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.
I was on my way back to Sydney from visiting my partner in Wollongong, I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and my fuel light was flashing. I was driving through South West Sydney to reach my home, and the Speedway petrol station in Mount Pritchard and its attached Vietnamese restaurant fulfilled all of my pressing requirements in one go.
2 Foodies in Mount Pritchard is a very small restaurant operation, offering up only a couple of dining tables and a bar that faces a window with excellent views of the attached petrol station. What little they save on decor and rent seems to go right into their excellent tasting food, with a limited but focused menu of pho and banh mi, along with suitable halal options appropriate for its geographic location.
I had a beef pho with everything ($16), a medium sized bowl of rare beef, beef brisket, beef balls, beef omasum, and beef tendon in a delicious rich soup. All the proteinaceous components of this bowl were great, with tender beef, a well cooked brisket, and balls that actually taste better than those from the Asian grocer freezer aisle. Coming in at just fifty cents more than the rare beef, brisket, and beef ball version, I truly believe that the full pho experience is only gained with the addition of delicious random bovine parts. The broth, a perpetual stew of beef, bone marrow, and choice spices and herbs including star anise and shallot, is extremely rich, with a deep complex flavour that shines far ahead of many of its competitors. All of this is finished with a large topping of fresh onion and shallot, aromatics that release their flavour when covered by the piping hot broth.
Though delicious, one unfortunate pitfall of this broth is its extreme oiliness, with a very visible layer of oil atop the soup that made me compelled to add all of the one small wedge of lemon to try and cut it.
COMMENTS I found joy today in an incredibly unlikely place. Not only was the pho at 2 Foodies some of the best I’ve had in Sydney, I was also able to fill up my tank with unleaded 98 for 15 cents/litre less than the six other petrol stations I drove past on the way there. While communication, cleanliness, and decor could be improved, I’m almost glad that they focus all of their energy on the quality of their food rather than this other distracting minutia. You will definitely find me visiting again.
2 Foodies 2/348 Elizabeth Dr, Mount Pritchard NSW 2170 (02) 8786 0189
Nem Kitchen, Vietnamese restaurant in Waterloo, wasn’t where I was initially planning to have lunch on Boxing Day 2020 but I’m glad it’s where I went.
Bún Bò Huế
I tried to order a Phở Đặc Biệt but didn’t realise until right now, whilst writing this review, that I was given Bún Bò Huế (Hot and Spicy Beef Noodle Soup – $17.80) instead. I had just thought, at the time, that I was given a really special and delicious bowl of pho. The broth had a really deep herbal flavour with lots of chilli flavour inside. I was going to remark that it was strange that chilli was mixed into the soup prior to it being served but I now know that that’s really kind of a stupid thought given that it wasn’t actually a bowl of pho that I ate. I’m not Vietnamese, so I don’t know these things. The Bún Bò Huế had a combination of rare sliced beef, beef brisket, beef balls, and pork loaf. The rare sliced beef was rolled up into balls and submerged into the soup, ensuring that at the very least the insides of the balls did not become overcooked throughout the meal. I found the beef brisket quite unpleasant – very fatty and chewy with a strong beef fat taste, and I would definitely recommend asking to not have this. The beef balls were quite standard, and the pork loaf the same kind of stuff you get in banh mi. The noodles of the Bún Bò Huế were a thick round vermicelli, which also surprised me at the time but obviously makes sense now knowing that it wasn’t actually pho that I was eating.
An middle-aged white man walked past me whilst I was eating and asked what I was having. He ordered one of the same, even though I told him to avoid the brisket. His loss.
Hanoi Crab and Pork Spring Roll
The crab and pork spring rolls (Nem Cua Bể – $12.80) were very good. The pastry was multilayered and crispy, and the filling of crab meat, pork mince, mushroom and wood ear fungus was very tasty. The dipping sauce was a good addition, although I must admit I did not finish (or expect) the side salad. I can recommend this one too.
