Thai Urban July 26 2017

Jim, Karen, Megan, Ron, John

We had:

Peking Duck pancakes

Red Curry duck

Jim's sweet pork belly
Garlic Pepper beef
Chilli and basil prawns

The pancakes were a bit messy.  They came as one big pancake with lots of hoisin on top and inside.  Each had a few bits of duck and lots of veges, carrots, lettuce, cucumber.  They were kind of nice for a change but not spectacular, wouldn't go back for more.  Very messy to eat and we ended up using our knives and forks.

The Duck curry was standard and pretty yum, enjoyed by all. 

The pork was everyone's favourite, it was melt in the mouth, star anise, soy, sweet flavour.  There was much discussion about what the ingredients could be and who had the best recipe at home for something similar.

The prawns were very nice, light with good veges, not too spicy, tasty.

 The beef was another favourite.  It was lovely and tender, we could taste the garlic and the black pepper addition really lifted the dish.

 The dessert was the roti banana and green tea icecream, both lovely.

 The restaurant wasn't very full at all so conversation was easy to hear.  The downside was that the heating wasn't working all that well and so each table had it's own heater.  Oh well, can't have everything.

 Overall it was very reasonably priced at $30 each, great value.

Green Bamboo July 12th 2017

The night before a State of Origin match must be a popular night for restaurants as we arrived to find the normally quiet Green Bamboo restaurant bustling with patrons. While we waited to order, Ron regaled us with tales of his recent culinary adventure in New Zealand.  If the choice of a suburban Vietnamese restaurant was a letdown after such a trip, Ron didn’t let on.  He was as keen as always to have a restaurant night with the group!

There were only 4 of us this time for dinner – Ron, Megan, Jim and Karen.  For entrée, we ordered rice paper rolls. The rolls were fresh and well-packed and the filling was reasonably nice especially the pickled carrots and capsicum.  However Megan was disappointed with her first bite which was all chicken meat.  The peanut sauce served with the dish was also a little bland. The overwhelming flavour was peanut butter and it needed something more to add interest and depth.

After entrée, we ordered 4 mains – Vietnamese mint beef, caramelised pork, battered fish salt and crispy skin chicken with red fried rice.   The unanimous favourite was the battered fish which was beautifully light and crisp. For some reason, the kitchen provided us with the “no chilli version”.  This was a shame as it needed this extra flavour to cut through the fat and balance the salt.   Our second choice was Vietnamese mint beef.   Karen thought the meat was a bit chewy but it did have some nice flavours which were well-matched with the beef. 

In contrast, the caramelised pork was a standard (rather than stand out) dish. We got what we expected but it was pretty boring.  Similarly, the crispy skin chicken wasn’t very exciting.  The chicken was done well – tender chicken with a nice crispy skin.  We were particularly interested in trying the fried red rice accompanying the chicken. However this had a strong smoked paprika flavour which was an odd match with the Vietnamese style chicken.  The dish was also served with an Asian coleslaw which gave the impression of Southern USA food rather than Vietnamese fare.

For dessert, we tried the banana fritters and fried ice cream options – standard desserts done reasonably well.

Overall the meal was well-priced but pretty standard. Perhaps after Ron’s tales, we were expecting  a more adventurous night…oh well, there’s always next time!