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Saigon Place |
Lorenza and I lived in Bankstown
before we were married (wow – seems like yesterday). When we heard about
“Bankstown Bites” the Bankstown City Council’s food festival we thought we
would take a look and see what has changed.
When we moved from Bankstown
being adventurous with food in western Sydney
was a beef and black bean dish at the local Chinese. Things sure have changed
in 20 years or so.
Wide range of foods
The food festival itself was in a small park not far from the
station. There was a number of interesting food stalls, with offerings ranging
from Middle Eastern to South East Asian cuisines. The Bankstown Arts Centre was
also open and you could see demonstrations by local artists and take part in
workshops. They also had examples of their work on sale.
When we first arrived we were starving so we headed direct
to the gourmet gozleme stall. This was a great starter.
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Loved her Pad Thai |
Green Papaya, Crab
& Sticky Rice
Then we saw the lady at the Thai food stall making green
papaya salad - we just had to have some! She put together a spicy, sweet and
sour salad for us, plus added some tiny crabs to the mix as well. We also
ordered sticky rice with banana from the same stall.
We shared a small table in the park with a friendly Vietnamese
guy and his young daughter. She was devouring a great looking Pad Thai and only
paused for introductions and a cute smile. He told us his life story while we
had our salad.
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making our papaya salad |
The papaya salad was great. The tiny little crabs were so
salty they really added a lot to the dish. You quickly suck the tiny bit of
flesh from them, get a zap of salt and discard the shells.
A Short Stroll to Saigon
One of the highlights of the festival was the short food
tours run by the council. The themed tours included the “Fresh Food & Spice
Extravaganza”, “Cocktail of Delights”, “Tasty Treats from the Middle East” and
a “Taste of Asia”. Plus, the tour we managed to get tickets for a “Short Stroll
to Saigon”. The tours were very popular, we
called and booked a few days in advance and they had almost booked out.
Our three stops on the tour were:
Pho Vietnamese
Cuisine – a restaurant specialising in North Vietnamese dishes (funny it is
now in Bankstown’s little “Saigon”).
They served up some great examples of traditional food from the north – deep
fried spring rolls, fresh beef rice paper rolls (these were fantastic) and
crispy chicken. The owners were very friendly and explained which sauces went
with what dish, etc.
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Pho Vietnamese Cusine |
Very tasty dishes and because it is from the north of Vietnam
the flavours of the sauces are just a bit different from the southern
Vietnamese food we are used to when we visit Cabramatta.
Very friendly people and great food - find them at Shop
15/256 Chapel Rd, Bankstown Ph: 9708 6661.
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Banh Mi Bo Ko | |
Phat Dat Restaurant
– specialise in fresh noodle soup, ranging from seafood to spicy beef. They
claim to have the best Vietnamese fish sauce in town. The owner greeted us and
we soon found he has a great personality for the front of house. At first we
thought the owners name was Dat but he did not look too Phat (sorry bad joke).
The place has only been open five months and from what we
sampled we hope it lives up to its name which we found translates to “good
fortune”.
They served us samples (and they were huge samples) of Pho
with pork balls, crispy chicken, spring rolls and then a bonus beef stew which
was absolutely delicious. The stew was called “Banh Mi Bo Ko” – it is number 7
on the menu board and well worth a try.
The service was fast and friendly, the prices looked great
and the flavours were too. You can find Phat Dat at 303 Chapel Rd, Bankstown
Ph: 9790 6401.
Nature Care &
Acupuncture Centre – was the last stop on our tour. They sell an endless
array of Chinese herbs, tonics, teas and balms. They gave us samples of some
teas – some promised to improve our eyesight and sexual function, others to
help the flow of Qi and limit belching, while others were claimed to be able to
improve thinking and the resistance to infections. They also have an
acupuncture clinic.
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Herbal shop |
I must admit that I have often peeked inside stores like
this but felt a bit too daunted to enter because of the huge array of herbs and
things that I have no idea about. The owner helped us understand the many uses
of the herbs and teas. They were also very happy to do some quick consultations
about what would best help relieve various symptoms of our fellow tour
participants.
On the owner’s recommendation Lorenza bought some dried
chrysanthemum and dried roses to make tea with, which he said would settle her stomach
and aid digestion. Interestingly, the English brand name of the dried roses is
“Rural Amorous Feelings” so I must take Lorenza for a country drive soon I
think.
We spotted a big jar containing …. Mmmm something? And found
out it was sea cucumbers – I grilled the owners wife on what they are used for
but did not fully understand the answer.
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Rural Amorous Feelings? |
$5 - what can you get for $5?
The tour went for about 1 hour was cost $5 – yes $5 – what
can you get for $5 dollars these days? Some great food and an interesting walk
in Bankstown
that’s what! Thanks to Bankstown Council and the restaurant owners and herbal
shop for helping us enjoy ourselves so much. Our other tour participants were
also very happy and friendly making it a lot of fun.
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Frank & Tomoko cooking classes soon |
Japanese cooking
classes
One of our intrepid fellow tourists, Tomoko told us she is
planning some Japanese cooking classes in the near future in Balmain so stay
tuned for some info on that. She already runs Japanese caligraphy classes so why not some cooking as well!
Sweets & Coffee
To finish our day we had a coffee and some sweets at Chehade El Bahsa & Sons Sweets shop at 288 Chapel Road South. Great coffee and an amazing array of biscuits, pastries and sweets. We have been told that next time we should try the sweet, soft cheese.
Checkers in the park
From the sweet shop we walked to the other side of the rail line, on our way we came across a few groups of Vietnamese folks playing cards and a kind of checkers in a small park. The concentration on the games was intense and I have a feeling there was a lot riding on some of the card games. Looked like fun to me!
See you there next
year!
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a box of Slivovice anyone? |
In 22 years Bankstown
has changed a lot – the best it used to offer was Chinese or the roast at the local
RSL, now it is like a trip around the world with no passport or visa required.
One thing that has not changed is that Bankstown Cellars are
still in the same spot and for a small shop they offer a really interesting
range of Greek, Croatian, Russian and a myriad other offerings of wines and
spirits from around the globe. We stopped there just before leaving and grabbed
a jar of Marrons in liquor for a future dessert.