Ngoc An is on Arthur street just a tad away from the main street and other restaurants. The site does have a history of changing owners, it was a Chinese restaurant over two decades ago, then for a while was Thanh Binh 2 and then a whole raft of different restaurants in relatively short succession after that.
Ngoc An seems to have made a success of this location because it’s been here for a little while now. Knowing it won’t disappear soon, noodlies, Sydney food blog thought it was time to give it a try.
The goi cuon (fresh rolls) look the part, the rice paper almost transparent, revealing the redness of the prawns while and the garlic chives poke out at both ends – all is as it should be. However, there is just too much vermicelli filling making the whole experience too starchy. This isn’t helped by the lack of saltiness in the hoi sin sauce.
Bo luc lac (shaken beef cubes) is another dish which any good Vietnamese restaurant should be able to nail. The beef should be well marinated, yielding plenty of flavour and the rice should be soft and orange from tomato sauce. The dish looks the part mostly, although the beef was thin instead of being chunky cubes. Again, I find it lacked flavour and saltiness and the is rice a tad dry. It make me wonder whether Ngoc An has deliberately cut down on MSG, which is a plus for some, but a negative for me… I like my flavour enhancer!
Ngoc An Vietnamese Restaurant
4 Arthur St, Cabramatta
(02) 9724 9633
I thought next #VietTUB but after readin the detail – I see looks are not always as they seem! I’ll leave it with you Thang to recommend the next venue then?
Best,
Tony
Yep, will do Tony!
The prawns in the rice paper rolls look so vibrant! Shame about the over-stuffing though