Sizzling Pan Grilled Homemade Chicken Meatball Minor Food Group is pretty much back at it again — the group has pretty much been introducing new food concepts for the past year, bringing us brands such as that of C Australia's Coffee Club, GYOGYO, LA BIRD and Siam Smith Thai Noodle Bar in the last year. With us already entering the second quarter of the 2023 soon, Minor Food Concepts have again introduced a new F&B concept to the market. This time being situated at Millenia Walk, VietSmith is their latest concept, taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Romankan Yokohama as well as the previous location of Donergy within the mall. Based on their bio on social media, VietSmith attempts to “transport” its patrons “to Saigon with VietSmith’s contemporary take of Vietnamese cuisine”. The interior of the restaurant is decked out in a pretty upscale manner — one that features a dark colour scheme with plenty of wooden furniture and fittings with a barren ceiling and concrete flooring that gives it a modern and somewhat raw vibe. The menu at VietSmith is split across different sections such as that of VietSmith Pho, Saigon Street Bites, Vietnamese Stir-Fry, Sharing Favourites and Dessert — probably a menu that would work best for groups than individual diners to try out. Beverages available at VietSmith includes Vietnamese Drip Coffee, as well as the Handcrafted Coffee.
We initially ordered the Sizzling Pan Grilled Homemade Chicken Meatball considering how this seems to be fairly similar to the Vietnamese Bo Ne; something which we had been quite into in recent times having tried the dish at multiple locations, including at 233 Banh Mi, EM OIIIIIIII Vietnamese Restaurant and Miss Bo Ne — just to name a few. To be truthful about it, the Sizzling Pan Grilled Homemade Chicken Meatball was not the strongest dish out of the three that we had tried during our visit at VietSmith, but perhaps is one of the most representative dishes to that probably describes VietSmith’s approach to their “contemporary take of Vietnamese cuisine”. Considering how this dish was not exactly intended to be marketed as a variant of a traditional Bo Ne, we found VietSmith’s move on allowing patrons to opt between rice or bread for the contemporary take of Sizzling Pan Grilled Homemade Chicken Meatball to be commendable considering how it allows patrons to enjoy the dish however that they prefer it to be. All else being said, the Sizzling Pan Grilled Homemade Chicken Meatball was a really confusing “contemporary” take of the Vietnamese sizzling hotplate dish — save for the inclusion of the homemade chicken meatballs and the sunny-side-up, the entire composition of the dish just felt like a mash-up of cheap ingredients that doesn’t quite justify its price tag. Odd will be the inclusion of shiitake mushroom, hotdog, luncheon meat, tomatoes and the gloopy tomato-based sauce that tastes almost similar to that of the sauce that comes with Hainanese-style pork chop — felt like as though there was some odd attempt to throw in a Korean-style army stew fusion into the Vietnamese Bo Ne. Admittedly, the homemade chicken meatballs were decent; they came with a nice crisp from the char on the underside, whilst carrying a firm, tactile bite to it. On the other hand, the sunny-side-up featured molten yolks that were runny — that being said, these elements could only save the dish to a very small degree judging from how the rest of the dish went.
Trying three different items at VietSmith, we had also ordered the Fresh Spring Roll with Shrimp from the Saigon Street Bites menu as well as the Poached Shredded Chicken, Homemade Chicken Meatball from the Chicken VietSmith Pho section of the menu during our visit to VietSmith. Between the two, the more memorable dish would perhaps be the Fresh Spring Roll with Shrimp — the freshness of the produce also meat that there was a really refreshing burst of flavours with this one alongside the chewy wrap. That being said, we did note that the shrimp that came along with it was a little bland — lacks the natural sweetness that shrimps bring that would have helped ante up the flavours of the dish further. The Poached Shredded Chicken, Homemade Chicken Meatball Chicken VietSmith Pho was pretty decent in our opinion; nothing much to comment on though was a little uninspiring somewhat. What we found rather odd about VietSmith is how they do allow for the option between rice / noodles for their Poached Shredded Chicken, Homemade Chicken Meatball Chicken VietSmith Pho — no doubt an interesting option to have rice with the broth itself to accommodate for the wider population who may prefer rice over noodles, though a rather odd and slightly confused move as a “contemporary take” on Vietnamese cuisine. There was also a side of dough fritters served with all dishes listed on the VietSmith Pho section of the menu; something which they had added on that is to be enjoyed by dipping them into the broth which we found to be a tad unnecessary. Prices at VietSmith are a bit on the high side as well — the range of VietSmith Pho starts from $14.90 to $16.90 for those featuring chicken and beef; the range of Wagyu Beef VietSmith Pho being priced at $22.90. The sharing plates are listed between $15.90 to $28.90. Perhaps it could be us just simply ordering the wrong items, but VietSmith does feel like an unnecessarily pricey dining option with a rather odd take of contemporary Vietnamese cuisine that those who are into authentic Vietnamese fare might not agree to — one that we would probably skip to give those lower-priced indie establishments a go instead.
