Having spent a day recently out at Inala, we had decided that there were a couple of restaurants that we wanted to try when things were a little quieter. So, we went back recently, under the cover of darkness, to see what their menus were like for dinner. We figured that at least one of the two would be open for dinner, but, we should have done our research first, because neither of them were. So there we were, standing in the Plaza where everything appeared to be closed, when I spotted two policemen who looked like they were on a break. “I wonder what they’re going to have to eat”, I thought to myself. So, I popped on my white tourist hat and yellow sunglasses and discretely followed them to a place at the western end of the plaza called Sunshine Bar & Grill. Whilst they placed their order for takeaway at the counter, we took a table and began perusing the menu.
Now, if you’re one of those people that likes to have pictures of the food on the menu, you won’t get that here. The menus are photocopied and are available at the counter as you enter but they do have English translations. One of the things I noticed while looking around in Inala is that a lot of the foods are able to be created on a budget. Most of the ingredients to make these amazing dishes are relatively inexpensive, so what you are paying for is the ability of the chef to create such wonderful flavours. (Speaking of operating on a budget, there are no napkins on the table, instead you’ll find a box of tissues. But hey, that works. If it bothers you, then just do as I do and carry a couple of spare serviettes in your satchel / man-bag loll)
Something else that you may need to be aware of, (if you haven’t noticed yet from the photographs), they use a lot of peanuts – even in their drinks! Not that that is a problem for me, because I really like something in my meal that adds texture and crunch, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
So, what did we order:
Stir-fried goat served with Vietnamese baguette $16.50
Grilled ox tongue $15.00
Grilled chicken feet $13.00
Grilled sweet and savoury pork meatball $11.00
Combination stir-fry egg noodles $16.00
I decided to venture outside my comfort zone and order the chicken’s feet. I was advised that they would take a little longer than the other items that we ordered which didn’t bother us as it added an extra element of fun to the meal (if you follow me on social media you may have discovered that I don’t have a sense of humour at all 😉).
The other dishes arrived very quickly to the table and we set about tasting them all. The thing that I liked about the ox tongue was that, even though they were wafer thin, they were packed full of flavour and were incredibly moreish. You should expect them to be a little more chewy than your average cut of meat, but they are definitely not tough or dry. I’m happy to report that these were moist and tender and I even considered ordering a take-away tray for a little snack for later on.
I was really excited to try the delicious little sweet meatballs. Once again you will note the clever presentation which exposes the beautiful pink colour inside the meatballs and makes you feel there is a lot more food on the plate than if they were delivered as a few whole meatballs. The savoury portion of the meal was added with peanuts, crispy dried onions and a little greenery. Very clever and very tasty.
The goat dish was presented beautifully. It smelt amazing and the fresh baguette was a great addition. Word to the wise, the “hotpot” is hot! No concern of serious injury but it may take you by surprise (put it this way, we had to do two takes for the video). Now, you are probably wondering about the yellow dipping sauce. Sharon and I debated as to what the flavours were, with Sharon suggesting something with pineapple, but I was unable to put my finger on what the sauce was made of. I can tell you though - I quite liked it and it went well with the meal. Of course, we asked the girl at the checkout as we paid and you may be surprised to learn after that description, that the sauce is made on fermented bean curd. So, as the saying goes, you’ll never know if you like it unless you try it. If I had heard fermented bean curd, I probably wouldn’t have tried it. Of course, we Aussies drink a lot of beer and wine - #fermentation…..
If you’ve been watching the lead up to this article, you will know that, over the period of a couple of days, we had ordered the combination stir-fry (one of Sharon’s favourites) from two different places. Having tried this dish at a small place in the market area first, I must admit that this one didn’t reach the same standard. That’s not to say that it wasn’t good, but, by comparison, the other one was far more flavoursome (it was at Phuong Trinh Restaurant just in case you were wondering, but it is only open during the day).
FINALLY – the chicken’s feet. Some might refer to this dish as polarizing. For me, food is an adventure as you may have realised. So I feel it’s up to me to take one for the team and try things that one might not ordinarily put in their mouth. Well, boys and girls, I tried it, I liked them and I’d order them again. If I’ve missed anything in this article, check out our videos across the various channels and you’ll probably pick it up there or watch the YouTube clip here:
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