#17 Thanh Ha 2 (120 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Steph, Emma, Imogene, Paddy, Penny, Andrew

Chopstick Chowdown Challenge was back with a ravenous vengeance this week after a leave of absence. Thanh Ha 2 was the location and one of the best overall tasting experiences on the route thus far. The menu is like an encyclopedia complete with pretty pictures. We make quick work of it though, following the ChChCh formula, along with some of our favourites – duck and squid.

The service, on the other hand, is ineffectual. We’ve become accustomed to the quick 'in-out' approach of these eateries, where waiters are anticipating your order as soon as you open the menu, dishes are whipped out at lightning speed and waitstaff are attentive. Being busy isn’t an excuse as many of the restaurants seem to become more efficient the busier it gets.

As Paddy says there appears to be a “tea allowance” which we used up within 5 minutes of arrival. It takes four requests to finally get another pot of tea which turns out to be as simple as the waiter picking it up off the counter where they are all ready to go.

The wine list is also a lie. After attempting to order two different types of white by the glass, we are informed they only have the house wine.

When the spring rolls come out we notice the lack of bowls and chopsticks as Penny ponders using her tea cup as a bowl. We finish the rice paper rolls by the time we get any napkins. Just as puzzling is the Masterfood squeeze bottle of tomato sauce that is put on the table. I was convinced it was a Chinese BBQ sauce in a ketchup container, but no it is in fact tomato sauce.

However I am on good terms with the food from first bite. The vegetable spring rolls are delicious with finely shredded filling and a peppery flavour. The rice paper rolls are the best we’ve had, juicy and all the ingredients coming together, warm and perfectly shredded with enough mint and a tasty peanut sauce.

From the specials on the back wall we get the Vietnamese pancake. Crunchy bean shoots, shredded carrot and other vegetable are combined with prawns and pork, enveloped in a crispy savoury pancake. On the scale of small to large, this is massive. Accompanying lettuce, vietnamese basil and mint means you can wrap it up like a spring roll with some sweet chilli dipping sauce. An excellent example of this traditional dish.

Duck with plum sauce gets extra points for presentation but is rather fatty. The squid with tamarind sauce from the house specials tastes odd. I would say more like a fish cake than squid.

Last but not least is our proxy number 27. Since number 27 was the rice paper rolls we are already obliged to get, we order number 13 – mung bean pies. Having no idea what these would look or taste like, I don't expect them to look like fried muffins and taste like samosa filling. But there you have it. With a dollop of chilli sauce these are addictive!

It's clear we all agree on the quailty of the food. Consistently high ratings on all the standards is a testament to the taste.

Ratings

Rice paper rolls 8.1/10

Vegetarian spring rolls 7.9/10

Beef pho 7.6/10

#13 Mung bean pie 8.7/10

Daily special (vietnamese pancake) 8.6/10

Duck and plum sauce 6.3/10

Squid and tamarind 5.8/10

Detour #2: Trang Restaurant (59 Hardgrave Road, Brisbane)

Attendees: Beata, Bobbie, Bo, Candice


A combination of work and pleasure brings me up to the sunshine state. A visit to a Vietnamese restaurant in Brisvegas provides an opportunity to give the ChChCh formula another whirl outside Victoria St. Bobbie and I impulsively take on the challenge single-handedly. Bo and Bobbie swear by Thy Thy from their Melbourne visits and it's time to see how Brisbane's Trang shapes up.

On a warm autumnal afternoon we have drank ourselves sober with a carton of cider and are hoping some Vietnamese food and a couple of bottles of red will serve as a pick-me-up.

It's lucky a reservation has been made as all the outdoor tables are full and people are spilling out onto the footpath. I am desperately thirsty and wanting to wash the taste of cider out of my mouth but in our tucked away corner table it seems to take forever to get the waiter's attention.

Bobbie and I embark on the challenge with rice paper rolls. These are of the average variety, relatively tasty but nothing to change states for.

Next up are the mussels with chilli from Trang's specials. They seem to be fresh and have the taste of the sea. The sauce is more on the sweet-chilli side with bits of red capsicum. These are taken care of quite quickly.

For number 27 we have counted down the Chinese section of the menu and ended up with braised duck with mushrooms. The duck is quite fatty but the abundance of vegetables is notable. There are 3 types of mushroom (button, shitake and chinese) and as Bobbie says these are "juicy and delicious".

It seems that all the food has come out and is practically finished. A bottle of wine has been consumed but where is our pho? I fin

ally manage to get the waiter's attention and it seems it has been forgotten. Chopstick Chowdown Challenge will not be complete without pho! It comes out a few minutes later and is very enjoyable.

During the re-ordering of pho, spring rolls have come out and despite full bellies it is our duty to taste-test them. The main descriptor that comes to mind is 'stringy'. When asked to do the ratings, Candice comments "they're not very tasty, I give them an 8." Maybe Queenslanders are more liberal with their ratings!


Ratings
Beef pho 8.3/10
Rice paper rolls 7/10
#27 (braised duck with mushrooms) 8/10
Special (mussels with chilli) 8.3/10
Vegetarian spring rolls 6.8/10

Detour #1: Pho Cuong (3015 N Classen Blvd. Oklahoma City)

Attendees: Steph, Beata

Chopstick Chowdown Challenge was put on hold on a few weeks as two of the founding members hit the road in the U.S. of A. During Road Trip USA we take the recommendation of our trusty guidebook and visit a Pho restaurant in Oklahoma City.

“Oh-kla-homa! Where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain. And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet...Okla-okla-okla-okla-homa!". We sing out the showtunes as we enter the panhandle end of the state.

Negiotiating our way into Oklahoma City our trusty guidebook initially fails us. The map directs us to the stockyards and then gets us stuck in road works construction. No sign of any Asian restaurants around here! I scrutinise the map and realise that the key has been numbered incorrectly and doesn’t correspond to the address in the restaurant description.

Like many American cities (but unlike the ‘wagonwheel’ that is Santa Fe), Oklahoma City is built in a grid with numbered east-west streets. We are quickly back on track.

It is obvious when we hit the Asian district with its Asian signs, archway and dragon statues. More puzzling is the Golden Dome that marks its outskirts and the waving, costumed Liberty tax character.

While Australia’s Vietnamese population is easily explained by its geographic proximity, I was surprised to find a burgeoning one in the middle of the American bible belt. Retrospective research tells me that tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees fled to Oklahoma City in the 1970s. Time to find out how their pho compares to the ones we've been eating on Victoria Street.

The restaurant looks like it could be on Victoria St, Melbourne but much larger. Stock standard tables and chairs with a green theme.

The menu has a good variety of pho and is cutely divided into 'For the beginners', 'A little bit of fat?', 'Adventurer's choice', and 'Fortifying combos'. Our standard beef pho comes from the first category.

I find it lacks the tanginess I enjoy and tastes more like peppery beef stock. Like everything oversized in America the accompanying plate of bean sprouts and basil is massive. A nice American touch is the inclusion of a fat green chilli, which we are wary of after our last green chilli experience in New Mexico (which I won't recount in case you are eating while reading this!)

In America they call spring rolls, fried egg rolls so we take a guess that rice paper rolls are what is described on the menu as fresh spring rolls. They are fairly tasty and come with a generous serving of dipping sauce.

In general we have found the food in America cheap and this is another bargain at $5.95 for a large bowl (roughly $AUD 6.50).Refuelled and renegergised we were ‘back on the road again’ (lalalala) and onwards to Dallas, Texas and our next road tripping adventure. It may have involved a brush with fame and a ride in a limo but that’s story for another day…or blog…