Tag: spring rolls

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

Categories
Thai

Wallabies Thai – Mascot NSW Restaurant Review

Wallabies Thai is one of our local Thai places. It offers eat-in, takeaway, and delivery service. We decided to try eating in after seeing it pop up on Ubereats one too many times.

The money bags (4 for $8.90) were enjoyable but nothing to write home about.

No major complaints from us for the mixed entree (5 for $8.90), although I remember not really liking the curry puff.

The garlic fried rice was really good. Huge amounts of garlic inside, and giant portion.

The biggest disappointment of the meal was the laksa noodle soup ($15.90). I can’t recommend it.

The following are from a more recent delivery order from Wallabies Thai.

The BBQ Chicken (Boneless) ($15.90) was quite good. The chicken was tender and juicy, and nicely flavoured. I like the addition of the vegetables which included broccoli and capsicum, as I wasn’t expecting them. These vegetables were bathed in the delicious chicken juices.

The special wing ($14.90) of chicken in thick garlic sauce was tasty however suffered from the having of wing tips. This made it a bit difficult to eat, and I always feel like it’s low yield to include the tiny, low-meat wing tip with a meal.

My partner was a big fan of the pad see ew with roasted duck ($19.90). We’re normally more of a pad kee mao family, however we ventured outside of our comfort zone and were rewarded.

I can whole heartedly recommend Wallabies Thai, for either eat-in or delivery. Their prices are excellent and their food delicious. Eat in service is also very fast. A local gem.

Wallabies Thai
2/1-5 Bourke St, Mascot NSW 2020
(02) 9700 7895

Categories
Asian Fusion Vietnamese

Bang Tang – Potts Point NSW Restaurant Review

Bang Tang is a small South-East Asian fusion eatery in Potts Point, located unfortunately close to Ms G, a somewhat more famous and upscale competitor.

While it’s my understanding that there is usually lots of outdoor dining space, we ate lunch on a very rainy day in Potts Point, and internal seating was limited to only a few small tables. The small interior room really gave the place the vibe of a small diner. The service was good, and the food was served quickly. We finished our meal within 50 minutes, which was good as the nearby street parking is limited to 1 and 2 hour spots.

Cigar roll (2 for $6)

The cigar roll (2 for $6) is one of Bang Tang’s specialties. It is a thick, crispy chicken spring roll with a characteristic dry internal filling structure. It was quite large, fresh, a nd delicious, although I couldn’t help but feel that the skewer on which it was served was superfluous. It was much easier to eat with fingers, and chopsticks would have been fine as well.

Prawn and scallop dumpling (2 for $12)

The prawn and scallop dumpling (2 for $12) were a daily special, and quite delicious. We were disappointed when they were served, as they looked flat and unappealing, however this all changed when we tasted them. The filling had a great scallop taste, and the pastry wrapping was also delicious. Unfortunately we weren’t told the price of the dish, and in fact I did not realise they were $12 until writing this review and I took a look at the receipt. $6 for a single dumpling is far too much. But yum.

The Bang Broth Noodle ($17) was basically a chicken pho but with rice noodle rolls instead of rice noodle strips. I liked it. I enjoyed the clear broth and the voluminous serving of fresh bean sprouts and herbs. My partner, who does not like chicken, did not like it as she thought that the roast chicken could’ve been any chicken that was roasted and split up. She is a chicken hater.

The Duck It Up bowl ($24) was a mixture of strongly marinated duck breast, rice, hoisin sauce and maple syrup, tofu, nuts, bean sprouts, herbs. My feelings about this dish were quite mixed. I thought that the fresh bites of vegetables, herbs, and bean sprouts were deliciously fresh, and that the nuts and other crunchy bits provided a great variation in texture. On the other hand, I thought that the duck and the rice and sauce components on the bottom of the bowl were too tasty and oversauced. It was basically two meals in one – one that I very much enjoyed the freshness of, and one that I thought was too bogged down in sauce. Even when mixing the bowl together I found that the entire bowl was too sauced. I particularly didn’t care for t he duck, which was too sauced, however my girlfriend enjoyed it.

Overall I quite enjoyed the food at Bang Tang. Everything ranged from good to great. I did think that the expensive prawn and scallop dumplings were a bit of a price shock, however their good taste almost made up for it. I would definitely recommend Bang Tang for a quick dinner, however I don’t know how the logistics would work for a long date or dinner with a group of friends as parking is quite limited.

4/5

Bang Tang
2/145 Victoria St, Potts Point NSW 2011
(02) 8542 0133

Categories
Vietnamese

Khoi’s Vietnamese Cuisine – Surry Hills NSW Restaurant Review

Not to be confused with the much more disappointing Khoi Eatery in Marrickville, Khoi’s in Surry Hills is a completely different, much better, family-run Vietnamese restaurant.

My partner is a big fan of corn. I have never known her to see corn on the menu and not want it. While I would have preferred some of Khoi’s visually appealing chicken wings, compromises sometimes need to be made. Nevertheless, the crispy buttered sweet corn, marinated with chipotle mayo ($10) was a hit. We liked how not all surfaces of all kernals were battered. We liked the buttery richness of the dish to start, however soon found that the portion was perhaps a bit big for the two of us to share – it was really more suited to four people. After a while corn just gets a bit lukewarm and boring. I wasn’t able to identify any chipotle or spicy flavour to this dish, but despite this it was quite good. I would NOT recommend this for a couple (unless your partner is a corn fanatic) however can recommend this for larger groups.

Crispy spring rolls of pork, black mushrooms, and glass noodles ($10)

The Crispy spring rolls of pork, black mushrooms, and glass noodles ($10) were quite good. They had a complex flavour and texture that is rare in the spring roll world.

Khoi’s beef noodle soup, combination of rare Black Angus beef, brisket, beef balls & thin slice of ox tail ($18)

Khoi’s beef noodle soup, combination of rare Black Angus beef, brisket, beef balls & thin slice of ox tail ($18) was really good. The slices of rare Angus beef were tender. The brisket and beef balls were also good, however I have to give a point to Khoi in Marrickville for their beef balls over those at Khoi’s in Surry Hills – the one at this restaurant did not particularly stand out. We couldn’t identify any ox tail in our pho, however this was not really a bad thing as I often find ox tail too fatty and oily, like I did when we had ramen at Spanish Sakaba.

Super crispy skin Bannockburn Chicken cooked in Khoi’s master stock, ginger, shallot

The skin of the Super crispy skin Bannockburn Chicken cooked in Khoi’s master stock, ginger, shallot ($20) was, true to its name, super crispy. What this dish’s long name failed to mention, however, was that the meat inside was also very tender and juicy. The flavour was tasty but not too tasty, and I really enjoyed every last morsel of this chicken. My partner commented that it was not cooked as well as the Korean chicken from Soul Dining (also in Surry Hills), but I think she is wrong. I think they are both very good, and can recommend this dish.

Sauces

Overall I really enjoyed my meal at Khoi’s in Surry Hills. There are plenty of other dishes on the menu I’d like to try, so I would both recommend eating here and plan for a second trip.

5/5 bok boks who are allowed to roam during the day but locked up at night “for their own protection”.

Khôi’s Vietnamese Cuisine
583 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 8054 6306