FRA: Mendo
Unique French-Asian taste :P
"Mendo"? Hmm, that doesn't sound French... Yep, indeed it's an eatery serving Asian food introduced by my friend, Samantha Nelwan who is currently studying in INSA Lyon. I'm glad I could meet her during the immersion programme; the last time I met her was in 2004 before I came to Singapore to further my study. Well, maybe you're wondering why in the world I asked her where to find nice Asian food. Nope, not because I missed rice, but I'd really like to try how Asian food tasted like in Lyon.
"Mendo"? Hmm, that doesn't sound French... Yep, indeed it's an eatery serving Asian food introduced by my friend, Samantha Nelwan who is currently studying in INSA Lyon. I'm glad I could meet her during the immersion programme; the last time I met her was in 2004 before I came to Singapore to further my study. Well, maybe you're wondering why in the world I asked her where to find nice Asian food. Nope, not because I missed rice, but I'd really like to try how Asian food tasted like in Lyon.
Peking Duck Cha Han €9.90 (~S$17.30)
Taste: 8/10
Simply put, the dish that I ordered was fried rice with fried duck, tomato, snow peas and coriander. I guess it'd really difficult to compare this with Chinese fried rice we can commonly find in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc because the taste of the former was unique. Even though the so-called Peking duck didn't taste like the real cuisine you can find in Beijing, it was perfectly marinated and fried. Every slice of the meat was bursting with flavours, and it was tender. Too bad the skin wasn't crispy. The snow peas were delightfully sweet and crunchy.
Bô Bun €10.90 (~S$19.10)
Taste: 7.5/10
Sam ordered the dry Vietnamese-style fried rice vermicelli with beef, pork spring rolls, peanuts and vegetables. Although this one wasn't as unique as the fried rice, the rice vermicelli which was fried with fish sauce and accentuated by a tinge of vinegar, was quite nice. The beef was slightly too salty, but the pork spring rolls were yummy!
Siu Mai - Vapeur (Petite) €4.50 (~S$7.90)
Taste: 6.5/10
Pika's advice: If you don't fancy har gow (Chinese steamed shrimp dumpling), don't order this dish! Haha, I guess you can see the discrepancy between the picture and the name of the dish, but yes, the har gow was the siu mai (Chinese steamed pork dumpling). The shrimp dumplings were so-so, and they were served with something similar to Thai chili sauce. Anyway, they don't have har gow written in the menu.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 7.5/10
Ambience: 5.5/10
Service: 7/10
Overall: 6.5/10
The food was enjoyable, but the ambience wasn't that great because the small eatery couldn't help but put tables very close to one another. Anyway, thanks so much, Sam! Hope to see you again soon! :)
Mendo
26 Quai Augagneur
Lyon
France
(Opening hours unknown - Anyone knows?)
*Prices quoted are nett prices.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
P.S. Selamat Hari Raya to our Muslim friends and fellow readers; mohon maaf zahir (or lahir in Bahasa) dan batin. :)
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