NAMNAM NOODLE BAR JAKARTA

If you've been to Singapore and happened to see quite a long queue at this particular restaurant but haven't got the chance to try it, well, rest assure as NamNam Noodle Bar, the Vietnamese restaurant brand made famous in Singapore is now in Jakarta. It's such a smart move to place itself at the growing and posh PIK area and located strategically next to SumoBoo! I attended their grand opening last week and here I am covering it for you my dearest readers.

First of all, I must say that I was quite fond of the interior design, I think it's simply designed, proper and I am loving that little industrial and undone feel to it, not to mention, that undone-ness resulting this ethnic touch flashing this little Vietnamese ambiance to the venue. There's an open kitchen where you can notice and see the production process with your very own eyes, a little Bahn Mi bar and separated seating areas for those who smoke. For me, the best spot will always be the one next to the window for me to take some photos!  

The idea to make this Vietnamese restaurant came from the chef himself, Nam Quoc Nguyen, and not only that, he's also the one coming up with the idea of using NO MSG (Monosodium Glautamat) to the food here for health matters, as we know, MSG is used in the kitchen and cooking process to enhance the flavor of food, but Chef Nam substituted that with the imported sauce brought back from Vietnam and the customers are expected to customize the taste by their own preference.

There were some familiar faces and fellow food bloggers on the event and together we all share what they provided us that evening. The food here is of course dominated with the good old traditional local Vietnamese cuisine (you're going to find a lot of Pho, Bahn-Mi and rolls here), repackaged and presentated with NamNam style with a little touch of expectation that it will "Nom Nom" the hell out of the customers! LOL. PS: opinions remain my own!

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

IDR 20k

The flavor of the Vietnamese coffee was actually quite bold and strong despite its pale look, well that's mostly the characteristic of Vietnamese coffee. I love how they served it in the vintage can mug.

Sugarcane Drink

IDR 20k

This I really like! The sugarcane juice was fresh and naturally sweet, but the amount of sweetness was on a good balance! Just matched my liking and palate.

Crispy Fried Prawn & Chicken Rolls

IDR 37k

This was my favorite appetizer of the evening! Not only that I love fried stuff (who doesn't?), I love how they managed to make the coating to be very crispy and the filling to be juicy and moist! The flavor was majorly prawn flavor in a good way.

Salad of White Cabbage, Fish Cake, Grilled Chicken, Fresh Herbs and Peanuts
IDR 38k
This is where the play of texture and flavor really exists! The flavor's slightly tangy but all balanced nicely from the savory flavor of the fish cake and grilled chicken, and the neutral flavor of the white cabbage. The peanuts and the crunchy white cabbage together gave the play of texture.

Crispy Fried Banana with Sesame Seeds & Coconut Milk Sauce
IDR 28k
You can consider this an appetizer or dessert but for me just equally decent! LURVEEE the bananas they picked as I love the gooey and soft banana, it's just perfect when you deep fried it! The coconut milk sauce was also good with mild flavor and balanced sweetness!

Coconut Shrimp Paste Sugarcane Skewer
IDR 35k
I've always loved the idea of replacing the bamboo stick with skewer and when it's executed right, it could be really right. The best thing about this is when you can actually bite and suck the sugarcane juice right at every bite or when you're done with the meat!

Fresh Southern Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls

IDR 28k

Just because I told you I love fried stuff, that didn't mean that I am passing this just like that! The rolls are filled with vegetable filling, vermicelli and topped with fresh prawn before then wrapped in rice paper rolls! The portion was paired with peanut sauce which added the deliciousness even more, I strongly recommend using the sauce along to enchance the flavor and give that uniqueness.

Sauteed Lemongrass Beef, Cream Cheese, Beef Floss

IDR 59k

Bahn Mi is a traditional Vietnamese dish consisting of bread (baguette) and toppings, the topping could be quite various starting from the choice of meats (normally beef, chicken and pork), vegetables, pickles and other desired condiments. Some restaurants also have their own take on how they want to present their Bahn Mis, but here in NamNam, the bread was actually on this medium state in between crunchy and fluffy (which then becomes the good point from me), the filling was quite generous and I am liking this sauteed lemongrass beef filling with mild flavored cheese, tangy pickles and additional tasty beef floss.

First of all, before getting to the Pho, let me explain a lil bit about what Pho is (and trust me I didn't Google). It's a traditional Vietnamese soup dish consisting of rice noodles, savory meat broth with various fillings, and when I say various fillings I mean it depends on certain restaurants' creativity, but the most simple one would be chicken, beef with basil leaves and chili.

