Saturday, February 27, 2010

Hai Au - Canley Vale

I actually went to Hai Au a while ago, and never had a chance to blog about it. Why? Errrrrr......I didn't actually know where I was.... *cough* I mean, I did get a lift from a friend to another friend's house. Then we jumped into another car and went somewhere where there was a detour and then it got dark and then I just got lost! *LoL* Plus my friend had no idea what the restaurant was called. She just knew how to get there!

Anyway, thanks to Google Maps and Streetview, I finally figured it was Hai Au! I rarely EVER come to this part of town, especially on a week day, ESPECIALLY at night. So I was quite surprised how many people were actually in the restaurant, including a huge party of about 15-20 people. It took me 30mins to realise that party of 15-20 people was actually my friend and her family!! haha

Anyway, because of the detour and us getting lost, I was ravenous by the time we got to the restaurant. Even though there were 3 of us, we insisted on order 4 main meals! Never let me order when hungry!

Firstly, let me explain that I rarely, if EVER have Vietnamese main meals. 95% of the time I end up getting Pho considering how much I love it. The other 5% will either be noodle salads or other noodle soups. This is probably the first time I fully remember ordering mains.


So I had no idea what we were really ordering when we got the pork, prawn and lotus root salad. What came out was quite different to what I expected. Expecting the standard lotus roots, I was wondering what the heck those sticks of white stuff were.

The white stuff is actually pickled lotus roots. If you look at the ends very VERY carefully, you will see the same holes you find in the normal lotus roots. This salad was unbelievably refreshing! I absolutely loved the crunch of the lotus roots with the pickled daikon and carrots. The acidity cuts through the fatty pork and goes perfect with seafood. I enjoyed it so much I bought a jar of the lotus roots as well! I just need to know how to use it! hehe

Sour fish soup

This is one of my favourite dishes when I went to Vietnam. Its got the lovely sweetness of seafood, sour tang and loads of herbs giving the soup a perfect balance. I loved mixing the broth with plain boiled rice and eating it just like that.

Stewed pork belly and eggs with coconut juice

I was surprised how small this dish was compared to the others, especially the price they were charging. Its nice, but I reckon I make a much better version ;) With that said, the pork was melting in your mouth. Don't forget to cut the egg open and let the yolk soak up all the sauce.

Hot and sour beef

Another nice dish. Not sure how Viet this is. I didn't really eat much of this because by the time it came out, I was stuffed to the brim! This is the problem when you order 4 mains for 3 people! hehe

Hai Au Restaurant
48a Canley Vale Rd
Canley Vale NSW 2166
Phone (02) 9724 9156


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2 comments:

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

Canley Vale is way too west for me but I love the look of the stewed pork belly ....

SoRMuiJAi said...

hahaha same here! I only went because a friend offered to drive! Otherwise I'm too lazy to go! hehe