Chef of Singapore’s 2-Michelin-star Jaan opens British comfort food restaurant in Vietnam

At The Albion by Kirk Westaway in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, the team is aiming to elevate the standard of British comfort food

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The whole roast chicken at The Albion by Kirk Westaway, the British chef’s new restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: The Albion

Published: 11:15am, 13 Nov 2024Updated: 9:23am, 17 Nov 2024

British chef Kirk Westaway is like a kid in a candy store as he wanders through a wet market in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Bristling with stalls loaded with live lobsters, crabs, frogs, and fruit and vegetables, the market has it all – but it is the fresh herbs that catch his eye.

Something the world can take inspiration from, says Westaway, is Vietnamese cuisine’s heavy use of herbs.

“They really go over the top,” he says, recalling fond memories of a bowl of pho he had a few years ago. The noodle soup, considered Vietnam’s national dish, came stacked high with herbs.

So intense was that moment that it inspired a dish at Westaway’s new restaurant, The Albion by Kirk Westaway, which opened this month on the 23rd floor of Hôtel des Arts Saigon – MGallery, in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City.

Kirk Westaway at a market in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Kylie Knott

The Albion Tomato, Westaway’s favourite starter, comprises a heritage tomato served with a home-made ketchup and a basil and orange sorbet, finished with foraged sweet Vietnamese basil.