Viet Inn

Garbage. They were just opening as I came, I was first in, and they seemed irritated that I was there. Service was non existent, yet I was charged 10% on the bill, that’s not cool. My bowl of phở was more or less thrown at me onto the table and I saw a waiter again. I had to go up and ask for my bill. They should have given me a cut of their 10%.
The phở itself sucked. The only redeeming factor was the beef was fairly decent. But the broth was like something out of a can and many of my noodles were hard. I’m a phở junkie. I know a good phở. That was not a good phở. It was also $ 12.50 after everything was added in. Ridiculous for phở, especially in a place where you can far superior yet similar hawker food for less than half that.
Wouldn’t go back nor recommend.

2.5 stars.
Colleagues and I were strolling around this area looking for a lunch spot but the rain had other plans. Torrential downpour = running into the nearest shelter, in this case Viet Inn.
The place looked promising, clean tables, strong AC. Pretty standard Vietnamese restaurant fare with your phở noodle soups, rice dishes, pork chops, Vietnamese coffee. OK let’s do this.
I had the lunch set for $ 17.80. It comes with your choice of spring rolls or rice wrap rolls — got the spring rolls as they are deep fried and didn’t have prawns. These were pretty tasty, you get 2 of em.
I had the sliced beef noodle soup. The bowl is a decent size but the quality of the beef was subpar. They weren’t clean slices as I would expect but some of them were chunks of beef. The noodles were the thicker rice noodle variety and they tasted good. Not too soggy, not too firm, just right. The soup wasn’t very flavorful. It had a lot of oil in it as you can see from my picture but there wasn’t any depth to the flavor of the broth. It’s not phở if it doesn’t have depth darnit! The dish comes with your normal accoutrement of bean sprouts and lime slices but boy do I miss Sriracha!
The third item in the lunch set is your choice of a drink or dessert. I opted for the Vietnamese Ice Coffee Milkshake. That’s what it was called but it was just an ice coffee drink as far as I could tell. It was just bleh.
The search for good Vietnamese food in Southeast Asia continues. Oh wait, that would be in Vietnam (from what I hear). The search for good Vietnamese food in Singapore is still on…

This is so far the best vietnamese food in Singapore that I’ve tried. We’ve tried Phở Hoa in Holland Village which just tasted like water with a lot of bullion added in *shudders* and Nam Nam in City Hall, just to name a couple, and this is the closest thing I could find to real authentic Vietnamese beef broth soup. Everything was pretty tasty. The sliced beef is not the best quality but it’s pretty tasty as well. In general, would go back when I have a phở craving.

I’ve been hoping to find good Vietnamese food in Singapore, and this is the best so far. Not very authentic, but pretty good. (OK, so I’ve never been to Vietnam, but there are large Vietnamese communities in Portland and San Diego. Apparently the restaurants there are pretty legit, so they are my yardstick for authenticity.) The Phở broth was a little bland and the noodles were too soft, but the hot sauce, hoisin sauce, and coriander turned it into a pretty satisfying meal. The pork spring rolls were interesting. Small and pleasantly crispy; extra meaty, so a little greasy. They did a great job with the egg. I don’t remember what it was called on the menu, but it was essentially a vegetable omelet. Quite nice. The service was good and they were generous with refills in the condiment plate. Overall, in a competitive market I would not have rated Viet Inn so highly, but until I ate here, my experiences at other Vietnamese restaurants in Singapore have been very disappointing. (I’m looking at you, Phở Hoa…)

What do you do when you can’t stop a friend from endlessly raving about a place? Go to it of course! One lunch time, we did just that.
It was a crowded place, no less than I’d expect from a place as hyped up (albeit by my friend) as this. It was a place that to an extent did actually bring me back to Vietnam — the colour scheme, the bustle, the feeling like I’m not quite in the east, but yet not quite in the west… it’s weird and I can’t quite describe it, but I remember having been in places like this in Vietnam.
The food did not at all disappoint. I was tempted to get the phở, but I just had a pretty nice bowl the day before, so I decided to go for something dry instead. Cue high fives for the amazing decision when my bowl was delivered. Crowned with two fresh prawns, a smattering of fried shallots, slices of pork so tender and a nice handful of greens, my bowl of perfectly cooked glass noodles was just the most excellent eat I’d had in a while. What made it so good was of course the sauce it was in, seductively sweet, yet tastefully savoury as well. Finished every little strand, just so I could maximise the sauce given. It wasn’t the cheapest bowl at $ 11.50, but my word was it worth every single cent.
Note that they do tax your bills and charge you 20 cents for the wet towels, whether you use it or not… so use it! Also be warned that the noodles come with parsley, so if you are not a fan of that devil plant (like me), don’t forget to ask for them to take it far far away from you!