Wen's Delight: NUOC - A Flavour Of Saigon

This year Mother's day treat was on my cousin and her mum chose to have Vietnamese instead of Chinese cuisine! As usual we were always being invited too. My cousin suggested to have it at NUOC, an authentic Vietnamese restaurant located at Orchard Central Sky's Garden. Great ambience with nice view from the top, fantastic service, average food but prices are rather steep. Anyway, we enjoyed the dinner with some hits and misses. Thanks cousin for the treat!

Tri-Season Salad with Prawn & Pork - S$23++

An appetizing salad bursting with flavour. Prawns, sliced boiled pork belly, julienne of lotus stem, kangkong stem, green papaya, onions, Chinese celery & Vietnamese herbs tossed with fish sauce & special Nuoc vinegar dressing, topped with crushed peanuts and served with prawn crackers.

Condiments

Prawn paste dressing for fresh spring roll, sweet & sour dressing for fried spring rolls, pepper & salt for fried chicken & clams, fish sauce with chilli for noodles.

Fresh Vietnamese Spring Roll - S$5.50++ (per pc)

A must try dish in Vietnamese cuisine. Prawns, sliced pork, lettuce, bean sprouts, rice vermicelli and Vietnamese herbs rolled with traditional Vietnamese rice paper. Dipped it with the specially concocted sauce and experience a flavour of Saigon.

Deep Fried Vietnamese Spring Roll - S$16++

Minced chicken, pork, crabmeat, black fungus and rice vermicelli, rolled with rice paper and deep fried. This was delicious especially ate it with the sweet & sour sauce. Complimented the fried roll very well. I personally prefer the fried over the fresh spring roll.

NUOC Special Chicken Wing - S$12++

Deep fried battered chicken wings marinated with crushed white peppercorn and crispy garlic. We were told to dip the chicken with the pepper salt but I find it a tad too salty. Just add a little lime juice will be just fine to cut through the oiliness. This did not manage to impress, was rather ordinary.

Fresh Clam in Claypot - S$18++

Fresh clams, lemongrass, fresh chilli and young coconut juice, slow cooked in claypot. A very simple dish that manage to impress all of us. The coconut juice bring out the freshness and sweetness of the clam. However I find the broth though is nice but a bit too sweet and wonder the sweetness was from the clam or sugar was added.

Deep Fried Whole Garoupa - S$35++

Deep fried garoupa with lemongrass, spring onions, chilli, ginger and Vietnamese fish sauce. Rather similar to our Chinese cuisine except it was topped with deep fried shredded lemon grass. Quite unique.

Seafood Fried Rice in Claypot - S$20++

Fried rice with assorted seafood, Chinese mushroom, lemongrass, fresh chilli, ginger and dash of Vietnamese fish sauce cooked and served in claypot. More like claypot rice than fried rice as it was quite moist. I like the rice, has a very nice fragrant from the lemongrass. This was quite enjoyable but the portion was rather small, only enough to serve 1-2.

Traditional Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup - S$21++

Slices of Australian beef tenderloin with flat rice noodle in home-made beef broth. Not the best noodle I have tasted though the broth was nice but just not good enough. Plus the broth was just lukewarm, it will be more enjoyable if it was served piping hot.

Traditional Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup - S$17++

Shredded chicken with flat rice noodle in home-made chicken broth. I had very good one in Hanoi, this one just not up the mark too. The soup was lukewarm too!

Condiment for the noodle soup

Basil, coriander leaves, onions, bean sprout, chilli and lime. Look at the bean sprouts, was turning colour and they were still serving it. We were very surprised that in such a fine dining restaurant, they didn't do much quality checking.