I tried their Pho Wagyu Beef Slices (IDR 130k), when it got served to the table, the aromatic scent from the ingredients and herb rocketed my appetite, especially since I am a soup person. The broth was this clear and mild soup extracted from the beef bone cooked for hours. The fact that they didn't use any MSG or flavor enhancer, the broth was quite tasty. The topping was beef meatballs, beef slices, tendon, beef shank, but it's the consistency of the meat that won me over: tender and juicy. It was a simple heartwarming dish.

Pho Beef Combination

IDR 75k

This was for me a decent valuable deal with more condiments like beef shank, beef meatballs, beef slices, tendon and honeycomb tripe. The meat might not be as prime as the Wagyu but they cooked it nicely leaving the texture to still be tender, and the beef meatballs were bouncy and chewy!

Soft Shell Crab Noodle Soup
IDR 110k
The noodle soup IS NOT technically a pho type, the trend of this type of dish started to become more popular in the central and southern of Vietnam. This Soft Shell crab had this meaty savory broth with soft and chewy soft shell crab, still with rice noodles and condiments like crab cake, tofu, tomato, bean sprout, and chopped herbs.

Have heard mixed reviews about NamNam Noodle Bar, but from what I experienced, I think they have pretty good tasty menus with quite big range of selections (even from the Pho itself), I indeed expected the flavor of the soup to be a little bolder and you just, just that little extra kick, but other than that, it was pretty good.

Anyway, WELCOME TO JAKARTA NamNam and best of LUCK!!!


NamNam Noodle Bar
Rukan Crown Golf Blok D No. 21-23
Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta Utara 14470
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Map for SumoBoo (located next to)

monViet Lippo Mall Kemang Jakarta

I was so excited when I received an email from Hai, whom is the owner of the restaurant. He is a Vietnamese who has a huge appreciation to his mom's creations, along with his younger sister.

monViet, a Vietnamese restaurant located at the Avenue of The Stars, Lippo Mall Kemang is actually more than just a restaurant (if you were me listening to his story). Hai's mom is a noodle soup seller back in Vietnam. What she was doing was very common in Vietnam and probably nothing special, but you guys need to know that his mom raised nine kids just by doing so, there must be nothing "so simple" to keep costumers going back to purchase his mom's famous noodle soup.

I got the chance to try out monViet for myself and thanks to Hai for the kind heart-warming invitation. I could tell that I was talking to someone who has a huge passion for culinary, positive expectations for monViet to bring up Vietnamese culinary scene in Jakarta. Let me put you on a test? If I mention "Vietnamese food", what comes to your mind? It's "Pho", right? Well, in fact, Vietnamese food is a lot richer and various than that.

The executive chef of this restaurant is no other than Hai's sister: Loan. Back in Vietnam, ever since she was a kid, she used to follow her mom to work, paying attention to what her mom's doing: cooking, preparing and eventually, selling. Bowl per bowl to extend the living. I personally think it's awesome, and that's nice of Loan to learn it all. She owns magic hands!

I asked Hai the philosophy of the name "monViet", it's simply "happy and appreciation to Vietnamese cuisine".

The first thing you see here is probably the open kitchen for public, there's something about open kitchen that I like, in a way, I feel more certain of the process. My brain is infected by those that I read from the holy internet, I am so insecure lately about certain food. Good to you monViet for the live kitchen :).

Hand painted ceramics. Awesome!

Sneek peek of the interior.

Loan explained to me about the ingredients used in the cooking process. Everything is imported from Vietnam. Loan once tried using the Indonesian ingredients on the process but the final result wasn't what she had pictured before, so in order to bring up her mom's authentic flavor, she used the ingredients imported from Vietnam.

Vietnamese Coffee (Ca Phe Da - Black Coffee with Ice)
IDR 22k
Just so you know, this is how Vietnamese serves their coffee, if you happen to order this, it will come in a coffee pot or "Phin Ca Phe". The pot has tiny holes to prevent the coffee from pouring fast. The technique was almost like dripped coffee. I had the intense one since I'm okay with it (yes you can customize the intensity). For me, this was the second time ever having Vietnamese coffee and this one is more impressive. When you mix it, it's like having a "Misto", only stronger and bolder. Me fond of this one.

Iced Lychee Tea
I bet no further explanation about this drink, always have this on most of my visits in any restaurant and this one is also refreshing.

Iced Lemongrass Tea

IDR 23k
You'll notice a strong hint of lemongrass in this tea, maybe they can turn down the sweetness a few level so that the flavor is more well-balanced :).

For some reasons, the beverages are still on the tolerable pricing :). The glass itself is pretty big if you care.

