Tomato Rice – ohdenny

Indochine

September 23, 2016 Posted in Box Hill, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

Indochine on Carrington Road is a popular eatery in Box Hill serving an array of authentic Vietnamese dishes. You might be surprised to know that there are quite a number of Vietnamese restaurants in Box Hill such as the recently renovated Pho Huong Viet, Tien Dat, Pho 888, Tan Tan and the new kid on the block, Miss Saigon. Having tried a majority of these, nothing seems to compare to what you may come across in the Vietnamese hubs like Springvale, Richmond or Footscray.

The pho at Indochine is a mixed bag, while the broth is one of the better ones in Box Hill, it’s served at such a lukewarm temperature that you’d rather have a slightly poorer tasting Pho than order this again.

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Having been disappointed in the tomato rice dishes in Richmond, I finally found a great one. It’s on par with what I ordered in Springvale. The tomato rice is fried nicely, not too wet and not too dry and cooked with scrambled egg. The crispy chicken at Indochine is also pretty tasty, crispy skin and maybe just slightly over cooked chicken. Served with a slice of lemon and extra salt, which I find you won’t really need anyway.

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Last words
Come to Indochine for their tasty Vietnamese food but maybe not for their pho.

Indochine

51 Carrington Road
Box Hill VIC 3128

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Binh Minh

July 24, 2015 Posted in Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant Reviews, Richmond, VietnameseLeave a comment

I’ve been to Binh Minh a couple times now, but I have trouble understanding the sheer popularity of it all. Located just by North Richmond Station on Victoria Street, they serve Vietnamese & Malaysian cuisine.

They offer your standard Vietnamese dishes like Pho, and Diced Beef & Tomato Rice and in addition they offer Laksa (!) on their menu too. I’ve tried their Salmon with vegetables, and their Tomato Rice but in both occasions I found it to be quite oily, and although flavour isn’t lacking, it isn’t anything great that can set it apart from the rest.

Impressions

For cheap lunchtime meals, Binh Minh might be a good place to go but I wouldn’t go there thinking it’s one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in Richmond.

Binh Minh
40 Victoria Street
Richmond VIC 3121

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

Van Mai

July 6, 2012 Posted in Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

Van Mai is another popular Vietnamese eatery along the bustling Victoria Street, Richmond. In my attempt to seek out and try many of the Vietnamese Restaurants in Richmond, Van Mai on Urbanspoon seemed like a very popular place to try. They have a wide selection of dishes to choose from but of course, I had to choose my favourite Vietnamese dish (or as close to).

I love Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice at Walrus (Springvale) and so my adventure to try out a dish that matches or even possibly tops that dish begins. Van Mai doesn’t have Crispy Chicken withTomato Rice but they do have Diced Pepper Beef with Tomato Rice dish.

I absolutely loved the flavour of this dish. The beef was packed full of flavour, it was slightly sweet, nicely marinated and had a pleasant pepper taste that didn’t overwhelm the natural beef flavour. One little con was that it was a tad too salty but eaten with the fresh lettuce, tomato and cucumber it balanced things out.

I pretty much only order Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice because of the Tomato Rice. At Walrus it’s a vibrant red colour with stir fried with egg, at Van Mai it’s slightly darker and oilier. However, the taste is almost identical. Again, my only complaint is that it’s a tad too oily and I was wiping my mouth with a napkin constantly.

Other than the oiliness, the food they serve is delicious. Would definitely come back to try their other dishes.

Van Mai

372 Victoria St
Richmond VIC 3121

Saigon Light

September 27, 2011 Posted in Food, Food Reviews, Glen Waverley, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese2 Comments

Saigon Light is a new entry to Kingsway in Glen Waverley, it has moved into ABC Cafe’s old spot. This Vietnamese restaurant is, to my memory, one of the only (or very few) Vietnamese eateries on Kingsway after An An closed down.

It serves the standard varieties of Vietnamese cuisine such as Pho and a good selection of rice and noodle dishes that you will often find in your Vietnamese food hubs.

As mentioned in my previous post, I used to always go to Walrus for their Tomato Rice and Crispy Chicken dish. I don’t think I ever got sick of it. Since I seldom head to Springvale anymore, I had to find another place that serve great Tomato rice and chicken.

Saigon Light’s offering looks quite delectable but the flavour of their Tomato rice isn’t quite there. It’s slightly dry and a bit on the bland side. Walrus’s tomato rice was packed full of flavour since it was stir fried and was mixed with egg.

The fried chicken was decent, but I think I preferred Walrus’s version because the seasoning wasn’t as sweet, but it was crispy and cooked well.
Saigon Light’s Three colours dessert was also slightly disappointing. It was quite sweet but lacked flavour. It was also kinda difficult to mix around but it was still alright. I probably wouldn’t order it again, but it was nice to try.

Saigon Light is a restaurant I was hoping would satisfy my Vietnamese food cravings. Unfortunately it lacks the flavour that makes authentic Vietnamese food so good.

Saigon Light

109 Kingsway
Glen Waverley, 3150
(03) 9561 6888