Madame Nhu: Vietnamese, The Galeries, CBD Sydney (1 Nov 2011)

Shop 5, Lower Ground, The Galeries

500 George Street, Galeries Victoria, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.madamenhu.com.au

Opening special a tasty bargain

Madame Nhu has just opened this week and her opening $5 special for all dishes has become very popular indeed. It's so popular that you'd best get there early before dishes sell out and queues get really long to take advantage of one of the cheapest lunches you'll find in the city until this Saturday, 5 November. The Vermicelli Sugarcane prawn ($9.50, $5 opening special) is served on a plate but to make it easier to mix I'm thinking a bowl might have been better like they do at Pasteur. There's a little bit of lettuce I used to wrap up a bit of everything although a few rice paper sheets would have been great. The flavour was quite prawny which is quite nice with the other ingredients. The sugarcane stick was a little hard to try and chew which you can sometimes do. Their Pho noodle special beef pho ($10.5, $5 opening special) could maybe have been served a bit hotter but flavours are quite nice and the stock isn't too oily. There's a fair amount of beef balls to consume as well. The Caramelised pork kho ($10.50, $5 opening special) is slow-cooked berkshire pork belly and rice. The meat is pretty tender as hoped and nicely flavoured. Beware of the thick fatty skin if you're health conscious which simply melts in your mouth.

If I had the time I'd probably try and come back every day for the $5 lunch to try other dishes on the menu. The renovations of the food court are looking pretty good compared to the old one which was very basic. The seating in the centre surrounded by a curtain wall reminds me a bit of Spice Temple. It's nice to see a few decent new eateries are now settling in including Top Juice which make a great fruit salad that I believe also supply to David Jones Food Hall.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Food court seating and decor has been renovated, Presentation and flavours fairly decent for the special price, Buzzer provided to let you know when your order is ready

CONS: $5 special only until Saturday 5 Nov, Long queues due to special pricing, Some of the food court ceiling lights are a bit bright and angle directly into your eyes

MUST TRY: Other dishes on the menu

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Vermicelli Sugarcane prawn ($9.50, $5 opening special) — decent flavour although if served in a bowl might be a little easier to mix and eat

A bit more lettuce would have been good to make little wraps

Signature đặc biệt - Pho noodle special beef pho($10.5, $5 opening special) — could have been hotter in temperature, flavours OK

Caramelised pork kho - Traditional slow-cooked berkshire pork belly & rice ($10.50, $5 opening special) — tender meat, fatty skin

Service counter

Limited store seating, looks a little squashed

Menu

2 dishes for only $10 during promotion. Buzzer provided for when your meal is ready

Busy kitchen

Take away bag

Bright ceiling lights can sometimes be angled straight into your face which isn't nice

Food court seating

The Galeries entrance via Pitt Street

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Chat Thai: Thai, The Galeries, CBD Sydney (1 Nov 2011)

500 George Street, Galeries Victoria, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.chatthai.com.au

Open and back in business

The Galeries food court renovations seem to be completed now and all is back on track for Chat Thai with it's new shop in a slightly new location. The branding police have also made it look like it's other stores. It certainly looks a lot different to what it used to look like. The seating and decor of the food court has totally changed for the better looking more modern, welcoming and a lot cleaner. Unfortunately with renovations it seems prices have also risen a bit. I was fearing this would happen but hopefully the quality remains the same if not better. I've yet to try any of the dishes but surely will in time.

Visited 16 Feb 2012

Duck noodle soup ($14.90) - good depth of broth flavours, a bit more duck would have been welcomed

Visited 9 March 2012

Menu No. 41 Gai Yaang: Grilled turmeric and lemongrass marinated chicken with smoked chilli and tamarind relish on rice ($11.90) - meat was a bit on the dry side but relish helped moisten in up, flavoursome spices

Menu No. 51 Grapao Cripy [Crispy] Pork Belly: Stir fried crisp pork belly, fresh chilli and holy basil with fried egg and rice ($13.90) - lots of flavour, fried egg could have been a bit runnier, holy basil gave the dish a nice taste. Best not to eat this one if you have a meeting or they'll know about it.

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Menu

Service counter

Limited store seating available

Food court seating

The Galeries entrance via Pitt Street


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Chat Thai: Closed for renovations until 1 Oct at The Galeries, Sydney (29 Apr 2011)

Shop 5, Lower Ground, Food Avenue, The Galeries
500 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.chatthai.com.au

Chat Thai heading to Westfield

If you've been a fan of the Chat Thai in The Galeries like me then you'll be sad to know they're closing for renovations until 1 October but their sign mentions they'll have a branch opening in Westfield Sydney on 17 August just down the road. Let's hope the prices remain just as reasonable but I'm suspecting like all eateries in the new Westfield Sydney they'll probably be a bit more expensive. The last time I visited I spotted someone ordering the Kana Moogrob ($8.90) so I thought I'd give it a try. It's quite a delicious sight of chinese broccoli and sliced crisp pork belly but it's the abundance of fresh chilli that has me quite scared. Thankfully it's more a sweet chilli than the heart-stopping variety. There's a decent amount of pork, with some bits more crisp than others. The Duck Noodle Soup ($9.90) has nice depth of flavour in the five-spiced smoked duck stock although being a fatty meat there's also a fair amount of skin which can't be too healthy.

Other visits to Chat Thai:

• 29 April 2011 - Kana Moogrob, Duck Noodle Soup

• 3 June 2009 - Chicken Fried Rice

• 4 June 2009 - Boat Noodle Soup with Pork, Som Tum: Green Papaya Salad

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Good tasting dishes at reasonable prices

CONS: The Galeries Chat Thai closing for renovations but hopefully bigger and better when reopened, Existing food court a bit run down

MUST TRY: Visiting the Westfield Sydney Chat Thai once it opens

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Kana Moogrob: Stir fry of chinese broccoli, fresh chilli and sliced crisp pork belly on rice ($8.90)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Duck Noodle Soup: Rice moodle in five-spiced smoked duck stock, BBQ duck fillets, bean sprouts, dressed with coriander and shallots ($9.90)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Closing for renovations until 1 Oct 2011

Menu specials

Food court seating

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