My Dim Sum favourite at the moment is Dragon Palace. The quality of the food is good, the menu is good, and it was the first time ever I saw a smile from a waitress working at a Dim Sum restaurant! Quite rare since they are always frantically running around.

If you come before 11.30am you should get a table fairly quickly.

Depending on my mood I sometimes stick to the usual pot of chinese jasmine tea or sometimes I order chrysanthemum tea.

Sui Mai of Prawn and Fish Roe $4.90

One of the most common dishes for dim sum. Bursty prawn and pork dumplings wrapped in wonton skin and then steamed.

Har Gow Steamed Prawn Dumplings $4.90

Prawn pieces in a translucent starch wrapper folded in pretty pleats.

Steamed Crystal Dumplings with Scallops and Corn $5.90

I love steamed scallops and the sweetness of  the corn gives this more on a kick.

Pan-Fried Turnip Cake with Bacon in XO Sauce $5.60

This has got to be one of their signature dishes. Cubes of raddish cake tossed with crunchy bacon bits in a dark chilli XO sauce. Crispy outside coating with a soft centre. Not greasy like at some other places.

Cooking Mama China cooks this at home and this is almost as good as hers.

Cha Siu Bau Steamed BBQ Bun $4.90

Steam chinese bun with a BBQ pork filling.

Lo Mai Gai Lotus-Leaf Glutinous Rice $5.90

Sticky rice parcel with gravy meat filling some sausage, mushroom and egg.

Lotus-Leaf Glutinous Rice Innards $5.90

The glutinous rice is coloured from lotus leaf and the aroma rushed up your nose when you open it.

Cheong Fun Prawn Rice Noodle Rolls $5.60

The rice flour noodle rolls was thin and not a bit mushy. At some other restaurants I’ve had mushy, gooegy batter which is really offputting.

And now for the deep-fried items…

Chilli Pepper Whitebait $5.90

Traditionally I’m use to having squid tentacles but this was a wonderful change. Deep extra fried whitebait with chilli, salt and pepper with peanuts.

Deep Fried Prawn Wantons with Mayonnaise $5.90

If anyone knows what kind of mayonnaise they use with this dish please tell me so I can get a kilo of it.

Deep Fried Meat Dumpling $4.90

Crispy outside and hollow on the inside, these savoury oval balls are a savoury version of mochi balls filled with minced meat.

Our Busy Table

Beef Belly and Spicy Chicken Feet was also consumed both had delicious sauces.

Dan Tat Flakey Egg Tart $4.90

Three per serve! I’m use to only received two per serving.

Sago in Coconut Milk $4.90

Up to par.

Grass Jelly $4.90

Not so much. Tasted like it came straight out of a can.

Coconut Jelly Pudding $4.90

Blocks of coconut jelly.

Fresh Watermelon Juice approx $5.00

Mmm fresh fruity.

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You know when you’re doing an intense shopping session and feel so drained and hungry? Some people have a pie, some enjoy a kebab, others prefer a continental roll, but this is my ultimate snack to revitilise. The vietnamese fast food.

My lovely girlfriends agreed to join me on a Banh Mi Thit and Sugarcane Battle to find the best NOR joint for a Pork Roll and Sugarcane juice.

Picture top to bottom: Pork Rolls from Nhu Mai, Nuoc Mia Mien Tay, Ben Thanh.

A Banh Mi Thit is a pork roll filled with a party of swine with pate and veggies on a crusty french style vietnamese bread roll. When I say party, any of the following can be used depending on where you get it. It could be one of the many variations of vietnamese ham called cha lua (also can be called pork loaf), pork belly slices, pork meatballs, nem noung (a bacon flavoured pink pork patty), char sui (bbq pork), grilled pork, headcheese and the list goes on. Chicken and sardines are usually available as the filling too.

Along with meat fillings, the bread is lathered with home-made pate and a butter lard mayo combination, cucumber, corriander, pickled carrot and finished off with soy sauce and the option of chilli.

In Perth there are a few places around that offer Banh Mi Thit so we narrowed it down to three NOR places which also sell fresh sugarcane juice.

Picture from left to right: Pork Rolls from Nhu Mai, Nuoc Mia Mien Tay, Ben Thanh.

Nhu Mai

Shop 1, Templeton Crescent & Marangaroo Drive,

Newpark Shopping Centre, Girrawheen

Our first stop was Nhu Mai. Sugarcane juice wasn’t available but they do offer bubble tea. I’m not sure if it was for the day or if it’s permanently. To quickly overcome my disappointment, I moved onto the main attraction. We decided to go with combination pork rolls.

$5.00 for a combination roll.

Bread: A Viet style french bread roll, crunchy on the outside, hollow and soft inside.
Meat: Nem Ngoung, cha lau, headcheese and pork belly. Bi which is shredder pork skin and chicken is also available.
Sauce: A good blend of soy/pate/and juicy meat sauce.
Overall: A well balanced pork roll. Meaty, flavourful and crunchy. Option of chilli and spring onions available. Very meaty and satisfying.
Sugarcane: Not available.

Nhu Mai Display Fridge

In the display pork belly red roll, nem ngoung, bi (shredded pork skin), headcheese, cha lua chicken and veggies.

