La Mint Restaurant: Vietnamese $25 Set Lunch Menu, Darlinghurst (12 July 2012)

62-64 Riley Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

http://www.lamint.com.au

Setting out for Vietnamese

A work colleague's farewell lunch brings me to La Mint, just next door to Red Lantern on Riley, to try their $25 Set Lunch Menu. Due to the group booking being larger than eight it attracted a credit card deposit of $10 per person which is something to keep in mind. The set menu starts with an Entree Platter of rice paper rolls with prawns, seafood nem and coconut prawn. I really liked the seafood nem aka seafood spring roll which was tasty and crispy as hoped although it seemed to be missing an appropriate Vietnamese 'nuoc cham' dipping sauce. The fresh roll was good and came with a hoisin sauce and the coconut prawn was a decent size and nicely cooked and came with an aioli style sauce. I opted for a $5 glass of wine with the set menu which is a bargain considering a glass of wine starts at $10. The 2011 Kapuka Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough NZ was as expected. My Chilli salted squid with salad had good flavours but unfortunately the squid wasn't as tender as hoped making it a bit of a workout for the jaw. This seemed to be the consensus of most of the diners that ordered it but some seemed to have a better experience for most of their dish. Portion size was decent although the salad wasn't really Vietnamese in style and I would have preferred some pickled carrot, radish and mint with the lettuce and perhaps a dipping sauce to go with the squid.

Other visits to La Mint: 
• 12 July 2012 – $25 set lunch menu 
• 21 Jan 2010 – Food Bloggers Award Launch

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice decor and seating, Fresh ingredients, Service seemed friendly enough, Glass of wine reasonably priced with set lunch

CONS: Credit card deposit required for large groups, Tables have very thick legs so together creates large gaps between seating

WORTH TRYING: Seafood nem, Glass of wine with set lunch menu
VERDICT: The set lunch menu was a bit of a hit and miss but I'd be curious to try other dishes on the menu

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Table water, 2011 Kapuka Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough NZ ($5 with lunch menu, $10 on wine menu)

Entree Platter: A tasting plate of rice paper rolls with prawns, seafood nem and coconut prawn ($25 pp Set Lunch)

Seafood nem
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chilli salted squid with salad and balsamic dressing ($25 pp Set Lunch)

Set Lunch $25 pp

3 Course Set Lunch $35 pp

Wine menu

Bill $345 for 13 people — notice a glass of wine is cheaper than lemon lime bitters with $5 lunch deal

Quite a large awkward gap created by table legs when put together

Very unfortunate position of urinal next to cubicle door entrance — Perhaps get rid of urinal and replace with some shelves with nice flowers and Vietnamese ornaments

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