#10 Minh Tan II (190-192 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Penny, Andrew Be, Craig, Mike

Chopstick Chowdown Challenge took a step towards international fame with a couple of English visitors joining us. The venue – Minh Thanh 2 (does this mean there is a Minh Than 1 to be looking forward to?) which is described outside as Vietnamese Chinese BBQ. The restaurant spreads over 2 street numbers, the strung up roast ducks and acccompanying duck cutting master take up most of the wide front window. A narrow entrance opens out into a spacious area, characterised by the yellow outside and cream inside. This is contrasted by the blue light panels on one wall which give it a slight nightclub feel.

By the door there is a display cabinet where you can purchase fluffy pork buns and various desserts. Andrew is eyeing these off. To my right is the mandatory plasma screen. Here we have a twist – the plasma screen advertises menu items with accompanying photos, including some of the more unique items such as chicken feet and peking duck (which according to the photo is a whole duck, head inclusive).

I can see the duck cutting master at work and am about to draw everyone’s attention to his artistry when he picks up a duck and using a giant cleaver, with one rapid motion slices it through the middle letting liquid and innards flow out. I only have a moment to recover as the waiter stands over me waiting for the order.

Andrew and I comment on the recurring ornaments at Asian restaurants (like the gold waving cat that is always pointed at the door to greet customers). We debate the meaning of an ornament which has one large apple and lots of little ones. There is a feeling of clutter, yet our table seems expectionally spacious.

Our English friends are looking a little pink from the day's excursion and Penny comments on her own inability to tan. "That's because we work in IT," jests Andrew.

The waiting staff stand at attention. They run a tight ship here. I don’t know if I’m speaking loudly or if they have special mind-reading abilities but as soon as I complain about the lack of condiments for my dumplings, a bottle of vinegar lands under my nose. The manager is multi-tasking, a portable phone on one ear, while barking instructions at staff and noticing everyone who enters the restaurant. He’s all over it.

Being a massive fan of dumplings I have done the rounds of dumpling restaurants (I will give Hutong Dumpling a free plug here for their excellent xiao long bao and chilli wontons). The dumplings here are more like dim sims but still quite tasty.

Number 27 is another soup of Penny's 'favourite' consistency - 'gelatinous'. It has a distinctive fishy flavour which I will attribute to the shark fin. It is not to everyone's tastes but Mike is happy to finish off the leftovers.

Again we can't stay away from the peking duck and it is excellent. The deep-fried soft shell prawns come out looking great but there is only one word to describe them...'salty'! But there is the joy of eating prawns whole and while some baulk at munching down on the head, I contend that it is the best bit. To ensure everyone is sufficiently fed, we order a pork and eggplant hotpot, which was surprising spicy, tasty and has a thick curry consistency.

Extra points go to Minh Thanh 2 for the complimentary duck salad that we try to send back. However, we shouldn't have questioned the ability of this disciplined waiter army to get our order correct, as we are politely informed it comes with the peking duck.

Our English friends give it the thumbs up and thank us for showing them a restaurant they wouldn’t have got to themselves. If you don't trust their word, then maybe the queue of people waiting for tables speaks for the quality of the food here.

Ratings

Rice paper rolls 7.8/10

Peking pork dumplings 7.6/10

#27 (sweet corn and sharkfin soup) 6.4/10

Special (deepfried soft shell prawns) 6.4/10

Peking duck 8.2/10

#9 Bien Bo Hue Co-Do (196 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Mark R, Andrew Bl, Andrew Be, Penny, Steph, Luke

It is our biggest turn-out at Chopstick Chowdown Challenge and Co-Do has us squeezed onto a centralised round table, which makes it difficult for the waiters to get to the other side of the restaurant. As Steph says there are many distractions here: the plasma screen (which seems to switching between the Terminator, music video clips and Vietnamese soap operas), the mirrors, the people…Probably the biggest distraction, however, is our group because I notice how quiet the restaurant is when there is a momentary lapse in our raucous conversation.

