Cafe Nho, Bankstown

Remember those mini tubs of creme caramel your Mum would buy you from the supermarket fridges? The ones with the plastic tabs you’d have to break off the bottom so the custard would slide out? You’ll get a flashback to childhood with the Vietnamese version, banh flan. It’s all about that sensation of slowly savouring chilled custard - sitting in a lake of caramel sauce of course - made even colder with a blizzard of chipped ice scattered across the top. Take that, tropical humidity.


Vietnamese creme caramel $6.90

At Cafe Nho, they kick things up a notch by adding a crown of red rubies. They’re those addictive nubbins of water chestnut jellies tinted red so they look like giant pomegranate seeds. Or rubies. Put it all together and you’ve got a multi-textured dessert of silky custard, bitter caramel and the refreshing crunch of water chestnuts encased in chewy tapioca jelly.

You’ll find a constant crowd of families, teens and couples at this Bankstown cafe, spilling across the footpath out the front or hidden in the booths at the back. Everyone has a drink or dessert in front of them. The constant whir of blenders doesn’t faze anyone.


Watermelon, lychee and strawberry frappe $6

Here you can design your own fruit juice, smoothie or frappe from a rainbow of tropical choices. We’re talking dragon fruit, soursop, jackfruit and, you guessed it, durian. And even though you keep forgetting that avocado is a fruit, the folks here haven’t. If you can’t make up your mind, pick a preset combo from the menu, like mango, coconut and whipped cream or watermelon, lychee and strawberry.


Pomelo rind, white seaweed and beans $6.90


Smashed durian $10

Otherwise the dessert menu revolves mostly around shaved iced concoctions. The shaved ice with candied pomelo rind and snow fungus will cool you right down, or get that ice blitzed up with smashed durian. They’re not stingy with the durian either. The crowd favourite is probably the homemade jelly combination, a parfait glass filled with grass jelly, basil seeds, red rubies, shaved ice and coconut milk.


Cafe sua da iced white coffee $4

Looking for a turbo-charged pick-me-up? Get the Vietnamese coffee. It’s super strong and just as sweet. Most locals have it with condensed milk and poured over ice but you can pull out all the stops and get it blended with Oreos, Tim Tams, Bounty or Snickers.






Cafe Nho
64 Bankstown City Plaza, Bankstown Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9709 6820

Opening hours
Daily 7am-6pm

This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.

Mam Mam, Bankstown

Sydney might be awash with Vietnamese restaurants but finding traditional dishes from Hanoi, in the country’s north, is more difficult. That’s where recently opened Mam Mam in Bankstown comes in. This stylish arcade café is already a hit with locals. Don’t know your bun cha from your bun nam? Don’t worry, the slick full-page menu photos will eliminate any guesswork.



Bún chả Hanoi smoky grilled pork meatball vermicelli salad $13

If you’re going to order anything from the menu, make it the bún chả, a Hanoi classic of grilled pork meatballs and pork slices with vermicelli noodles and salad. You can even watch your pork sizzle on the barbecue through the front window. Pick up your jaw from the ground when your feast arrives, spread out on a gigantic woven platter. Place a little bit of everything in your bowl, drench it with the salty sweet soup and savour the smoky char of pork against soft noodles, crunchy pickled vegetables and fresh herbs.


Bún đậu mắm tôm fried tofu noodle salad $13

Want to level up? Try the bún đậu mắm tôm, a similar bún chả set-up that substitutes the grilled pork with poached pork slices, fried tofu puffs and pork intestines. The accompanying sauce made from fermented shrimp paste packs a fishy punch, in the best possible way. You’ve been warned.


Bún mắm spicy and sour soup $14.50

Bún mắm ($14.50) is a spicy and sour soup holding a jackpot of plump prawns, tender squid, pork belly and thick chewy noodles. Transfer the side plate of shredded banana flower, cabbage and bean sprouts into the soup and then head on down to flavour town. There’s a key ingredient behind the soup’s addictively pungent umami earthiness: fermented fish paste. Don’t be afraid. It’s just an echo versus a punch in the face but it’s definitely there.


Shredded banana flower, cabbage and sprout accompaniments for the bún mắm

Nem rán Hanoi-style pork and prawn spring rolls $7

Have we saved the best until last? You bet. You need an order of the nem rán – that’s the North Vietnamese version of spring rolls – wrapped up in rice paper sheets (the same ones used for your favourite rice paper rolls) and deep-fried until golden. They’re super crunchy with just a hint of chewiness. Order them as an entrée ($7) and wrap them up in lettuce with pickles or have them as a side to vermicelli noodles and herbs ($13).


