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.
We’ve eaten at Pho Vien, sister restaurant of Madam Ky (RIP), a couple of times in the last few weeks. Here are my thoughts.
The Pho Dat Biet – special beef pho($19.90) was pretty good, a large bowl with a flavourful soup and a generous helping of rare beef, beef brisket, and beef balls. Missing, unfortunately, was any hint of slightly less widely palatable yet still important inclusions such as tripe and tendon, which would’ve elevated this good bowl to the level of an excellent bowl. The first time I had this at Pho Vien I found that, unlike the time we ate at Madam Ky, the soup was adequately hot to handle the inclusion of mass bean sprouts. The second time we ate here my partner’s dad asked for cooked bean sprouts on the side, which to be honest was revolutionary. They came only slightly cooked, raw enough to remain crispy, but warm enough to not thermodilute the soup. What a next level move.
The Com Suon – tomato rice with grilled pork chop ($19.90) is really more my partner’s thing. It was not bad, just generally not what I’d pick overall. The quality of the tomato rice was good, however. Not too dry.
The Canh Ga Chien – deep fried wing ($7.50) came after a long wait and were very salty. Added to that – though the menu said wings, we got four drumsticks. Respecting that many would prefer drumsticks over mid wings due to their greater meatiness, I am not one of these people. I did not enjoy this.
The Bun Bo Hue ($19.50) that we had on our second visit was tasty and inoffensive, again lacking components like pork trotter and blood jelly that usually round out the dish. My partner, normally someone who doesn’t like bun bo hue, enjoyed this bowl, probably for the same reason that I found it lacking.
The Banh Xeo – pancake pork and prawn ($22.50) was crispy and tasty, well filled on the inside. I didn’t find any bugs in my vegetables, which doesn’t seem like a high bar, but seriously considering the last few banh xeos I have at different restaurants in Sydney, this counts as a plus.
Overall we had a couple of pretty good meals at Pho Vien, but I do wish they would add some of the more controversial ingredients to their soups (or at least the option to have them).
Pho Vien 283 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131 (02) 8057 8668
I found these photos on my computer from a year and a half ago, and realised I had never written anything about these porks roll. Searching through my Whatsapp chat with my girlfriend where sometimes feelings about banhs mi go, there was nothing noted, suggesting that these were neither memorably good nor memorably bad.
It doesn’t seem particularly fair, therefore, to even put up a post about Happy Snack Cafe, except for a fact that it acts as a reminder to myself that I’ve been here and that I don’t have to ever go back, unless it is to try some of their sit down options.
A completely unrelated flashback from the past is that it looks like we picked up these porks roll as we were actively worried about the possible impending death of our cat Evie. She had started wobbling all over the place, falling over, and had stopped eating. We had taken her to a couple of different vets who had given her IV fluids and each time she seemed to get better, but got worse again post-discharge.
Eventually we took her to the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) at North Ryde, where for the cost of $8,000 or so they put her in the MRI scanner under GA, took a CSF sample (from just under the occiput in cats!), and a bunch of other specialised tests. Seen by neurology, ophthalmology, dermatology, general surgery, and internal medicine, the presumptive diagnosis was thiamine deficiency based on increased signal intensity of bilateral basal nuclei. Some thiamine supplementation, and she didn’t have to die, and she’s been fine ever since.
These pork rolls were picked up on our way to pick up Evie from SASH. Shere she is, in the car, with her neck all shaved for vascular access. I love her.
I honestly don’t remember enough about the porks roll to recommend Happy Snack Cafe House, but I remember a lot about SASH and can definitely recommend them to a friend or colleague.
Happy Snack Cafe House 104 The Crescent, Homebush West NSW 2140
KINX was one of our favourite vaguely local cafes when we lived in the Canterbury-Bankstown area, and we were sad to hear of it changing hands at the start of this year.
I started seeing teasers of KINX ex-owners Duc and Tina’s new venture, Saigon Things, on social media a couple of weeks ago, but it was only when someone let slip an external shot with a photo of the phone number of the massage parlour next door that I was able to pinpoint the (conveniently very local) location and imbibe in a soft-opening feast.
First things first, that it was a soft opening can’t be stated enough. Apart from a couple of social media posts not mentioning the location, there was really not much to go on to know what to expect. There was no menu online, and not even a Google Maps entry for the business – how exciting.
The restaurant was a short walk from free parking in Strathfield Plaza, through a street lined with very active and bustling Korean and Vietnamese restaurants, that on any other day would’ve tempted us away from an as-yet unproven Saigon Things, but we had a destination and a plan and would not be swayed. We pushed through a door sign in Korean, a remnant from the restaurant’s previous tenants, into a restaurant with only one other group seated, but we given KINX’s track record, we knew that this was just due to it being undiscovered, rather than unpopular.