I took a serving of Crispy Chicken & Salad with Tomato Rice (Cơm Đỏ Gà Giòn – $17.80) home. I was more keen to just get crispy chicken, but could not see it on the menu. Little did I know that they do probably offer the chicken by itself, as it’s on their online delivery menus. By the time I arrived home (a 15 minute drive) the chicken was already non-crispy. A bit disappointing.
The Pork Chops & Fried Egg with Tomato Rice ($16.80) was mildly better than the crispy chicken and rice but not by much. My partner said it was only OK.
VERDICT I’d really recommend the Hot and Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and the crab and pork spring rolls. I think some of the other sides sound potentially delicious too. Worth a visit, but think twice about take-away.
I walked nine kilometers today on a quest for what’s been lauded by some as Wollongong’s best banh mi, at QP Bakery in Berkeley. It was only when I arrived at QP that I found that they, like any other self-respecting eighteenth century bakery, are a cash only establishment. Much to my dismay with only six dollars in coins in my pockets, their most basic pork roll started at $7. I re-embarked on my sad journey to my partner’s apartment to the dulcet tones of Josh Farkas and Adam Thomas and instead ate at one of the many hot bread shops I had passed along the way.
This crispy crackling component of this Crispy Pork Belly Roll ($9.50) wasn’t quite what I expected. While the majority of crackling pork belly rolls that I’ve experienced have had a semi-dry, semi-oily-wet crackling that is both crispy and chewy – similar to what you would get from a Hong Kong BBQ restaurant, the crackling at PiPi’s was more reminiscent of what you would get from a snack food packet. Though I have seen actual evidence on their Facebook page of them cooking their crackling themselves, the crunchy crispiness but also the dryness of their pork crackling actually led me to initially believe that it was store bought rather than made in-house. While I don’t profess to be expert enough to truly judge banh mi by their traditional standards, I suppose that it’s probably acceptable to have either kind of crackling in your pork roll.
Crackling aside, I think PiPi’s crispy pork belly roll is actually quite good. The pork belly itself was nice, soft, and moist. The salads provided were balanced, and sauce was applied in an appropriate and conservative manner. I’d probably have this roll again.
I have no serious hitting commentary about PiPi’s classic Vietnamese Pork Roll ($7.50), though I will note that their pate is a bit different to the usual pate that I seem to get at Sydney banh mi-eries. It had a stronger flavour than I’m used to, more akin to the pates you would get at your local supermarket than the lighter flavoured pates normally used. Aside from this, this banh mi was slightly over-soyed (or Maggied, as it were), though still perfectly edible and ultimately not too salty.
CONCLUSION I just don’t know why there are places in the 21st century not offering card payments, but I’m glad that PiPi’s Pork Rolls isn’t one of them. Not a bad lunchtime option if you’re a local, but I wouldn’t drive to the Illawara for a banh mi.
Following the advice of a somewhat fanatical online poster, and in the unfortunate situation of Viet’z Eatery not being open during the crucial Wednesday-Thursday period where I usually find myself in Wollongong I decided to try Saigon Senses’ alternative offering of Vietnamese food. While I visited in person, the current COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in NSW meant that I had to take my food home to eat.
First up was this rather disappointing Cracking Pork Roll ($10.50). Whilst at first it appears unassuming and normal, this banh mi was way too salty for my liking. Your classic pork roll is a mix of umami proteins and a balance of fresh salads, however I felt that in this case even the salad components were too sauced. While I did enjoy the large quantity of pork as well as the addition of crunchy pork crackling, the fact that each and every bite had a strong and inescapable soy sauce flavour ruined the experience for me. That, and paying $10.50 for something you’d pay $8 for in Sydney, puts this particular roll into no re-match territory for me.
The spicy beef noodles ($11.50), unlike the crackling pork roll, was actually both cheap and good. This bowl featured thin round vermicelli, rare sliced beef, and spicy sour broth served separately. Saigon Senses is well set up for take-away, clear from the fact that the separately packaged soup and noodles fit perfectly into the disposable plastic bowl when recombined – thoughtfulness that not many restaurants exhibit. The rare beef was tender, cooked just a little by the hot soup. While I’m used to bun bo hue containing multiple types of meat, including beef brisket, rare beef, and cha lua (pork sausage), I’m reliably informed that it is also acceptable to just have rare beef slices by themselves. Regardless, this was a nice, tasty, and warming bowl that I can recommend to anyone.
