Wrap & Roll

I first saw Wrap & Roll in The Star Vista and thought it only sells Vietnamese rice paper rolls. That is, until my dining companions and I saw it over the weekend in Ion Orchard. We were looking for a place to lunch before our Christmas shopping and decided to eat at the contemporary casual dining restaurant from Ho Chi Minh, after trying a sample of its Grilled Pork Steamed Rice Crepe Rolls – tender pork full of flavour from the marinade with a nice charred aroma. The award-winning chain was established in 2006 and currently has more than 10 branches in Australia, Singapore and Vietnam. According to the website, it is the first Vietnamese restaurant on our sunny shores to serve freshly made steamed rice paper rolls. Every dish is delicately handmade with more than 50% of the ingredients imported from Vietnam to maintain its authenticity. For quality control, the chefs are trained in Vietnam for a month while chefs from Vietnam will train the staff here every 6 months.

Ordered Fresh Spring Rolls with Prawns & Pork from the traditional dry rice paper rolls menu for sharing – a well-balance of taste and texture with smooth and thin skin on the outside, fresh prawns and tender pork as well as rice vermicelli and greens inside. Perfect when dipped in the accompanying sauce with carrot and radish strips, chilli sauce and peanuts. One of us had Hà Nội Grilled Pork Skewers, a roll-it-yourself dish from the grilled menu, while another ate Vietnamese Fish Noodle Soup. My order of Bún bò Hué or Hue Beef Noodle Soup was very different from the phõ bò I am familiar with. Originating from Hué in central Vietnam (not Hanoi in the North), it uses bún instead of phõ. The former is Vietnamese round rice noodles reminiscent of thick mee hoon in laksa while the latter is Vietnamese flat rice noodles similar to, if not the same as, kway teow. Smooth noodles and tender meat in a tad spicy and surprisingly light soup with mint leaves, capsicum and onion strips. Yummy!