Warning bells ring when a resturant defines itself as Vietnamese-Chinese. Is it a case of when you try to be good everything, you end up being good at nothing? The menu is extensive and has all the usual suspects categorised by main ingredient. This restaurant distinguishes itself by having box of tissues on the table, assumedly as a replacement for serviettes.

Number 27 is vegetarian spring rolls, which are stuffed with corn and make me think of the corn version of the Chiko roll you used to get at fish and chips shops. The sweet chilli dipping sauce though is great, and has a real chilli kick that you don’t get very often. The rice paper rolls are not dry, which rates them above most we’ve had so far.

There are slim-pickings when it comes to specials on the wall. Duck soup is a good name for a Marx Brothers’ film but might be difficult to share in such a big group. We are left with “sugar cane prawn”. This turns out to be reconstituted prawn in batter impaled with thick, fibrous sugar cane. It is all difficult to chew and largely tasteless.

Those of us with pho experience are quite pleased with this one. The beef is remarkably tender and there is something particularly tasty about the broth. The lack of fresh chillis is compensated by a dollop of chilli jam, which satisfies me.

I’m enjoying the duck trend at Chinese restaurants so we order the “sizzling duck with plum sauce”. The duck is battered and of teeth-breaking consistency. Duck fail. Other dishes we order are coconut and lemongrass chicken (brightly yellow and creamy); the Westerner’s favourite, Mongolian beef (it didn’t taste ‘Mongolian'); and sizzling garlic scallops (the pick of the ‘sizzlers’). Someone suggests you need to bring your own fan as every sizzling dish blows steam in Luke’s face, who happens to be sitting at the only accessible place at the table.

The food takes a back seat as we dissect the rules and definitions of dating. Mark lays down the law saying “it’s not a date unless you go to the movies”, leaving us questioning how many dates we’ve actually been on. Of course it doesn’t count as date when two people already want to see the same film and decide to go together. And remember one person buys the tickets and the other the popcorn.

We learn that boys think going out for coffee is a date. Same goes for a business lunch. But what do you do when you find out half an hour in that she has a boyfriend? Downshift from witty banter to telling disgusting stories about trips away with the boys.

The company was great but the food was ordinary. However perhaps it has done its job in brining people together, as we continue to sit around long after the food is gone…waiting for the water we have asked for seven times.

(N.B. This blog does not endorse Mark Rose’s rules of dating.)


Ratings
Beef pho 6.8/10
Rice paper rolls 6.8/10
#27 (vegetarian spring rolls) 6.2/10
Special (sugar cane prawn) 3.6/10
Sizzling duck with plum sauce 6/10

#8 Pho Dzung (210 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Emma, Sarah


The laughing cow is back. But this time it is joined by a boorish rooster. This is another specialist pho restaurant with a short menu displayed on the wall. It is in the shape of a rice bowl, as Emma observantly points out. There is also a limited list of specials tacked on the wall.

The menu does not extend to 27 and unfortunately unlucky number 13 is coagulated ox blood pho. With one bubble girl and Em flatly saying no to the addition of ox blood to her soup (coagulated or otherwise), it is rare beef pho all around.

The pho is fairly standard, nothing to write home about. Sarah is quite happy with her pho and when asked to give a rating, comments “it was overly spicy but that was my own doing”. A bit over-enthusiastic on chilli jam?

I enjoy the delicate spring rolls between mouthfuls of soup and noodles. They are thin cylinders which can be devoured in two bites.

From the specials we also get the Vietnamese broken rice. It is simply chopped up rice with a fried egg on top and pork chop and shredded pork on the side. There are few discs of cucumber around the edge of the plate. It seems to be accompanied by a small bowl of cold broth. As Sarah said, "it did its purpose"...being rice and broken...

On the night we were there Pho Dzing seemed to be attracting older white couples and families with BYO bottles of wine. Emma questions why there is pornography playing on the plasma screen. Sarah quickly corrects her that it is Michael Jackson’s Heal the World. I note that this is the second restaurant in the strip that is playing MJ video clips. Some vintage Jason Donovan follows on its heels.

Maybe next time we will try the beef pizzle pho...

Ratings
Beef pho 7.2/10
Spring rolls 7.3/10
Special (Vietnamese broken rice) 5.8/10