The first thing that we were told when we sat down was that no less than five of the menu options were unavailable that night. Such soft opening vibes! As we made our orders, we were told that one of the components of one of the dishes that was available was not available and would have to be substituted. Unpreparedness! Soft opening!
Our drink came rapidly, but food seemed to come table by table – the other table present had three or four things served by the time we had our first, but we’re going to take that as yet another soft opening thing. The yakult mocktail ($11), which I will attempt to describe without a copy of the drinks menu on hand (something I expect won’t be available online for some time), was good in some way but could’ve been better in others. First things first, it was very sweet, full of tropical flavours, strong on the pineapple and with hints of some mango as well. An element of interest were these salty (preserved?) white flowers, that were crunchy and provided a welcome and interesting contrast to the too-sweet drink. Given it was my wife’s order, I didn’t actually know it was meant to be yakult based, and could not pick this as a flavour or component that was meant to be presented – I think it would’ve been better described as a pineapple tropical mocktail.
After what felt like a considerable wait (though as evidenced by timestamps really only 14 minutes from drink to food service), we received our first food item, the Bamboo Platter/ Cham Cuon – Bánh Ướt Chả & Thịt Nướng/beef, pork, noodle sheet ($50.80). The idea was to roll our own rice paper rolls, with the variety of ingredients presented – grilled Angus intercostal, steamed pork sausage, rice noodle sheets, rice noodle rolls, fresh and pickled vegetables, herbs, and toppings. The rice noodle rolls that we were told they had run out of (at 6PM – the restaurant’s opening time) made a miraculous appearance. Did having to go get these from a nearby Asian grocer delay service? Or did they just manage to find them in the fridge? Either way the whole concept of having rice within rice reminded me of that Xzibit meme – yo dawg, I heard you like rice so we put rice in your rice.
Some other guy’s wife made him a very beautiful looking roll, but mine neglected to, and this is the best that we got. Our complete inability to roll any semblance of a rice paper roll aside, this was a really good tasting dish. I’m one to load my pho up with all of the Vietnamese basil available, and have never said no to pickle carrots, so the variety of fresh and pickled flavours was excellent for me, though I thought the half full little bowl of chilli and garlic was a bit of a let down (was more on offer if we had asked?). The beef , though having some sinewy bits, was grilled to a good level of smokiness, though I thought that the steam pork roll could’ve been greater in quantity to match that of the beef.
This Cơm Chiên / Saigon Fried Rice ($22) is the second best fried rice I’ve had in the five years I’ve been writing this blog (the first goes to a great fried rice at Peko Peko in South Melbourne that you are likely to hear about next month.
The rice presents with a low to medium degree of wok hei scent, which could’ve been stronger but is still near the top of its class. Each individual grain of rice was coated in oil and well separated, evidence of a good quality stir frying technique. The chilli crisp added nice crunch but not much spice to the dish, and inspired us to get some non-lao gan ma chilli crisp from an Asian grocer (bridging the gap hopefully between a $4 jar and a $20 made in Australia jar) on the way home. Perhaps the best part was the little pieces of deep fried pork lard, crispy and melty, something that’s previously made an appearance in Hokkien Kia’s exemplary char kway teow, but not something I had seen elsewhere apart from that. The lap cheong was a little different to what I’ve had before, larger in diameter and sweeter than the usual, but different in a pleasant way that distinguished itself from being a stock standard Chinese fried rice. The pickled mustard greens mentioned on the menu were not identifiable, but there was the surprise inclusion of corn kernels, which did not detract from the experience.
I was getting quite full by the time the Sườn Heo Nướng Mắm Ruốc/ Fermented Shrimp Pork Ribs ($48), but managed to happily enjoy them. The flavour was prawny and interesting, though what separated this dish from the others was that I didn’t feel like it was miles ahead of what my wife makes at home on a regular basis. I would have significant difficulty trying to replicate the rice paper platter or even the perfection of the fried rice in my home kitchen, but my wife has gotten very good at putting pork ribs in the oven over the past few years, and I can imagine a world in which we’d get probably 80% of the way there with the cooking of the pork, and 70% of the way there with the fermented prawn flavour.
What I don’t think we could accomplish at home, however, was actually the salad that was served with the ribs. The julienned pieces of carrot, apple and onion were so bright and crunchy, with extra crunch from the peanut and fried shallot toppers, that I feel like the salad was more special than the pork itself. The acidity of the apple and the dressing cut through the (slight) fattiness of the pork ribs very well, and made for an excellent pairing overall.
