I never had Vietnamese barbecue before and I have also never been to Vietnam. But going to An La Ghien is the closest you can get to having a Ho Chi Minh City street dining experience in Singapore. Besides Vietnamese BBQ, you can try the Vietnamese-style hotpot or the usual suspects such as pho. With the low tables and wooden chairs, it’s an elevated replication of what you probably will experience in Vietnam itself.

So we went for the BBQ and you get to barbecue your food over a charcoal grill. We ordered BBQ Platter 1 ($34.90). Good for two to three people, you’ll get a variety of meat and seafood. From beef to baby octopus to prawns to chicken. It’s a rather decent selection for the price.

The meats are fresh and lightly marinated but there isn’t a very distinct flavour. We also added some sliced beef ($6.90), frog leg ($3.50) and red tilapia fish ($3.50). Don’t expect anything fancy (no wagyu or kurobuta) but just decent Vietnamese BBQ. And you’ll have a savoury orange-brown sauce that you can dip your food into. I wonder what goes into the sauce though.