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Mrs Pho House brings flavours of a Vietnamese home over traditional charcoal hotpot and Vietnamese festive specialties

All broths, ingredients and side dishes are prepared to true Vietnamese heirloom recipes by a third-generation Michelin-trained female chef

After introducing authentic Vietnamese flavors with its pho and authentic street food dishes, Mrs. Pho delves deeper into Vietnamese cuisine with a new concept – Mrs. Pho House – that serves up traditional charcoal hotpot and Vietnamese festive delicacies in an interior that is a reflection of a Vietnamese home. The best of Vietnamese hospitality is presented over communal family-sharing style dishes and hotpot where the freshest meats, seafood, and vegetables are cooked over a charcoal fire.

Mrs. Pho House brings to the table broths, ingredients, and side dishes prepared to true Vietnamese heirloom recipes by a third-generation female Chef Linh from Vietnam. 

With influences from Chinese and French cuisine, Vietnamese food differs with crisper flavors but with just as diverse layers. Extending on what Mrs. Pho Kitchen has to offer, Mrs. Pho House intends to bring the full depth of Vietnamese cuisine to diners from appetizers and mains to dessert. 

“All the dishes I’ve created are drawn from my memories of my childhood,” shares Chef Linh. “The Lemongrass Chicken is made from the same recipe as my mother used and the Butter Quail always makes me laugh when I think of all the quails I have stolen from my mother as she was preparing them. I also have creations of my own that I would like to share, like the Bun Cha that I ate a lot of in my younger trainee days and has perfected over the years.”

Trained in France at Michelin restaurants, Le Grand Vefour and Le Pre Catalan, Chef Linh is proud to be returning to her roots and serving up traditional Vietnamese dishes from her childhood, including a signature Crab Bisque Soup as sold by her own mother’s famed crab noodle soup street stall in Saigon. 


About Chef Linh

Chef Linh comes from a long lineage of chefs, each having spent time in the mecca of cuisine – France. Her grandmother was trained in Ferrandi in 1920 and was among the first to incorporate French techniques in Vietnamese cooking. Fate didn’t smile on her time in France, which she had to cut short and return to Vietnam, but she successfully inspired her granddaughter to also pursue her culinary craft in Ferrandi. 

Making it to France was not an easy journey, especially monetarily. To save enough money, Chef Linh worked for six years in Singapore, tiding herself over with foods she knows best – Vietnamese cuisine.

After over 2 years in France, Chef Linh returned to Singapore, a natural decision motivated by her love for the country. Her hopes of bringing authentic Vietnamese dishes are materialized with Mrs. Pho House, a hotpot and Vietnamese specialty concept restaurant that replicates the dining ambiance of a Vietnamese home. On the menu, she has put a medley of festive dishes usually only enjoyed during special occasions in Vietnam. 

Leading the show is the authentic Vietnamese traditional charcoal hotpot that is very similar to the Chinese hotpot. It features a metal pot with a tall central tube where charcoal is deposited to emit heat. This heating method keeps the soup at a constant gentle simmer, cooking the hotpot ingredients to a tender bite.


Fire up the hotpot with four soup bases

Four soup bases headline the hotpot menu, each created by Chef Linh, who drew inspiration from Vietnamese dishes she had growing up. They are made with Vietnamese herbs, spices, and ingredients to respect Chef Linh’s familial recipes and roots.

Crab Bisque Soup (Regular $38, Large $48)

The Crab Bisque Soup (Regular $38, Large $48) (spicy/non-spicy) is a must-try, being made with Chef Linh’s mother’s recipe as used in her famous crab noodle soup recipe (Bánh Canh Cua) as sold at a nameless stall on the streets of Saigon. Despite its obscurity, it has been around for over 30 years and a queue forms daily for it, with a waiting time that lasts 2-3 hours. The crab bisque at Mrs. Pho House is made in-house using the same crab paste recipe, for the truest authenticity.

