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| lonely crab rice paper rolls |
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| Duck sang chow bow, delish |
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| eggplant tofu, nice |
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| Absolutely yummy duck |
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| Fish with basil chilli sauce |
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| home style pork spare ribs |
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| Duck and paw paw salad |
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| Dessert menu |
WINE:
Jamieson Estate, 2010 Chardonay
Bridges Westend 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon
The last time we went to the Hoang Hau was nearly two years ago, the night of the coup against Kevin Rudd. At the table next to us, lots of Labor politicians (Bill Shorten et al) working the phones, jumping up and down, displaying what we thought was normal wanker politician behaviour. Little did we know (until we got to our respective homes that night) that something big was happening, and we missed it all.
So we thought we would return, not just to see if another coup was going to happen, but also because we liked the food.
We started with the Deep Fried Rice paper rolls with crabmeat, which sounded really nice, but really disappointing. They came looking very small and lonely on a bed of lettuce with some Vietnamese mint. They really needed the mint, as by themselves they were quite bland and didn't taste like crab. Ron would have liked them 4 times the size.
We had ordered the 3 course Duck, which they had advertised on their board outside. The first of this was the duck sang chow bow. The general view was that this was "very nice", Andrew said it was "saucy". The duck was stir fried with pine nuts, spring onions, waterchestnuts, and the stock that Andrew thought was saucy. Karen said it was a waste of duck but I didn't think so.
Baby barramundi crispy served with basil chilli sauce. It was a bit dry and rubbery, Karen (recently returned from Kangaroo Island) thought the fish could have been fresher. Not really memorable.
Chilli Eggplant and beancurd hotpot was voted as a bit ordinary, but we basically got what we ordered. I liked it
Authentic Vietnamese home style pork spare ribs. Beautifully slow cooked, "just melt in mouth" with a lovely sauce. It got Jim's vote.
The second course of the 3 course duck was a chilli duck, double cooked like Shantung Chicken. It was shredded, fried crispy on a bed of cabbage. Questions were asked as to what it was exactly (it was not on the written menu) and the best answer we got was that it was "duck with star anise". This was the dish we all fought over.
The last dish was the duck salad with paw paw. We were a bit over it all then, so that was consumed without much comment.
BUT, the desserts pretty amazing (see menu). Ron's favourite pancakes were delish, the rice balls in sesame and peanuts likewise.
