Tag: bun bo hue

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Vietnamese

Jacob’s Vietnamese Place – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

We’ve been meaning to go to Jacob’s Vietnamese place in Ashfield for quite a few months now, but have failed each time due to their odd opening hours. Though they open 7 days a week, they both open a bit late for breakfast, and close a bit too early for dinner. It’s a good thing that when they do open in the morning, however, they offer a full on all-day Vietnamese menu.

We had the phở đặc biệt (the special beef rice noodle soup) for $19, which is quite a reasonable price for the size of the meal. There was a good helping of rare beef, tendon, beef balls, and tripe. The tripe and tendon in particular being not something that you see in a lot of pho restaurants these days – including sadly Pho Vien down the road.

The taste of the pho was quite good. It had quite a traditional and flavourful broth, and came with a lot of green onion as well as a very healthy portion of bean sprouts, which I love. Unfortunately I did find  I did find (and my partner found this too) a bit of an unusual and unpleasant taste with the tendon. Even though I normally love tendon, and the texture of the tendon was perfect, the flavour of it was kind of weird. I don’t know why this has happened, if it’s a one-off thing or if it’s a recurrent thing to do with where they sourced it from. But I really didn’t love it.

The other thing that we had on our first visit was the cơm tấm đặc biệt,($19), the broken rice deluxe with the grilled pork chop, shredded pork skin, steamed pork cake and fried egg. This is really a dish that was more than the sum of its parts, many of which were fine in insolation but great in combination.

For starters, we did not love the pork skin, even though I’m sure it was perfectly adequate according to the standards by which pork skin prepared in this manner are usually judged. The egg was fried and fully cooked which is I guess fine, and perhaps it’s only our westernized taste buds that prefer a partially cooked egg. The pork loaf and the pork chop were delicious, with no negative points to say about them, and of course the fish sauce really helped to bring everything together, moisten the rice and make it all great.

First visit thoughts – Overall, the meal was only $38, and really got two adults very full at 10am in the morning, and for the rest of the day.  I had wanted to get some more stuff, and was luckily talked out of it, so we ended up actually going again a few weeks later (prior to this review being published).

On our second visit we started off with some chicken wings ($15), which were quite unexciting, flavoured essentially with salt and not much else, lacking completely in complex spices and flavours apart from the side of dipping sauce and pickled vegetables. It didn’t feel like a restaurant dish, and I didn’t feel like they were any better than what I could do with my air fryer at home.

The bun bo hue ($19) was contrastingly pretty good – a large bowl, with a huge quantity of different meats inside and a nice tangy-spicy taste. It wasn’t the best I’ve had in Sydney, but definitely one of the better in recent times, and probably better than Pho Vien’s down the street.

This beef brisket with bread roll ($19?) was really thick and rich, probably too rich for me to eat having already had my half of the BBH. Neither of us were able to finish it, and we had to take it home, where it was diluted by takeaway frozen broth from Pho Vien and subsequently consumed. That said, the bread was very nice and does mean that their banh mi has potential to be quite good as well. An adventure for next time.

ADVENTURE, NEXT TIME

I returned by myself for some banh mi, thinking that I would get two and eat half of each.

The crispy skin pork roll ($10) was pretty good. I enjoyed the crispy crackling pork, and the flavour of the roll overall, though felt that it was overall a bit light in terms of filling quantity, particularly that of the meat. Something that I did enjoy was that the bread went briefly into a toaster oven before serving, making it nice and warm and crispy.

The feeling of lightness was particularly amplified when it came to the cold cut pork roll ($7), which was so minimal and unsubstantial that there’s no way I could recommend it given the other local options available.

Jacob’s Vietnamese Place
27 Hercules St, Ashfield NSW 2131

Categories
Vietnamese

Pho Hanoi 1979 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

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 rolls Cha 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.

FURTHER VISIT, LATE 2025

I don’t know why I thought that a bun bo hue ($15.30 with 30% off in the morning, $21.90 full price) was the right thing to eat whilst feeling generally unwell, but this is where fate led me.

What struck me about this meal was just the huge quantities and chunks of protein in it. The cinnamon pork loaf, blood jelly, pork hock, beef, pork sausage and other meat products was absolutely insane in terms of quantity – a full meat meal with a side of noodles and soup. Speaking of the soup, the flavour was OK but again, like almost every other time I’ve had bun bo hue, it didn’t astound me. I think it’s very possible that I’ve stopped enjoying it, and this could be the last bun bo hue review you see on this site.

Probably not a reflection on the quality of this bowl, more just a reflection of my personal preferences.

Pho Hanoi 1979
128 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

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
Vietnamese

Dong Ba – Cabramatta NSW Restaurant Review

I’ve been searching for a good bun bo hue ever since my initial transformational experience at Nem Kitchen in Waterloo back in 2020, and judging from the all the internet hype surrounding Dong Ba’s reportedly authentic food I thought I had finally caught the dragon. It is a shame, therefore, that I didn’t really think the bun bo hue was all that great.

The bun bo hue ($14) was quite a disappointment. I thought that the soup was a bit watery, and nowhere near as rich as I had remembered or expected. There was plenty of meaty fillings and fresh herbs and bean sprouts to dunk in, but the thin, low-taste broth really kind of let it down. All of this was also worsened by the fact that we had a piece of plastic in our bowl, and judging from the complaints from this Chinese woman who insisted on speaking Mandarin to the proprietors of a Vietnamese restaurant we weren’t the only ones.

Luckily the banh uot cha lua ($13) was actually quite delicious. The rice noodles were very thin, soft, and delicate, and there was a huge mountain of herbs hidden underneath that gave it an amazing fresh and herbacious flavour. The cha lua was nothing particularly special, but portioned well so that each mouthful could be had with some rice noodle, some herbs, and some pork. The dipping sauce added a nice flavour but also importantly moistness to the meal, and though I don’t really remember what the red thing is (I did at the time), it was also a nice addition. Overall this was a good dish, much better than the bun bo hue whose name is hung on the wall.

The avocado shake (?$6) was actually also quite good. It was very thick with an avocado flavour as well as a white sugar flavour, and extremely cold so I suspect there is some ice blended in also.

Two cats from across the road.

THOUGHTS
I went to Dong Ba for bun bo hue, but what I found was that their banh uot cha lua was much better. I had hoped that this well known Cabramatta restaurant would become my go to, but unfortunately I’d advise any bun bo hue pilgrims to keep looking.

Dong Ba (John St)
5/117 John St, Cabramatta NSW 2166
(02) 9723 0336

Categories
Vietnamese

Saigon Senses – Wollongong NSW Restaurant Review

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.

Saigon Senses
Wollongong Central (opposite Coles) 200 Crown St, Wollongong NSW 2500
0481 368 009