Vietnamese in Richmond

So today after a hectic morning Sam and I ventured to Richmond where we decided to have lunch. We found a lovely little Vietnamese cafe and went in there we were greeted by an amazing smell of Vietnamese mint and spice.

It was the kind of place that truly got my mouth salivating! We sat by the window looking out at the everyday hustle and for a moment I felt I wasn't even in Melbourne.

Now on our table we had all the usual condiments traditionally found in Asian restaurants: Chili, Soy, Vinegar, Hoisin and some other goodies and the menu was really great written in English and Vietnamese with pictures of the most popular dishes.

Now after some Ummming and Arghhhing we decided to share a Chicken Congee (which is a traditional soup made from stock and broken rice with coriander, spring onion and dried shallots) and a Vietnamese pancake with pork and prawn.

For those of you that have never had one before it comes out about the length of 2 dinner plates with a crispy outer egg and coconut pancake and filled with freshly cooked meats, bean shoots and onions.

Now incase your meal still isn't satisfying you get a bunch if Vietnamese mint, lettuce, extra bean shoots, chilli, lemon and a sweet chilli type vinegar just to ensure your pancake is extra delish!

We started with the congee which was so yummy with a lovely fragrant broth perfectly cooked rice and juicy tender chicken, and the best bit was the pancake it was so delicious that words cannot explain how good it was the crepe/omlette was so crispy and the meet had been cooked into
The batter before it is flipped then by adding the vinegar and fresh lemon and mint it was like having a party in your mouth ... Unexpected beautiful edible fun!!!

To conclude I have come home super inspired by chefs such as Luke Nguyen and I am pulling out the Vietnamese cookbooks and I'm ready to cook!!!