Our Review On Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant (Boat Quay Outlet)
We were at the Boat Quay Area for our Hot Yoga Lesson over at Sweatbox Yoga and we chanced upon this Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant with a small museum next door but closed for that day. It was around 1+ on a Sunday afternoon and the restaurant was quite crowded.
We stood at the entrance for quite some time but we could not get any of the staffs’ attention and so we just made ourselves comfortable with a small table for 2 between the entrance and a fan (we were drenched!) and along a pathway with occasional walk-pasts.
There were Physical Menus on the Table as well as an Online QR Code Menu powered by Tabsquare. Orders and Payment could be made via that QR Code Menu.
The interiors inside the Co Chung Vietnamese Restuarant had a traditional feel with hanging bamboo / rattan lights and many paper lanterns. They have shelves near the counter with some traditional Vietnamese items. Tables and Chairs were traditional-looking as well but well-maintained. There were indoor and outdoor seatings.
The Menu
Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant has many items on their menu (you can check out their Online Menu). They have many categories like BÁNH MÌ, Refreshment, From Northen Vietnam, Central Vietnam Delights, Favorite Food of Saigonese, Vietnamese BBQ, Drink & Dessert, Homemade Wine & Beer, Vegetarian, New Dishes and Take Away.
One thing that we liked about the menu from Co Chung is that their Physical, Online and QR Code Menus share the same Category Headers and the same Dish Codes so it’s easier to go to the correct Menu on the Online Menu and select the right Dish Code. Less hassle when you are the one taking in the orders from the group.
What We Ordered?
After flipping and scrolling through the Menus a few times, we decided to go for:
- GO3C – Vietnamese Cold Egg Coffee (Ca Phe Trung Lanh, $8.96)
- G04 – Coconut Coffee (Ca Phe Cot Dua, $7.80)
- E04 – Super Thin Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Crushed Prawn (Banh Hoi Thit Nuong, $12.50)
- D01 – Hue Spicy Pork & Beef Noodle Soup (Bun Bo Hue, $12.50).
For most of their items, they have the options to go for extra paid options like additional Meat, Noodles or Soups. You will see these options after adding each item to the Cart.
Payment was then done online and the prices quoted above were before the Service Charge of 10% and GST of 8%.
The processing was done fast and we finally saw one of the staffs who came out with the Order Chic and then they took away the physical menus. The waiting game began…
The Taste
— Hue Spicy Pork & Beef Noodle Soup
This Hue Spicy Pork & Beef Noodle Soup from the Central Vietnam Delights Category was served first after around 10 minutes of waiting. According to the Menu Description, this dish originated in Hue – Central Vietnam. This dish is made up of Spicy Beef Broth with Lemongrass, Special Shrimp Paste, Noodles and served with Beef, Selected Pork and Cold Cuts.
Other ingredients include crunchy bean sprouts, garnishes, peppermint that refreshed inside your mouth and not-that-raw onions.
We liked the Beef Chunks and they were pretty tasty, thick and texture was in between tough and soft. Biting through them with a layer of spicy soup around them gave an enhanced taste.
This dish also came with this piece of Cold Cut and we found it to be really interesting. Initially we thought it would taste a lot like Luncheon Meat or Spam but it was not. It was more of a fishcake kind of texture but none of that fish taste but really a bit towards the pork liver taste but softer.
The Pork Rib was rather thin in the amount of meat, a bit tough when trying to rip them apart with a chopstick and teeth. On first bite it had a clean taste. If you are a fan of Bak Kut Teh, you would find some similarity to it.
The Spicy Broth was something that we liked which tasted better after mixing the Shrimp Paste. It was mild spicy on the first few tastes and the flavours as well as spiciness got stronger after that.
The Thin Rice Noodles were very QQ and they were a very good combination (QQ + Crunchy) with the bean sprouts.
The overall serving size was also generous for two to share.
— Super Thin Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Crushed Prawn (Banh Hoi Thit Nuong)
This Super Thin Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Crushed Prawn (Banh Hoi Thit Nuong) was served shortly after the Spicy Pork and Beef Noodle Soup and was served with their Special-Formulated Fish Sauce. This dish was from the Favorite Food Of Saigonese Category.
There were other meat options beside the Grilled Pork to choose from like Grilled Chicken, Grilled Beef in Betel Leaf and Mixed (3 Types of Meat + Crispy Spring Roll).
According to the Menu, the Super Thin Vermicelli had this layer of crushed prawn bits and scallion oil on top, but we took a small bite of everything and it was quite bland. We realized the taste was really good when dipped into the Special Formulated Fish Sauce.
The Grilled Pork was very nice as well though we found some of the meats to have this very strong “wild pig” taste. The meat texture was very solid and chunky and with near to zero fats. The taste was very close to those Chicken Satay.
This dish was also served with a generous serving of greens, carrots, cucumber and pickled radish. The sourly taste of the pickled radish was really intense and we liked it so much that we tried to find more of it but there was only 2 pieces. Other than that, the greens, cucumbers and carrots were crunchy. Hidden amongst them was also a piece of peppermint leaf.
— Iced Coconut Coffee (Ca Phe Cot Dua)
This Iced Coconut Coffee was served shortly after the Grilled Pork dish and was served with a saucer that had some of the coffee.
We were not sure if we were supposed to drink up these bits (intentionally) or to be discarded (overflowed). We chose the latter.
Coffee tasted like those authentic Vietnamese Coffee (thicker and more bitter than Nanyang Coffee) and those white foam / cream / ice shaving was made from coconut though the taste was not really strong. Serving size was not that generous because of the many ice cubes.
— Vietnamese Cold Egg Coffee
If there was something that we didn’t like about this Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant was the service for this Vietnamese Cold Egg Coffee.
We had to chase them twice for this drink – the first time (after the first dish was served) was just an acknowledgement and the second time (when we were done with all the dishes) was a response that they were finally ready to serve. Sadly, we would have cancelled this order if we had not paid for it.
Anyway… the coffee taste was authentic Vietnamese but stronger and thicker than the Coconut Coffee. This taste was also familiar and similar to an instant Vietnamese Coffee (this brand) that we had tried before. The whitish part was the taste of a well-beaten egg. We gave this drink a really good mix and the strong coffee taste was toned down a bit. If this is going to be your first time trying it, our experience is that there would be a strong foamy egg taste on top of a coffee taste.
The amount of coffee was also not that generous because of the many ice cubes and we felt that we had only drank a few small mouths.
Should You Try Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant?
— The Good
We would say that Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant would be a good place to try out tasty and authentic Vietnamese Food and with many selections to satisfy your taste bud, stomach and craving. Prices for their Food Dishes are generally reasonable as well. Ordering is pretty straightforward as well. There are some interesting artifacts related to Vietnam for you to admire.
— The Bad
We think that the services like attending to Walk-In Customers and Queries could be better (maybe it just happened that once during our visit) and the Prices for the drinks may not be so acceptable given the serving size.
How To Get To Co Chung Vietnamese Restaurant?
Address: 4 – 5 Lor Telok, Singapore 049018 (Google Maps)
Other Outlets:
- Level B2, Unit 20 at 68 Orchard Road, Plaza Singapura Mall, Singapore 238839 (Google Maps)
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm
Contact Details: