Dong Ba, Cabramatta
Monday, September 26, 2016
Dong Ba is very familiar to all us growing up in Bankstown. Especially to Cathy who I know has a lot of funny stories there. That all being said, I didn't even realise they had other stores over different suburbs and states, and the flagship store was just nearby in Cabramatta. My family and I don't normally eat here whenever we're in the area but upon walking in just before 9pm which is the closing time on a Saturday, my mom tells me that her and my dad come here whenever they are looking for a late dinner. Thanks for the invite 😭
My first impression of the store is that it is super bright and white. My photos don't do it any justice. In fact the entire place is very clean and spacious.
It feels a little bit classy but when you sit down and are familiarised with all the usual table contents of a Vietnamese restaurant, it starts to feel comfortable once again. There is a huge TV screen on the left of the restaurant which really made my night since Grease was playing on the tele. FAVOURITE!
The waitresses were really friendly although in a rush to clean up and go home. Unfortunately we were one of the annoying type of customers who walked in right before closing time. When we were about to leave, they apologised for rushing us and went to inform the manager that he would have to be staying back later. The manager took our orders and seemed happy to hang around past closing time waiting for us to finish our meals. I felt so bad because I'm a very slow eater, but my parents looked like they do this often HAHA 😂
Meals arrived REALLY fast and the manager got into this conversation with my parents where he told them that it's fast because everything is made freshly on the same day, early in the morning.
I'm trying a different style of making comments on my food review today so let me know what you think. Previously it was written in dot points but I guess I'm just looking for a way to elaborate more and highlight the main points from it.
Bun Bo Hue $11
This is the house speciality of Dong Ba. My parents don't mind the taste of it here but we all agree that Dong Ba doesn't serve the best Bun Bo Hue. It's a bit bland and doesn't have any stand out flavour. I believe that Bun Bo Hue is supposed to be spicy and aromatic due to all the lemongrass, shrimp, and fish sauce flavours - but everyone has their own recipe and tastes for the dish. At the end of the day, this bowl of noodles didn't wow us and my mom definitely does it better!
Banh Canh Cua $11
I went a bit outside my comfort zone and decided to go for a delicious bowl of Banh Canh Cua, this is Vietnamese tapioca noodles in a bowl of crab soup. Again, my mom definitely makes a better bowl of this (but should I mention her family owns a very popular Banh Canh shop in Vietnam). The soup wasn't bland but it didn't have the stand out flavours of seafood/crab and pepper. In fact I'd probably say it kind of tasted like chicken broth. There wasn't a lot of crab meat either but there was a very generous amount of pork slices. The portion of this was also huge and hungry-me struggled to finish it :'( I did enjoy it though so it's very decent!
Com Ga Nuong $11
OKAY now this is what should be the actual speciality of Dong Ba. Their grilled chicken with rice is the bomb! Why? This chicken actually tastes so beautifully chargrilled and smokey as if it had been cooking over some coals on the BBQ, rather than in an electric oven. It's entirely more-ish and very, very tender with a delicious coating of what tastes like lemongrass. It probably is lemongrass because that's very Vietnamese. And I despise lemongrass in most things like meat so for me to enjoy this chicken really says something. The salad, vegetables, and carrot and daikon pickles are all very fresh and the accompanying fish sauce is perfect.
We all left Dong Ba feeling very satisfied with our dinners. Probably my dad was the most satisfied since he had the best dish! This is consistent over with the branch at Bankstown as well (at least by my opinion) so I hope you guys will all give this place a try.
Thank you for reading!
TL;DR:
Price: Reasonable
Quality: Generous portions for great value, and fresh food
Service: Friendly
Ambience: Spacious, bright and clean
Dong Ba
5/117 John St,
Cabramatta NSW 2166
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