Categories
Bakery Vietnamese

Bánh Mì Bảy Ngộ – Bankstown NSW Restaurant Review

I was on a banh mi kick recently, and Banh Mi Bay Ngo, very close to Nam Fong Hot Bread, was a natural option for a pre-work meal.

Like its nearby competitor, Banh Mi Bay Ngo’s traditional pork roll ($6.50) was packed with cold sliced meats at a very competitive price. I’d say that in comparison with Nam Fong, this particular roll had a greater and attractive crispiness to its pickled vegetables, which provide for nice intra-bite textural variation. Please note that the roll did not come wiht the grill marks – the bread was heated up in a sandwich press prior to consumption – a technique I learned from the SRMO who keeps making me feel jealous every time he has a banh mi at work.

The nem chua pork roll ($6.50) was less attractive to me, owing to the physically smaller quantity of meat, without much extra in terms of flavour. Still a good roll, but doesn’t beat the classic in my opinion.

Overall, both were good, and I can’t recommend either Banh Mi Bay Ngo or Nam Fong over the other.

Bánh Mì Bảy Ngộ
49 Bankstown City Plaza, Bankstown NSW 2200
(02) 9709 8106

Categories
Café

Peaberry – Croydon NSW Restaurant Review

We made just a quick stop at Peaberry between inspections as we engaged in Australia’s national pasttime.

We came near closing – tempted by images of fish burgers and smash burgers on Google Maps with only half an hour to eat. Sadly the burgers no longer existed on their menu, leaving us with these sandwiches instead.

The Frankie’s Pick ($12) was also my pick of the two sandwiches, featuring peppered corned beef, American cheese, American mustard, and a huge amount of thinly sliced American pickles from Mcclure’s between toasted Turkish bread. The choice of bread, and the bread to filling ratio in particular, I thought allowed for a high level of tanginess and tastiness without too much unneccessary density. A good package.

The Cuban ($12) was quite similar to Frankie’s Pick, but with triple smoked ham and sliced jalapneos in place of corned beef and pickles. My partner preferred this one over Frankie’s, but I personally would have preferred some roast pork a la the classics rather than just ham itself.

I’m sad about the lack of burger, which really did look good online.

The Peaberry Cafe
202 Elizabeth St, Croydon NSW 2132

Categories
Vietnamese

Madam Ky – Canterbury NSW Restaurant Review

Both the bun bo hue ($18) and the pho dac biet ($19) at Madam Ky were really good. The flavours were good, the servings were absolutely huge, and they were both jam packed with an extraordinary amount of meat, so much so that we, two hungry adults, really struggled to finish them.

My only complaint, which applies more to the pho dac biet ($19) than the bun bo hue, is that it wasn’t hot enough to really put in the bean sprouts without significantly dropping the temperature of the bowl, which is a problem for me because I LOVE my bean sprouts.

An added bonus is that Madam Ky does these pretty good boxes of frozen pho ($7.80), which you can heat up yourself with a microwave and some water at home. They come with not enough beef brisket, but the flavour is good and the price is as well.

Important note: This restaurant is now closed prior to the publication of this review. The same group owns Pho Vien at 283 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield, which as I understand is essentially the same restaurant with a different name.

RIP.

Madame Ky
Shop 10/211 Canterbury Rd Canterbury, Campsie, NSW, Australia, New South Wales

Categories
Café

Little West – Haberfield NSW Restaurant Review

We spent like half an hour doing a post-walk stand-around waiting for a table at Little West, but we got to see a little cat after our meal, so it was kind of worth it to me.

The smoked brisket sausage roll ($10) was somewhat small in size, but made up for it with its good texture, both internally in the house smoked beef brisket filling, as well as externally in the buttery and flaky pastry. The house made bush tomato sauce was a bit tangier than your regular tomato sauce, almost similar to a BBQ sauce.

This banana & macadamia loaf ($7), toasted with a slab of cultured butter, did very little for me. At the very least I can say it was not too sweet, but I think overall it was not too anything in terms of taste.

This brunch bowl with house hot smoked salmon ($24 including a $7 salmon supplement) was wholesome and good, hitting the mark on a number of counts, including a good corn fritter, well poached eggs, and a varied smattering of fresh greenery. Little West’s commitment to making a bunch of different ingredients in house, where your usual café might just buy their smoked salmon from an external supplier, is pretty impressive, even if the quality of the end product does not differ noticeably from something off-the-shelf.

meow

Little West
Shop 2, 53-55 Waratah St, Haberfield NSW 2045
0482 078 099

Categories
Chinese

Golden Oceans Chinese Seafood Restaurant (文興海鲜酒楼) – Beverly Hills NSW Restaurant Review

This is not our normal behaviour, but we found ourselves at a formal Chinese seafood restaurant for dinner, just the two of us. We ordered a number of classics, at least one of which our parents would’ve been proud of.

The braiseds scallops with sugar beans and funguses with XO sauce ($38.80) were a total Chinese parent order. Super responsible, reasonably healthy, and a bit expensive. Clean feeling and delicious.

You tiao / fried dough cruller does not fit with the dinner meal thematically, but were a craving. They were fine, not mindblowing as they might have been straight out of the deep fryer on the side of the road.

We’ve been looking for zhenjiang pork ribs ever since our favourite Parramatta Chinese restaurant closed down in 2021 (RIP Taste Gallery), and Golden Oceans’ Pork Spare Ribs with Black Vinegar Sauce ($28.80) finally, finally hit the mark. I’m so glad we came here and I got to eat this again.

I like a good Shan Dong Chicken ($27.80), and though this one was a bit wet and a bit saltier than I like, it was still quite good. I imagine it would’ve been good with rice, but the you tiao were carb enough to compensate for the overflavour.

Overall I enjoyed. Take your family here.

Golden Oceans Chinese Seafood Restaurant (文興海鲜酒楼)
461 King Georges Rd, Beverly Hills NSW 2209
(02) 9580 0918