Kim Thanh

To be honest, our actual destination was Quan Thanh a few doors away and we didn't think of making reservations (you'd have to!) as the next day was start of work day. It was going to be a half hour wait with no where to sit, so we decided to dine at Kim Thanh's instead. I was reluctant then as we have brought Miss food hunter's cousin to Kim Thanh's a year ago but was relieved when she said she didn't mind it again as she remembered the food to be delicious!

Spicy Green Papaya Salad- Refreshing with plenty of peanuts & cooked onions for flavour and texture, but not your typical punchy asian salad. Not sure where the Spice comes in this dish??

Kim Thanh was also busy but we waited only 5 mins for our table. When perusing the menu, we found the menu to have changed, with now limited Vietnamese choices and more Chinese options. Even the stir-fries under the Vietnamese section read more like Chinese-type dishes! And so, for our last meal together, we ordered a Spicy Salad of Green Papaya, Chicken and Prawns; DIY Rice Paper Rolls Grilled Chicken & Grilled Pork Balls; Beef Pho and Crispy Chicken Egg Noodle Soup.

The Grilled Chicken was lacking that typical lemongrass marinade- marinade if any at all, was almost non-existent. The chicken was grilled to the point that it became dry though there are the bits of that char-grilled flavour. Plenty of rice papers were given!

We thought the Pork Balls were going to be the traditional Nem Nuong (grilled Pink pork balls/patties) but they were just marinated, slightly sweetish pork pasted balls. The pork balls were also dry.

We would have preferred the Crispy Chicken to stay crispy i.e. placed on a seperate plate rather than in the soup. The soup was the typical onion-based broth with thin egg noodles.

The broth of the Beef Pho we found was more on the sweeter side and the depth of flavour and spice (i.e. star anise, cloves etc.) was weaker than most Phos we've had. Acceptable nonetheless!

Believe it but we cleared all the dishes! Our 2 petite guests who are not exposed to much Vietnamese had no complaints and in typical Singaporean style...they're appetites were huge for their frame! Ha....thankfully, they enjoyed dinner! Farewell and we will next see you in Sydney for another eat-out! : )

PS. Mr and Miss food hunter much prefers Vietnamese at either Inala or Darra! For the conveniece of location, Quan Thanh would be our preferred Viet restaurant.  

Kim Thanh

93 Hardgrave road

West End

Opens daily 1130am to 3pm & 530pm to 1030pm