Pandie Rating: 👍👍👍👍

When you go to the Philippines, you probably won’t see a lot of restaurants from our Southeast Asian neighbors well maybe except for Thai. As for Vietnamese food? It’s the least represented and there isn’t even a category for it in Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secret Awards. There hasn’t been a good authentic Vietnamese restaurant (Didn’t like Pho Hoa or Zao because of their ingredients and frankly, it was Filipinized) in the whole of Metro Manila, except for now.

Introducing Tra Vinh Restaurant, an Australian franchise that finally came to the Philippines. I am wary about franchises so I was a bit hesitant to try this. It was only due to the clamor of my brother did I go eat here and I wanna say, thanks bro!

Photo taken from their Facebook Page

I’ve never been fond of Pho because of the current Vietnamese situation as mentioned but the moment I went inside, I knew it was different. When we first came here, there were hardly people inside because it just opened but you could see the owners pacing around and getting orders done in the restaurant. They were treating their customers well and that’s a sign of a good restaurant and this actually also applies to any business. If the owners are hands on, you know their business means something to them. I could also see the servers and waitresses were very attentive and service is very important to me.

My brother who fancies himself as a food connoisseur was delighted at the choices in the menu. Being a chef, he knew the important of getting good ingredients so when our order came, he was delighted at the sight of brightly colored vegetables and the aroma of the soup. The umami was strong in our Pho bowls and my Prawn salad (I was hesitant on Pho as I said but I tried it in the succeeding visits!). I was blown away. I never knew Vietnamese food could be this healthy and this good.

Another iffy thing in Metro Manila is our lack of Vegetarian Places. On top of my head, I can only think of 2 that serve GOOD vegetarian food so I’m glad Tra Vinh has a lot of options because the owner’s friends also request them. It’s so cool that they listen to their customers. So few restaurants do that.

Image from Tra Vinh (was not able to take a photo of the Pho :O)

Look at the quality of that meat. This is their Beef combination noodle soup with 3 kinds of meat and as said on their FB, “it is made from real beef stock with 16 traditional herbs and spices.” We could definitely taste the kick of those 16 herbs. The bean sprouts were like grown fresh from their backyard. It was a pleasant and healthy dish.

Image from Tra Vinh

If you’re not a fan of beef, you can get their Special Tra Vinh noodle soup with the largest shrimp I’ve ever seen in a soup! And it even has chicken. This is actually my favorite and I prefer it over the Beef just because of the shrimp. I’m a shrimp lover <3 to heck if they’re called cockroaches of the sea! IT IS DELICIOUS.

They also have authentic Vietnamese coffee. Its individually percolated and is quite a show when you receive it like this. You have to wait for it to finish before you can drink. The suspense! I found it too strong to my taste but my dad being a coffee lover was okay with it. I still prefer Portuguese coffee.

Now for my photos haha!

I swear, why can’t all restaurants serve good Prawns? WHYYY! Tra Vinh just gets me. Get this Prawn Pomelo salad if you feel like you want a light dinner. It’s actually big enough to share as well. Sighs, this is a photo of a happy dish.

And remember the secret that I told you in my post about the best Japanese meal I’ve ever had? Always always ask if there’s a dish off menu. But since we’re in Tra Vinh, the good people there actually recommended this as well. It’s Combination Crispy Noodles – Prawns, Squid slices, BBQ pork slices and veggies with Tra Vinh’s special sauce on crispy egg noodles!

Did you hear that, CRISPY EGG NOODLES that turns into soft golden threads that you can gobble up when you taste it. Huhu… I love this dish as well. Thank you so much for always thinking of healthy eating for your customers.

Needless to say, Tra Vinh already knows our faces at the number of times we’ve been there. I can say that it’s my favorite restaurant in the neighborhood and the price is WAY affordable as well (Around 220-300php per head). A good meal doesn’t have to be an expensive meal. Just like what Gusteau in Ratatouille said, “Anyone can cook but only the fearless can be great.” These fearless people have opened the best authentic Vietnamese food in the Metro so please, do visit them!

I am not paid to do any advertisement for them. This is my own opinion. I just <3 them so much.

Tra Vinh Australian Vietnamese Restaurant

Location:
Unit 3, 109 NS Amoranto corner Cordillera Brgy. Maharlika
Quezon City, Philippines

Tel: +632 7421718