I brought my folks to Piggy Smalls as I have read some great reviews about this place on Xiao Hong Shu. This is a Vietnamese Fusion restaurant and from a glance, the price point seemed a bit steep, but when the food arrived we felt that the large portions justified the pricing.
We ordered the oxtail beef braised pho, crispy chicken wings, Banh Mi with French beef dip, and a Japanese style Napoleon Spaghetti and here's my take:
OXTAIL BO KHO
💵 Price: $22 USD
🤤Taste: 4.7 / 5
Description: A rich & aromatic Vietnamese style beef oxtail stew, South Asian spices, star anise, lemongrass, a herb mix of garlic chives, Thai basil, cilantro
Thoughts: The broth was flavorful and the seasoning was on point. The meat was fall off the bone tender and the noodles were excellent. It was slightly chewy and not mushy. My uncle and aunty both expected to be overly thirsty from the MSG afterward, but we were surprised how clean the broth was and with minimal or no MSG added.
LE FRIED CHICKEN WINGS
💵 Price: $15 USD
🤤Taste: 4 / 5
Description: their famous twice fried LFC, mint, makrut, peanuts, pickled red onion, money sauce
Thoughts: Recommended by a lot of Xiao Hong Shu users. It's not the crispiest fried chicken wings I've had but it's not bad. It's pretty crispy. What I liked about this was the pickled red onion and the monkey sauce, which is a vinegar-based sauce, which helped cut down the grease.
CLASSIC PHO FRENCH DIP BANH MI
💵 Price: $17 USD
🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5
Description: 12 hour slow-roasted beef brisket, spicy hoisin, Thai basil chimichurri, sautéed bean sprouts & onion, toasted la tour baguette, side of our classic beef pho broth for dipping
Thoughts: I didn't look at the description in detail but was pleased to see that they've used quality beef brisket in their Banh Mi, and with the French dip, the concept's very fusion.
The French dip is a small bowl of pristine beef broth but it doesn't add too much flavor to the sandwich. It's a bit too clean but even without the French dip, the sandwich alone was already amazing. I ended up eating the sandwich on its own.
I liked that they had the right amount of fat on the brisket and the Banh Mi was toasted perfectly. This dish would score a higher rating if the interior of the baguette was fluffier but it's not a big deal.
BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI NAPOLETANA
💵 Price: $17 USD
🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5
Description: a nostalgic Japanese comfort food of pasta cooked with arabiki sausage, bell peppers & onions, parmesan, and sweet tomato sauce, finished with creamy soft scrambled eggs
Thoughts: Spaghetti Napolitan is a classic Japanese pasta and it is one of my favourite comfort food. I love a good ol' classic Japanese Spaghetti Napolitan. The sauce is a ketchup base and the tang stimulates the appetite. It's lightly dusted with parmesan cheese so it's not as filling. Their pasta is also cooked perfectly with an al dante chew.
📍 Location: Here
Menu: Here
💵 Price: $30 USD pp
🤤Taste: 4.7 / 5
🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.6 / 5
Retention Rate:100%
Summary:
ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤
* Huge portion
* Oxtail beef braised pho is available here (which is a rarity in Vancouver)
* The Pho broth was flavorful
* Crispy chicken wings were accompanied with a vinegar sauce that helped cut the grease
* Hardly noticed any MSG.
* Wasn't thirsty afterward
* The Banh Mi with beef dip was sandwiched with quality brisket
* Brisket was tender and had a good amount of fat on it
* The Napolitan Spaghetti was saucy and the pasta was al dante
* Good customer service
ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:
* A bit pricy BUT the portion justified the pricing
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
* A great restaurant with Vietnamese food with a fusion twist!