We ventured down King Street in Newtown and ended up at Rice Paper, a newly opened Vietnamese restaurant. It's good to finally have a Vietnamese eatery on the north end of King Street that's opened for lunch, snuggled in amongst the myriad of Thai lunchtime spots.
Lunch started with drinks, a Homemade Lemon Squash ($4.50) for me and a Vietnamese Coffee for Mr Shawn. I really liked my drink...it was must less sweet than I was expecting which was nice and there was a perfect tartness to the lemon.
Both Miss Chicken and I opt for the Vermicelli Noodles (or Bun as the Vietnamese say - though I think my pronunciation is more than a little off). Mine comes with delicious tender Beef and Miss Chicken's with Lemongrass Pork. Both dishes are served with a small dish of Nuoc Cham Sauce (a mix of Fish Sauce, Sugar, Chilli and Lime Juice...I think) which you pour over the noodles. I love Vermicelli Noodle dishes and it's normally what I order when I'm having Vietnamese for lunch - it's just such a simple and healthy dish. This version had the addition of some purple basil (and possibly some mint too) which is something I've not encountered in this dish before.
 |
| Bun Bo Xao - aka Vermicelli Noodles with Lemongrass Pork |
 |
| Bun Thit Nunong - aka Vermicelli Noodles with Beef |
I got to tell ya, I had more than a little food envy when Mr Shawn's lunch arrived at the table. I mean LOOK at all that delicious fried pork chop. Temptation got the better of me and I nabbed a tasty little morsel of pork and it was delicious.
Rice Paper is at 131 King Street, Newtown. Phone (02) 8065 7271.
