I was tempted to keep this short and sweet with just a HOT….and leave it at that. No wordiness or imagery, just pictures; after all I don’t know if my words can do this place justice. In the spirit of blogging however, I’ve used both wordiness and pictures to best portray how good this place is, particularly for the price.
Mints is a fairly recent addition to the buzzing Rosalie village and is perched between Tomatos and Grill’d with a great alfresco dining area – the perfect lunch spot, especially on Friday when work isn’t high on the agenda. My party of 4 arrived to an empty restaurant, but it was just before midday and the lunch time rush hadn’t yet descended upon the village. 20 minutes later however it was a different story and there wasn’t a spare seat in the house.
The first thing to point out is that the menu is huge – I guarantee you are going to have trouble deciding what to have. If you’re anything like me and prefer to sample various menu items, make sure you bring a wicked hunger and a crew of fellow cravers with you! As soon as our entrées arrived, we knew this lunch time feast would gazump us – there was no way we were going to get through this meal without requiring a doggy bag.
The prawn and pork rice paper rolls ($9.00 for 4) tasted as fresh and light as they look. Just look at how well they are constructed!
The chicken satay sticks ($5.50 for 2), one of Princess’ favourites wherever we go, were in a tasty pool of the best satay sauce I’ve tasted in a long time. It was light, smooth and tangy as opposed to the thick claggy mess you get so often with satay sauces.
The golden, piping hot home made spring rolls ($6.50 for 4) were crunchy on the outside with real mince, vegies and thin noodles in the middle.
The mains arrived shortly after we demolished our entrees and I couldn’t believe my eyes when the dishes arrived at the table.
CB’s tom yum chicken noodle soup ($11.90) had a strong, fresh and spicy aroma and looked like it would pack a mean chilli punch. This was a serious soup with serious flavour and oodles of noodles under the delicious top layer of chicken and tomato. This will be my pick when I return for lunch this week!
BB chose Hue’s spicy noodle soup ($11.90) with pork and beef. The waitress had mentioned this dish was extra spicy and although BB requested a milder version, I’m not convinced they obliged. The soup was piled with large slices of tender beef and pork in a steaming and spicy broth which brought a tear to BB’s eye. It was entertaining to say the least and we fought for the pleasure of wiping his brow during his half time interval.
Upon my recommendation, Princess chose the sugar cane prawn and salad rice paper wraps ($15.90). Having a stomach the size of a sparrow, I knew Princess wouldn’t be able to get through this which was good news for the rest of us who were hovering for a taste. Her dish was full of the usual fresh Viet salad ingredients, including a spicy cucumber sauce and she entertained us with her questionable roll making skills.
I opted for the roast duck noodle soup ($11.90) and was delighted to see the beautiful crispy, fatty morsels of duck meat arrive on the side so I could enjoy it independently of the steaming, veggie and noodle packed broth should I so desire.
Needless to say, we all struggled to finish these huge, deliciously fresh and tasty meals. I had the pleasure of sampling them all and would return in a heart beat to order any of them for myself.
Banquets are available at Mints for larger group bookings and you can even create your own meal if you can’t find something suitable on the menu (errrr…not likely!).
- Mints Vietnamese & Asian Cuisine – 4/21 Nash St, Rosalie – +61 7 3367 8868
This would be my next resto on my list! I have always leaned more on Asian cuisine than any other kind of dish! And, since this blog mentioned that it has a very wide variety of food choices, makes it more enticing! Just looking at the pictures taken of dishes available at Mints, makes my mouth water already. Cant wait to eat there!
MINTS is awesome! Checked it out today after reading the review. Had the rice paper rolls – oh so fresh! Beef pho – excellent stock but a tad salty. Pork chop rice – yummy yummy! Best of all, iced white coffee to die for!!! Authentic homemade goodness, easy parking and probably the best vietnamese in Brisbane.