Crab Bisque Soup (Regular $38, Large $48)

The Nourishing Collagen Pepper Soup (Regular $23, Large $28) is the perfect introduction to Mrs. Pho House’s heartiest flavors, being a robust peppery pork broth stewed for hours with piquant Phu Quoc peppercorn. Inspired by Vietnamese green pepper pig stomach soup spun off from the large Teochew community in Vietnam, this version is rich and nourishing in every single sip.

Vietnamese Perilla Mutton Soup (Regular $25, Large $30)

The Vietnamese Perilla Mutton Soup (Regular $25, Large $30) is a Northern Vietnam specialty, being made from the same recipe as the famed Vietnamese goat soup. It is made with a generous amount of Vietnamese perilla and spices for a soup that is not only spicy and flavourful but also comes with an array of health benefits including detoxification and anti-inflammation.

Herbal Chicken Mushroom Soup (Regular $23, Large $28)

Last but not least, there’s the Herbal Chicken Mushroom Soup (Regular $23, Large $28), a favorite of Chef Linh’s mother. Chef Linh recalls it with fondness as it used to be a luxurious treat enjoyed only once a year during her mother’s birthday when the family gets to indulge at her mother’s favorite herbal chicken steamboat restaurant. The broth gets its flavors from roasted chicken bones boiled to immense sweetness with a mix of locally sourced mushrooms.

Expect all the typical fresh meats, seafood, and produce that goes with hotpot on the menu. Meats boast prime cuts and slices of beef, Japanese wagyu, pork belly, Iberico pork shoulder shabu shabu, all also available in an assorted platter of the best mix. There are also handmade meatballs, beef balls, lemongrass brine chicken, sliced lamb shoulder, and pig stomach for the ravenous carnivore. Seafood entices from the luxurious like whole rainbow lobster, scallop, mussels, and tiger prawns, to the exotic like frog legs, baby octopus, baby cuttlefish, fish fillet, fish maw, and homemade prawn paste with dill, and fish balls. 

Sweeten the pot with mushrooms including cordyceps, porcini, golden abalone mushroom, crunchy QQ mushroom, mixed enoki, and mixed shimeji as well as vegetables like Tonkin Jasmine, yam, beancurd skin rolls, silky tofu, tang-o, watercress, Chinese cabbage, and more. 


Vietnamese festive specialties per tradition

To complete the Vietnamese home dining experience, dig into Vietnamese specialties, each cooked true to age-old Vietnamese recipes as festive specialties typically served only during celebratory occasions. Expect dishes that you’ll be hard to find outside of Mrs. Pho House which includes Chef Linh’s personal favorites of Five Spice Butter Quail, Cha Ca de le Mrs. Pho, and Lemongrass Chicken. 

Cha Ca de la Mrs. Pho ($19.90)

The Cha Ca de la Mrs. Pho ($19.90) grills sturgeon fish over a charcoal fire before serving it on a hotplate with herbs and fresh dill. On the side is a springy rice noodle made with Chef Linh’s own homemade 3-year-old rice starter; eaten together with the sturgeon, the dish never fails to remind her of a taste of home no matter where she goes. 

Five Spice Butter Quail ($18.90)

The Five Spice Butter Quail ($18.90) is an homage to Chef Linh’s French techniques, featuring locally farmed sustainable quails prepared the French way with a butter bath before being rubbed down and marinated with Vietnamese five spices and grilled. It’s another favorite of Chef Linh’s, which makes her reminisce about the many times she has stolen the quails her mother has prepared.

The Lemongrass Chicken in Claypot ($13.90) is a delightful chicken clay pot dish of chopped wings braised in lemongrass sauce for almost perfumed bites. It is a comforting dish that draws many similarities with the Chinese sesame chicken but has deep Vietnamese roots. Chef Linh continues to make hers just the way her mother makes it at home.

stir-fried Tonkin Jasmine ($14.90)

The stir-fried Tonkin Jasmine ($14.90) is an unassuming plate of greens cooked with garlic that bursts with fragrance and crunch, made with Tonkin Jasmine shoots flown in from Vietnam. 

A house recommendation is the Stuffed Squid ($19.90), another specialty made from Chef Linh’s grandmother’s recipe that sees a springy squid stuffed with a mix of minced pork, black fungus, turnip, shallots, and fish sauce seafood mix before being steamed and then fried with pineapple sauce.

