Food Journey #15 -- Sù Yán Tiān Shǐ: (清亭‧燕萍越南菜館)

This posting is a true dedication to the greatness of Vietnamese food and I have had a lot of people asking me via facebook & twitter regarding good, cheap, quick & local places and this is a MUST TRY (dedicated to Sabrina)! Conveniently located in the heart of Causeway Bay (3 mins walk from Times Square), this is one of my favourite weekend joints for a quick hearty, down to earth, unpretentious meal. Vietnamese food is all about fish sauce, soy sauce, herbs, vegetables and all dishes should come with a fresh dipping sauce. Expect plentiful of pork, shrimp, chicken and one can only find beef in PHO which is a traditional Vietnamese noodle with soup. As Anthony Bourdain once wrote, ""You don't have to go looking for great food in Vietnam. Great food finds you. It's everywhere.(...)It's a country filled with proud cooks - and passionate eaters." Few dishes which I must highly recommend you all to order on your visit: a) Vietnamese Style Vermicelli with shredded egg, sliced chicken & Vietnamese sausage (扎肉) served cold -- Wonderful bowl of carbs to start off your meal especially during the heat in summer. Not a fan of dry noodles therefore do ask for fish sauce and flood your bowl of noodles which I regularly do. Stir & toss the noodles until the fish sauce evenly mixes through and it is a very plain, delicious & comfort dish to start off your meal b) Deep Fried Garlic Buttered Chicken Wings -- WARNING -- if you are cautious about your intake of calories or fat content, please look away as this is a potential health hazard. Chicken Wings itself is already a high calorie content food due to all the fat on the chicken skin and add to the fact that the wings are deep fried in butter to give that crispy & flavourful skin. Elvis would have been proud of this dish. The condiments on the side include rock salt + fresh lime which is a perfect pairing with the wings. If you are extremely hungover on Sunday mornings, this is the perfect dish as it is purely greasy, tasty & extremely delicious -- much more effective than what Bloody Mary does! 3) RiceFlour Roll with Stuffed Pork & Vietnamese vegetables -- Another delectable traditional Vietnamese snack which is similar to the regular ricepaper roll you get in Chinese restaurants but the difference is that you eat this with spring onion, dry garlic & fish sauce again. Very refreshing and best served cold. My other highly recommended dishes include the Satay Skewers (Beef, Chicken or Pork), Curry Flavoured Pho Noodles with eels, Beef Curry with Garlic Bread & Traditional Vietnamese Spring rolls served with fresh lettuce as well as the traditional Vietnamese Dripping Coffee That's all for now and Happy Eating! Ciao Geoff

Address: 2/f, 482 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay(銅鑼灣謝斐道482號信諾環球保險中心2樓)

Tel No: 2832 2863 /2833 1075

Food Quality (5* the highest): ****

Price for lunch (5$ = very expensive): $

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