Other thoughts Wow! Soft opening! We saw the owner hand beers to and hug a couple of of different people they knew throughout the night, and though they still have some kinx to iron out, it really did feel like we were experiencing the start of something special, for friends and family and random guys off the street who googled the number of the massage parlour next door.
I saw one such random guy eat a very tasty looking pho so that will be on my mind next time.
Saigon Things 28/45-47 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW 2135
Not to be outdone by the banh mi my junior brought for me at work from Nguyen Hot Bread in Canley Vale during our last fortnight together, I picked up a variety of three options and an almond croissant to share on my way to work.
We had a selection of banhs mi. The first to be pictured and discussed is the roasted pork roll ($7), eaten by me, ultra fresh, walking through the hallway at work so that I can provide an accurate account of its quality for the internet. The bread was nice and fresh, slightly crusty on the outside and soft on the inside – no complaints or painful mouth cutting here. The filling sadly was not ideal, with the pork being really quite dry, and uninspiring (again, note that I’ve eaten it fresh in this case.) On subsequent visits the pork has actually been quite good, and I’ve now had banh mi from here at least six times.
The pate I will discuss in this subsequent paragraph dedicated to the original pork roll ($6.50), which was much better than the roast pork. Unlike most porks roll that I’ve had, the pate at Thuan Thien was very thin and spread with a spoon rather than a knife, which I didn’t find too problematic but my Vietnamese friend did not find satisfying. Whilst I agree the volume administered was on the lower end of the spectrum, she was quite disappointed by it. Luckily the standard collection of cold cuts in the original pork roll meant that there was little opportunity for error, and this is overall a pretty good roll, even eaten at our late lunch period after 6 hours in the fridge. There was no mention of the option of extra pate on the menu, but I suspect it’s something you could convince them to do for a little extra. but I now have learned to just ask for it, and it makes it all delicious.
It’s hard to know if this next roll, which I ate at lunch 6 hours after purchase, is the same roll as the roast pork roll, or in fact the BBQ pork roll ($7), which I had also ordered. I guess I should assume that it’s the BBQ pork roll which I had ordered, but it kind of looks nothing like the menu photograph, with not a smidge of crackling in site. Either way, it was surprisingly not as dry as the first roll I had that morning, so there’s a chance that it was in fact different. I should note the inclusion of red onion on this banh mi, which I feel is not that common an ingredient, whilst my friend and colleague, an influencer in her own right, decried the lack of daikon in this store’s offerings (not a problem for me.) I appreciated also the inclusion of a proper buttery Vietnamese mayonnaise, rather than margarine from a tub, which is passed off as acceptable at some establishments.
The almond croissant ($4) was pretty good. Lots of custard inside, and cheaper than Zouki.
Overall thoughts Will I add Thuan Thien bakery into the rotation? It’s possible – but only because it’s somewhat on the way, now that I’ve started taking tolls to work and A) XCel Roll has dropped off in quality and B) Nhu Y Kings Hot Bread requires a more significant detour.
Update, mid 2025. The quality was better on every subsequent visit, and this is now my regular haunt.
Thuan Thien bakery 199 Concord Rd, North Strathfield NSW 2137
I’m alone at home in Sydney at the moment (partner being away in Wollongong without me) and with very little food in the fridge that I can actually bring myself to eat (the fourth beef burger patty in the pack is truly not something I want for the fourth day in a row) I took myself out for a late dinner at a recently opened local Vietnamese restaurant.
The Combination Pho – Pho Dac Biet (Medium – $21.90) is one of the better bowls I’ve had, and definitely the best I’ve had within a 5km radius, having tried multiple. This bowl is a true Northern style pho dac biet, with a clear though slightly salty soup, and a real combination of all the bits of the cow – rare beef, beef brisket, beef balls, beef tripe, and beef tendon. The majority of restaurants in Sydney miss out on one or more of the tripe or tendon, though I suspect the calculus was made that Burwood locals are likely to be less squeamish than most about non-meat parts of the animal. Either way, both components were enjoyable additions – with no weird aftertaste to the tendon like I experienced at Jacob’s in nearby Ashfield.
The pho was served with only a small serving of bean sprouts on the side, offered directly by the server as apparently not everyone likes them. Though the serving size was smaller than I expected visually, they ended up being enough, and more servings are available as a no-cost option on the menu.
The bowl was topped with a large serving of spring onions, which didn’t do anything special for me but also didn’t hurt me. The brisket was deliciously fatty and umami, though importantly not too fatty. I felt it was superior to the rare beef, a rare compliment from me. It’s interesting to note that the restaurant offers bowls of soup and meats without noodles as add ons – possibly an option for those lowcarbing among us. (Should be me).
