One of the most common
foodie-related questions I get asked about are my recommendations for food in the
Cabramatta area. FEAR NOT!! I’m listing them out here for your future reference
the next time you want a quick trip to Vietnam without flying there (lol)
This post will be quite
different to my previous food post for a few reasons:
1. The
vibe of most of these restaurants are similar and they’re all around the same
level of Instagramability so I will not talk about these
2. Additionally,
all these are recommended for fast and budget dinners/lunches, typically you
wouldn’t stick around for a really long time.
3. I go
to restaurants in Cabra/Canley Heights for particular dishes rather than by
preference of any particular restaurant so the list isn’t REALLY ranked…but the
ones at the top are the ones I’d recommend if you only had one meal in the area
CABRAMATTA RESTAURANTS
Cabramatta is good for lunch
or snacks and generally isn’t very lively at night – I suggest going during
the day
Pho Ann – Pho
Food: Pho (obv). This is defs my
favourite place to get pho and their sate sauce is pretty great as well. Soup
is fragrant and doesn’t taste like MSG and the beef and noodles are a proper
thickness.
Price: $11-15 depending on what
you order and if you get drinks
Review: A family favourite hahah
I luv it. You may notice it has a similar name to Pho An in Bankstown. Legend
has it that the couple that ran it split and started two different restaurants
that sound mildly the same. I’ve never been to the Bankstown one because I like
to pay close to $10 for my pho hahahhahah
Pho Tau Bay – Pho
Food: Pho! Typically, Pho Tau
Bay is the preferred restaurant of the more Chinese among the Vietnamese
community. The soup is a little sweeter and Chinese tasting. Several of my
Chinese friends say they prefer Tau Bay which is fair enough but my Dad insists
that Pho Ann is “real Vietnamese pho”. My tip is to try both and see which one you
prefer.
Price: $11-15
Review: I only eat here when I
don’t want to walk to Pho Ann but it comes highly recommended from others
Viet Hoa Hot Bread – Pork Rolls
Food: Pork rolls!! A bit of a
walk so I don’t go often but the pork rolls are ON POINT – not too greasy but
still tasty. They also have pandan waffles if you’re into that.
Price: $4 I think
Review: A funny story is that
when I made it into NSG my Dad asked me what I wanted as a reward and I asked
for a pork roll from this place…I got to high school and other people had
gotten phones or laptops…mad regrets
Various stalls – Sugar Cane Juice
I have to say I haven’t done
much research on these since I only discovered the beauty of sugar cane juice on
my last week in Singapore (haha don’t judge) but so far, my favourite has been
this one near Freedom Plaza (the arch place) because they add lemon in for you
and its like…$3
Bau Truong – Miscellaneous Vietnamese food
Food: Good for miscellaneous
Vietnamese food when you’re not looking for anything in particular. If I go, I’d
usually get black pepper beef and rice. Well known for their Banh Xeo (Vietnamese
pancake) – it’s good, give it a try.
Price: $15ish
Review: I would recommend this
place if you’re looking for Vietnamese food that isn’t your typical pho or Bun
Bo Hue. I don’t go often since most of the food is stuff I’d eat at home but it
has quite a lot of space and is easy for big groups.
Some place in a shopping centre I don’t know the name of – Banh Beo
Food: Banh Beo is kind of like a
little rice cake thing with prawn powder and yellow stuff I don’t know the name
of on it. I grew up eating it without knowing what it is and I’m frequently
asking for it if my parents go out to Cabramatta. In Vietnam they give it to
you in individual servings whereas here they chuck it in a box but that’s for another
blog post…
Price: $5ish??
Review: Not a well-known dish
but honestly one of my faves. It looks like this:
Tan Viet Noodle House
Food: CHICKEN NOODLES. The fried
chicken here is consistently crispy like ALL THE TIME I’ve never had an off day.
You can choose your noodles and type of chicken as well which gives a good
variety without losing its specialty. I usually go for the crispy chicken and
drop noodles.
Price: $15ish
Review: I don’t go here often
simply because it’s quite crowded (a little overrated if you ask me) and pricey
compared to other places in Cabramatta. By overrated I don’t mean bad AT ALL.
It’s actually quite good, just not THAAAT good to be crowded all the time you
know? Also has branches in Canley Heights and Eastwood.
JJ’s Steak Kitchen – Steak
Food: Steak! Chips! Sauce!
Drinks!