APPETIZER

The Platter of monViet

IDR 65k

This platter includes each two of these following menu: Cha Gio Re (Vietnamese crispy springrolls with shrimps), Banh Cuon Ga (Vietnamese Steamed Rice roll with minced chicken) and Goi Cuon Tom Ga (Vietnamese Summer Roll with shrimp and chicken meat), the transparent one. If you notice the dipping sauces, they're majorly using soy sauce and yes Vietnam is one of the major producer and consumer of soy sauce in Asia, they're just into soy sauce and include the soy sauce in most of their meals, but still, the underlined thing is that Soy Sauce and Vietnamese Dipping Sauce is different. Dipping sauce is used for (mostly) light bites like this appetizer below while soy sauce is used as an additional ingredients. The secret of a good dipping sauce is centered around the combination of fish sauce with different amounts of garlic, onion, sugar, chili, lime, vinegar and pepper. 

The Chia Gio Re or the fried one goes with the sauce with nuts on it (Tuong Goi Cuon), while Banh Cuon Ga and Goi Cuon Tom Ga go with the transparent one (Nuoc Mam Chia Go or fish sauce for the rolls), let me just tell you upfront that I have that "Oh My Gosh" moment on the first bite of all these three! They were really awesome! My favorite was the Chia Gio Re, everything about it was really great, just beautiful crisp perfection for me! You can tell that they're very fresh in the materials and flavor. This is my top recommendation.

Left: Chia Gio Re, Right: Banh Guon Ca

Goi Cuon Tom Ga

Banh Bot Loc
IDR 26k
Vietnamese version of dumpling was such a match to my Indonesian tongue, this one is also really good. It might look like a simple rice cake but the seasoning and the shrimp extract (for those who love shrimp) was in a way strong, but not overwhelming. Let me tell you that I have learned a lesson from eating Vietnamese food, it's true that without the soy sauce, it won't be the same.

Pho Dac Biet
IDR 59k
Let's check out Hai and Loan's mom legendary noodle soups! This Pho includes the combination of fresh sliced beef, briskets and meatballs. The soup was very fragrant, and if you have eaten Pho before, you probably knew that Vietnamese Pho always comes with side vegetables and fragrant leaves, the reason behind the separated serving is simply because not everyone likes to have the vegetables mixed, so it depends on their preference for having or not having it. The soup is really tasty, it's made of beef bone that's been slow cooked for 14 freaking hours. If you haven't seen what Pho noodles look like, it is linguine like, only it comes in white color and softer.

Bun Bo Hue
IDR 51k
This one is the spicier version of the noodle soup and it's served with generous amount of sliced beef. Awesome. Originally, the soup wasn't really spicy and still tolerable but they also have separate chili sauce and seasoning for you (including the dangerously hot chili oil) for you who love to add up the spice in your noodle soup. The noodle itself is actually rice vermicelli.

That's the dangerous chili oil I talked about. Hai already warned me to only use only a very little amount, but I decided to be a freaking daredevil and add just a little more, result? I sweat like a crazy baboon.

Banh Canh Tom Ga
IDR 48k
Vietnamese udon in savoury soup with shrimp and chicken. This one's also lovely. I am really fond of this soup, it's tasty, a little spicy but just a little and the unique thing about this was that it's actually using "Udon". The Udon is home made, it's chewy and has a good texture.

Dessert of the Day

Che Khoai Mon (Taro)

IDR 20k

In monViet, each day will be different dessert to present to the costumers, which is a good thing so people won't get bored and in a way, be surprised. It was Monday and I got served by Loan's signature Che Khoai Mon or Taro with sticky rice inside. I initially thought the dessert will be served cold but it actually served hot. The white cream on top is the coconut sauce. The dessert was decent, I'm still curious on the colder version of this! Must be nice :).

In a nutshell, my visit to monViet was splendid. I don't have much to say, even negative, but I know I have a good impression left. Everything is good and has its own unique points. I would say that the courses they're serving here are worthy enough to be called "authentic" from the pre-production preparation (ingredients), production and to the presentation. For me, Hai and Loan's passion for Vietnamese food is easily seen, it's clearly shown in the food, they have spoken for themselves :).

If you really want to experience authentic Vietnamese food without having to go to Vietnam, then this one is great for you. I would happily recommend this one for you guys to try. I hope you guys have wonderful experience having your meal here, especially their noodle soups, will come back to try out more menu. OMG I'm craving!!! Shoo for now. Bye!

monViet Vietnamese Restaurant || WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Avenue of the Stars 1st Fl. #06A
Lippo Mall Kemang Village
Jalan Pangeran Antasari No. 36
Jakarta Selatan 12150
021 - 2952 8439

FACEBOOK || TWITTER || INSTAGRAM

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com