The climax of Chopstick Chowdown Challenge was more of an anti-climax. We turned up ready for the last restaurant only to realise we had already been to the last restaurant. So we went back for a third helping of chilli fish.
Now when I walk back along Victoria St, I see new restaurants have sprung up. Others have disappeared. But this is the kaleidoscopic nature of this vibrant strip which we have had the pleasure to thoroughly sample.
It only took about 16 months but we did it! We completed the challenge of eating at every Asian restaurant on Victoria St between Church and Hoddle Streets. And what an epic experience it was. We delighted our palates, we tried foods we never thought we'd try, we made some wonderful discoveries. My mouth waters again as I go through the blog and am reminded of our culinary experiences. It has also been a portrait of friendships (some transient, some enduring), social experiences and the banter that comes with a group of people sharing a meal. People may come and go but true friendships and good food remain!
However, for those who like their conclusions less philosophical and more mathematical, here are the stats.
THE STATISTICS
Participants: 29
Restaurants: 36
Dishes eaten: 196
Number of bowls of pho consumed: 19
BEST RESTAURANT
I performed two types of statistical analysis on the ratings I had from participants for each restaurants:
i) the mean of the top 3 rated dishes
ii) the mean of all the dishes minus the top and bottom ranked.
In both cases, the top ranking resturant came out the same. Drumroll please...
#1 YU XIANG LAPOPO
It seems we just couldn't get enough of that chilli fish. But Victoria St is known for its Vietnamese restaraunts, right? The runner up (or best Vietnamese restaurant) according to the first analysis was...
#2 (i) THANH HA
And according to the second analysis
#2 (ii) THANH THANH
The bronze medal winner was the same...
#3 QUAN 88
Other restaurants making up the top 10 were...
Ying Thai
Vinh Vinh
Tom Toon Noodle House
Binh Minh
Oriental Spirit
Saigon Rose
Thy Thy
Although I have allocated winners, it is only according to the results of this little experiment where ranking were often very close and scores affected by variables (such as who attended, how generous they were with their ratings, personal tastes, experiences on the day, etc). At the end of the day it is a matter of personal preference but hopefully I have managed to capture a sample of the best picks on Victoria St.
BEST DISHES
Overall the dishes which scored the highest (the mean participant rating on the night) over the course of the challenge were:
#1 Vietnamese Salad - Vi'em Cafe (9.1/10)
#2 Pad Kee Mao - Tom Toon Noodle House (9/10)
Chilli Fish Bowl - YuXiang Lapopo (9/10)
Coconut Beef - Quan 88 (9/10)
#3 Peking Duck - Binh Minh (8.9/10)
At the start of this challenge I promised to find you the best pho and a list of other dishes. Here are the results.
Best Pho
#1 Thy Thy
#2 Thanh Ma
Best Ricepaper Rolls
# 1 Tran Tran
#2 Vinh Vinh
Best Spring Rolls
#1 Binh Minh
#1 Thanh Ha
(Special mention for Quan 88's duck spring roll special)
Best Peking Duck
#1 Binh Minh
#2 Pacific BBQ House
Best Green Curry
Tom Toon
Best Satay Skewers
Oriental Spirit
Personally there are some dishes that stand out in my mind, that I continued thinking about for days after. So here are my special mentions:
- Soft shell crab - Thanh Thanh
- Peking duck - Pacific BBQ House
- BBQ pork with Chinese broccoli - I Spicy
- Whole fish with spicy sour sauce - Ying Thai
- Szechaun mud crab - Xiao Ting Box
- Chilli fish - YuXiang Lapopo
Thanks again everyone who participated, especially Steph (for saying "let's do this" and putting in the most ChChCh appearances) and Craig (for being our most enthusiastic and consistent participant once recruited from England).
There is a gap on Sunday nights now - a time when you want to savour the last moments of the weekend and not think about the impending working week. Maybe we can begin a new challenge...the mission to find the best Indian food in Melbourne...Curry Chowdown Challenge?!?
