The Alley đường hẻm — Restaurant in Sydney

(3.5 stars) My dining companion is usually put off by staff memorising an order but he was strangely silent when it happened at The Alley đường hẻm. He was probably affording the older owner some latitude after he saved us from a parking fine in the rear carpark when we didn’t realise our parking had to be paid. This auspicious start to our evening barely rated a glance from the lady seated at the rear of the empty Enmore restaurant expertly folding pork spring rolls with her eyes glued to large screen televised gambling.

As it turned out, the owner didn’t miss a dish across our meal, which kicked off with the best bánh xèo ($18) I’ve had in a long time including in suburbs more readily associated with excellent Vietnamese cuisine. Stuffed with roast pork and prawns, this crisp pancake was actually crisp, remaining so even when well-doused in nước chấm delivered to your gob wrapped in the accompanying fresh leaves. We washed ours down with a refreshing Saigon Special ($8) beer as the restaurant filled up around us.

Bún chả ($17) teamed seasoned pork patties with fresh herbs and white vermicelli noodles in a generously proportioned bowl. Throwing in lemongrass and chilli chicken ($21) with combination Vietnamese fried rice ($21) was overkill. Though well-mixed with snapping fresh vegetables running from sugar snaps to capsicum and broccoli, the plump fillets of chook broadcast chilli at the expense of the purported lemongrass. It was hard to complain though when the prices belied the portion sizes: we ended up taking half of these two dishes away. The chicken’s fierce heat was nothing a frosty custard apple smoothie ($9) couldn’t fix arriving creamy and sweetened with enough sweetened condensed milk to make it an admirable...

I have previously left a positive review & 5 star rating for this place, but would like to give an updated perspective as this restaurant deserves to be commended for their outstanding service.

Starting with the food: I frequent this restaurant on a monthly basis because of their consistently delicious dishes (which also comes in generous portions). My favourite is the pork chop with tomato rice. The pork chop is coated with a sweet glaze and contains some charred fatty bits - the meat is also moist and not dry at all. I have not had pork chop from other vietnamese locations done as well as this. Another favourite is the Banh Xeo, which is crispy and comes with a large selection of fresh herbs/veggies as sides. Highly recommend if you are looking for a reliable vietnamese restaurant which will not dissapoint.

I would also like to call-out their service, which is impeccable. We had opted to order via ubereats during covid, and the ubereats driver had failed to pick up our order - which resulted in a long wait only to have the order cancelled in the end. As I was really craving the pork chop, we decided to drive there instead to pick up the food that was left behind by the driver. Michael (unsure if he is the owner) went above and beyond to assist us - he had the food re-prepared so that it would be warm, and insisted that our meal was on the house. The restaurant wasn't paid by us or ubereats, and suffered a loss in order to provide great customer service and resolve a mistake which wasnt their fault to begin with.

I cannot commend this place enough and will continue to support this business...

This is one of my favourite go-to places whenever I'm in Newtown. There are other Vietnamese restaurants in the area, but I'm willing to walk extra to the end of Enmore Road just to eat here.

I highly recommended their noodle soups and rice dishes, especially the special Vietnamese beef noodle soup or the spicy beef noodle soup. They might sound the same but the flavour profiles and noodle texture are very different. The restaurant also have an extensive range of Vietnamese teas, coffees and beers for that nostalgic taste along with the usual smoothies. I just love it!

The owner and staff here are super friendly, like your next-door neighbour vibe which makes me feel like I'm actually in VN whenever I'm there. The cool interior design also gives off that aesthetic aspect which Newtown is famous for. You can enjoy food while submerging the art inside the restaurant too. It looks better at night time when the lanterns are lit up.

There is, however, room for improvements. I once had this egg soda where I couldn't finish the drink because the yolk was not done properly and gave off this distinctive raw egg yolk taste. I think this was the case of someone unfamiliar with the making process having to try it out since not many people actually order egg soda like myself. Hence, I can let it slide since my experience with the restaurant has always been a plus. I probably won't try the egg soda again here tho.

All in all, will still come back again with my friends so they know what authentic Vietnamese...