Song Huong, Springvale

Happy New Year 2024! The best is yet to come, says one of the standard NY greetings I have been sending to my friends. And indeed, on the 5th day of the new year, I found a restaurant that serves $8 meals!

A restaurant offering $10 meals is a rarity, so to see a restaurant offering $8 meals is a miracle! 

The restaurant is called Song Huong in Springvale. There are a number of dishes that are on the $8 menu like crispy chicken on rice, beef brisket on rice, and goat curry on rice. Missing from the menu is the beef pho that has become synonymous with Vietnamese cuisine. Though it is not on the special menu, one can still order it and bun bo hue for $13 (medium size).

 

We ordered the crispy chicken on rice and salt and pepper pork on rice. The chicken was a whole maryland and came with tomato rice and a bowl of soup. The pork were pieces of boneless pork fried to crispy perfection with a dashing of msg. Hey, nothing wrong with msg every now and then.. it is a naturally occurring  spice.

The soup that accompanied both dishes were a bit oily and sweet. I suspect it is the water that was used to poach the chicken for hainanese chicken rice. It has a chicken and msg flavour to it.

For $8, it is a good value and passable meal. The restaurant is clean and tidy, another tick on my books. The service is very efficient and no nonsense. There is free hot tea but with the savings from the meal, you will have money leftover to buy a three coloured drink or a cold dessert as well!