The spring rollsCha Gio Chien (4 for $8.80) didn’t do anything for me. Though freshly fried and crispy, their filling of minced prawn and pork was hard to appreciate, with a very loose texture and a non-distinctive flavour. I wouldn’t get them again.
I never have sauce with my pho usually, but available tableside was quite a nice assortment of a tangy chilli sauce, a sate sauce, and thinly sliced pickled garlic, amongst other things. They were all delicious, and helped to save the spring rolls a little.
Thoughts Pho Hanoi 1979 is now my favourite source of pho in my local area, with truly top notch non-meat additions in their PDB, not available elsewhere. They offer a 30% discount between the hours of 9PM and 11PM, which means that the actual cost of the 2 dishes I had was a very reasonable $15.33 for the pho and $6.16 for the spring rolls.
Will be back.
SUBSEQUENT THOUGHTS I walked past the restaurant again one night (23rd July 2025) in Burwood. They’ve changed the discount percentage for night time, but now there are different discounts for other times of day. What kind of person would eat during their peak times?
VISIT 2: BANH MI I went back this morning to take advantage of the 50% off offer for banh mi between the hours of 7 and 10AM. It’s difficult to write this review and decide which price to base it on. As someone born without generational wealth, my feelings about food linked to both the quality of the food and the price paid. While some (mostly paid influencers, I suspect) might argue that good food is good food no matter the price, I think that as it’s something you pay for, the value proposition is inherent in the decision making process when you go out to get a meal.
I will try to assess these banh mi based on the price that I paid for them rather than the full price, however it’s very possible that some people might come and get their banh mi for lunch after 10AM and be charged twice what I paid.
I had a series of 3 half banhs mi, cut professionally so that readers don’t need to be subjected to photos of my teeth marks (as of this point I suspect I’m 100% identifiable based on my dental record alone).
The Classic Pork Roll – Banh Mi Thit Heo ($4.50 half price, $9 full price) will be the first to be discussed, even though it was the last to be eaten – the reason being is that it is the only roll that I have a representative side profile for showing the size of the banh mis on offer here.
This cold cut pork roll checked all the boxes. It had a good ratio of salad to meat to bread with each bite a mixture of salty umami meat, fresh crispy and tangy vegetables and soft yet crispy bread which both had a good crunch but also didn’t cut the mouth. I didn’t ask for extra pate but the amount of pate and Vietnamese mayo given was very good and probably equaled the amount of pate given when I ask for extra pate at most Vietnamese bakeries. An instant classic.
The first banh mi that I actually ate was the Crackling Pork Belly Roll – Banh Mi Heo Quay ($5.75 half price, $11.50 full price). This roll was absolutely loaded with crackling pork belly, pâté and Vietnamese mayonnaise, making it an extremely decadent pork roll. The pork crackling was actually extremely crispy, a far cry from some of the pork belly I’ve had recently in other settings. The only complaint I would have about this roll, apart from the fact that it felt like it was of a level of decadency that I didn’t deserve, was that there was the fact that the pork itself was a little bit too salty. This wouldn’t have been a problem had they just filled the roll up with a normal amount of pork, but the serving was so generous that the sheer volume of pork meant that the whole roll ended up leaning towards the more salty side. An odd problem to have. Still good.
The BBQ Pork Roll – Banh Mi Nem Nuong ($4.50 half price, $9 full price) was really good. Unfaultable. There was a generous amount of nem nuong which was a little bit sweet and a little bit salty but certainly not too salty, avoiding the problem that the crackling pork belly roll had. This was well balanced by the large amount of salad as well as the large amount of pate and Vietnamese mayonnaise. I literally couldn’t fault this roll, it was one of the best I’ve had, for $9, let alone $4.50
The lemongrass beef banh mi – Banh Mi Bo Xao Sa ($5.75 half price, $11.50 full price) I didn’t love so much. The lemongrass flavour was too strong for my personal liking, and caused it to be a bit bitter. Perhaps others would still enjoy it.
My palate is not so refined in the Vietnamese arts to really differentiate the MeatBall Roll – Banh Mi Xiu Mai ($4.50 half price, $9 full price) strongly from other pork based rolls. The pork meatballs were soft and warm and fell apart, producing an almost pate like consistency that permeated the entire roll.
THOUGHTS of BANH MI All things considered, the banh mi at Pho Hanoi 1979 are very good. They’re a clear winner in terms of being my top banh mi in the area, and will likely likely usurp Thuan Thien Bakery in North Strathfield for my go-to banh mi on the way to work, as long as I’m able to find street parking nearby in the morning.
Whilst $4.50-$5.75 for one of these banh mi is an absolute steal, I think they’re so good that I honestly wouldn’t be in opposition to paying the full $9 for the nem nuong banh mi, for example, especially as local competitors are selling their inferior version for $10.
