Category: Cuisines

Categories
Vietnamese

Ha Noi Quan – Campise NSW Restaurant Review

Hot off the heels of a recent very good meal at Ha Noi Quan in Marrickville was a visit to the Campsie branch of the same restaurant. We weren’t sure that it was in fact the same restaurant until we arrived, thinking that perhaps Ha Noi Quan might be a common name, similar to Hot Bread, but the mention of their Marrickville branch on their signage out front cleared that up for us quickly. While I wouldn’t normally bother to write a whole new post about a second location of the same restaurant, the experience at Ha Noi Quan Campsie, was significantly different enough that I think that they warrant their own entry.

I really enjoyed the pho at Ha Noi Quan in Marrickville, but the one in their Campsie restaurant actually had significant differences. The Special Beef Noodles Soup ($17 -Phở Dặc Biệt) in Campsie had a less salty and tasty soup than than the Marrickville store, with a lighter shade of colour as well. There was significantly less greenery on top, lacking the almost full coverage of shallot and coriander seen previously, with more onion in this one. While I really loved the general hotness of the Marrickville soup, this bowl of pho did not exhibit the same thermal properties, and did lose a significant amount of temperature after the addition of a smaller serving of bean sprouts. I don’t know if this was soup, or possibly even crockery related. Though the serving of bean sprouts and Thai basil was relatively small compared to their sister restaurant, I should count myself lucky, as the patrons on the table next to us did not get any with their pho as the restaurant had run out by the time they had ordered (to be fair, they walked in half an hour before closing.) Personally I would’ve chosen something else, as I think the bean sprouts are some of the best parts of a good bowl of pho. Other things to mention here are that I thought that the beef ball was actually better in Campsie than in Marrickville, which really begs the question of why, and is it just my imagination, because surely they would have the same supplier? I guess a day-to-day variation rather than an inter-branch variation could also be the cause here, but there was not even a week between eatings at the two restaurants.

Taking a look at the meat specifically, I think that this bowl of pho was actually extremely generous in the quality and quantity of rare beef, brisket, balls, tripe (omasum), and tendon, with more than enough of all to go around. It did feature the interesting addition of just a slab of fat from the brisket, but I can’t complain about it because my partner actually enjoyed this.

Capitalising on Ha Noi Quan Campsie’s vast Vietnamese menu we had the shaking beef with tomato rice ($17), which was really good. The black pepper flavoured beef cubes were super tender, and well cut in a way that limited the presence of any difficult to chew bits. This dish was also the best tomato rice I’ve had in my entire life, which I guess is a big statement to make but I don’t think I’ve enjoyed it this thoroughly anywhere else. (Readers should take note that this meal was consumed at 8:30PM, and prior to that my total oral intake for the day consisted of two soy flat whites (flats white?), 30g of whey protein isolate, 15g of psyllium husk, and a bunch of water.). I also never knew, but found out today, that there was egg in tomato rice, but I suspect that it was yolk used to both flavour and colour the rice. Super umami, and I couldn’t stop eating it.

The grilled pork and hanoi spring rolls with vermicelli ($17 – Bun thit nuong va cha nem) was pretty good. In particular the spring rolls were super cripsy with a very umami prawn and pork filling, whilst the grilled pork was fine but nothing to write home about. If I had my time again, I might’ve ordered the nem by themselves, as our late neighbours did.

OTHER THOUGHTS. Pho Ha Noi Campsie is different to the Marrickville store in many ways. It has a much larger physical footprint, is much more elaborately decorated, and has a broader menu. Even the menu items that are shared between the two outlets show significant variation. While Pho Ha Noi Quan Marrickville is a very pho and noodle soup focused, small “dive restaurant” (am I coining that term right now?), The Campsie store is a much more formal setting.

Whilst writing this review I took notice of a Pho Pasteur branded plate as seen in the photo of the pho. I wonder if that has something to do with it.

Ha Noi Quan Campsie
94 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194
(02) 9787 2707

Categories
Bakery Café

Lucien Baked Goods – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

I’d wanted to go to Lucien, Circa’s new baked goods project [their second such embassy in Parramatta after Good George (née Georgie Boy)] for some time, but a combination of factors – primarily my period of Southward exile and the lack of easily-accessible free parking around the cafe’s vicinity – meant that I never had the opportunity to take my colleagues there for our fortnightly college-mandated post-nights breakfast. My temporary specialty change from intensive to aged care and the 8:30AM, Monday to Friday starts that came along with it has however provided me with new opportunities for a quick pre-work breakfast that I never had the energy to try when I was starting at 8.

This sujuk danish ($10) was first on the list of breakfasty snacks picked by my partner, a hater of manoosh but surprisingly a lover of this. This tasted exactly like an identical manoosh of sujuk and cheese, with a bit of mild green chilli inside and a laminated pastry rather than your typical manoosh base. It was pretty tasty and good, but I don’t know that it was better than a full $9 sujuk and cheese pizza pretty much anywhere (though I am more a fan of the half meat half cheese, as far as manooh goes). The serving of caramelised onion I did not feel added any goodness to the dish. I’m glad my girlfriend liked it though, because it means I got to have more of the next thing.

