Bau Truong opens new venue at Harbord Diggers
It’s one of the most popular Vietnamese restaurants in Sydney, and now it has opened a new venue on the northern beaches.
Manly
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Picture this: the Vietnamese countryside, a farm worker and his mates sitting down in the afternoon after toiling in the fields, breaking out a bottle of rice wine as they tuck into a curry made with locally caught river eels.
That’s the scene co-owner Michael Thai conjures up in the rather more sumptuous surroundings of Bau Truong, in the Harbord Diggers, as he recommends fish curry dip with sesame rice cracker as an entree ($17).
It turns out to be the must-have dish on the menu, eel replaced by ling for western palates, serving up an explosion of sweet taste that heralds a dish from the south of the country and some good old crunch.
The perfect Vietnamese comfort food, which is what Michael says his menu is all about.
In fact it’d be easy to fill up on entrees with rice paper rolls, dumplings (we can recommend the roast duck, with pumpkin and salted radish) and pancakes which are on offer, but Michael’s advice is to go for the pork and taro spring rolls which are among the most popular in Bau Truong’s Cabramatta branch.
Michael’s mum set up shop there 26 years ago, and there’s now around 180 dishes on its menu.
The team have boiled that down thankfully at their newest venture on the northern beaches.
The restaurant has moved into the space once occupied by WaterDragon.
Although newcomers to Vietnamese cuisine may still need some advice – there is a ton of options to choose from.
It should be noted at this point that in these COVID times ordering has to be done at the counter, so get your questions prepped if you want to avoid causing a bit of a queue.
Pho, the hearty noodle soup that is widely seen as Vietnam’s national dish, is of course among the mains along with that northern beaches staple, salt and pepper squid, plenty of prawn choices, sweet and sour this and that, lemongrass or crispy chicken, plenty of noodles, exotic-looking salads, and even laksa.
But if you want Michael’s personal recommendation – and we did – you’ll end up with the Vietnamese sea bass cutlet ($30) which comes with a caramelised sauce, is wonderfully soft and best, though do watch out for bones. Add steamed rice ($4).
Also, we went for the pepper beef ($26), with cubes which could have been more tender served on a plate of salad, along with a side of tomato rice ($5). And chargrilled eggplant in fish sauce ($22), which was succulent and delicious.
If you have room for dessert after all that lot, good luck to you. There’s deep fried ice cream and a selection of cakes.
There is a variety of non-alcoholic drinks on offer: teas, Vietnamese ice coffee fruit shakes, housemade soda. Alcoholic drinks have to be bought from the main Diggers bar, most diners opting for a bottle of wine.
To book go to: harborddiggers.com.au.
Julie Cross was a guest of Bau Truong.