Nhu Mai Combination Pork Roll $5.00

Nhu Mai Asian Snacks Available

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay

7/3 Wade Court (corner Girrawheen Avenue & Patrick Court),

Summerfield Shopping Centre, Girrawheen

Our next destination was just a couple of shops away from Nguyen Phat Farmer Jacks and they also sell bubble tea. The display is vibrant and this tiny shop smelt amazing upon entering. You can smell toasted bread and aroma of meat.

$5.00 for a combination roll.
$3.50 small and $5.00 large cup of sugarcane juice. $1.00 extra without ice.

Bread: An untraditional bread for pork roll. It was not as puffy as the others.
Meat: a meatball was mushed into the breadroll and then topped with pork belly, cha lua and nem ngoung.
Sauce: The red meatball sauce was use in the roll which looked amazing.
Overall: This did not taste like a traditional pork roll but it was tasty as hell.
Sugarcane: A machine at the back of the shop can be heard squeezing the sugarcane juice made fresh to order. Then topped with kumquat. Available in small for $3.50 or large for $5.00. The large cup was huge and looked very green and refreshing.

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay Display Fridge

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay Combination Roll $5.00

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay Combination Roll Innards $5.00

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay Fresh Large Sugarcane Juice No Ice $6.00

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay Fresh Large Sugarcane Juice with Ice $5.00

Nuoc Mia Mien Tay Asian Snacks Available

Ben Thanh

4/73 Honeywell Blvd,

Mirrabooka Village Shopping Centre, Mirrabooka

$3.50 for a pork roll. $1 extra for extra pate, or double meat.
$3.50 cup sugarcane juice, $7.50 without ice.

Bread: The smallest yet crustiest roll of the three. Extra soft inside.
Meat: Pork belly and cha lua.
Sauce: Their own red sauce, with home-made pate and butter lard.
Overall: Stronger pate taste with sweet thick cut carrots. Nice and simple combo of meat. Their chillis are VERY hot and the smallest.
Sugarcane: Very green, sweet and potent. Squeezed infront of you and topped with a kumquat.

Ben Thanh Menu

Ben Thanh Pork Roll $3.50

Ben Thanh Banh Mi Thit $3.50 and Sugarcane Juice without Ice $7.50

Ben Thanh’s Sugarcane Juice Machine

Ben Thanh’s Sugarcane with ice $3.50

We all took a vote and the winner goes to:

1st Nhu Mai

Although it was a very, very close call, the extra meat content in a Nhu Mai pork roll adds extra flavour and won our votes. It was the roll we could not stop eating.

The close second….

2nd Ben Thanh

Ben Thanh’s sugarcane juice may have won us over but Nhu Mai’s pork roll had more of a kick. Ben Thanh is a lot cheaper and if we had got double meat the result might have been different.

3rd Ngouc Mai

We wanted this shop to win because of the aroma and the appeal of the open shop display, but in the end we felt that the bread was not as traditional. We even changed the mind of a previous fan. 

Thank you to my lovely ladies Kanni, MzTiff and Foodie Cravings for an amazing experience!

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I came to Bonsai earlier this year to celebrate a friend’s birthday and loved the funky atmosphere with the fusion menu to match. I had so many delicious entrees that I couldn’t even fit a main meal!

The place is very dim-litted and I forgot my camera so sorry for the quality of the pictures.

Sashimi Scallops $12.90

This was the first time my bf tried Sashimi scallops and he found them to be absolutely refreshing.

Wagyu Beef Tataki $15.90

My bf salivates everytime he sees ‘wagyu’ or ‘kobe’ on a menu. Is anyone else like that?

The wagyu takaki pieces taste like meat butter… it just disintegrates in your mouth.

Red Wine Pork Belly Kakuni $19.80

I salivate every time I see ‘pork belly’ on a menu so here’s my fix for the night. The pork belly was very tender and just pulled apart.

Scallops with Karashi-Su-Miso $12.90

Perfectly seared juicy scallops with a miso based dressing and a tiny bit of greens.

Chilli Crab Claws $7.80

These are a panko crusted deep fried balls with imitation crab meat stuffing.

I know these are frozen, and may only contain the smallest traces of crab… if any, but I still order  when I see it on a menu.

Deep Fried Chicken Tosazu $8.80

Always a popular choice. Marinated chicken pieces lightly battered and deep fried.

Takoyaki $8.50

Octopus balls with mayo and topped with katsuobushi.

Unagi Sushi $7.90

BBQ Eel bite sized sushi pieces with a drizzle of mayo. Even though I don’t eat wasabi, I like the cool leaf shaped wasabi in the corner. Served with soy and aioli.

Fried Prawn Sushi $8.90

Deep fried tempura prawn, in bite sized sushi pieces with soy and aioli.

Teri-Angus Steak $26.90

Again, the steak tasted like butter meat, only this time it’s cooked in a combination of butter and terriyaki sauce. If someone had given me a straw I could have sucked up all the sauce.

I didn’t order a main for myself but I had a bite of my bf’s and his friends.

Red Wine and Miso Pork Chop $21.90

This picture doesn’t do it justice. The pork was so tender and moist inside. The crispy sweet potato chips on the top were amazing.

Sake $7.00-9.00

Sake anyone? At only $7-9.00 a bottle, depending on which one you choose, these can be shared.

It was a great night for the group of us. The waitstaff were very efficient and the food came out quickly once ordered. Next time I’ll have dessert.

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