Thai food in hawker centres is fairly common, but Vietnamese food? Not so much. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see Viet food in Albert Food Centre, but Shoon Kou Cafe has made the very unorthodox choice to start hawking in this admittedly rundown food centre. For a one (wo)man show, their twenty eight item menu is impressive is scope, ranging from banh mi to rice noodles & rice dishes.⠀
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I got the BBQ Pork Banh Mi ($6 nett), which I will admit was not nearly as impressive as the size of their menu. I found it odd that the lady boss fried the pork chop in a pan usually reserved for making Japanese omelettes, but the pork chop turned out alright. It was heavily marinated with soy sauce & lemongrass, giving the pork an invigorating, strong scent that’s unmistakably lemongrass. The pork chop was just a little bit dry, but it wasn’t entirely the fault of the porcine.⠀
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The soft baguette roll is barely toasted, meaning the only crunch you’ll get here is from the julienned carrots & cucumbers. The less said about coriander the better, and there’s not quite enough pâté spread on the baguette, which does contribute to the pork chop feeling dry. The banh mi is also hellishly spicy, so you’ll do well to have something milky on standby.⠀
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Perhaps the noodles & rice dishes will make more of a lasting impression, but Shoon Kou’s banh mi is not great, not terrible. Not sure why I wrote this whole review about it, tbh.