Tuesday, July 11, 2023

123 ZÔ, Icon Village

123 ZÔ, Icon Village

The last time we were at 123 ZÔ (#01-45, 49-51 Icon Village, 12 Gopeng Street, tel : +65 9669 9655), they were at Geylang. Their current shop at Icon Village appears to have lost some of the rustic charm the Geylang shop had. Menu has also changed.

123 ZÔ, jumbo beef rib pho

This was their new jumbo rib pho. Broth had prominent star anise flavour and it's not intense with the beefiness. Fixed that with squeezes of lime and a splash of fish sauce. There was something among the herbs that I didn't like and I suspect it's sawtooth coriander.

123 ZÔ, jumbo beef rib

Rib was well flavoured from the marinade and the meat easily slid off the bone. Nice.

123 ZÔ, banh xeo

Their bánh xèo seemed to be a bit more flour-y than I remember of them. Maybe more flour to egg in the batter. But being so also allowed more crunch along the edges to form from all the charring.

123 ZÔ, banh xeo in rice roll

They were served with rice paper and we were told that we could have the bánh xèo wrapped in them with along with pickles/vegetables to eat like a roll. This was pretty good.

123 ZÔ, prawn mango salad

Love the citrus-y gỏi xoài. Lots of texture from the julienned mangoes, nuts and basil leaves.

123 ZÔ, frog legs

We ordered grilled frog legs. Did not expect that the marinate on them were so spicy. These were the spiciest frog legs I've ever had, bar none. So spicy that the chilli dip on the side felt almost like a reprieve from it.

123 ZÔ, frog leg bones

In the end, all that was left were bones and burning lips and tongue. Their peach tea oddly helps relieve the burn.

123 ZÔ, banh mi

We built our own bánh mì here. The fillings we picked leaned towards traditional - pork ham, pate and fried egg. They were by default filled with very little vegetables and pickles for some reasons. Baguette was light and crisp. I think we could come back for this.

123 ZÔ, egg coffee cà phê trứng

Nice ca phe trung (egg coffee). Rich creamy sweetened egg foam on top of the bitter brew.

123 ZÔ, Icon Village

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