Kinx is an absolute gem of a cafe tucked away in the culinary wasteland of South West Sydney. Kinx’s creative Asian-fusion brunch menu exceeded all geographic expectations, and our visit instantly propelled Kinx to the top of our list of cafes we enjoy in Sydney.
The Pho Beef Ribs were the reason we drove half an hour to go to Kinx in the first place, and boy did they not disappoint. Our waiter suggested a half serve ($20) rather than a full serve, as the kitchen was running low on ribs and we hadn’t had the foresight of booking ahead for this magnetic weekend special. The beef ribs were extremely tender and were in the perfect sweet spot where they fell right off the bone but retained enough internal structure for a good mouthfeel. The pho marinade was true to specification, with a delicious herbal umami taste. The rice noodle cakes, lightly deep fried were absolutely delicious, crisp, and soaked up the saucy marinade well. My partner thought that they had a much more delicate flavour and mouthfeel than just plain old rice cakes, and thought that they emulated thin noodles very well. The small amount of salad with bean sprouts, pickles, chilli, coriander, and Thai Basil was fresh and delicious, cutting through the strong umami flavours of the meat. Overall an excellent dish that I hope all beef-eating readers of this blog can have the opportunity to try.
The All You Can Beef Rice Bowl ($16), was nice but very much overshadowed by the pho beef ribs. The rice bowl features a smoky soy rice, 63 degree egg, and a wagyu beef hamburg katsu patty in bulgogi sauce. Whilst I enjoyed the menchi katsu (the first I’ve found outside of Japan), I thought that the smoked flavour of the rice was a bit too strong, and not to my taste. The 63 degree egg was excellent as always, and the bulgogi sauce was a good pairing for the patty, but neither of us ended up keen enough to finish the rice on account of its smokiness.
The Mama’s Siu Mai was essentially vietnamese pork meatballs in a tomato based sauce, served with bread – a Vietnamese spin on what you would often find on the menu of an Italian restaurant. The meatballs were yummy, as was the sauce and bread, though I think if I’m being honest we could’ve done with only one of this dish or the smoked beef bowl. My partner also wanted to get chips, and I’m glad I said no.
We also rolled for a wild card on the expensive but delicious Taro Coffee ($8). It is a very thick iced drink, of mostly taro with a hint of coffee mixed in, topped with some mixed cereals. It is a special and different experience, and quite good to boot. Sweet but not too sweet, kind of like the taro milk tea of your childhood but all grown up.
The regular coffee is regular.
SECOND VISIT We spaced out our second visit to around twelve months after our first, taking advantage of their seasonally updated menu as well as a chance to try their weekend special.
The weekend special was the Braised Beef Cheeks ($23) in bio kho sauce with potato puree, baked onion, charred enoki, and scallion oil. This was a surprisingly large dish for the price, which we ultimately found we could not finish. The beef cheek was incredibly tender, and melted in the mouth without much need for chewing. The potato mash was rich and smooth, made in a French style. The sauce and the onions imparted a milder taste to this dish, which started off welcoming but towards the end became all a bit samey. I think that ultimately with such a large volume of food in a dish it can help to incorporate a few more flavours, and while we started eating these cheeks with enjoyment we just couldn’t finish it in the end.
Though the braised beef cheeks were a fumble in sameness, the Pork-E Pot ($21.50) was an absolute masterclass in variety. Arriving in three separate bowls in a wooden tray, each component of this meal had a refreshing and delicious uniqueness to it.
The claypot braised pork belly was sweet, rich and herby, with a melted egg tossed in for good measure.
The pickles, herb, and beansprout salad was extremely fresh and an excellent foil for the richer claypot pork and rice dishes, and the ginger and shallot atop the bowl of sticky rice was just a divine use of one of the best condiments from Chinese cooking., with these little buttery but crunchy bits of likely fried lard that just made the whole thing come together.
