Phu Quoc, Cabramatta, Sydney

It's a struggle to make it to lunch in Cabramatta without first ruining your appetite.

The journey on foot down John Street is a chaotic din of sights, sounds and colour. Bright plastic stools, racks of tops for under $10, curls of incense smoke that tickle your nose, and shop upon shop crammed with bolts of fabric, leaning against each other in a mosh pit of polyester, lace and flannel.

But it's the visuals of food that whet your appetite. Huddles of fresh coriander and aromatic mint, the whir of a blender crushing ice and avocado, an army of plastic takeaway boxes packed
tightly with lemongrass pork and noodles, heart-shaped waffles tinted green with pandan, the glisten of toffee-coated bean cakes sprinkled with sesame seeds, the smell of durian, Vietnamese grandmothers hawking homegrown vegetables at makeshift street stalls, the crunch of fresh sugar cane being crushed between two rollers, and mounds of sticky rice in banana leaf packaging tied up with string...

These are a few of my favourite things.

By the time Howard leads us into one of his favourite restaurants, Phu Quoc, Shez, Suze and I have already succumbed to an avocado shake, a custard apple shake, a durian shake and a handful of freshly baked custard puffs.

Phu Quoc is a cool oasis of air-conditioned comfort, far-removed from the 32C heat outside. The restaurant is long and narrow, panels of mirrors erected on one wall to try to create an illusion of width. The tables and chairs are black metal, vases of silk flowers and a string of lanterns adding a surprise but welcomed splash of colour.


Goi vit $15.00
Vietnamese style duck salad

The menu is a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. We have to plead twice for more time to the eager but patient waitstaff. Third time's the charm and our order is scribbled on a notepad with a reassuring smile.

Our table comes with the usual Vietnamese restaurant furnishing: a medley of condiments that include sauces of chilli, soy, oyster and fish sauce, a canister of chopsticks, forks and spoons, and the requisite box of tissues that will act as serviettes. By the time we've poured our tea from the table thermos, our first dish arrives.

Goi vit Vietnamese style duck salad is a mountain of zing. Think fine shreds of cabbage, the crunch of julienned carrot, rings of red onion and thick-cut slices of juicy steamed duck, dressed with vinegar, fish sauce and lemon juice. Stalks of mint leaves add freshness and I love the tendrils of deep fried shallot.


Banh trang rice paper sheets and nuoc cham dipping sauce

A hot summer's day is made for salad. Banh trang rice paper sheets are the perfect pliable wrapping for meat and salad, the do-it-yourself spring roll rolled up tight and dipped in nuoc cham fish sauce.


Banh hoi cha gio $13.00
Steamed rice noodle with spring rolls
and banh trang rice paper sheets

Cha gio spring rolls might be the first thing you choose to wrap in your rice paper. These spring rolls are not made with the usual spring roll wrappers, but rice paper sheets, their starchiness lending an extra satisfying chewiness to them when deep-fried until blistered and golden. The filling inside is particularly meaty, a pork mince package that is ideal for its eventual salad companions.


Banh hoi nem nuong $13.00
Steamed rice noodle with pork balls
and banh trang rice paper sheets

Thit huong is the other pork offering we have decided upon today, sweet marinated pork traditionally pressed onto a skewer and grilled until caramelised on the edges.


Dipping the banh trang rice paper sheet into a bowl of hot water

Making your own rice paper rolls is a hands-on communal affair. The circle of brittle rice paper is briefly baptised into a bowl of hot water, then stretched flat onto your plate to soften whilst you assemble the ingredients.


Nem nuong and salad ready to roll

Layer on your choice of meat, a bed of lettuce, a few shards of pickled daikon and carrot, and as much mint and shiso as you please. Add a cluster of raw bean sprouts and a delicate weave of banh hoi steamed rice noodles, then roll up tightly, garnishing with a few stalks of flat garlic chives.


My rice paper roll with nem nuong

The translucent rice paper bundle is dipped into a saucer of nuoc cham dressing, a sweetened fish sauce dressing that moistens the noodles, refreshes the meat and will inevitably drip down your chin. In a good way, of course.


Banh hoi chao tom $14.00
Steamed rice noodle with sugar cane prawn
and banh trang rice paper sheets

Chao tom sugar cane prawn is the more elegant filling alternative. Prawn paste is packed around a length of raw sugar cane that acts as both a skewer and flavour agent. The cooked prawn paste has a subtle sweet flavour although the best part for me is chewing on the cooked sugar cane, relishing its honey-sweet juice, like nature's lollypop.


Sugar cane prawn


My salad-heavy rice paper roll with sugar cane prawn (I like my greens!)

The merry-go-round of fillings continues until we, one by one, fall by the wayside, satiated and sighing with contentment. Even when my stomach tells me it is full, I still can't resist finishing off the last of the spring rolls eaten with a handful of lettuce and mint.

And the bill? Less than $15 per head and there's still a few leftovers we can't quite finish.

Fresh food, fast service and amazing value.




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Phu Quoc
Shop 11, 117 John Street (enter from Hill St)
Cabramatta, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9724 2188

Open 7 days 9am-9pm

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