Mills Market and its vendors Kai Kai, Banh Mi Boy and UniGirl lure in the crowds

I have a soft spot for the old Tien Hung Market in Mills 50. It’s where I’d regularly go to pick up rambutan, custard apples and the king of all fruits, durian. In early 2016, I snagged a spiky stinker from the market, walked down the street to a bench in front of Veggie Garden, and carved the thing up — after which then-WMFE host Matthew Peddie and I scarfed the fleshy fart-fruit down, before having to wrest my knife back from a homeless guy. Fun times. But over the past year and a half, the old space has undergone a transformation overseen by restaurateurs Johnny and Jimmy Tung, the market’s new owners. Gone are aisles upon aisles of foodstuffs and homewares. In their place, lines upon lines of hungry humans. Oh, and a name change: Mills Market.

Last year, throngs came to slurp on squircle-shaped squigglers and other Japanese fare at Zaru, William Shen’s udon noodle house that’s joined to the market’s hip. But a summer makeover has seen Kai Kai — Jerry and Jackie Lau’s Cantonese meatopia of barbecue and dumplings — and Shen’s onigiri shop, UniGirl, open inside its bright, reinvigorated digs. Appropriately enough, Bánh Mì Boy sandwiches the two. The Tien Hung mainstay received a brand (and menu) refresh and while cheaper bánh mì can be had in Mills 50, none of them have a Top Chef champ prepping them. Season 3 winner Hung Huynh is a regular behind the bambooed stall. He’s often seen hacking roast duck or assembling sandwiches when he’s not in the kitchen whipping something up.

Not sure if bringing two of Vietnam’s most iconic dishes together into one was his idea, but the pho French dip bánh mì ($10.99) seems like a no-brainer. Slow-cooked beef shank and brisket plushes up a crusty-soft baguette baked in-house. Hoisin, basil pesto, jalapeños and cilantro add additional depth. It’s served with a pho jus for dipping, and it’s basically a taste of ‘Nam in one bite.

Shreds of that roast duck I saw Huynh chopping up found its way into my new fave bánh mì ($13.99). It’s smeared with a bit of house pâté, a slick of duck jus and the usual crunchy/spicy/bracing toppers. “The only good argument for colonialism,” Calvin Trillin called the bánh mì, but I’d include Huynh’s incredible honey-pork croissants ($3.99) as well. The fact this guy is an all-round cooking wiz and can bake one of the most challenging delicacies in pastrydom shows why he’s a true top chef.

Back to that roast duck — it’s really a showcase item of Kai Kai. We enjoyed those lacquered chunks of bird along with crispy pork in a two-protein rice box ($16.85) with bok choy. It proved filling enough for the wife and me during one dinnertime visit, but gratification was guaranteed after an order of chicken dumplings ($6.95) from the dim sum menu. BTW, Jackie (aka “Kai Kai”) makes all those wee bites and snacks from scratch. She and husband Jerry regularly work 12-hour shifts, which is hardly surprising seeing Kai Kai has the longest lines in the market. Jackie also fashions flat rice noodles from scratch which she steams and hand-cuts before Jerry fires them up in a wok with garlic, veg and beef tossed in a secret blend of seasonings. The resulting beef chow fun ($15.95) is arguably the most lauded in the city.

Another impressive sight: seeing Johnny Tung work the till and run food out to customers. He’s been doing it practically every day since Kai Kai opened this summer.

“I just want to make sure things run smoothly,” he so humbly says. Indeed, folks are sometimes forced to play the waiting game, but waiting provides an opportunity to walk about and explore. I did just that while sipping fresh sugarcane juice ($6.99) and noticed a build-your-own summer roll option ($3.50) at Bánh Mì Boy. I took full advantage of it, compiling a corpulent pocket of lemongrass chicken, mint, cucumber and cilantro with pineapple-lemongrass sauce. I ate it at the bar table toward the back while awaiting an order from the market’s third vendor, UniGirl.

It was amazing to see most of the front- and back-of-house staff of William Shen’s high-end tasting menu concept, Sorekara, busily and diligently putting together the triangular, nori-wrapped rice balls. Shen is a bit of a perfectionist (as anyone who’s eaten at Sorekara and Zaru can attest) and these onigiri were exemplary, as expected. The feeling of biting into room-temperature rice that hits that ideal sticky-to-chewy ratio is almost euphoric. Fillings, really, are just a matter of preference. We certainly didn’t go wrong with the beef sukiyaki ($5), miso salmon ($4.50), shrimp tempura ($5), spicy cod roe ($6) or fried chicken (4.50). My favorite, however, was an outstanding yet pricey, non-triangular indulgence of Hokkaido uni, ikura and shiso ($25) cradled in crispy nori. And if the boneless fried chicken à la Famichiki is offered when you’re there, get it. It seems everything Shen touches turns to gold, and I’m eagerly awaiting his Japanese curry concept, Cowboy Curry, to open inside the market in the coming weeks.

Whatever you do, don’t pass on UniGirl’s desserts. The yuzu tart ($5), sesame cream puff ($5) and tiramisu ($5) are all made by Sorekara pastry chef Francesco Benedetto and they alone are worth dealing with the market’s parking-lot shitshow. A deterrence? Hardly. Hordes continue to flock to Mills Market, and this little piggy most certainly will. Again.

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This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2024.