The food courts in Cabramatta are unlike most food courts you will find in large shopping centres. There is no KFC, McDoanlds, Doner Kebab vendors or fake-chinese stalls. They are mostly fresh and authentic foods from Vietnam, Thailand, China and Laos.
In fact, KFC once opened its doors here and only lasted 6 months. The locals preferred fresh and local produce and did not welcome the idea of frozen, msg-laden fried chicken.
Our favourite Vietnamese vendor is Tắn Hủng Vướng in AA Supermarket. We come here quite often when we want fast and cheap food. Almost all of the menu items are $10 or less and they make great Vietnamese coffee.
Side dishes of lettuce, fresh herbs and nước chấm
Their menu contains a vast array of Vietnamese dishes, mostly specialising in cold noodle items and wraps or rolls. They also have hot noodles like Bún bò Huế and Bánh canh. They make a great Bò kho too.
Pizzaboy and I have our favourite. They make the best Bánh hỏi nem nướng in town. It is difficult to pass this up and try other things. I did cave in and order my second favourite Bánh ướt for the purpose of variety for this blog post. I ♥ my blog!
Bánh hỏi nem nướng $8.90
Bánh hỏi nem nướng literally translates to steamed vermicelli noodles with bbq pork sausage. Like most vietnamese meals it comes with a large side dish of lettuce, fresh herbs and nước chấm.
Here is an example of how to wrap these yummy bbq pork sausages:
[1] Grab a lettuce leaf
[2] Place the herbs (red perilla, vietnamese mint, mint), pickled carrots, pickled white radish and cucumber on the lettuce leaf
[3] Lay a piece of the steamed vermicelli noodle on top. Be sure to include some of the garnishes (peanuts, spring onion and fried onions)
[4] Top it with the nem nướng
[5] Fold it up and dip it in the nước chấm
[6] Put it in your mouth!
Bánh ướt literally translate to wet cakes. It is large steamed flat rice noodle sheets topped with fried shallots, herbs, bean sprouts, chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage) and occasionally nem chua (pickled sour pork). It is then gently bathed in nước chấm. For an extra $2.00, I ask for the ‘special’ which includes spring rolls and fried beef.
This was so filling, healthy and delicious. Pizzaboy kept stealing my spring rolls. Gah!
The verdict
It is definitely one of many great places for traditional Vietnamese food in Cabramatta. You can also do some grocery shopping in the centre. There are fresh fruit and vegetables grocers, butcheries, fish market, flower shop, clothing stores and a small supermarket.
A food lover’s journey and Ravenous Couple.
Tắn Hủng Vướng
AA Supermarket
47 Park Road
Cabramatta NSW 2166
Phone (02) 9755 9080
Comments
linda
June 4, 2010 at 12:18 amWe used to regularly frequent this place for crispy fried chicken, but haven’t been back in ages. Reading this post, I’ve realised that we’ve been missing out on so many options that are available here. We’ll probably visit this place this Sunday for Banh Hoi nem nuong.
Maria
June 4, 2010 at 5:07 amThis is exactly why I can’t wait to go to Cabramatta!! This is just so fascinating to me 😀
angie
June 4, 2010 at 8:49 amYou just made me crave banh hoi, gonna have to get Mumma to show me how to make it!
Anh
June 4, 2010 at 10:43 amOoh! That place looks so nice and fresh. You have some great shots of food there. (I normally don’t bother to shoot anything in a restaurant. Too lazy and not so good at it). Thx for an excellent entry for delicious Vietnam!
Phuoc’n Delicious
June 4, 2010 at 1:06 pmAhh… Love Cabra! Both those dishes are fantastic! Might have to make a visit this afternoon for some good ol’ viet food *drools*
cityhippyfarmgirl
June 5, 2010 at 12:57 pmI have been saying to myself for far too long that a trip to Cabramatta needs to be done. Those dishes look delicious!… oh I’m hungry.
Mark @ Cafe Campana
June 6, 2010 at 7:06 pmI was in cabra yesterday. Its pretty cool. There is so much food everywhere. Being an out of towner I never know where to eat. I will have to try this place.
betty
June 7, 2010 at 9:41 amlove your 6 step eating piccies 😛
maria mentioned you’re coming to the cabra tour as well so cool cant wait!
tasteofbeirut
June 7, 2010 at 12:12 pmA food court without any of the chains! wow! that is not something one would find here in the US!
sweetlife
June 8, 2010 at 1:34 pmlove the food court, here there is only chains, how boring…and gross..love all the food, so fresh and what flavors, love the step by step
sweetlife
john@heneedsfood
June 8, 2010 at 5:19 pmGod I wish Cabramatta was closer to me, I love all this stuff. Looking forward to my next visit there!
Angie’s Recipes
June 8, 2010 at 9:15 pmIt looks very much like one of Chinese cold noodle dish…perfect for the summer!
Juliana
June 9, 2010 at 5:58 amYummie! Love the pictures…great meal for the Summer 🙂
Suman Singh
June 10, 2010 at 5:13 amWOW…lovely…looks fantastic…yet to try Vietnamese dishes….thanks for sharing this!
Conor @ HoldtheBeef
June 12, 2010 at 2:32 pmExcellent action shots! Love it! If only I could somehow swing past Cabra on my way back to Perth. Not sure if Singapore Airlines do a flight from London to Perth via Cabra though?? Maybe?