So Pho

B1-08 Jem, Jurong East

Tel: 6339 0058

B1-15  Serangoon Nex

Tel: 6636 8195

Even before my sister sang the praises of the banh mi (a legacy of France’s colonisation of Vietnam) she tasted in Hoi An, I knew I would like it. That’s because I’ve always liked baguette.

An old secondary school friend of mine commented before on my perverse taste: I like old apples that are slightly soft (I find it sweeter and enjoy the melty texture) when crunchy apples are the mainstream flavour; I like bread that is hard on the outside (hence my very soft spot for baguette), and don’t mind if the interior is a little tough rather than soft and fluffy.

Anyway, I knew bahn mi would be a hit with me. And I was proven right when I finally tasted my first bahn mi last month at Pho Street, Westgate. It wasn’t the best meal of my life but I enjoyed it. Then I tried the one at Nam Nam, Raffles City. Also nice, but a tad too rich.

Today I tried my third bahn mi (fourth if one wants to be accurate, I tried two at Pho Street but alas, took neither pictures nor notes so I can’t do a review on them) at So Pho, at the basement of Jem.

From their name card, I realise that So Pho is owned by Katrina Holdings, which manages quite a number of other brands, the most famous of which is Bali Thai.

At So Pho, the menu has been tweaked to cater to local tastes, so apart from the typical Vietnamese fare like spring rolls, pho and banh mi, they also serve hotpot. Weird, since I didn't realise Vietnamese cuisine includes hotpot, but I could be mistaken.

Decor was nice and pleasant, but nothing outstanding. The broadcasted music was a little too loud though, more intrusive than adding bustle.

  

I didn’t dine at the restaurant. Instead, I ordered a grilled chicken banh mi for takeaway.

Banh mi with grilled chicken and chicken pate;
S$5.90 before GST, S$6.30 nett

The banh mi came with slices of grilled chicken and chicken pate, accompanied by julienned carrots, cucumber, cilantro and mint. There was also some plant that tasted like lemongrass or some similar pungently fragrant leaf. Or it could be the mint. Either way, I'm not really a fan of it.

On the whole, it was nothing special. It wasn’t bad, just average, middling, mediocre. The grilled chicken was nothing to shout about, and the chicken pate was tasteless, adding nothing to the experience but a strange floury, starchy and wet texture to the bread. The bread was also not crunchy on the outside, a no-no for me — baguette has to be crisp on the outside!

At S$5.90 before GST, it’s a dollar cheaper than the equivalent at Pho Street, just a building across in the basement of Westgate, and I prefer the latter, if simply for the crunchy exterior of the baguette. Will I be back again? Perhaps, if only to try their pho and see how that compares with Pho Street’s pho or Nam Nam’s. But it’s doubtful that I would order their bahn mi again.