Iced white coffee $4 and iced tea $1








Mam Mam
1/313 Chapel Road South, Bankstown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02 9709 5662

Opening hours
Daily 10am-9pm


This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.

All you can eat hotpot at Hotpot City, Bankstown

Winter time is hotpot time. If you've never had hotpot, you've not had the pleasure of huddling around a cavernous bowl of steaming soup. It's this soup that is used to cook an endless assortment of meats, fish balls, vegetables, noodles and more.

Most hotpot places are a la carte but Hotpot City in Bankstown lets you eat as much as you can from a buffet selection for $35 (only $19 for lunch Monday to Friday).


Hotpot buffet

Everyone gets their own hotpot which means no need to fight over the last fish ball. Choose from 11 soup bases, running from tom yum to kimchi to oxtail with herbs. Don't worry. They have a classic chicken soup too. Everyone gets their own ceramic hot plate so you can keep your soup at just the right temperature for you.


Lamb, pork and beef slices

The hotpot buffet range is extensive. Choose from thinly sliced meats, fish balls, all kind of seafood (prawns, mussels, calamari and more) and plenty of tofu and bean curd variants.


Prawn flavoured balls with fish roe 

Pile up on fresh vegetables and noodles. There's even an offal section that includes chicken hearts, pigs blood and tendon. Yum.

And they have fresh watermelon and oranges that will do you nicely for dessert too.


Taro fish balls


Lotus root slices


DIY sauce station

Don't forget the DIY sauce station. It's a myriad of choice, coupled with coolest sign ever - "May the Sauce be with You".


Chilli powder, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame sauce, fresh coriander and more

Go simple or go for broke with your own crazy concoction. Feel the sauce, Luke.


Fish balls, tofu, pigs blood, chicken hearts, beef tendon and more

Here's my first plate of goodies from the buffet. It was the first of, um, many.


Individual hot pots

Cook as you please, chat with your mates and keep on going back for more until your belly is about to burst. If there's one good thing about winter, it's that you can eat more. And at an all-you-can-eat buffet, that can only be a good thing!






Hotpot City
Little Saigon Plaza
Ground floor Shop 22-25
462 Chapel Road, Bankstown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8764 8112

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 11.30-3pm and 5pm-10pm
Saturday and Sunday 11.30am-10pm

Jasmin1, Bankstown

It’s time to embrace your inner fatteh. Never heard of it? This nourishing breakfast dish is a staple in homes across Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. If you love chickpeas, you’ll adore this dish. If you hate chickpeas, you’ll probably still love it.

Picture this: creamy yoghurt thickened with sesame seed paste and dotted with soft, but not soggy, chickpeas. Garlic, cumin, lemon juice and a good glug of olive oil amp up the flavour stakes. How do you eat it? Follow the lead of locals and scoop up generous mouthfuls using soft and fluffy rounds of Lebanese bread. Savour the silky yoghurt, the crunch of toasted pine nuts and those gently yielding chickpeas.


Complimentary pickles 

At Jasmin 1 in Bankstown, that’s breakfast sorted for just seven bucks. Need protein? You can add on grilled lamb or chicken for four dollarydoos. Who needs smashed avo anyway?

If you don’t haul yourself out of bed early enough for breakfast, don’t despair. The menu kicks over to heartier dishes from lunch: everything from a falafel wrap for $5 to a seafood platter (grilled fish, baby octopus, calamari and barbecued prawns) with chips for $23. It’s the kind of date night you can still afford 24-hours before payday.



Sure the cafeteria-style dining room filled with banquet chairs might not exude romance, but is there anything sexier than dunking a falafel in garlic sauce while maintaining eye contact? No judgement here.


Lamb skewers $14

A trio of lamb skewers are interspersed with hunks of onion and grilled until everything takes on a caramelised and smoky aroma.


Chicken shawarma $12

Just as tasty is the chicken shawarma, spiced thigh fillets that are grilled and shredded for easy eating.


Fattouch $7

Get your greens with a serve of tabouli or fattouch, tabouli’s chunkier cousin with tomato, radish, capsicum, cucumber, pomegranate syrup and shards of deep fried Lebanese bread.

Still hungry? Order the kabsa, a traditional Saudi Arabian dish of spiced basmati rice and your choice of chicken, lamb, fish or prawns. If you aren’t ready to roll out of the place at this point you have a bright future as a competitive eater. Good luck to you.


Deep fried cauliflower $7






Jasmin1 Bankstown
222 South Terrace, Bankstown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9790 7999

Opening hours
Daily 9am-10.30pm

This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.