83A Vulture St West End
3/5
Huong's is an old favorite of mine, I've been there many times over the years and not once has it disappointed me. So when i organised this weeks dinner i had high expectations for similar quality food to the other times I had been here in the past. (Sorry to anyone expecting Korean, but the place i had planned on going to was closed) And Huong's again failed to disappoint me, with some of the best Vietnamese food i have eaten in the past decade. (I am of the belief that at Huong's the only food worth eating is the Vietnamese. But if you are better informed about the other dishes on the menu please enlighten me.)
Covering the environmental aspects of the dining experience. Huong's has a great vibe to it, being up a narrow set of stairs between a fruit shop and bakery. With the interior adorned with tacky red Chinese lanterns and fairy lights. These decorative aspects invoke both the stereotypes of 1980's Australian Chinese restaurants and in my eyes the restaurant scenes featured in many Hong Kong action films. Just quickly, the service at Huong's was especially prompt, having our requests fulfilled surprisingly quick especially considering we were in an isolated corner of the dining room.
Now onto the most important part of the review, the food. Beginning with entrees we ordered the Spicy Quail, Shrimp and Pork Cold Rolls and Sam Choy Bow. The Quail is standout in this situation being the most perfect Quail i have had anywhere in Brisbane so far. The main reason i thought it was so good was the fact that it was missing the trademark bone dryness that most Quails have in at least half of the meat. That's not even mentioning the slow build spiciness that made the dish so pleasantly interesting. The Cold Rolls are also worth special mention with the serving size being truly massive. On their own the Cold rolls were mildly unpleasant due to the overpowering flavour of mint. But when combined with the sauce they are served with the mint flavour is neutralised providing a pleasant if nothing else experience. The Sam Choy Bow, was nice but otherwise was an unmemorable dish.
Onto the Mains, for mains i had Beef Noodle Salad, my partners had a Beef Pho, and a Seafood Hotpot, i tried all these dishes and apart from the hot pot ( i had just eaten some of the Pho with chilli preventing me from tasting anything else) all were very fragrant and well balanced (again except the chilli added to the Pho by my dining partner). The Beef Noodle Salad had a remarkable fragrance, and flavour that more than anything else was refreshing and revitalising, that is all i can say on the flavour of it. The Pho was great with a wonderful interesting aniseed flavour in the broth that complimented the fresh flavours of the contents, and after the addition of chilli, had a delightful finish of heat following the recession of aniseed on the tongue.
Unfortunately the Hot pot was overpowered by the lingering of aniseed and chilli when i ate it and i was unable to formulate an informed opinion on it, however my dining partner assured me that it was quite good.
Overall Huong's has failed to disappoint on every occasion i have been there, and i will most assuredly be returning there in the future.
Our entrees cost between $5 and $10, with the most expensive entree almost being a meal in itself. Mains cost between $11.50 and $22.50 with two of the mains being on the lower end of the band.
Corkage is $2 a head and Huong's is BYO. There are several Bottle shops within walking distance of Huong's including The Melbourne Hotel bottle barn and the Boundary Hotel bottle shop.
Huongs have a website with a full menu on it at www.huongs.com.au and are open for dinner 7 days a week from 5:00 pm to 10:00pm
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