Category Archives: Vietnamese

by Excuse Me Waiter | April 27, 2013

Madame Nhu at The Galeries, Town Hall

Food courts are usually not very inspiring places to have a meal, but some of the CBD food courts have been getting quite fancy lately. One of my favourites is the revamped The Galeries food hall in the basement of the shopping complex, just a short stroll from Town Hall station. The food hall exudes a modern vibe with bright colours and interestingly shaped decorations which make it feel much less like a dull conventional food court. The Galeries food hall also offers quite a few gourmet eating options like outlets of the ever popular Ichiban Boshi ramen and Chat Thai, which thankfully have much shorter lines than their restaurant counterparts.

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Filed under CBD - Town Hall, Food Court, Vietnamese

Tagged as Food Court, Madame Nhu, Pho, Salt and Pepper Squid, TGV, The Galeries, The Galeries Victoria, Tiger Prawn, Vietnamese

by dk | September 17, 2012

Phamish Vietnamese Cafe, Darlinghurst

Hidden away just off the bustling Oxford Street of Darlinghurst lies a small courtyard surrounded by restaurants. It’s a nice quiet neighbourhood that is private enough to escape the city rush but close enough to return once you’ve had your food fix.

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Filed under Chinese, Darlinghurst, Vietnamese

Tagged as Chinese, Darlinghurst, Duck and Prawn Pancakes, Oxford St, Palmer St, Phamish, Vietnamese

by dk | August 21, 2012

Pho and Pizza at Cabramatta/Canley Heights

I said I would return to Cabramatta to eat pho and I finally did! Today my friends took me around the Cabramatta area to eat…and thankfully we got to eat pho unlike the last time when I ate everything but pho. They’re a bit torn about where to go as all 6 of them are locals and have their own personal preferences. In the end we decided to visit Pho Phung which is located on the main strip of restaurants, only a short walk from the train station.

Special Beef Noodle Soup (large) – $12

Today everyone orders the exact same thing – special beef noodle soup, with the only variations being the size of the bowls. They have a small, medium and large option available and at $12 for a large, it’s quite a bargain! Not long after ordering, a hot bowl of noodle soup containing sliced beef, tripe, beef balls and tendons is served, garnished with some onions and shallots. To eat this properly, my friends advise me to squeeze some lemon juice and add some bean sprouts (which are given as a side dish), along with some oyster sauce and chilli for extra flavour. I choose to squeeze my oyster sauce directly into the soup but some of my friends squeeze it into a side dish. The bowl of noodles is delicious – the soup is well flavoured, the noodles are soft and the oyster sauce makes a huge difference to the taste. There’s a good variety of meats in there as well which give it some interesting textures. I personally prefer the beef balls and tripe but am not that big a fan of tendon. As I’m not Vietnamese nor a Cabramatta local, I can’t taste the difference between this pho and others. Personally, pho tastes the same at all restaurants, which is always just delicious. If you’re like me, you’ll have no problem finding pho at Cabramatta as most of the restaurants in the area are Vietnamese.

We decided to stay local for dinner, allowing me to try yet another meal in the area on the same day. Instead of eating the usual Asian fare, we opted for some Italian food at Avoca Woodfire Pizza Cafe which is located in the middle of suburbia. Avoca is homey and cosy which is perfect for the cold night. We are promptly seated and the waitress is very accommodating, even changing the channel on the TV to Masterchef for us to watch!

Fettuccine Boscaiola – $17

We start off with a fettuccine which is cooked with bacon, mushrooms and shallots in a garlic cream sauce. It is nicely creamy and the bacon bits are quite large which is good. It’s a pretty standard dish and is of average quality.

Spaghetti Marinara – $20

Next up is the spaghetti marinara. This is served with king prawns, calamari, baby octopus and mussels in a napolitana sauce. It has a good tomato base and the pasta is well cooked. It’s quite generous in the variety of seafood we receive as well.

Tandoori Chicken Pizza – $19

It’s time for us to start on the pizzas! The first one we have is the tandoori which consists of chicken, onions, snow peas and cheese on a wood fired pizza. This one has lots of tandoori flavour and is absolutely delicious. It’s a bit spicy and leaves a tingling sensation on my tongue.

Garlic Prawn Pizza – $20

The garlic prawn pizza comes next which has a small mound of rocket leaves on top. This pizza is very garlicky – not just the prawns but also the bread. It basically tastes like we’re eating a garlic prawn pizza where the base is garlic bread. Delicious!

