Categories
Vietnamese

Tam Tam – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

The seafood spring rolls ($12) were good, with a dense and umami filling covered in a light and oily external shell. Just as they should be.

The special beef noodle soup/pho ($18) had a bit of everything wtihin the usual suspects, and was pretty good. I didn’t love the beef balls, but it’s rare to find a place that does every component well.

I have absolutely no problems with the food here. I think it’s a good pho for Parramatta, especially since my previous favourite Lee Chef has been closed for years now with no signs of anything good popping up in its place.

I have no problems with the service either – we rocked up quite late after work, essentially 15 minutes before their listed closing time, and they served us with speed and friendliness.

What I did think was unfortunate was the restaurant’s location and parking situation. My first visit to Tam Tam was actually the second time I tried to go. Its location in the centre of Parramatta means that there is no free street parking nearby, meaning that any meal here necessitates a snake-like crawl through the nearby Eat St parking lot and a minimum extra $3 charge. And I know that a lack of free parking disincentivises private car usage and incentivises public transport, resulting in what is probably a net environmental and economical good for society. It’s just annoying when you work in the next suburb and have to pay $3 to park to eat a $18 bowl of pho.

Tam Tam
41 Phillip St, Parramatta NSW 2150
0466 222 699

Categories
Malaysian Vietnamese

Ngoodle – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

We had a really nice meal at Ngoodle, nice in the sense that the food and service were both very good, but not in the sense that it was overwhelmingly expensive with unnecessary flourishes. It was exactly the perfect kind of niceness for South East Asian cuisine.

We went on the recommendation of the crispy chicken laksa ($19.50), which some guy on the internet said was more expensive than but better than that of Hunter St’s (now relocated to Ashfield, actually) Malay Chinese Takeaway. The laksa was delicious, with such a complex and aromatic arrangement of herbs and spices, and perfect vermicelli. The laksa stood strongly alone without any additional protein, whilst the crispy chicken maryland was juicy and crispy and tender. The combination of the two was of unclear benefit to me, as putting it in the laksa kind of ruined the crispiness of it. I think perhaps a combination or seafood laksa might’ve been the way to go instead, but nonetheless this was a good bowl.

The Pork Chop Dry Noodles ($18) were excellent. The pork chop was a little bit sweet, super tasty with a crispy and melt-in-your-mouth quality. It reminded me of the marmite pork from Albee’s, but just better in most ways. The dry noodles were quite stiff, but pretty good with the sweet dressing and the vegetables – ultimately though the pork chop was the star of this show. It is probably the best fried Asian pork chop I’ve had.

These spring rolls (4 for $7) were super packed with meat and taro, not bad, and good with dipping sauce.

COMMENTS
My partner was really impressed with the main lady working at the front, we thought she might be the owner. She speaks multiple, multiple languages (Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, English – and those were just the ones we heard over the course of our 45 minute meal), was super attentive to us filling our carafe up with filtered water with a fresh leaf of mint, and seemed to have a really good relationship and even friendship with her regular customers.

Respect, and can definitely recommend.

Ngoodle
234 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131
0490 733 750

Categories
Chinese

Taste Gallery – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

We’ve walked past Taste Gallery on Church St several times now, each time with the intention of going in but each time discouraged by the very limited menu printed on their window outside. We finally took the plunge tonight, guided by a previously quite successful delivery order which showcased Taste Gallery’s actually diverse menu, and made the decision to follow through and actually go inside.

The Special Vegetarian Spring Rolls (6 for $7.80) were actually quite special, and served very quickly. My partner was attracted to their netted exterior, and whilst I was not so keen on having vegetarian spring rolls their internal texture was actually quite meaty and had good flavour and mouthfeel.

My partner has spent years searching for the perfect Zhengjiang Vinegar Pork Spare Ribs ($18.80), and Taste Gallery finally delivered the goods. They had the perfect dark and tangy flavour, which is something that she tells me has been hard to find. The pork meat was tender, though due to the dark colouration from the marinade it was difficult to tell visually what parts were meat and what parts were bone. Be sure to order this with white rice ($2.50) or some other more bland carbohydrate, as the flavours are quite strong on its own.

The Thin sliced rib eye with tasty pickles served in hot pot ($17.80) was not what I expected, but ended up still being pretty good. It’s the third time in a week where I’ve ordered something meaty and ended up with thinly sliced hot pot style meat. Recent other offenders in this category include Costas Arepa Bar and Cafe Elation, though this time I admit I just didn’t read the name of the dish properly. The other difference between my expectation and reality is that I thought this would be a hotpot dish in the sense that combination bean curd hotpot is a hotpot dish, rather than a hotpot dish in the sense that shuan yang rou is hotpot. After getting over this letdown of my own doing I did find the dish quite enjoyable. The soup was a little oily but otherwise wholesome, flavoured with suān cài. The beef was unfortunately quite fatty and chewy, however there were those odd morsels that just melted in my mouth and were perfect. The mixture of vegetables and enoki made the dish feel like it could potentially be good for me. Overall I can recommend this dish.

VERDICT
We had an overall good time at Taste Gallery, despite the slightly shabbier appearance when compared to neighbouring Chef’s Gallery, and can’t wait to go back. Their food is well priced and delicious.

UPDATE – Very sadly, closed likely forever

Taste Gallery
133 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 8810 2082

Categories
Vietnamese

Nem Kitchen – Waterloo NSW Restaurant Review

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.

4.

Nem Kitchen
20A Danks St, Waterloo NSW 2017
(02) 9698 6392

Categories
Chinese Vietnamese

Lee Chef (利記中越餐廳) – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

Lee Chef is your friendly neighbourhood ethnically ambiguous Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant. Open until 10PM, they have, on multiple occasions, patiently remained open as we slurped up our post-shift pho and eaten our fill of authentic Asian classics.

The fried chicken wings were great. They were lightly battered and freshly fried, seasoned with 椒盐 (jiao yan), which is a traditional Chinese salt and chilli pepper seasoning. Each wing was crispy on the outside but moist on the inside – perfectly executed.

The vegetarian spring rolls were not great – in fact they teetered on the edge of actively bad. They were brought out very quickly and didn’t really feel like they had been heated all the way through. The filling inside the spring rolls were lukewarm at best, and displayed a mushy texture. We didn’t end up finishing these spring rolls – they were simply calories for punishment.

The Combination Beef Pho was wholesome and authentic. All elements were good. The protein component consisted of rare beef, beef balls, tendon, and beef rum. The soup was full of umami flavours and not too sweet or salty – just right. The side of Thai basil and bean sprouts was not only adequate but generous. I am blessed to live near a restaurant that can deliver such consistently good pho, and I have ordered it as takeaway roughly 12 times in the last six months

I was less impressed by the Hainan Chicken Rice. I found the chicken too bland and tasteless and the rice a bit too hard, though I did appreciate the soup and the generous serving of chilli and ginger and shallot condiments. My partner was a much bigger fan of this dish than I was.

The combination bean curd hot pot was of quality and taste commensurate with its price. I do love myself a combination bean curd hot pot.

VERDICT
Quality neighbourhood eatery
Hits all the classics right in the bullseye
Wouldn’t travel for it, but will keep coming back again and again this year.
4/5

UPDATE (2023): Closed. A loss to the local area.

Lee Chef (利記中越餐廳)
1/140 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 8677 4425