The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
I wanted to try Duo Duo’s social media hyped Asian-inspired ice cream and desserts for some time, especially as they’re quite close to where I’m currently living, but left sad and disappointed after a moderate wait in wet, cold, and dark conditions.
It’s hard to explain why exactly the things that I tried at Duo Duo didn’t tickle my fancy, but the Pandan Coconut Kaya Filled Donut ($6.50) just didn’t do it for me. I’m certainly not a pandan hater, some of my best friends are pandas, but I think what hurt this the most was more the odd sticky-but-pasty consistency of the icing rather than anything else. Such a weird feeling in my mouth.
The brown butter and caramelised apple deep fried ice cream was actually my first ever experience with deep-fried ice cream, being I think more an American-Chinese restaurant invention than an actual traditional Chinese dessert. The ice cream was quite sweet for my taste, and I didn’t love the batter, though I think that’s probably more of a problem with the format rather than the execution, and I wouldn’t have this again.
THOUGHTS I really wanted to like Duo Duo, but I just didn’t. I think I will try and go back and give it another shot this year, since I live so close by, but I will leave the above thoughts up online regardless of what I find on my next visit.
The weirdest moment of our meal at Gia Dinh was when some guy came in and started giving the kid working there the third degree about where the photos on the wall came from (his mother’s hometown), which part of Vietnam that was specifically (he didn’t know), whether the body of water depicted was a natural river or a viaduct (he didn’t know), whether he had ridden a motorbike in Vietnam (the kid was like ten, but he made sure to tell him that he hadn’t lived until he’s ridden a motorbike in Vietnam), and then later on asked another kid (I presume the first child’s brother) if he had ever ridden a motorcycle in Vietnam (obviously not). He sat down, opened his laptop for about three minutes, and then left when his takeaway order was ready.
We started our meal with the Bánh Phồng Thịt Nướng ($10), a small entree of mildly sweet BBQ pork, crushed peanuts and spring onion oil served on top of a sliver of rice noodle on a prawn cracker. There was a lot to like about this dish, with a great interplay of different textures (the crunchy peanut, the prawn cracker) and flavours. If I had one point of improvement to suggest it would be the temperature. I felt that this whole thing could’ve been a bit warmer, but especially the rice noodle which was cold.
The Bò Lúc Lắc Xà LáchXoong ($22), a shaking kind of beef cube allegedly in a pepper and butter glaze on a bed of watercress was next. While the beef was reasonably tender, I could not identify the watercress in this dish. My partner and I were both recognised within the state for our knowledge of agriculture as children, and this foundational knowledge, combined with our adept Googling skills through years of inpatient medical practice led us to believe that the greenery was indeed some kind of lettuce rather than watercress. Again I felt that the random mixture of warm and cold ingredients was harmful to the dish as a whole, though I understand that salads do exist.
Gia Dinh’s Bánh Xèo ($18) is perhaps what they’re best known for, but sadly did not quite live up to my expectations. While I thought the batter was extremely crispy and obviously freshly fried (we were their first customers of the day as they opened at 10AM), I found the filling to be a bit underwhelming. The prawns were on the smaller size and the pork was scarce, but I think the main thing was that it didn’t really have as much flavour on its own as I would’ve thought. The fish sauce was absolutely necessary for its enjoyment, and actually some of their chilli oil, which was a bit sweet and complex, went a long way as well. The online reviews denote Gia Dinh’s banh xeo as on the top tier of traditional reproductions, so it may honestly be my weak and uncivilised palate that cannot appreciate it, but at the end of the day I like what I like, and that’s what this blog is really all about.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: I liked the entree, but didn’t love the promised Sydney’s best banh xeo. Perhaps it is my horrible westernised palate (I did enjoy Banh Xeo Bar, take that how you will) but ultimately I just write this blog to remind myself more than anything about what I like and what I don’t like. Onto the next Vietnamese restaurant in Marrickville.
Probably unrelated to CK Kebab in Westmead, CK’s Canterbury Kebabs & Burgers provides a high-mid tier mixed kebab for a hefty $12. The salad is fresh without any hint of weirdness, the meat used is good, and the service is fast.
There is no additional charge for tabouli or multiple sauces, though I would’ve preferred a 50 cent surcharge or something to get an actual quantity of tabouli worth mentioning. I will ask for this the next time I go.
UPDATE We’ve had probably ten kebabs over the course of the year since I first drafted this post, and they have been repeatedly high quality. The bouli to bab ratio has improved without us asking for anything in particular, and the kebabs have remained plump, juicy, and tasty. Unfortunately I don’t have any recent cross-sectional imagery to prove this.
Other things we have eaten from CK’s Canterbury include burgers, snack packs, and chips. See below.
This beef burger with egg was probably $9-10. It was really only OK, with the patty too soft and untextured for my liking.
I don’t know how expensive these chips with chicken salt were, but they were pretty good, fresh, and sogged only by tomato sauce.
The snack packs were also good, I’ve had a few, uncaptured, that I shouldn’t have. CK’s is just so convenient on the way home from the city after an expensive meal that we often find ourselves topping up on it.
I had a very difficult time trying to actually get here within their opening hours to have this meal, but I’m glad I was able to. Sadly I came after my last in a run of night shifts, only able to catch the breakfast menu. The following fortnight I woke up from my nap too late to catch the lunch menu. Such is life.
This chilli prawn scramble ($22) was seriously good. It was the only thing on their breakfast menu that really caught my eye (the lunch menu has a number of options that I guess I’ll never have the chance to eat) so I almost didn’t go in, but I’m glad I did and I got to eat it. The scrambled egg was sweet and soft, with a very generous serving of large, juicy, and sweet prawns. The kimchi and pickles were bright and flavourful, working together with the protein to create a highly umami-filled dish. The topping to bread ratio was perfect, and again I can’t emphasise the generous serving size of all the important parts, without too much unnecessary carb (sourdough). I wasn’t the biggest fan of the tumeric mayo, and thought that it was better without it, but I’m glad that it was placed essentially on the side as I guess some people might like it more than me.
In short: A great scrambled egg on toast. I suspect their lunch offerings might be just as good, but sadly the opening hours just don’t work for me. I doubt I’ll be able to make it at an appropriate time over the next month in the Shoalhaven area.
I love a good all day food menu, and while I’ve been delving into the world of making espresso at home, it’s been a two in one action to try out cafes with their own beans to see if I manage to find something I really like for the home machine.
The Tasmanian salmon fish cakes ($22) featured two rounded fish cakes atop a bed of yuzu aioli and covered in herbed slaw and radish, with a side of poached egg. The slaw was crunchy and fresh, perfectly countering the friedness and unexpected potato-ness of the fish cakes and the creaminess of the mayonnaise bed. It was a tasty dish, kind of reminiscent of the salmon salad at A Man and His Monkey which I also enjoyed, but I wish I had been forewarned about the potato.
The green chilli scrambled eggs ($25 including extra halloumi) was solid, comfort stuff, with a huge serving of tasty eggs with green chilli, red banana chilli, cherry tomatoes and herbs on seeded sourdough. I rarely get scrambled eggs at cafes, but I actually quite enjoyed this. It was, like the salmon fish cakes, a creative dish that ventures outside of café staples.
The side of fried chicken ($5) served with spicy mayo was sadly not good in all the worst ways – damp on the outside, but dry on the inside. There are a couple of dishes on Roastville’s menu that centre around fried chicken, like their waffle dish, so unfortunately those don’t sound too promising either. No one kicks every goal.
Coffee was alright, but not phenomenal enough for me to dial in a new bag of beans.
COMMENTS: Despite being a commercial coffee roaster, Roastville’s cafe operation actually has quite a fun and interesting all day food menu, that matches the expectations set by Sydney’s top notch of cafes. I had a good meal. I’d definitely like to return for seasonal variations.
