Gun Ba @ Peppermint - Jalan Gaya

I think the Peppermint chain is now the only Vietnamese food outlet in KK, which is a shame, but on the plus side the food is very good! It was a hot day in the city today and I was contemplating sweating over my regular pick of raw beef pho when Gun Ba caught my eye. Gun Ba or cold chicken noodles is basically a kind of Vietnamese salad. Cold rice noodles topped with shredded carrot, cucumber and beansprouts, a piece of marinated, fried, boneless chicken with hints of lovely lemongrass and a tasty spring roll. This comes with a dressing of sweet chilli sauce mixed with fish sauce, I added some of this along with some extra soy and chilli sauce. In my opinion some lime juice and fresh herbs would have made this so much better, none the less it was still pretty good and a perfect light lunch on a very hot day!

Peppermint is easily located along Jalan Gaya. It's also a great place to sit and watch the world go by!

 

The Bill : 1x Gun Ba, 1x Ice Lemon Tea = 12 MYR

For a taste of Vietnam in Borneo, head to Peppermint!

Vietnamese Food @ Peppermint - Jalan Gaya

Everytime I go to Peppermint, no matter which branch, spicy chicken rice seems to be the most popular order. So today was my turn to join the masses! The portion of chicken was deep fried, chopped then topped with spicy chilli sauce, there were also some cucumber slices. The chicken tasted pretty good though in my opinion the Pho (which is my favourite dish here) is better! 

The Little Nibbler opted for the beef stew with rice, this was very good, the meat had obviously been slow cooked making the stew very rich in taste.

This is Peppermint's Jalan Gaya branch.

The Bill : 1x Spicy Chicken Rice, 1x Beef Stew Rice, 2x Ice Lemon Tea = 18.60 MYR

A taste of Vietnam!

Steam Chicken Noodle Soup @ Peppermint - Jalan Gaya

I'm no stranger to Peppermint, normally popping in for their Raw Beef Pho but today I thought I'd have a change from the old routine opting instead for Steam Chicken Noodle Soup. The tasty clear broth comes packed with rice vermicelli, or you can opt for imported Vietnamese noodles, a generous portion of silky smooth steam chicken breast topped with fresh corriander and a sprinkling of chives. While I was eating this I definitely thought I was doing my body a favour! It tastes clean, refreshing and so healthy! You can add sliced fresh chilli and lime for extra punch, I opted for their chilli and soy sauce with lime to flavour my soup. As I've said before it would be nice to choose from a selection of fresh herbs to add to the soup as in Vietnam's pho shops.

This branch of Peppermint occupies a large corner shop on Gaya Street, look out for the lunch time crowds.

The Bill : Steam Chicken Noodle Soup, Ice Lemon Tea 8.80 MYR

I'm a big fan of Peppermint, great food, spotless surroundings and lots of choice. Now it's time for me to try even more delicious Vietnamese food!

Pho @ Peppermint - Karamunsing Capital

Pho is the national dish of Vietnam. It's available at all times of the day, from street side vendors to swanky eateries. The Vietnamese go potty for a good bowl of Pho and rightly so! 
In Vietnam, much the same as here in KK, there are famous shops that specialize in one dish where a recipe is handed down through generations. Even ex President of the USA, Bill Clinton likes a bowl of Pho, I know, I've seen the photos of him slurping one down in the very same shop in Saigon where I too was slurping one down!
The custom is that your soup arrives on your table and you adjust the flavour according to your preference using fresh chilli, chilli sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime wedges and most importantly fresh herbs. Unfortunately this is my only criticism of Peppermint's Pho, there just aren't enough, if any, fresh herbs provided with the soup. Today when I ordered there were none at all, on previous visits I've had a small sprig of basil or mint. So, please, please, please if anyone's reading from Peppermint's management team or are in contact with them, I urge please provide more herbs in the form of basil, mint and corriander. In my humble opinion this will transform an already great tasting Pho into something magical.
You can choose between five kinds of beef Pho at Peppermint as well as two kinds of chicken noodle soup, which for some reason they don't call Pho, possibly because I think traditionally Pho is made from beef (Pho Bo). 
My regular pick is raw beef where the meat is sliced so thin that it actually 'cooks' when the hot stock is poured over. Your bowl arrives piping hot, filled with rice noodles and meat of your choice in a slightly sweet and savoury beef stock. The stock is where the secret lies, it's the make or break of Pho! All this comes topped off with raw onion rings. Now this is where you get a chance to experiment, accompanying the Pho is a wedge of lime, beansprouts, fiery hot sliced chilli, soy and chilli sauce can be found on the side, all that's missing now is the fresh herbs !!! 
Experiment away and dive right in.

Peppermint have a few branches around town this one is located at Karamunsing Capitol, at the end of the shoplots facing Kompleks Karamunsing.

Opening daily 10am - 10 pm

                                     The Bill : Pho (raw beef noodle soup), Chinese Teh Ping 7.60 MYR

Peppermint have lots of other dishes on their menu to try, watch this space because I'll definitely be returning to 'A Taste of Vietnam'