Healthy Food: Vietnamese Fresh Rolls

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Simon's 41st Hawaiian Birthday at the Coach and Horses Hotel, Randwick (15 Jan 2012)

147 Avoca Street, Randwick NSW 2031

http://www.coachandhorseshotel.com.au

Celebrating another year older

After having a casual lunch at the Coach and Horses Hotel I was inspired by the improved menu to have my 41st birthday in The Red Room function space on level 1. Sundays usually incur a $1000 minimum spend on the bar for private functions but since my event was held during the day and I knew it wasn't going to be a big drinking affair I was able to convince management to thankfully waive the minimum spend. A $200 refundable security deposit was still required and I organised five different platters of food for guests which were brought up by Barry who was friendly and accommodating along with Hiro who looked after the bar area. The theme for my birthday has been Hawaiian for many years now — how else would I get to wear my Hawaiian shirt and lei. Bar prices for drinks was pretty reasonable with the cheapest bottles starting at $23. Making it affordable enough to order a few Mt Lawson NV Brut ($23 bottle) at the very start. The private function space worked out really well and was separate enough from any public thoroughfare so security of the area could be maintained. The decor and seating was comfortable and roomy enough for 48 adults and 9 kids.

The Vietnamese Vegetable Rice Paper rolls ($50, 25 piece platter) were very good and I was impressed to see the flavoursome dipping sauce was homemade. The decent sized Moroccan Lamb Skewers ($50, 30 pieces platter) were better than I expected with nice flavours and tender meat. Prawn Wontons ($50, 40 pieces platter) were tasty and cooked with a nice crispy outer wonton shell. The Vegetarian Arancini ($50, 30 piece platter) had nice flavours too except the packaged grated parmesan used was really smelly which could be easily fixed by using freshly grated parmesan. You could smell it from across the room when it arrived — I even thought it might have been baby Isabelle needing a nappy change. The Vegetable Cocktail Spring Rolls ($50, 50 pieces platter) were crispy and tasty as hoped — I'm such a lover of spring rolls at parties. The Wedges ($8) were hot and crispy as expected and a good way to fill any hungry stomachs at the end. Chef Anthony did a great job in providing above average platter food and hopefully freshly grated parmesan will be used in the future for the arancini to make it a winner. My birthday cake was made of mini cupcakes from Coles ($30, 72 pieces) which came in two flavours, chocolate and vanilla — with a tonne of sugar. They're probably not the healthiest cupcakes in town but they suited my requirements to be affordable, bite-sized and not needing cutting or cutlery. I could also spell out '41' on the platter.

Other birthdays for Simon:

• 15 Jan 2012 - Simon's 41st Birthday - Coach and Horses Hotel

• 8 Jan 2011 - Simon's 40th Birthday - Centennial Hotel

• 10 Jan 2010 - Simon's 39th Birthday BBQ

• 4 Jan 2009 - Simon's 38th Birthday BBQ

Other visits to Coach and Horses Hotel:

• 15 Jan 2012 - Simon's 41st Birthday in The Red Room, Function platter food

• 5 Jan 2012 - Octopus Salad, Buffalo Chicken Wings, Piri Piri Prawn Skewers, Barramundi, Atlantic Salmon, Prawn Spaghetti, Beer Garden

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Decent platter food, Friendly staff, Nice decor, Reasonably priced drinks, Function space suits around 50 people and sectioned off from public access, Easy access to bar area

CONS: Packaged grated parmesan used on Arancini making it very smelly — hopefully fresh parmesan used in the future, Minimum spend conditions may apply

MUST TRY: Vietnamese vegetarian rice paper rolls, Prawn wontons

BABY ON BOARD: Lift available to level 1, Plenty of space in function room and separated from main bar so pretty good for security of area

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41st birthday cake made with mini cupcakes from Coles ($30, 72 pieces)

Vietnamese Vegetable Rice Paper rolls ($50, 25 piece platter)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Moroccan Lamb Skewers with Yoghurt & Mint Dipping Sauce ($50, 30 pieces platter)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Prawn Wontons with Nutty Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce ($50, 40 pieces platter)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Vegetarian Arancini ($50, 30 piece platter)

Vegetable Cocktail Spring Rolls with Sweet Chilli ($50, 50 pieces platter)

Wedges ($8)

Mt Lawson NV Brut ($23 bottle)

Drinks menu

Function room — plenty of comfy seating and easy access to bar

Babies on board

Poker and Thai boxing next door on level 1

After party drinks with an Aperol Spritz

After party munchies with Doughboy — really like their Malabar pizza (right) with prawns at the moment

$41 for 41st birthday — clever idea!

Hang loose

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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Misschu: Vietnamese, Darlinghurst (10 Nov 2010)

1/150 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

http://www.misschu.com.au

Dumplings with MissRude

This hole-in-the-wall hawker style eatery certainly has it's fans who enjoy alfresco dining in uncomfortable and awkward seating — I felt like an oversized kid in a primary school classroom. Everything is served in take away containers which probably isn't the best for the environment but I guess makes it a lot easier for Misschu cleaning up. After perusing the menu I started with a Peking Duck pancake ($2.20 each) which is pretty small but had a decent amount of flavour and the meat was moist although sadly you probably won't find any crispy skin. Misschu is probably best known for their Fresh Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls since their tag line is 'queen of rice paper rolls' and the decent sized Tiger Prawn & Green mango ($6 for 2) were tightly packed with ingredients. The medium sized precooked and marinated prawns were flavoursome but only one of the rolls seemed to have the green mango — not sure what happened to the other.

Just as many varieties of Steamed dumplings ($5 for 3) exist on the menu and I tried the Scallop and Prawn. There was evidence of small bits of scallop and prawn although it's a shame it's served in a takeaway box already sauced because I assume it wouldn't stand up well with travel time before going a bit soggy. While still a bit hungry I was tempted to try the Deep fried spring rolls ($5 for 4) and got up to order them from the busy yet friendly guy behind the counter. Unfortunately shortly upon returning to my table where I left my bag and bottle of water a woman (I assume the owner Miss Chu, pictured above wearing blue) had accommodated my seat with her business laptop. After explaining the situation she was very reluctant to move and implied they were two tables together and subsequently slightly moved them ever so slightly apart. The table next to her had even less leg room against the wall so my only option was to pick up my stuff and move to another table without any apology or customer acknowledgement. Since my visit I've heard more complaints about the rudeness of a particular woman which I assume is the same one — it seems the customer is never right at Misschu's establishment.

Once relocated and after a little wait I collected my Prawn and Crab net spring rolls which were served in a take away box with a small bottle of dipping sauce. It was a bit awkward to eat with the sauce since you couldn't actually dip the spring roll in the sauce but had to pour it over, and thus over the other spring rolls. I enjoyed the crispy net texture but they were a bit oily so a couple of napkins were definitely necessary. I'd be curious to try their King Prawn or Traditional Pork Hanoi if I visit again although my preference for a quick tasty meal with nicer seating and decor would be the ever popular Phamish around the corner and up Palmer Street (but only open for dinner).

Other food blog reviews:

• TWO-KG

• One Bite More#1, One More Bite#2

• Does My Bomb Look Big In This?

• kat did whaaat?!

• The Spotted Pufferfish

• The Sydney Tarts

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Specialise in bite sized snacks, Decent variety of rice paper rolls and steamed dumplings, Fairly reasonable prices but can add up quickly, Catering available

CONS: Very uncomfortable and awkward seating, Near busy traffic of William Street, One of the staff lacked good customer service, Everything served in take away containers

MUST TRY: Possibly the Green Papaya Salad and Wagyu Beef Pho next time to compare

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