Mamachau

A place that's been on my list of places to visit for quite a while now is Mamachau. I popped in once for a takeaway KFC bao but felt I definitely needed to return to try more of what's on offer. My friends and I stopped by on our way home from uni, keen to get our hands on the baos!

Small but super cute, complete with adorable drawings on the walls and only a few tables available to actually dine in.

The menu. I just love how cute it is! Look at Mr Bao :)

Meal deals and more menu items!

Our FEAST!

Asian Taco Meal Deal $11.50

I went with one of the meal deals so we could all share the lotus root chips. Each of the 4 of us ordered a KFC and pork belly bao. The lotus chips were waaay too salty for our liking, thank goodness I had a drink!

 Master-stock pork belly bao

The rich flavours of the pork belly went so well with the pickled mustard greens, all wrapped up in a super fluffy 'taco'! Seeing them make this on the spot, it was nice to see all the pork belly stored in the stock in a bain-marie. This was probably a reason why the meat was so tender and flavourful. (*cough cough* take note, Sit Lo). 

 KFC bao

 My favourite of the two, although the pork belly was still delicious! The crunchy chicken was lightly seasoned and complimented perfectly by the tangy mayo and slaw. The only improvement I would've liked would be to have the mayo squirted between the slaw and chicken rather than the bao and chicken. Sounds weird, but I think it would make a huge difference in blending the flavours from the three main components!

We definitely weren't disappointed with lunch and will most definitely be returning. In fact, we visited on Thursday last week and will probably be going again tomorrow! Such fantastic value, especially for us uni students. Next time I return, I will probably just stick to the baos, which are $3.50 when purchased individually. The service is also commendable, with the friendliest girls ever behind the counter!

Great first impression, I definitely recommend it.

Sit Lo

The perfect opportunity to try out Sit Lo arose when my friend and I decided to catch up over lunch. Being Vietnamese, as well as loving our Vietnamese food, we were both keen to see what the fuss was all about!

Very much on trend with the decor that can be seen in basically all the new eateries opening up lately, there is a clear modern, industrial feel here. 

There is a long communal table along the centre, seating by the window out the front as well as tables for two along the wall. We visited at approximately 1:30pm on a Thursday, so we'd probably missed the lunch hour rush and it wasn't too packed.

There is a large menu right by the counter which is divided into six main sections - noodle bowls, banh mi, pho, baos, cold rolls and sides. We placed our orders and were directed to a table along the wall.

Filtered Vietnamese Iced Coffee $4

Refreshing, but a tad too sweet for my liking because of the amount of condensed milk it contained. I'm sure I've had better, but it would've been either while I was in Vietnam or made by my parents at home!  

Trio of Baos (steam buns) $13

From left to right:

Panko crumbed fried chicken, pickled cucumber, chilli mayo, coriander & scallions

Soft shell crab, slaw & egg chive dill mayo

Slow cooked Barossa Valley pork belly, pickled cucumber, hoisin & scallions

These really caught my eye when I first started seeing photos all over instagram and looked over their menu. The first bao I tried was the pork belly one. Unfortunately the meat was bland and cold, and the pickled cucumber was soggy and didn't taste at all like it had been pickled. I really couldn't taste the hoisin either. Such a disappointing start to the meal!
Next up was the soft shell crab bao. I was expecting the soft shell crab to be hot and crunchy but it was the complete opposite. The only thing that made this bao better than the pork one was that it had the mayo to tie it altogether. Yet another disappointment.
Finally, the chicken bao. I don't know if I was expecting this to be terrible as well or if it was actually good, but it was definitely the best out of the three. The chicken was still crunchy and it tasted great with the chilli mayo. Again, the cucumber was soggy and flavourless.

I have a theory about why the food wasn't too spectacular today - I assume everything is pre-prepared before their lunch service but isn't kept at their respective temperatures properly. For example, the pork and soft shell crab were serious let downs. Also the cucumber tasted like it had been left out at room temperature. I feel as though just because we chose to dine a little later for lunch, the food should be at the same standard as it would be at the beginning of the service.