Price: $11
Review: The beauty of this place
is that it’s $11!! And soft drinks are around $3?? It’s a good place to go when
you don’t feel like Asian food but don’t want to pay a fortune. The steak isn’t
amazing but hey it’s $11. Open for dinner so good when everything else is
closed. Not sure it’s worth coming ‘all the way’ to Cabra for though…
CANLEY HEIGHTS RESTAURANTS
Canley Heights has a really good
night life so if I’m going out for dinner in the area I’d go here. Note: Canley
Heights =/= Canley Vale, keep driving up the road.
Huong Xua – Spring rolls and chicken noodles
Food: The thing I love most from
here is their spring rolls – and by that I don’t mean the Chinese pastry ones I
mean deep fried rice paper rolls. They’re really good and crunchy when
fresh and I usually get it with vermicelli and grilled pork. The other thing I
get (usually in winter) is chicken soup with noodles (you can choose what kind
of noodles you want) and a plate of fresh chicken MMMMM
Price: $13-20 depending on what
you order
Review: They have daily
specials, sometimes cheaper drinks or some kind of discount deal with the food.
There are also branches in Cabramatta and Liverpool
Diem Hem – DIY rice paper rolls
Food: When I come here the
special thing they do is DIY rice paper rolls but with a hot plate so you eat
your meat FRESHLY COOKED and wrapped in rice paper rolls hehe
Price: Okay tbh I don’t know but
I’m guessing like $25…
Review: Wouldn’t say I’m a
regular but I definitely enjoy it a lot.
Gia Hoi – Misc. dishes and pho
Food: The pho here is not bad
but since I have a go-to for that already I usually get the Banh Canh with pork
(not the crab one) which is really great. Either that or this dish called Ca
Kho To which is like sweet and salty fish – highly recommended give it a try.
Price: Okay honestly (again) I
never pay for this myself so I don’t know
Review: Not my absolute
favourite but if my family is getting takeaway we’ll get it from here since it
satisfies everyone’s taste buds. Also branches in City, Cabramatta and Eastwood
Pho Hien – Salad and pho
Food: My absolute favourite
thing to eat here is their prawn, pork and jellyfish salad MMM. Their pho isn’t
bad either.
Price: $15-20
Review: A go-to with family
since everyone likes it – would recommend for a quieter dinner.
Red Sichuan (Canley Vale) – hot pot
Food: All you can eat hotpot!!!
What more could you ask for tbh???? They also have really good lamb skewers. The
stand out are the sauces, they have a really good Sichuan sauce that just makes
it THAT much better. They give you potato to put in your hot pot as well which
is real great.
Price: $35-40 (pricey lol)
Review: My main memory from here
is having big group dinners which is really nice because you’re cooking out of
one pot together. It’s a little like KBBQ when you cook for each other aww
Steak on the Rocks – Steak
Food: Okay I know this is the
second steak place I’m listing but for reals it’s so good. It’s cook-your-own
steak but you get your own hot plate so you’re literally cutting up your steak
as you cook it which works really well for me since I like my steak medium-rare
and sometimes it just doesn’t happen when it’s cooked in the kitchen (also
because I enjoy control over the cooking of my steak lol). The chips are beer
battered and are uh-mazing, super crunchy but soft in the middle mmm
Price: $20-35 depending on the cut
of steak you get
Review: A good place if you’re
feeling like steak, I wouldn’t take a day trip for this but if you’re already
in the area you might as well. A good place to take kids as well – I’ve been
here with my brother’s friends’ families so there were like 10 kids and it was
fine.
Holy Basil – Thai Food
I wrote about this place on my
other post. I recommend Canley Heights because it’s the original but honestly if
you’re going to trek it to Canley you might as well eat from the other ones
above.
V Lounge – Dessert or Western food
Food: Pretty decent savoury food
and dessert. I would recommend the waffles and wedges. I’ve also had the pasta
and the Nutella pizza which was pretty decent.
Price: $25-30 ish
Review: A good place to go if
you’re eating out late and nowhere else is open. Also good for dessert after
dinner.
What the Fudge? – Dessert
Food: Highly recommend the deep
fried Golden Gaytime, it’s amazing. I’ve also heard that their chocolate lava
cake (or whatever they’re called) is really good. Drinks are good too!
Price: $15-20ish
Review: I would recommend the Canley
Heights one over the Cabramatta one since it’s been there longer and has more
variety.
Enjoy this list!!!! Let me know
if you go to any of these places J
