Mixed Feelings About Wrap & Roll Vietnamese

That, my friends, is my Stir Fried Chicken Pho (S$12.50++) at Wrap & Roll, a Vietnamese restaurant located at Ion Orchard.

The above photo was taken by my friend and that's his Stir Fried Seafood Pho (S$12.50++). I guess...I should keep to being the one taking the photos! LOL.

Anyway, both of us have very different views about our stir fried phos. He loved his while I was a bit disappointed. So...why did he love it?

• Flavourful gravy
• Different from the usual soup pho
• Had lots of strong tasting veg (coriander and spring onions)

And why didn't I love it?

• The pho wasn't stir fried together with the gravy/meat/seafood so it didn't really absorb the taste and was stuck together until you really mixed the whole dish up
• I dislike copious amounts of coriander, spring onion and ginger so eating this was like navigating through a culinary minefield

That said, I liked the actual pho itself. The rice noodles were really soft and was a less stretchy version of the Chinese kway teow. They made it fat and large so it was a bit like eating a semi-Vietnamese take on hor fun. What made it more disappointing for me was I decided to try something different because I had previously eaten their dry noodles with fried spring rolls and I loved it.

Next up was our humongous Banh Xeo (S$14++). My friend ordered it because his Vietnamese friend used to make this whenever my friend visited Vietnam. So it was filled with lots of happy food memories. I've never eaten a Banh Xeo before so I'm more than happy to try one.

It was a HUGE pancake that came in the same sized plate as our stir fried pho and was stuffed with lots of bean sprouts, pieces of pork belly and some halved prawns. It came along with a side dish of various vegetables too.

Now...this dish made both of us a little sad. My friend was definitely comparing it to what he ate in Vietnam hence his statement that, "Bah...this is not authentic." Whereas for me, let me give you a less biased review on this. These are the reasons why this dish didn't quite hit the mark:

• Oily. And not in that lardy goodness way. Just plain, flat oily.
• The stuffing was not properly seasoned. There was only so much sauce I could drown the Banh Xeo in and isn't it supposed to be just a sauce instead of soup/gravy?
• No idea how to incorporate the side veggies. Stuff/wrap/eat them on its own?
• Expensive

Thank goodness the meal was saved by the dessert:

The brown ice cream is Cinnamon flavoured while the milky looking one was Vietnamese Young Rice flavoured. 2 scoops costs S$7.90++ and there was some confusion during the order process because we wanted 1 scoop of each flavour (we must share the fats) but as you can see, we ended up with 2 scoops of each flavour. Thank goodness one of the wait staff was nice enough to say that it was their fault and we only paid for 2 scoops.

Anyway, back to the taste test. The Vietnamese Young Rice flavour really reminded me of frozen Korean Rice Milk. It was creamy and smooth without it being too sweet nor too milky. This was my friend's favourite. The Cinnamon ice cream was really good too! It was robust and if you love cinnamon, you'll fall in love with this. I can't choose a favourite but if you're going for both flavours, eat the Rice Milk one first before eating the cinnamon ice cream because the cinnamon will overpower the more subtle rice milk.

It cost about S$30/pax in the end so both of us weren't the most excited about the whole experience because there were dishes that were not worthy of its price tag. Nonetheless, I wouldn't mind going back again but I'll stay away from the Banh Xeo and the Stir Fried Pho.

Wrap & Roll
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn, #B3-19,
Singapore 238801

Opening Hours:
Mon – Sun: 10am to 10pm

The Star Vista
1 Vista Exchange Green, #B1-11,
Singapore 138617

Opening Hours:
Mon – Thurs: 11am to 10pm
Fri – Sat: 11am to 10.30pm
Sun: 10am to 10pm

One@KentRidge
1 Lower Kent Ridge Road, #01-11
Singapore 119082

Opening Hours:
Mon – Fri: 7.30am to 9pm
Sat – Sun: 11am to 9pm

Changi City Point (Opening Jan 2015)
5 Changi Business Park Central 1, #B1-26/27
Singapore 486038

Opening Hours:
Mon – Sun: 11am to 10pm

Email: enquiries@wrap-roll.com.sg 
Website: www.wrap-roll.com.sg