BANH MI CO KIEU (Punggol)

Yet another one of those places that we had managed to find out whilst scrolling around the phone one fine day — there had been quite a number of food stalls specialising in Banh Mi that had opened their doors within the past one to two years. It seems that the wave of such establishments have hit Punggol recently — Banh Mi Co Kieu is one such stall that had recently opened its doors around the area of Punggol East. Situated at the Foodcity Coffeshop that is located at Blk 653A Punggol Drive, the estate can be described as one that is rather far flung from that of Punggol Town Centre — the neighbourhood being fairly close to the red pedestrian bridge that links up Punggol with Lorong Halus. Banh Mi Co Kieu only occupies a space half of a typically-sized stall unit; themselves sharing a space with the beverage stall and situated beside the outlet of Tanjong Rhu Wanton Noodles there. At first sight, Banh Mi Co Kieu does loosely remind of us yet another food stall serving up Vietnamese Banh Mi which we had visited some time back; similar to Dung Banh Mi, Banh Mi Co Kieu seems to offer dishes that one would typically associate with rojak stalls — think Kueh Pie Tee, Rojak and Popiah apart from the various Banh Mi offerings that they have. Apart from these, Banh Mi Co Kieu apparently also serves up Banana Fritters, while Pork Skewers can also be ordered as a side as well.

Most would probably know us being folks whom would absolutely give the Mix Ham baguette a try; that being said, our attention was drawn to the Banh Mi La Lot after noticing how they actually carried the said item — quite a rarity still amongst establishments serving up Banh Mi across the island despite its appearance in more establishments of the late. The item is a little mis-translated on the menu at Banh Mi Co Kieu, with its English name on the menu born reflected as Baguette BBQ Beef. In actual fact, the Banh Mi features ground beef that is wrapped in betel leaves — there is a similar iteration of the item being served up at Banh Mi Saigon at Blk 505 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 as well. Banh Mi Co Kieu does not describe on the elements that comes with their dishes on their menu; that being said, it can be observed that our order of the Baguette BBQ Beef comes with pickled vegetables, cucumber, coriander, pate and mayonnaise — there is also the addition of chili padi considering how we have specified for our order to come spicy. Taking a bite into the Banh Mi, we were absolutely in love with the consistency of the baguette itself; the baguette comes shatteringly crisp but also with a good bite carrying some tension when one attempts to chew the baguette apart. The baguette itself comes with ample portion of the condiments; quite well-stuffed. The first thing that came to our tastebuds as we took a deeper bite into the Banh Mi was the herb-y notes of the betel leaf — this added a nice fragrance that perfumes throughout the tastebuds that really adds quite a fair bit of contrast that we have not really experienced with other variants of Banh Mi elsewhere.

The minced beef here surprisingly did not carry any gamey notes; itself also being rather easy to chew through — there is a slight sweetness with the light meatiness that pulls through that complimented the betel leafs so well that made the betel leaf-wrapped minced beef so good to have even on its own. Of course, the other elements that we typically find in a Banh Mi adds on to the whole experience; the pickled radish and carrots adding a tangy crunch to refresh the tastebud, all alongside the neutral notes of the cucumber that does the same as well. The savouriness and creaminess of the pate spread on the baguette helps to gel the meats together with the bread, while there seems to be a light drizzle of fish sauce that further antes up the savoury flavours of the entire baguette. Whilst we usually would detest the usage of mayonnaise in the Banh Mi, it seems that the folks at Banh Mi Co Kieu managed to achieve a good balance at it; itself being sufficient to gel the slices of cucumber with the meats and bread, but otherwise does not interfere with the flavours of the entire baguette in general. The addition of coriander helps to cut through the heaviness of the meats and carbs with its distinctive note. During our visit to Banh Mi Co Kieu, we had also given the Pork Skewer a go; this seems likely to be no different from most of the pork sausages that most Banh Mi specialty establishments would serve up with their Banh Mi if they do offer such a variant. These pork skewers look like they come in five (5) round segments; they do offer a firm, meaty bite — the flavoured being largely meaty but there is a slight hint of sweetness that makes it almost similar to that of the Taiwanese-style sausage. Truthfully, not an item which we would seem as something not to be missed, though the reason why we were going for one was due to us craving for one after not having it for quite a while.

There are quite a number of establishments that are pretty similar to Banh Mi Co Kieu that had sprouted up across the island of the late — having tried a number of such establishments, we did feel like there are some establishments that felt like they were riding on a wave; their Banh Mi just failing to stand out despite the strong standards that have been set by certain brand names in recent times. Banh Mi Co Kieu had most certainly exceeded our establishments here; the Baguette BBQ Beef that we had tried being one of the more impressive Banh Mi that we had tried for a while – there seems to be effort in trying to perfecting the toasting of the baguette, whilst also packing the right proportion of ingredients into the Banh Mi. The result of the entire package is one that comes with quality that is distinguishable to the tastebuds where flavours and texture are of concern for its price. The prices of the Banh Mi at Banh Mi Co Kieu ranges from $5.50 to $7 — the lowest-priced item being the Omelette Egg Baguette while the priciest would be the Baguette BBQ Beef. While Banh Mi Co Kieu is probably not to be compared with Banh Mi Saigon / Miss Saigon that is often touted as the best Banh Mi establishment in town, we were still pretty satisfied by its offerings despite having making the way down to this far end of Punggol for it — not sure if any one else would feel the same, but probably one to add to the list for Banh Mi lovers to check out!