Past experience has taught me that Chinese/Vietnamese venues can be synonymous with cheap and nasty – which isn’t a problem if cheap and nasty is what you’re after to fill your belly. One little gem of the Chinese/Vietnamese variety that has time and time again proven itself is West End Garden and it is absolutely, one hundred percent, without a doubt cheap – but, there’s no nasty in sight.
There’s an abundance of Chinese/Viet restaurants around town and in the ‘burbs and you can usually pick up a bargain Mongolian lamb or Viet rice paper rolls, but with the bargain comes an inevitable compromise in food quality. I’ve been a regular at West End Garden for both dine-in and take away over the last few years and I’d have to say it’s my favourite of the Chinese/Viet venues, particularly when the budget is tight.
West End Garden is one of those venues that caters for fleeting, time-poor visits or long, boozy sessions with the crew. They are quick as you like with taking orders and service of food, and are prompt to attend to drink refills. The best bit, for my liking, is that the food looks and tastes fresh and hasn’t got that all-day-long, bain-marie thing going on – you know what I mean.
My most recent visit was with a group of 5 girls, who apart from myself were all virgins to the Garden experience and were waiting with bated breath to taste the goodness that I’d been raving about for ages. The variety of dishes on the menu was huge and ranges from rice paper rolls and fresh, spicy salads, through to stir fries, noodles, dumplings and even curry hot pots.
After some deliberation over a glass or two (or three) of our BYO’d wine (and with some gentle persuasion from me) we finally decided on the Satay Chicken and Vegies, Sizzling Mongolian Lamb, Chilli Beef, Honey King Prawns and Beef Vietnamese Spring Rolls, all served with a generous pot of steamed rice.
A dish each, without entrees was adequate to fill our bellies as they are generous serves, but I must admit we did manage to get through most of it without too much trouble. Unfortunately the wine got the better of me and seemingly interfered with my efforts to remember the prices of the dishes, but what I do know is that we all walked away with change from a 20 and very content tummies.
- West End Garden, 190 Melbourne St, South Brisbane ,+61 7 3844 1368
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