I just can’t say enough good things about this dish, and I hope that anyone reading this can find their way to Kinx to try it before it leaves their menu.
The girlfriend, now fiancée, enjoyed a very good soy matcha latte, with a small warning from our waitress that it was not very sweet and that we may not like it without sugar. We found the sweetness level perfect however with soy milk.
INTERIM THOUGHTS AFTER TWO VISITS Wow. What a wonderful place. You owe it to yourself to pay them a visit once the southwest is liberated.
THIRD VISIT (Dinner)
We had the opportunity to have dinner at Kinx just as they started to field their dinner menu in August 2022, and thoroughly enjoyed everything they had.
The charsiu pork jowl skewer (3 for $18) with apple slaw was quite good. The fatty meat was soft and melted easily in the mouth, and though jowl is fattier than the leaner cuts of pork used in traditional char siu the fattiness was not at all overpowering. The marinade was again sweeter than your stock standard Chinese char siu but with an excellent charcoally smokiness which was evidence of excellent grilling. The apple slaw was crisp, fresh-tasting, and a good complement to the fatty pork.
The pulled pork & wagyu brisket pad kee mao ($26) with 63 degree egg, gailan, basil, and bean sprouts was excellent. There was a great sense of wok-hei, plentiful vegetables and tender and flavourful meat, though I must admit the fact that there were two different animals in this was lost on me during eating. The use of cheung fan (肠粉), rice noodle rolls (like the things you would fill with prawns or pork for steaming at yum cha) rather than your standard rice noodles was excellent, as these are much softer and more delicate, easily chewed and great for soaking up the chilli and basil flavours. I don’t understand why chángfěn isn’t used more for Thai noodle dishes. It’s not traditional, but it’s absolutely amazing. Kinx’s pad kee mao is my all time favourite pad kee mao, and by extension my all time favourite Thai style stir fried noodle.
My partner was a big fan of the ox tongue taco ($10 each) with salsa verde, pickled onion, herbs, and khao khua. She really enjoyed the “flavours” of it, though she couldn’t quite elaborate on why. Possibly it was the mixture of herbs and avocado that did it for her. The meat had a bit of texture to it as ox tongue is meant to, and it was overall a pleasing dish, though not extremely different like the last ox tongue taco we had at Cafe Paci. I liked the thoughtfulness of providing each taco with two tortillas, though I realised too late that the intention was probably so that each taco would turn into two tacos after consumption and loss of the original taco’s fillings onto the second one.
Finally, the Smoked and Fried Quail with Lime Pepper Dipping Sauce ($25). Not every part of every meal is always amazing, and their nightly special, the smoked and fried quail, was certainly not. Chicken and duck are by far my favourite fowls, and while I like to eat quail eggs, quail as a bird meat is not something that I really go for. That was not the problem with it. What I didn’t like about this was the completely unexpected and weird batter, which was not at all hinted at in the photo (see below). I guess that it makes sense that smoked and fried bird would have a bit of batter on it, but this pale thin batter with a smokiness that tickled the same neurons as staleness just really didn’t do it for me. I really wish that the batter hadn’t been a part of it, as the lime and pepper dipping sauce was actually really tasty, and would’ve gone well with just a regular bird. Not even peeling off the batter could make me feel better about this, and so we ended up having like one and a half pieces each and leaving the majority of the plate untouched. We didn’t even take it home. I could not see a future in which I wanted to eat it.
Compare expectations vs reality. My partner tried to tell them about our disappointment at the quail but she dropped her spaghetti in the worst possible way, and failed to use a compliment sandwich. I fear that my partner might have been a bit rude and I really hope they let us back. We loved every other component of our meal, and Kinx remains one of my top cafes and restaurants in all of Sydney. This quail does not make me want to go back any less, and I will continue to go back and recommend them to anyone who reads this blog.
FOURTH VISIT A quick update for our fourth visit (August 2023)
The Pork Claypot (kho quet – $22) was pretty good and tasty, with a good mix of lean and fatty pork, and steamed rice to soak up the flavourful sauces.
The bun bo hue ($21.50) with extra ribs ($6.50) I really did not love.