The next thing was this excellent fig tart ($7) that I don’t quite have the tart-focused vocabulary to describe. I’m quite bad at identifying individual components of baked goods without an itemised list from a menu, so I’m essentially going to lie to you and say that the positive attributes of this tart was the freshness of the fig, which as an Asian child growing up I only ever had dried, the lightness of the marscapone, and the buttery yet nutty texture of the possibly almond base. Again, I have no way to confirm that these were the actual components of the tart. I guess I could ask them on social media and see what they say. But nonetheless it was really good. I want another. (UPDATE: I am reliably informed that it was vanilla ricotta just under the figs, and a bottom of hazelnut paste with chopped hazelnut on top.

This pistachio and rosewater swirl ($8 – there are literally no official names for most of these items) was not bad. but not my favourite.. Made with croissant dough, but still a bit on the breadier side. Not too sweet. The almond cream filling within the swirl didn’t really do anything for me taste wise, but again, my partner liked it.

OTHER THOUGHTS
At the very least I’m glad that my partner and I liked different parts of our meal, which meant that I got to have more of what I liked, without the obligation of finishing what I didn’t. Worth a return visit.

Lucien Baked Goods
111 Phillip St, Parramatta NSW 2150

Categories
American

Renegade Burgers – Greenacre NSW Restaurant Review

Renegade Burgers is one of many burger trucks on my way home from work, visited by my partner and I a couple of times after late nights and late ward rounds.

Strengths first. The Potato & Gravy Chips ($8) are kind of monstrous. Who would’ve thought that potato on potato would be such a game changer? The mash was creamy, the fries were crispy, and the gravy was just gravy. After having this once, my girlfriend did not allow us to come back without ordering it again.

The better of the burgers that I had was The OG ($13), which I got made into a double (no memory as to how much extra this was) because apparently I want Terumo to make money off my stent in the future. It’s pretty hard to mess up a traditional burger of pickles, American cheese, beef, mustard and ketchup, and this was a solid showing but also did not allow Renegades to differentiate themselves.

I have no particular memory of The Drip ($14), which in all honesty must be a good thing, given what I do remember about the next burger.

The Chilli Chicken Smash ($14) was weak in many ways, most problematically of all in terms of its structural integrity. Beef smash burgers tend to work as a layer of caramelisation and searing holds the overall patty together, however attempting this with a chicken burger did not achieve the desired effect of a cohesive patty. This chicken patty absolutely fell apart, and this, together with the copious saucing, made for a disappointing burger, in my opinion. This would’ve been better as a normal chicken burger.

The potato and gravy chips are nuts though.

Renegade Burgers
20 Norfolk Rd, Greenacre NSW 2190
0491103970

Categories
Café Vietnamese

Atom Espresso – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

ATOM Espresso is one of our local cafes that we pass by regularly on our grocery run but have never had food from until now. A combination of high promises (5.0 average rating on Google Maps with 332 reviews) and a lack of easily accessible alternatives in my immediate post-cholecystectomy state led us to having a sliced pork banh mi ($8), lauded online as one of the best, ever.

Though I have explored Hot Bread shops and Vietnamese restaurants far and wide, this was my first time having banh mi from what was primarily a coffee shop. Despite them NOT being a bakery, the bread was surprisingly warm, fresh and crusty, likely owing to some toaster oven magic out back. It had a great crumbly texture that was easy to eat and did not cut the mouth.

The fillings of the roll were however less than standard, with a lack of Vietnamese mayo, the use of margarine , an unfortunately small volume of pate (my UGI surgeon did recommend a low fat diet, but there’s no way the guy making the banh mi would’ve known this), and perhaps most confusingly the use of tomato. I actually had to Google whether or not tomato was a standard banh mi component as I was eating this, as it was so strange that I just wasn’t sure anymore. The fillings honestly wasn’t bad, with the use of extra salad and less fatty spread probably making it a bit fresher than your average roll, but just not what I wanted, nor what I expected.

The combination of ingredient deviations from what I’ve come to expect from a banh mi (and I suspect that once this is published one of my Vietnamese friends will read this and tell me that I’m completely wrong, and these are all perfectly acceptable substitutions and additions to make) mean that I probably wouldn’t come back.

Dulwich Hill Pork Roll is not far away, and is pretty goodl

ATOM Espresso
Clemton Park Shopping Village, 60 Charlotte St, Clemton Park NSW 2206

Categories
Chinese

BBQ Prince – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

As unfair as it is to eat a single item and use that one experience to formulate your entire opinion about a restaurant, I must say that BBQ Prince’s half soy chicken ($11.60) did not scratch the itch that I had. I’ve had a lot of soy chicken in my time, but unfortunately this particular soy chicken was lacking in both flavour and texture, with a slightly tougher meat than usual, and with too mild a taste, even for pieces basted in sauce. At least the ginger scallion sauce was good.

I’ll update this post for roast pork if I ever go back.

BBQ Prince
289 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
(02) 8971 0695