Philly's Cheesesteak

This is Philly's Cheesesteak at 141 Bui Vien street in District 1. It's straddles the turf between the brilliantly named "Happy Tour" and "Man and Woman Beauty" This part of Saigon goes large on dreadlocks, 'eastern' ankle tatoos, moneybelts and where a bottle of mineral water is THE essential year round fashion accessory. This street is also home to a string of western style eateries. We've previously covered the decent wee burger at Z's a few blocks down the road - nice. Philly's Cheesesteak has a limited menu and MTV. Ear bleedingly bloody loud MTV. Why? It's not even educational. Which dickhead first thought of putting a TV in a restaurant anyhow? I dunno. Just what's going on, ehh? Is it me? Is it an age thing? You know, you hit thirtysomething and start grumbling about pop music, nose piercings, slinky tops and visible midriffs. Actually, midriff's are alright at any age. Although generally not in the UK, the US, Australia or Germany. I digress... There are two cheesesteaks on offer - "Mom's makes" and "Dad's Makes". Both come in a banh my and include "100g of thin sliced Rib eye steak with onions, green peppers and mushrooms." Dad's comes with sauteed greens and mozzarella cheese. Mom's comes with unsauteed veggies and Swiss cheese. Both come with crinkle cut fries and cost 39,000VD. Just over a quid. I order Mom's, the healthy option.

Yum. Retro chips. Nice. Vietnam does do good chips, dunnit? The cheesesteak looks challenging. No mere nibble. I know I'll be walking out of this place with a more UK-like midriff than I walked in with that's for sure. Everything's as it should be - beef's lean, thin, cheese nicely melted, the whole deal is snug and warm. It's just mighty tasteless, that's all. I know, I know, "Use the bloody condiments, then." But, have you ever tried Vietnamese ketchup, chilli sauce or mustard? Have you? Well, once squirted forever.... never squirted again. Utter, total and complete crap in a plastic squeezy bottle. Top tip for restaurant owners in Vietnam: Use ONLY Heinz Tomato Ketchup, ONLY Colman's English Mustard, ONLY a good Chilli sauce - sorry I don't know the name of one offhand. Stop using this garbage. If you're done with noodles, snails, uterus and eel, a Philly's cheesesteak is enjoyable, but it's purely for stodge mood moments. More photos.

Comments

[robyn]

Yup, it's an age thing. And for an American meal-in-a-bun classic like this, *only* French's yellow mustard will do.

[FatMan Seoul]

Agree on the Heinz. Prefer the Maille dijon mustard personally. As for chili sauce, wouldn't Tobasco be just awesome?

[pieman]

OK. French mustard has it's fans, but you miss the thrill of English mustard nose tingle. I like my mustard with big boots.

Tabasco would indeed be a decent alternative. Just out of interest, isn't there two kinds of tabasco? I'm no expert, but I seem to remember buying a green label one which was quite a bit stronger than the more trad. red label. Am I imagining things?

[FatMan Seoul]

OK, on that note, wouldn't a wallop of wasabi be great on a philly? :oP

[pieman]

It's an interesting idea... Colman's and wasabi do have a similar effect when overdone, the way I like :)

[FatMan Seoul]

No you're not imagining things. The classic red ones are made from red pepper (capsicum) whereas the green ones are from jalapeño peppers. There's also garlic flavoured ones and chipotle-smoked sauces.

http://www.tabasco.com/

[pieman]

What a mine of information you are Fats :)

[Scott]

Nice looking chips, but you'd think they might give you more than six of the things. Vietnam always seems to go cheap on chips and crisps. Do they have to import potatoes or something? Tabasco wouldn't be bad, but Rooster Sriracha (http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/sriracha.htm) would be better.

[omih]

Said it a million times before but malt vinegar is what I miss most.

As for mustard, it's got to be Colman's.

And I know this is particularly a Hanoi thing but not entirely - more salt please. For the most part, to my mind, the lack of flavour is down to lack of salt.

Strange...i always thought that Vietnam dose lousy chips.

[ThinkingVN]

Most restaurants serving Philly Cheese Steak outside of Philadelphia in the US are lousy and tastless too. It's hard to find a good authentic Cheese Steak anywhere else.

[Caroline]

I agree... I prefer mine with Cheese Whiz at Pat's on 9th & Passyunk in Philly.

[TheMatt]

Caroline, you are close, but it has to be a whiz wit.

As for mustard, I like Colman's if I'm having ham or the like, but for burgers and hot dogs, it's French's Yellow. Ah turmeric.

[Mr. NoStarTravels]

Still pluggin' Juice, even from the road. Their tabasco sauce is tasty. Delicious!

[Tom]

A classic Philly Cheesesteak should be eaten with no condiments. If prepared properly, the sauteed peppers and onions should provide all of the seasoning necessary.

[PetStarr]

So true - what the HELL does Vietnam do to tomato sauce/ketchup? It is indescribably awful. Bring on the Heinz.

[Mark]

Philly cheesesteaks blow outside 20 mile radius (exception of South Jersey shore joints using Philly rolls and steak). Heinz is only option, mustard is blasphemy on a steak. Wit or widdout (onions) is a personal choice, but Wiz is for tourists only. Go w/ American or provalone and no green peppers, hot peppers instead (can be in the form of hoagie spread or whole hot cherry peppers also). There are also at least 20 steak joints I know of that blow the doors off Pat's or Geno's but I do respect the quintessestial experience that the "Original's" provide.

[Mike]

I can't believe that I'm actually reading about cheesesteak reviews in SE Asia? WTF?! Yo, if you are gonna do something right, you gotta go to the source. If you want to have REAL cheesesteak, bring your backpacking ass through "The City of Brotherly Love" and have one here. Even one off the lunch carts on the corner is gotta be better then something in Vietnam! geez...

PS - You NEVER put mustard on a steak! Which idiot thought that one up?

[ROBERT]

wooo!look very delicious cheesesteak!i hope one day i could try cheeseteak from happytour doing.i think happy tour company allways welcome everyone from all over the world.if you have first time visited in Viet Nam.you sould chose happytour company at there you will get good service and the cheapest price that you can not find anywhere.WELCOME!