.