123 ZÔ Vietnamese BBQ Skewers and Hotpot, Geylang Road

123 ZÔ (747 Geylang Road, tel : +65 9669 9655) is a relatively new Vietnamese grilled skewer and hotpot restaurant close to the Paya Lebar side of Geylang. While Vietnamese restaurants aren't uncommon here, most of them have a templated menu which included mainly just pho, maybe some bún and bánh mì. Bbq skewers and hotpot was not something we've had before.

I got curious about some tamarind and peanut drink. The former ingredient was sour and sweet which made it not particularly thirst quenching. It was fun to drink with the bits of fruit to chew on though. The nuts were on the verge of becoming stale so they weren't so nice.

Green mango salad was not bad. Lots of dried shrimp in it. But because I had one at Uncle Ho Tuckshop not too long back, I had to compare. That one was chilled and much more refreshing than this which was room temperature. This one had plenty of basil just so that you know.

The idea of this trip was to get some grilled skewers because these were what they were known for. We got chicken hearts, chicken gizzards and beef wrapped in betel leaves (bo la lot). The gizzards were pretty tasty. Special mention goes to the whole chicken hearts which were outstanding.

We had barbequed frogs. The ones 123 ZÔ used were small frogs and there were burnt ends which added that smoky flavour to the meat.

What we found outstanding and memorable were their grilled baby octopus which were super. These were very very tender.

Grilled quails were also quite nice. Smoky and had crispy charred bits which made them delicious.

These were grilled pork chops that were not on the menu. Pretty good munching because it was meaty and not too tough.

The other thing that wasn't on menu were grilled pig's udders. I think that would be the clearest description of them. These were fatty and chewing them brought out flavours. I thought it was a good idea that they included grilled lady's fingers to break the monotony from the meat.

A shared bowl of bún bò huế to finish with the warm spicy broth.

I kinda like this place.