Ha Noi Oi is a Northern Vietnamese restaurant in Cabramatta that is known for their platters of food. The restaurant has an open kitchen behind glass where you can watch people preparing and cooking the food and the whole space transports you overseas. Find out what the food is like here and why there's always a queue!
When Laura and I were deciding where to go for dinner one night in Cabramatta, we had two options in mind. The best way to figure out which one? Rock paper scissors. It's the fairest way to decide everything.
And that's how we ended up at Ha Noi Oi in West Cabramatta. The eye-catching restaurant is located on Cabramatta Road and you'll also probably see a queue. By some minor miracle we arrived just at the right time and managed to sneak in just before the dinner rush.
Usually people pay and order at the counter before they sit down, but we take a seat and flip through the menu first - just be aware some menus have pages missing as they are well-loved! The staff are very friendly and helpful and make some recommendations to us.
We start with drinks - a lemon and preserved plum drink for me which is salty sweet but refreshing at the same time. Laura has an egg coffee which is a lovely hit to the chest with its ferocious coffee flavour. It's the sort of drink that would have started Uma Thurman's heart in Pulp Fiction.
We start with a crispy platter of crab spring rolls and prawn fritters. The crab spring rolls have pork in them and are fat and very crunchy and crispy. The prawn fritters come in two types, one with sweet potato and one described as "West Lake Shrimp Cakes", both tinted yellow from the turmeric batter. These are a specialty from Hanoi and are both fantastic dipped into the sauce.
Then we segue onto the soup which is filled with two different things: caramelised grilled pork and pork sausage. The soup is sweet and intense and comes with an abundance of rice noodles.
Another platter that we tried was with the banh cuon rice flour rolls. There are two types of rice rolls, one with prawn or shrimp and one with pork mince and mushroom. On the side there is also some grilled pork skewers and the pork meatball and crab sausage as well as a fried egg with pork mince wrapped in rice paper. This is incredible value for $21 but it's also very delicious as well with a nice range of textures and flavours. It's also great to share.
There are no desserts on tonight but one of the lovely staff members points us towards another business just across the street called A&M Sweets. They specialise in sweet soups or "che" which I absolutely love. There are many on display at the front but if you head inside you'll see even more displayed in pictures, plus a range of savoury snacks as well.
One of my favourites is the che buoi or mung bean, pomelo rind and coconut cream dessert that has a gelatinous texture to it. This is Laura's first time trying it and she absolutely loves it as well. The creamy coconut goes well with the viscous layer on the bottom thickened with tapioca flour. It's sweet, salty and creamy at the same time.
We also try the Dragonball dessert with lots of different types of chewy tapioca balls as well as large kiwi fruit based chewy balls, coconut jelly, fruit bubble pearls and crispy coconut.
So tell me Dear Reader, how do you best solve a choice dilemma? Do you like Vietnamese dishes like these?
These meals were independently paid for.
Ha Noi Oi
178 Cabramatta Road West, NSW
Tel: 0469 890 478
Open 7 days 7am-10pm
A&M Sweets
Shop 1/206 Railway Pde, Cabramatta NSW 2166
Tel: 0433 977 790
Open 7 days 2pm-11pm
Reader Comments