One of my favorite orders at popular Vietnamese eatery Long Phung along Joo Chiat Road has to be this plate of grilled meat chop that comes served with egg sunny side up, spring onions, cucumber, sweet chili sauce, and rice.
I say meat chop because you get a choice between chicken and pork.
I tend to go for the chicken- the portion is (on occasion) a little smaller but most of the time the portion is good, the meat seems to be more tender and the chicken skin (when grilled) seems crispier and tastier.
The pork I have on those days when I don't mind chewing the meat a bit longer to get the juices out.
That, however, does not mean that I leave out Long Phung's signature dish of soup beef pho.
It just means that I haven't taken a pretty picture of it (yet).
I've been a fan of their beef pho for quite a while.
In fact it was a frequent takeaway to the office during the days of CB, HA and HAHA, and because the noodles were packed separately from the soup, I developed the habit of eating them dry doused with lots and lots of sesame oil.
Beef pho, by the way, is certainly one of the most heartwarming dishes when it comes to Vietnamese food. To some it may look like nothing more than a bowl of beef kuay teow soup, but the inclusion of vegetables, bean sprouts, lime and fish sauce make for a great meal on days when you don't really have a great appetite yet don't feel like making do with a salad, a smoothie or a snack.
In recent days I've been choosing the meat chops over the beef pho though.
Maybe because Long Phung does theirs particularly well.
You know there's a bit of heart in it when it tastes good in a takeaway Styrofoam box too.
However, their marinate skews strongly towards the sweet side and you're not going to like this dish very much if you're used to your meat chops on the salty and savory side.
I admit I was at first a bit surprised.
But I got used to the sweetness after a while and I found myself enjoying their style very much.
I've worked out my own way of eating it.
It's not very complicated- basically it involves alternating the chop with the rice, and eating the meat separately on its own whilst breaking the yolk of the sunny side up so that it dribbles all over the warm, fluffy rice.
So maybe it does sound a tad over-the-top but, trust me, it makes one appreciate the dish (and the meal) way better.
To the very least I now know that sweet spring onions and rice do go very well on their own together.
We don't always stick to just one main when we're at Long Phung.
Some days we order an avocado smoothie.
Other days we decide on a plate of fried spring rolls.
I can't remember if I've had Vietnamese spring rolls elsewhere (maybe I've had- at one of the Nam Nam franchises somewhere) but the ones here are memorable.
Crunchy, warm and crispy, each spring roll comes in a cute little size, has a flaky, pastry-like texture on the outside, is filled with lots of vegetables, nibbles and (I think) bits of minced meat inside and makes for a great appetizer to a most wonderful meal.