KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Fried and fresh. These are not two words one usually associates with a single meal, much less a single dish.
Yet there is no better description for some of my favourite Vietnamese foods, where something deep fried or grilled can share the same plate as fresh, raw greens.
Take the popular Vietnamese dish of Bún Thịt Nướng – a grilled pork chop, sliced thinly, atop a plate of chilled rice vermicelli and accompanied by an assortment of fresh mint leaves, julienned cucumber, shredded lettuce and bean sprouts.
I am enjoying this at Connaught Vietnam Kitchen, thus named due to the shop’s shaded location beneath some trees in Taman Connaught, Cheras. The rickety structure lends to the casual ambience; one could imagine eating at a similar environment in Ho Chi Minh City.
My pork, noodles and greens arrives with a Chả Giò, a Vietnamese fried egg roll, typical for the Southern Vietnamese style of serving Bún Thịt Nướng. Crunchy and golden brown.
Topped with roasted peanuts, the traditional way of enjoying this dish is to mix everything together or just take a spoonful of whatever you fancy and dipping it in some of the nước chấm, a dipping sauce made with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and pickled carrots, relishing each bite one at a time.
The kitchen is always bustling; there seems to be as many delivery and pick up orders as customers dining in. Brisk business.
To quench your thirst and get your caffeine fix, the shop offers both local and Vietnamese coffee. So your table can enjoy the requisite glass of Vietnamese iced coffee as well as a hot cup of kopi O.
For a shared appetiser or snack, one good option is the Gỏi Cuốn or Vietnamese fresh spring roll. Also known as a “summer roll”, this differs from the Chả Giò in that the bánh tráng (rice paper) is not deep fried.
This approach allows one to see the filling through the translucent wrap: a cornucopia of cooked and chilled prawns, cold vermicelli, mint leaves and shredded lettuce. As with the deep fried roll, a dip in the accompanying nước chấm is a must.
Simple, unfussy fare such as this showcases the best of Vietnamese cuisine, the sort you can get by the roadside in Vietnam.
Transported to a Cheras neighbourhood, the shop still manages to retain some of the cultural heritage by decorating with tiny red nón tơi or Vietnamese conical hats.
Sometimes it’s the smallest details that matter.
Naturally, it’s almost a must to order Phở Bò (beef noodle soup) when dining at a Vietnamese restaurant. Alongside bánh mì (which is not on the menu here), phở is probably the most recognisable Vietnamese dish.
Enjoy the slurp-worthy noodles and tender beef. The clear broth itself is a bit on the thinner side, unlike the sweeter and more deeply flavourful version found in Southern Vietnam.
Still, with a decent dose of fresh basil leaves, chopped green onion and a spoonful of fiery chilli sauce, this is a bowl that hits the spot, particularly on rainy mornings.
Short of flying to Ho Chi Minh City, this is the next best thing and well worth the trek to Cheras to track down this tiny Vietnamese kitchen under the trees.
Connaught Vietnam KitchenJalan Cerdas 1, Taman Connaught, Cheras, KLOpen daily 7:30am-10pmPhone: 011-3313 8718
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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