Meat Lovers Pizza – $19

Our last pizza is the meat lovers. As expected, it is overloaded with meat consisting of mainly beef, pepperoni and ham. I find that there isn’t enough BBQ sauce on this pizza and it is lacking flavour at times. Otherwise, the pizza base is crusty and light.

Overall, Avoca is reasonable for a suburban restaurant and I can imagine is a favourite amongst locals. I’m not sure I’ll make the effort to travel to Canley Heights again for Italian food, but if you ever find yourself in the area, go for the pizza at Avoca rather than their pasta, though both are served up at pretty reasonable prices.

Details of the above restaurants:

Pho Phung
117 John Street, Cabramatta NSW 2166
Ph: (02) 9726 7442

Avoca Woodfire Pizza Cafe
44 Harden St, Canley Heights, NSW
Ph: (02) 9729 4144

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Filed under Cabramatta, Canley Heights, Italian, Vietnamese

Tagged as Avoca Woodfire Pizza Cafe, Cabramatta, Canley Heights, Pho, Pho Phung, Pizza

by dk | May 20, 2012

Pho Gia Hoi, Eastwood

Eastwood has a rather high turnover of restaurants with the good ones staying around for many years and the bad ones changing every couple of months. In the last week, three new restaurants have opened including Pho Gia Hoi which is now the second Vietnamese restaurant to enter Eastwood’s dining scene. I had been craving Pho ever since my trip to Cabramatta when I missed out on eating it, so I couldn’t wait to eat here!

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Filed under Eastwood, Vietnamese

Tagged as Bankstown, Beef Noodle Soup, Canley Heights, Eastwood, Haymarket, Pho, Pho Gia Hoi, Rice Paper Rolls, Vermicelli, Vietnamese

by Excuse Me Waiter | February 15, 2012

Miss Chu, Darlinghurst

It may look like an incredibly random kiosk on a little side street in Darlinghurst, but Miss Chu is a rare gem in Sydney where the hawker style street stall is brought to life with scrumptious little Vietnamese nibbles and drinks on offer. We’re peckish today and it’s quite hot so we stop by the stall for some afternoon snacks from the self professed “Rice Paper Queen”.

I feel a bit like a little kid ordering from a school canteen because the kiosk window is elevated off the ground so you’re looking up to place your orders with the stall-people. But it’s all in good fun as I’m reminded that this is meant to be an authentic street stall experience just a stone’s throw away from the Sydney CBD, thanks to the haphazard decorations of steamers and empty bottles hanging off bamboo sticks which frame the kiosk window.

Tiger prawn and green mango ricepaper rolls, $6.50 for 2 rolls

We sit down on the milk crates covered with tea towels as we eagerly await our food, within a short while we get our tiger prawn and green mango ricepaper rolls first. I can’t really taste the mango at all but there’s plenty of vermicelli noodles, lemongrass and prawns in the roll to be flavoured with fish sauce, hoisin sauce and some chilli sauce in a cute little squirt bottle. They’re nice and fresh, just what you need for a pick-me-up on a hot summer’s day.

Peking Duck pancake, $2.50

I absolutely LOVE Peking duck pancakes at Chinese restaurants but hate that you can’t order individual pancakes if you’ve just got a bit of a craving for it and don’t want to eat a whole duck’s worth. Miss Chu knows exactly what I’m talking about; her answer to my dilemma is to sell individual hot little Peking duck pancakes for just $2.50 a pop so you don’t feel too guilty indulging in a bit of oily duck goodness with some soft cucumber and hoisin sauce. They are pretty small compared to what we’re used to at restaurants but it is so delicious that I want more but restrain myself because we’ve got dinner soon.

Lychee and cucumber, young coconut frozen crushie $6.50

I’ve never been a huge fan of coconut drinks but I can’t resist lychee flavoured anything, so we go ahead and order the frozen coconut crushie with lychee and cucumber which turns out to be very refreshing.

I’ll admit that I had my misgivings about Miss Chu’s. At first glance it sticks out like a sore thumb with its quirky vibe but if you don’t mind sitting down on some unconventional furniture, you won’t regret your experience here because they do Asian canapes the way that they should be done. There’s also stalls at Bondi Beach and the Opera House, but for those who are too lazy to trek over there’s even an old school bike delivery service.