Although the food this time wasn't the best, I can definitely commend the service! Everyone was super friendly and we were greeted as soon as we walked through the door. The food and drinks were ready probably within 5 minutes of ordering. I'd love to see if this is the same when they are a little busier!

Presentation-wise, I did like that everything was served in recyclable cardboard containers, although I think I'd still prefer my pho in a big bowl! I do think that the prices are a bit steep, though. I originally thought that the baos were pretty good value but they were rather small and my friend who ordered the same thing said he was still hungry afterwards!

Overall, an underwhelming first experience at Sit Lo. I might give it another shot when I reach the bottom of my list of places to dine in Adelaide, but I'm not in too much of a rush to go back.

Gin Long Canteen

Note: 

This is an old post I had lined up months ago which I wasn't going to post, but I think everything is definitely still relevant! I've also included my thoughts at the very end, having been back multiple times.

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I caught up with some old friends over dinner a while back at a South-East Asian street food inspired eatery on O'Connell Street, Gin Long Canteen.

 Ramli Slider $6 each

chicken, egg, curry mayo

Great flavours, not overly greasy and the perfect size for a starter!

Honey glazed pork neck skewer $8

sesame, peanuts, galangal

 Gin Long wings $8.50

crispy winglets, pandan leaves, hot thai sauce

We all agreed this was very disappointing. There was very little meat on the wings, as you can see, and what meat there was, was extremely dry and quite tough. Also, the 'Hot Thai sauce' that came with it tasted like normal chilli sauce.

Nem Nuong Grilled Pork $9.50

rice paper, herb salad, hoisin paste

I love eating Nem Nuong, especially if they're made without that packet seasoning that turns the meat bright red! Coming from a Vietnamese person who's had all sorts of Nem Nuong, I'd say these are definitely great. We all really enjoyed this dish.

Grilled chicken satay $9

ketupat rice cake, cucumber, spicy peanut sauce

Pomegranate chicken $18

chargrilled chicken, sweet tamarind

Probably our favourite dish of the night. Sticky and slightly sweet, this would have been absolutely perfect with some white rice! Also, the serving is quite generous and we were left extremely satisfied. 

 Gin Long $10 in a bubble tea cup

pandan or tamarind-orange infused gin

We ordered both the pandan and orange-tamarind infused gin cocktails, and found the latter more enjoyable, possibly because it was a little bit sweeter. I'd recommend this for those who would like to enjoy a light alcoholic drink that doesn't taste 'obviously' alcoholic!

 Ho Chi Mint Mojito $14

rum in a sugarcane syrup

Very refreshing but definitely steer clear if you don't really enjoy the taste of rum.

Overall, a great first impression, although there were a few let downs with the food. I would recommend everything but the wings and pork skewers!
We found the service rather average, only because it was difficult to differentiate between the patrons and waiters as they were also dressed in casual clothing.
Awesome atmosphere, fantastic food and drinks; we'll definitely be back!

Note:
I've been back multiple times and the food has definitely improved, even though most of it was great originally. Even my parents who are Vietnamese really like the food here, and they're usually super picky since mum's cooking is incredible! The service has also improved, but the waiting staff are still dressed very casually! I guess after a few visits, you get a good idea of who works there.
A few other food recommendations I would make are the Very Exciting Beef Salad, Lychee Duck Curry and Nom Nom Barramundi (will insert a picture below).

Nom Nom Barramundi $29

How awesome is that presentation?! Piping hot, crunchy pieces of barramundi paired with a tangy fish sauce based dipping sauce = seriously addictive!

Pho Hung Vuong Saigon

A weekend in December saw Mum, my sister and myself making a weekend trip to Melbourne for a wedding, which was absolutely beautiful! 

