Finding Vietnamese Gems in Australia

          Although I have never been to Vietnam, friends and relatives who have been there and have stayed in or visited Australia attest that the best Vietnamese food can be found in the land Down Under. Thanks to the recommendation of my cousin, Yee Yan, I led my travel partner, Angeline, to Dzung (Yong Kee) for a really yummy bowl of pho when we visited Melbourne in 2013. Then in 2015, hubby's cousin, Michelle, chose Vietnam Restaurant in the suburbs of Adelaide as the venue to meet up with a mutual friend. I can still remember how superbly exquisite the barbecued chilli lemongrass quails were, in addition to their other mind-blowing dishes like the skewered minced pork balls, special seafood salad and crispy pumpkin with salted egg yolk.  
           So during our New South Wales trip in December 2017, I made it a point to search for Vietnamese food again. Both TripAdvisor and our Airbnb hosts in Kiama pointed us in the direction of Hanoi on Manning. And we were suitably impressed with the food.

Located at 10, Manning Street, Kiama, this restaurant serves fabulous authentic Vietnamese fare

            We were there for lunch on our second day in Kiama and I ordered their hu tieu xao du bien, which is stir-fried flat noodles (very much like our local koay teow) with mixed seafood, chilli sauce and green vegetables. It appeared to be a very simple dish but the taste was incredibly good. Hubby enjoyed their com xao do bien, which is stir-fried mixed seafood and mixed green vegetables served with jasmine rice.  

Ravenous for my hu tieu xao du bien

Looked like a simple dish, but it was oh-so-tasty!

Derrick's com xao do bien also looked ordinary, but its taste was remarkably yummy.

             We loved the food so much that we immediately made reservations for dinner that night. Yes, this restaurant is so hugely popular that reservations are required if you plan on going for dinner. True enough, it was a full house that night. This time, hubby and I shared their goi cuon (fresh rice paper rolls with prawn, chicken, rice vermicelli and fresh herbs served with homemade hoisin dipping sauce). My suon heo mat ong (pork cutlets marinated with honey and coconut juice) was so scrumptious and it must have looked appetising too because the patron at the next table asked me about them. Hubby's ga xao xa ot (stir-fried chicken with lemongrass and chilli) was equally delicious.

Pretty paper rolls

Poised to enjoy my goi cuon

Succulent suon heo mat ong

                   Guess what? When we returned to Kiama for another night at the end of our New South Wales visit, we went back to Hanoi on Manning for our final New South Wales dinner! That's how sumptuous the food is! The amazing taste of the rice noodles that I had on the first occasion was still lingering in my mind so I went for that again. And it was as good as I remembered it to be. Hubby chose the tom xao dau hoa lan (stir fried king prawns with snow peas, shiitake mushroom and ground black pepper), which was another incredibly delicious dish!

A mouth-watering feast of pho (Melbourne 2013)

             Hanoi on Manning, thanks for helping to make our Kiama trip a memorable one!

Such an enjoyable dinner at Vietnam Restaurant with Michelle, Tim and Mabel (Adelaide 2015)