#33 Vi'em Cafe (345 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Craig, Steph, Annabel

The weather has turned in Melbourne (making our Pom very happy) and the next restaurant on the route has an open coutryard-like area facing onto the street.

We've seen some novel decor but I'd say this one takes the cake. Most striking is the feature wall of fake rock with cascading water that makes you feel like you are in an Indiana Jones film. The lighting casts a green tinge over everything. It is like being in a Vietnamese restaurant theme park.

Even the drinks menu is fun. Unfortunately for Annabel they won't give her the three colour drink so she has to settle for the two colour. Don't ask us what was in it. Coconut milk seems to be the base and little balls of green and red make up the colour. At the bottom are chunks of...something. Maybe cream, maybe lard, maybe something else...

Perhaps the waitress has been staring at the green lights for too long because two minutes after taking our order she returns to take our order. Uh yeah, we just did that.

The spring rolls are quite tasty and and rice paper rolls are good. We substitute pho with a beef soup, which is highly disappointing. It has all the ingredients to make a successful dish (chunks of beef, plump noodles and a colourful broth) but it is tasteless bordering on wrong tasting.

For #27 we have a Vietnamese salad, which is light, tasty and refreshing. Steph being a massive fan of these salads doesn't hold back on giving it a 10 in her ratings. We also have calamari with XO sauce (not bad but not as flavoursome as it could be).

And then kang kong. We order this partly because of the name (I'm have flashes of gorillas on tall buildings) and partly to get our nutrients. This green veggie (it seems to be variation of bok choy) turns out to be stringy and chewy and it doesn't go down like hoped.

But it all doesn't matter because Craig is just happy to eat all the rice he likes under the pretext of 'carbo-loaing' for the Melbourne marathon.


Ratings
Rice paper rolls 6.8/10
Spring rolls 7.4/10
Beef soup 4.1/10
#27 (Vietnamese salad) 9.1/10
Calamari with XO sauce 6.4/10
Kang kong 5.9/10

#29 Binh Minh (40 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Craig, Steph, Rob, Imogene

Binh Minh marks a milestone in the Chopstick Chowdown Challenge. It is the last restaurant on the south side of Victoria St before Hoddle St. Hence it marks the official point where we turn around and make our way down the other side of the road.

It is busy and we are given a table upstairs. As soon as we walk in we are greeted with delicious scents of garlic, sweet soy and chilli. With the smell making my taste buds tingle, I am looking forward to eating.

The specials board is tantalising (albeit partially rubbed out, leading to some conjecture about whether it actually says duck or something less appetising). Along with lobster and peking duck there are dumplings. Bonus!

Number 27 is a wonton soup with xa xiu. This turns out to be Vietnamese for BBQ pork. The wonton are quite delicious, the soup has a balanced stocky flavour and the BBQ pork is tender.

Rice paper rolls are declared to be some of the best we've had with big colourful prawns and a good balance of flavours. The spring rolls are of the delicate and tasty variety, served with iceberg lettuce and a sweet dipping sauce.

From the specials, the prawn dumplings are plump. Wonton wrappers filled with minced pork and prawn. The dipping sauce of kecap manis and a dollop of chilli sauce make this a great entree.

The satay sticks are an impressive sight making an enormous wagonwheel on a giant plate. It looks far more than 5 skewers then I realise they have been cut in half. There is a ton of chicken on each skewer (along with a slice of onion and carrot) and the chicken is plump but the sauce is not as tasty as might be expected.

Chilli and lemongrass eggplant sounds like a hit from the menu but in reality lacks flavour. The dish is contaminated by slimy and a heavy soy based sauce.

At Binh Minh it is DYI peking duck. Bonus points for this novelty! What you get is a plate of duck, a plate of wafer-thin wraps and a plate of vegetables (shredded carrot, sliced spring onion and cucumber). Now compile and wrap it yourself. I’m so into the wrapping that I forget to note the taste. All good it seems. The duck is tender with wonderfully shiny maroon skin.

Binh Minh is one of the best overall dining experiences we have had on the Challenge.

Ratings

Rice paper rolls 7.9/10

Spring rolls (vegetarian) 7.9/10

#27 wonton soup with BBQ pork 7.4/10

Satay skewers 6.5/10

Special (prawn dumplings) 8/10

Peking duck 8.9/10

Eggplant with chilli and lemongrass 7.1/10