Vietnamese Delight — Restaurant in East Victoria Park

Environment: parking at street or free car park nearby (~2 min walk). Decorated in Vietnamese style. Not packed. Soft lighting. Clean and tidy. Share toilets with other restaurants. It opens earlier than other surrounding restaurants. We wanted to have early and light dinner. So, let's try. ---7.3/10 Service: One lady was serving 3 tables and takeaway when I was there. She was so nice and gentle. She will give us a bucket of utensils and servitte after taking orders. Tap water will be provided upon request, or she will ask if you don't order any drinks. Served food fast. --- 7.3/10 Food: From starter to desserts and drinks. Simple choices plus vegetarian dishes. The presentation was very tidy and clean. The price of main dishes is slightly on high side. Normal portion. Spicy Noodles Soup Hue Style, $17.9: The bean sprouts were fresh and drained out excessive water. I appreciated it. Basil and lemon wedge was also fresh. Thick Rice Vermicelli was not over soften. There were 2 kinds of pork (1 each) and more portion of beef. Slowed cooked beef was tender. Raw beef was cut roughly (still linking together) but not chewy. The soup was pretty good, likely no MSG. It's a strong flavour one. The soup is slightly spicy, and you can add more chili paste and chili to your liking. Pretty Homestyle. --- 7.8/10 Grilled Pork Loin served with Steamed Rice and Vietnamese Salad, $22.9 (mian dish): There are 2 pork loins. Well marinated. Well cooked. Salad and rice are ok. No chopped chili in the fish sauce. --- 7.4/10 Lychee Soda, $6.5: 3 Lychee there. Ok. I would like to come again and try other dishes...

I went to Vietnam in March and am still yearning for the food. I’ve tried a couple of Vietnamese restaurants since I returned and they’ve been ok. But the 2 dishes I had from Vietnamese Delight for takeaway last night took me right back. The spring rolls were home made not frozen, and freshly fried. Yes they are a bit oily but of course they are! Typical delicate and well balanced flavours, a simple dipping sauce and super crisp. Followed by beef pho. Love the way it was packaged as separate items for me to assemble when I got home- to make sure it was fresh and not soggy. Again a typical fragrant broth with freshly cooked beef, noodles, bean sprouts. The broth was not spicy at all - toned down for Aussie palates I guess - but that was easily rectified with the chilli that I asked for and which was provided in another neat little container.

5 stars for food and service on this experience. Hope to return soon...

I ordered one noodle dish and one pho. The broth was decent, but the main dishes were quite average in texture. Even though there were two staff members, only one seemed to be working (the other might have been the owner?), so even when it wasn’t busy, we still had to wait to place an order.

The biggest issue was the bill: the card surcharge was listed as “Tips/Gratitude.” This is very misleading because it makes customers think it’s a tip, when in reality it’s a mandatory fee. I even called the restaurant afterward—the person on the phone was polite, but they didn’t clearly explain why the surcharge was labeled as tips, which is quite strange. Even though the amount is small, it feels non-transparent and leaves a poor impression. I strongly suggest the restaurant clearly label this as “Card surcharge” instead of...