Sometimes your preconceptions can lead you to miss things right under your nose. A good Vietnamese place on Jetty Road Glenelg, how likely is that? Well, while I was surprised at the quality of our meal here Hungry Pete later confirmed that it was a bit of a favourite in the area, somewhere that he'd been to a few times only had neglected to mention.
When you enter the restaurant first impressions are good, with moderate lighting levels, red and green lanterns, paper umbrellas and unfortunately plastic bamboo decorations around the room. I think what helps in this regard is the exceptionally polite service, a little slow when we first arrived when one of the wait staff arrived late but certainly much better than in most Vietnamese restaurants around town.
The menu comes divided into Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. The Chinese side of the menu isn't too exciting, looking very much like your typical suburban Chinese restaurant. We stuck to the Vietnamese side and my recommendation is that you do to. First up was our combination rice. Served in a claypot the rice comes topped with bbq pork, Chinese sausage, shitake mushroom, lily roots, chicken, shrimp, onion and topped with a fried egg. Before I could get a photo our waiter had whipped it all together and served into our bowls, but the end result was a very classy variation on your normal fried rice.
Second dish to arrive was another claypot style dish, caramelised pork ribs. Slow cooked and served with onion and shallots, these were beautifully tender, almost melt in the mouth stuff.
One of the things I almost always order at Vietnamese restaurants is the beef salad. My biggest peeve with this dish is when the beef is over cooked and specifically asked for the beef to still have a tinge of pink. This was spot on how I asked for it, tender and juicy with the herby salad and a small bowl of peanuts served on the side.
Having saved a little room for dessert I also decided to indulge in the sticky rice coated banana topped with sesame seeds and coconut milk. Served warmed this is a comforting type of dessert, not complex or subtle in flavour but a comfortable way to finish off the meal.
Overall
It's certainly not your everyday cheap and cheerful type place but the food and service are good, the prices reasonable. While the weather was bad and I expected to be the only ones braving the cold night air there was a steady stream of apparent regulars passing through, ordering their favourite dishes from the menu. If you are looking for a Vietnamese restaurant with a bit more class than most you could do a lot worse.
Verdict
Food - 7.5
Service - 8
Ambience - 7.5
Price - 7
Address
168 Jetty Road
Glenelg SA 5045
Tel: (08) 8295 5746
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