Into the Vietnamese woods: Part 2

how did da coriander get thredded thru da chilli

 

Decided to give this place a revisit.

Previous visit and review:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2149985

On this second visit, the restaurant was busier than before, more tables were filled and noisier that you could only hear a faint sound of their recorded birds chirping.

Ordered the noodles in tomato soup as before, however this time there was chili in the soup which made it really hot.
I wondered if they have changed the recipe, because from the other reviews of that noodles there is not any chili just like the first time I had it.
As for the stir fried vermicelli in satay sauce, it is similar to Singapore fried vermicelli but slightly sweeter and I found it too oily and greasy.

The menu has been changed slightly, not available items have been removed which is good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black mystery at the Hide Chan hide-out - First Visit

Hide Chan is known for noodles as good as Butao with chains across the globe, so it gave me the impression that it is a commercialised version of Butao.
Apart from noodles they serve other snacks as well.

 

The interior and design were black and very mysterious. The bottle of water provided was the same type they use at Butao, however on my last visit to Butao they have changed to using plastic jugs for water.

 

 

Same as Butao you can choose how hard you want your noodles.
I ordered them not so soft because the noodles get softer when you are halfway through the bowl of noodles.

The broth here is famous for the pork bone collagen and there is a black version containing their famous black oil.

I ordered the black hide and dumplings.
When the noodles came, the soup was burgundy brown but not as viscous as I imagined.
The collagen quantity was less than I hoped for but the taste of the broth was interesting, it had a hint of red beancurd in it (namyue).

 

The noodles were thin straight and white, just like Butao, but the good thing about the noodles here is that they do not go soft quickly, because the particles in the broth are quite big that these noodles do not readily absorb it.
Towards finishing, the noodles did not make the broth go starchy.
There were lots of spring onions in the noodles but these were bigger than the usual spring onions with a sweeter taste.

 

Lastly I had the dumplings.
I really liked the dumplings, the dumpling wrap was extremely thin and near translucent.
There was a tiny spec of green paste for the dumplings, I wish it was bigger because I loved the paste.
The paste was refreshing, and slightly salted, it tasted of unsweetened lime and citrus with a dash of grounded ginger.
There was no need for dumpling sauce after I put the paste with the dumplings.

Black mystery at the Hide Chan hide-out

This was my second visit to Hide-Chan and I felt that the noodles and soup were much more delicious this time.

Last time when I came, I had already eaten Butao imediately before, so I was slightly full but still had appetite for another bowl.

Anyway, from the pictures, the black sauce is so thick, you can see it not dispersing in the soup.
The black sauce and thick soup was clearly separated, whereas in my previous visit, the soup was thinner and it was burgandy.

black hide on second visit

 

black hide on first visit

 

The soup impressed me this time, because it was properly thick as described in the reviews, the previous bowl I had was not that thick.
Overall, I really liked it and I will come back, the green sauce is a must try for the dumplings, because it is really packed with flavours from sourness to spicyness.