The morning after the wedding, we were absolutely exhausted but still, Mum was determined to visit Footscray. We were craving pho as comfort food and to soothe our headaches and a quick search on Urbanspoon told me that a popular Pho eatery was literally just a few doors down from where we were standing! We took it as a sign and visited Pho Hung Vuong Saigon.

I feel as though Adelaide doesn't really have many, if any, places open in the morning to have pho as a breakfast option. It is the norm in Vietnam where there are a plethora of soup options alone for breakfast! However, I guess pho would be a really heavy meal in the morning...

 Special beef combination rice noodle soup (small) $8.50

SO delicious! I like how the stock wasn't overly sweet and had a really rich meaty flavour. I also really liked the rice noodles themselves (scroll down 2 images to see them). They were different to the ones you'd find in Adelaide.

Grilled chicken rice noodle soup (small) $8.50

Feeling a little adventurous that morning, I ordered this. I've never seen anything like this on a menu before so I wasn't too sure what to expect. The chicken had a great flavour and tasted like it would have been perfect in a Vietnamese rice dish. However, I didn't really enjoy it sitting in the soup! Definitely an interesting menu item, but I don't think I'll order this if I visit again.

 The rice noodles

They were much thinner and softer than those I've had in Adelaide, and tasted a lot better, too!

 Fresh coconut juice $3

Definitely not fresh. And definitely overpriced. But oh so good! My tip would be to buy these at your local asian grocers - they cost less than a dollar.

 Hot soya bean milk $3

 Cold fresh lemon drink $3.50

I think this is a great place to enjoy a good bowl of pho and I'll definitely be back if I'm ever in Melbourne again! I highly recommend the beef rice noodles. 

 

While wandering around after breakfast, I stumbled across people setting up for a fair of some sort, and had a glimpse of some Melbourne food trucks! There was no way I could have eaten anymore after breakfast so unfortunately I couldn't try any of their offerings. Cute trucks, though!

Star of Saigon

Our family was out at lunch again, trying out a new Vietnamese restaurant which has very recently opened a few suburbs away from us.

I love how it has a really nice outdoor seating option!

The decor was interesting as it was a mix of modern as well as antique, with dark wooden tables and chairs as well as some really nice leather booths, which was where we sat. Above the booths, the chandeliers and floral wallpaper gave it a slight vintage feel.

 Jackfruit smoothie $5

Custard Apple smoothie $5

Che Ba Mau (in the background)

We were pretty surprised to see these drinks for $5 on the menu since most restaurants have them priced between $3.50-$4.50. This was explained when we discovered that they were served in HUGE milkshake glasses!

Pho Bo $11

The pho only comes in one size which I think was a decent sized serving. Mum really enjoyed it and rated it a 9/10, which means it must be quite good! She said that it was nowhere near as sweet as Pho Ba Ria 2, where we usually go, but had a nicer richness due to the meat stock.

 Bun Bo Hue 

Dad enjoyed this, though he isn't a very fussy eater! I noticed that all the soup dishes had only one size, but the servings are a pretty decent.

 Bun Nem Nuong

This was my sister's lunch and she also really enjoyed it. The pork meatballs tasted really great because there wasn't that artificiality to it, unlike those that you might eat from food stands at events. Also, a very generous serving that my sister struggled to finish!

 Grilled Pork Skewer wraps $16

I felt like trying something different to what I would usually order so I went with DIY wraps. This was also a huge serving! We all agreed that the pork skewer meat was delicious. It had a delicious, slightly charred flavour and texture, perfect for the wraps. There was a huge selection of fresh herbs and crunchy lettuce as well as some pickled vegetables. SO good!

We had a great lunch, and we wouldn't hesitate to come back here! The restaurant has a great modern feel yet serves delicious, authentic Vietnamese food. A bit pricier than other restaurants within the area, but I think it's definitely worth it. My only complaint would be that the food took far too long to arrive at our table. The restaurant wasn't too busy that day yet we still had to wait for quite a while. However, when it arrived, it was well-presented and tasted great!

Overall, 8.5/10.