Tan Viet, Cabramatta

 

Our Southern Highlands day trip had come to end and on the way back, a sharp pang of hunger came over me in the back seat.  Being the good friend that Noodle Boy is, he happily made a detour to Cabramatta that was on the way back to feed a very hungry me.  We all ended up having an early dinner and Tan Viet was the destination of choice after being highly recommended to me by Pho Girl.  

I have to say that it's truly a small world at times because when we arrived at the restaurant who should we bump into but Pho Girl herself with Camera Girl, who were both tucking into Tan Viet's specialty of dry egg noodle and crispy chicken.  Anyway, I had to say cheerio as I was starving and some quick ordering was definitely on the agenda.

 

Cheesecake Boy has a love for chè ba màu or its literal translation three colour dessert so we had to order one.  Before Cheesecake Boy came along I would seldom drink these type of drinks, but the concoction of split mung beans, red azuki beans and strips of jelly with crushed ice and coconut milk is really growing on me.  The version at Tan Viet was perfectly sweet and refreshing.

Chè ba màu

Out of all of us, Cheesecake Boy stubbornly insisted on ordering his much loved com dac biet (deluxe pork chop rice), so he missed out on the crispy chicken, well almost.  I have to admit that I was so enthralled by my crispy chicken that for once I forgot to taste test some of his.  Cheesecake Boy is a boy of few words when it comes to describing food, so when he told me that it was good but not great, I know to believe him as he takes his com dac biet very seriously, he even knows how to pronounce this pitch perfect in Vietnamese so his order never gets mixed up.

Com dac biet, $12

Noodle Boy actually had a pho craving, but unfortunately they don't have beef pho at Tan Viet so he decided to go for the crispy chicken with tomato rice.  Noodle Boy also a boy of few words told me he thought this dish was good, so I guess that's a thumbs up.  Doesn't that crispy chicken look glorious?  I'm going to get to it next though.

Com ga da don, $12

Now we get to the reason why I'm here.  You may be wondering why I'm putting a picture of the menu on this post, and I will sheepishly admit that in my state of hunger and impatience,  I took the crispy chicken off the plate and tampered with the presentation of the dish in the shot below.  It was not to make it look prettier, as I think I made the dish look far worse, but I really was that hungry and it's so much easier and quicker to compose a shot in a bowl, as our table was way too cluttered by the time I was served.  I definitely regretted it, but what's done is done and as per the menu, the bowl of noodles was presented exactly as pictured, and the crispy chicken actually came on a plate as indicated by the menu.

My bowl of dry egg noodles with the crispy chicken clumsily chucked on top by me, well simply put was delicious.  Now I've been told that this is the dish to have at Tan Viet, and I couldn't agree more.  The dry egg noodles were not completely dry.  The noodles were lightly drizzled with a fragrant oil and a subtle sauce that prevented the noodles from clumping together and gave the plain noodles a needed lift.  On top of the noodles was a generous sprinkle of dried onions with coriander, garlic chives and lettuce as well.  The noodles were a nice accompaniment, but for me this dish was all about the crispy chicken.

I have to say that everyone in the restaurant, but Cheesecake Boy was eating the crispy chicken in one form or another when we were dining.  Even though, Cheesecake Boy won't admit it, I know he regretted not ordering the crispy chicken.  However, I'm not usually partial to ordering crispy chicken either, but this crispy chicken is definitely the exception to the rule.  The chicken had beautifully crisp skin, and the flesh was wonderfully succulent, tender and had a lovely freshness in flavour.  Dipping the crispy chicken into nouc cham just added to the bliss.  I begrudgingly gave Cheesecake Boy a few bites, and he was just as enamoured as I was.  I can't recall having a crispy chicken better than this one. 

Mi ga da don, $12

Incredibly happy and satisfied, I walked out of Tan Viet knowing that it won't be long until I am reunited once more with the crispy chicken of my dreams.  In all seriousness though, the crispy chicken here is a must, the food is excellent value and service is efficient.  That's what most great feeds are all about.  Oh and to get here early if it's peak time to avoid the queues, that's all.

Munching away, Dumpling Girl.


Tan Viet
100 John Street
Cabramatta NSW 2166
Ph: (02) 9727 6853