Broken Rice – ohdenny

Ba’get

October 7, 2016 Posted in Food Reviews, Melbourne, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

Authenticity is Ba’get’s motto, mission and lifeblood. Ba’get is providing authentic Vietnamese food, made from recipes that have been handed down through the generations. Ba’get not only have a wide variety of their signature Vietnamese Rolls (Banh Mi) but they also offer Vermicelli Rice Bowls where you can choose your preferred meat or vegetarian option. Ba’get have recently introduced Vietnamese Broken Rice to their menu, and you can also choose your choice of meat/veg and a sauce to go with it.

Meal vouchers kindly provided by Ba’get

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If you’ve never come to Ba’get, you wouldn’t pass the opportunity to try their Banh Mi. I ordered the Grilled Pork version but you get this with Grilled Meatballs, Grilled Chicken, Pulled Chicken, Tofu, Tomato Meatballs, Salad, Ham & Cheese, Salami and Cheese, Classic Meat, or even as a Breakfast Ba’get. Their Grilled Pork option has great flavour to the meat, a tad too dry for my liking but still tasty nonetheless.

Ba’get’s Grilled Chicken Broken Rice with Fish Sauce (Com tam) has all the components of a great Vietnamese Broken Rice. The grilled chicken has a lovely grilled flavour to it, but I find it a bit dry. The fish sauce with the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers does help bring it all together. You can also the Broken Rice with Grilled Pork or Tofu with your choice of Fish or Soy Sauce.

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The Grilled Chicken Vermicelli Bowl (Bún thit nuong) is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes, and especially so in the spring or summer months when a bowl of steaming hot Pho is out of the question. While Ba’get’s offering doesn’t have the same sweet and sour notes that I’m used to for the sauce, the fish sauce that you can order with this works well together. It’s still quite a refreshing meal!

You can order this with Grilled Pork, Tomato Meatballs, Pulled Chicken, Crisp Salad, Classic Meat, Grilled Meatballs, or Tofu with your choice of Soy, Hoisin or Fish Sauce.

Ba’get also offer Rice Paper Rolls, Pork & Taro Spring Rolls, Vietnamese Puffs, Sesame Donuts and of course Vietnamese Ice Coffee to go with your meal so there’s something for everyone.

Last words

While Ba’get may not match the highs that you may find in Vietnamese hubs like Richmond or Springvale, it does provide a decent option for Vietnamese food in Melbourne CBD, Watergardens and Werribee.

Ba’get
132 Russell Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Ba’get – Elizabeth St
369 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

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T’relek

March 21, 2014 Posted in Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Richmond, Vietnamese2 Comments

T’relek is another great Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. T’relek offers a great variety of dishes and delicious nonetheless. What makes T’relek different from the many other Vietnamese restaurants around these parts is cleanliness and service. I find service here to be a step above, friendly and attentive.

The dish pictured above is their Crispy Noodles Seafood Combination. The noodles are indeed crispy and crunchy, and with the generous offering of vegetables, seafood, chicken and beef it all works well together. The sauce is similar to an egg gravy you may find in a Malaysian Char Hor Fun, and whilst not as flavourful it still has a pleasant aroma and flavour to it. Not too salty, and enough sauce to go round.

T’relek’s Grilled Pork Chop and Egg is another decent dish, with well cooked pork and a runny sunny side up egg, freshly cut vegetables as garnish and shredded pork.. It’s basically a Broken Rice dish but without the commonly added pâté. What this dish needs is a dressing sauce, sweet chilli sauce does complement this dish well actually.

The Tomato Rice with Diced Beef and Stir Fried Vegetables is another generous dish, with plentiful capsicum, onions and beef. Unfortunately, the stir fry here is a tad over salted. I find the tomato rice needs egg mixed through and a tad more tomato flavour but it’s tasty but not exceptional.

Impressions

Although T’relek’s dishes aren’t the tastiest Vietnamese in Richmond, it does provide a fulfilling meal and with friendly service, you’d be hard to be displeased.

T’relek
116 Victoria St
Richmond VIC 3121

Thanh Phong

September 13, 2013 Posted in Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Richmond, VietnameseLeave a comment

Thanh Phong on Victoria Street is one of the many Vietnamese restaurants in Richmond. It’s one of the more cleaner venues around these parts. They must have renovated maybe in the past couple of years or so. During lunchtime weekdays, I wouldn’t call this place busy but it has a decent following. I wouldn’t say the food here sets it apart from the other Vietnamese eateries in anyway. It serves mostly the same cuisine you’d find elsewhere.

Pictured above, is their Cambodian Dry Noodle Soup (Alt: Hu Tieu Nam Vang), it comes with this crispy pastry which I believe is filled with some sort of vegetable, along with warm seasoned noodles with bean shoots, chicken, celery and fried and spring onions and coriander as their garnishes. It is served with soup with seafood and spring onions and coriander on top. Let’s start with the soup, it’s your very typical Vietnamese soup. Seasoned well, so it is certainly bursting with flavour and the prawn, fish ball and calamari. The seafood is a pleasant surprise and although tough calamari isn’t usually my thing, it complements the noodles well.

The pastry is nice and crunchy, but with enough bite to it (it has some chewiness to it). I really did enjoy the dressing or seasoning they add to the noodles but I can’t really put my finger on what they add to it. Probably a bit of soy, and it’s has a tongue tingling spiciness to it. It’s a very crunchy dish overall because of the celery, pastry and bean sprouts. Quite a lovely, tasty and fresh dish.

Impressions

Their Broken Rice with Egg and Pate, is a tad disappointing though. Clumpy wet rice isn’t at all appetising. Although Thanh Phong’s Spicy Beef Noodle Soup is both spicy and delicious. Similar to Pho, but a red tinged colour and wonderfully beefy in taste.

Thanh Phong, probably isn’t for everyone. There are a few dishes you could probably find better places to order like Pho (I Love Pho) but their Cambodian noodles are the best I’ve had on Victoria Street. It is just sifting through their menu to find the gems, like you may do with many other restaurants.

Not my first place I think of when I want Vietnamese but not so far down on my list. I’d say give it a go.

Thanh Phong

240 Victoria St
Richmond VIC 3121