Frog Leg Curry Claypot ($18.90)

Also not to be missed is the Frog Leg Curry Claypot ($18.90) cooks locally sourced frog legs into immense tenderness in a rich coconut milk curry, just as they do along the Mekong River delta. 

Premium Japanese Wagyu Beef Pho ($16.90 Regular, $8.90 Light)

An update on the classics includes the Premium Japanese Wagyu Beef Pho ($16.90 Regular, $8.90 Light), an upgraded version of the hearty beef noodle soup made using Japanese Wagyu beef slices. 

Bun Cha ($15.90)

For something completely new, the Bun Cha ($15.90) presents a special taste of the North with BBQ pork dry noodles served with grilled pork, as well as tender patties made of minced pork and pork belly, garnished with pickles, herbs, and shredded vegetables. Marinated with fish sauce and lemongrass, this too is made from Chef Linh’s family recipe. This differs from its Southern counterpart Mrs. Pho Dry Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong) currently served at Mrs. Pho Kitchen. 


All of Vietnam in one place

While waiting for the soup to boil and meats to cook, dig into ala carte dishes familiar to all Vietnamese.

Mixed Wrap Platter ($9.90)

Appetizers tempt with items like the Mixed Wrap Platter ($9.90), a collection of wraps with sugarcane prawn, grilled beef la lot, fine vermicelli, fresh herbs, and vegetables; the unassuming Five Spice Young Jack Fruit Nuggets ($6.90), deep-fried nuggets of shredded young jackfruit seasoned with five-spice powder and served with sweet and sour dipping sauce; and Pomelo Salad ($18.90) made with Vietnamese crystal pomelo, fresh tiger prawns and fresh herbs.

 Barbecued sides include skewers and sticks of delectable meats including the signature Mountain Style Chicken on Skewers ($3.90), where boneless chicken is rubbed lightly in a special cham cheo salt rub before being grilled to smoky perfection on a skewer; Mrs. Pho Iberico Pork Belly on Skewers ($5.90) featuring marinated juicy slices of Iberico pork belly on sticks; Grilled Scallop Viet-style ($15.90) that presents half-shell scallops grilled with fragrant spring onion oil and crushed peanuts to bring out the seafood’ natural sweetness; and Goby Fish in Viet-style Chilli Sauce ($9.90), a slender and delicate fillet of grilled Goby fish glazed with a fragrant Viet-street style chili sauce that commonly found on the streets of Vietnam. 

New desserts prove equally Viet with items like the Marble Agar Agar ($3.90), a soft marbled blend of coconut milk and pandan leaf agar agar that’s a delicate balance of sweet and creamy as well as the Vietnamese Bubur Chacha ($5.90) that has Vietnamese bananas braised in coconut milk and made starchy with sago and sweet potato.


Dine right in a Vietnamese home 

Indulge in authentic and traditional Vietnamese offerings amidst an ambiance designed to recreate the atmosphere of a Vietnamese home at the new Mrs. Pho House. True to its name, it invites diners home to Mrs. Pho’s humble abode complete with welcoming patterned couches, wooden tables, and matching rattan chairs, furnished in true Vietnamese style. A veranda extends from the drinks bar and kitchen, alongside lots of greenery, as if in a backyard. Service staff is dressed in “Ba Ba shirts” and satin pants, a type of traditional South-Vietnamese attire. The homely interior welcomes all to Mrs. Pho House in every way it is intended – a casual homely place where one returns for Vietnamese cuisine made just like back home. 


Opening Promotion

To mark its opening, Mrs. Pho House Takashimaya S.C. is offering 50% off all four hotpot soup bases from 8 September to 8 October 2021. This includes its Crab Bisque Broth, Signature Collagen Pepper Pork Broth, Vietnamese Perilla Mutton Broth, and Herbal Chicken Mushroom Broth. Diners must make a prior reservation to qualify. Reservations can be made via Chope at https://cho.pe/dineatmrsphohousetakashimayasg (preferred), or +65 9666 1357.

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