GUESS WHAT?
If I asked you to guess the name of this restaurant, you’d probably won’t be able to name it correctly even though I’ve just spelt it out for you above. Because the name of this Vietnamese restaurant is Guess What! Yes, you read that right. The inspiration behind the name came from the owner’s wish to have a name which is easily recognized. Besides, with such catchy name, he’s hoping more would hear about his restaurant with a quirky name.
What Guess What is a Vietnamese restaurant located strategically within the rows and rows of restaurants, the food haven of Kota Damansara. The restaurant had only just recently opened and I foresee that in the days to come, when more people come to know of the place, it’ll be brimming with customers. I say this because the average price of the dishes here actually RM10.78. In case you’re wondering, I have actually computed that by taking all the prices of the food and averaged it out. :D
The prices are indeed very much affordable in comparison to many other Vietnamese places, but how does it taste? I have travelled to Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam and fell in love with the food there, so my expectations are pretty high. And, Guess What hit all the right notes with some of my favorite dishes. Let me share more my favorites dishes and those that I’d highly recommended.
Fish Sauce Chicken Wings | RM 6.90
The picture of the chicken wings are self-explanatory, it’s fried chicken wings. Fried chicken have always been my weakness, but this one was addictive because oh, it was so well-marinated with the fish sauce that you can taste it through the crispy skin and the flesh too. The secret to this lies in the type of fish sauce used, which is a premium kind where fresh fish is used to make it. The result is a rich, authentic flavor which is apparent in the chicken wings.
Summer Roll | RM 6.90
Summer Roll is one of my favorite appetizers and it’s hard to get it wrong with something so simple! Guess What’s version was packed with fillings and of course, with the mandatory prawns accompanied with their signature sauce. The sauce is different from the usual one as it’s the chef’s special recipe which have been improvised from the usual sauce recipe.
Australian Beef Pho | Beef Slice - RM 12.90 // Ribeye Slice – RM17.90
Whenever I have any soup noodles, I judge it first on the smell of the broth and next on the taste of it. If the soup doesn’t even pass this simple test, chances are that the bowl of noodles sucks. The bowl of Australian Beef Pho with Ribeye Slices arrived and you can already smell the aromatic, rich beefy scent. A sip of the soup will send fireworks in your brain. Just by the color of the soup, you know that the soup is very flavorful which is a result of overnight cooking of 8-10 hours using the beef’s neck bone as the main ingredient for the broth. The beef slices are thin, to give it a nice texture. If you order the Ribeye Slices version, you’re actually getting 100g of ribeye.
Beef Internal Organs | RM 12.90
Beef Internal Organs | RM 12.90
If you’re more of an innards person, then I’m certain you’ll be delighted that you can have a delicious bowl of Beef Internal Organs where the same soup broth as the Australian Beef Pho is used. There are a variety of different beef innards in this dish such as honeycomb beef tripe, tendon, stomach (spongy type) and beef’s heart . If eating beef’s heart is too overwhelming for you, you can also opt to change to beef’s shin. Alternatively, you can actually customized it to specific items that you would like to have or not have.
Handmade Beef Ball | RM 13.90
Another favorite of mine is the Handmade Beef Ball which as its name suggest is chunky, meaty beef balls made in-house. The sizes of the beef balls are unbelievably huge, so huge that you can’t finish it in a single bite for sure.
Pork | RM 8.90
If you always had trouble deciding if Vietnamese cuisine would be suitable for your non-beef eating friends, you won’t be faced with that hassle over here in Guess What as their menu is extensive and it includes pork, chicken and fish, even. The egg in the Chicken dish is a poached egg, made using a special machine to ensure the consistency of the poached egg. For the Chicken and Pork dish, the broth is made from chicken broth and pork lards which makes it yummy! Toman fish is used for the fish dish because it doesn’t have the ‘siang’ smell.
Clams | RM 8.90
But the winner of all the non-beef dishes for me would be the Clams. Priced at just RM8.90, the bowl arrived looking like I’ve just ordered a bowl of just clams soup. There were so many clams in the bowl that I lost count. The best part was how chewy, juicy and it actually is! You can actually taste the natural sweetness in the clams.
Stir Fried Australian Beef Vermicelli | RM 12.90
Let us move on to the dry noodles now, where they also serve Stir Fried Australian Beef Vermicelli or better known as Bun Thit Nuong in Vietnamese. This was actually one of my favourite Vietnamese dish ever since I tried them during my trip to Ho Chi Minh city. It’s a dry noodles where you have vermicelli served with the most important ingredient – the sauce. This dish is topped with stir fried beef, basil leaves, zucchini and pickled radish, just to name some of the toppings.
Heritage Coconut Soup | RM 12.90
An interesting dish that I have tried here is the Heritage Coconut Soup which is a fragrant soup cooked with coconut juice and beef broth. It gives it a very flavorful taste and you’ll find coconut flesh, coupled with beef balls in your soup. Do try this, if you’d like to taste how coconut goes with beef.
The dishes I mentioned above are my short-listed favorites one but there are actually quite a number of other dishes available as well. There are banh mi of four different varieties to pick from ; beef, pork, chicken and tuna. There are also the rice dishes with choices such as Vietnamese Pork or Chicken Chop, Lemongrass Pork or Chicken and Beef Stew to choose from.
Sang Tao 1 | RM 5.90 (Hot) RM 6.90 (Cold)
As with most Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnam is famed for its coffee and the ones served in Guess What certainly doesn’t disappoint. In fact, the coffee served here is actually served with tea (but not pictured above), just like how it’s done in Vietnam because the coffee on its own can be too strong. In fact, it’s so strong that no amount of ice can actually dilute the coffee. The drip coffee is served strong, so as to remain authentic to Vietnamese experience of drinking coffee. If you prefer a coffee with a chocolate aftertaste, you can actually order the Phat Hai.
Durian Cendol | RM 11.50
The only dessert served here currently is the Durian Cendol and for me, that only option is sufficient because this is so delicious you don’t need to have any other desserts. Unless you’re not a fan of durian, else I am pretty sure you’ll like this. The durian used for this is brought in especially from Betong, Thailand. The durian taste really does differ from the usual one we have here in Malaysia. Do give it a try and share your thoughts with me. :)
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// 7, Jalan PJU 5/6, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor //
Open daily from 11AM to 9.30PM
Wow, this post is good, my sister is analyzing these kinds of things,
ReplyDeletethus I am going to tell her.