If you live in Sydney and love Vietnamese food, you really should try this place – at least once!
Phamish recently moved from the lower end of Darlinghurst and is now closer to the city on 50 Burton Street, Darlinghurst. This isn’t a restaurant for everyone really. If you feel like having a romantic evening, with quite conversation and nibbling on some rice paper rolls – find somewhere else! Phamish is quick, fast paced and for them – time is money!
If you want to get to Phamish, try getting there early. Aim for 6pm or thereabouts (the time they open) because you can’t book for a table. You will have to wait in line or put your name down. They will tell you what time to come back and make sure you turn up at that time. Else, be prepared for a frosty reception. The lady will either yell at you for being late – or have you wait longer by giving your table away.
So, it’s a first-come-first-serve basis, where even ordering your food requires you to wait in a line. But the result is worth it. While Phamish is surrounded by other restaurants – a Thai, a modern Italian and another which I couldn’t pay attention to, you find that they are pretty quite. Sometimes you will find familiar faces there – and they would be people who no longer prepared to wait at Phamish.
The menu is fairly simple – a variety of rice paper rolls or pancakes for entree, curries or stir fry for mains (with rice, if you like).
I thought the chicken rice paper rolls would be nice, however they had prawns in it. Surely they could make mine without prawns. So, I put the question to the man behind the cashier and he gave me a look of “make the rice paper roll now?”. That’s when I understood that their rolls were pre-made – they just plate it and get a waiter to bring it to your table. I therefore resorted to the vegetarian rolls.
Given that the rolls are pre-made, there is a sticky feel when trying to pull each of the rolls apart – however, the taste with the accompanying sauce is bliss. I believe their pancakes might be premade too and warmed a little when served. For $12 per plate you get 4 rice paper rolls – good value in my opinion.
For mains we ordered a plate of kaffir lime chicken and another of sesame seasoned lamb fillets with rice on the side. The Vietnamese love their lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves – and the chicken dished boasted strong flavours. With each spoonful you get that smell of fresh citrus flavours and curry tasted perfect. Mains vary between $14 to $20. Once you’ve finished your dishes and placed your chopsticks down – expect to see 2 pairs of hand suddenly do a magic trick of “now you see, now you don’t”, as your plates, dishes and cutlery very quickly disappear – it’s time for the next waiting person to take your seat – so get out.
Phamish is a licenses restaurant and permits BYO – so for $2 corkage per head, I suggest you bring a bottle.
Don’t expect to have great experiences at Phamish – just expect good food. As I said, it’s not a restaurant for everyone. And if you want take away – then so be it.
Atmosphere – 6/10
Food – 8.5/10
Staff – 4.5/10
Value for money – 8/10
This is a review of a Mexican restaurant, Cafe Pacifico, tucked away in Darlinghurst’s Riley Street and which has a different vibe compared to other restaurants around, like Verde.
First off, the setting. You build up your appetite as you climb up a flight of stairs only to the smell of fresh nachos and cooked meat. The restaurant (with an added pub feeling), has a good capacity of seating, and it works well for functions.
You can rock up to the bar to order your drink or get a waiter to do the walking for you.
I made the mistake of ordering a couple of cocktails at the bar. I was told to wait back at my table for 5 minutes and to then return back. I returned after 5 minutes and the bar lady smacked her palm on her forehead. Great! “Another 5 minutes!” she said as she rushed to make them – this time I waited at the bar. Strike 1!
Back at the table, and it took pretty much 20 mins before we got the waiter’s attention to order our meal. When he turned up, it seemed like it was his last day in his job, because he just looked at each of us as to what we wanted, looked back at his pad – scribbled and looked at the next person – barely uttered a word. Strike 2!
We ordered a plate of nachos to share and I ordered a meal plate which included 2 chicken enchiladas served with Mexican rice and a sort of a lamb curry.
The nachos turned up and it was alright – nothing amazing about it. Second cocktail turned up and still no mains. It took at least 25-30 mins after we finished our nachos before we could get our mains.
When I had the mains put in front of me – my first thought was – “Damn this is big!”, it explains the time taken to prepare it. The enchiladas were great – but the lamb curry was pretty damn spicy. I like hot food – but this needed a glass of water after chewing a dice of lamb.
I’m not sure if the staff were deaf and blind, but getting their attention for more water and clean cutlery was impossible!
Overall, this place is great of a big occasion or when you have a big group – because you get so caught up in the time with other people around you that you almost forget the time taken for your food or the service you get overall.
Taste of the food is good, but not so much in terms of value for money. My Mojito cocktail was probably the highlight of the night – even though it took 10 mins!
Atmosphere – 7/10
Food – 7/10
Wine/Cocktails – 7/10
Staff – 5/10
Value for money – 6.5/10
http://www.cafepacifico.com.au/
P.S. They only have 1 testimonial – http://www.cafepacifico.com.au/index.php?s=testimonials
This review is based on my third visit to Verde – a fantastic restaurant that we tumbled upon earlier this year.
This Italian restaurant is perfectly situated on the corner or Riley and Stanley streets in Darlinghurst, Sydney. While there are other restaurants around, they don’t seem to come close to the quality of Verde.
Inside, you have a split level setup with a bar and lounge on top with a good, but not too busy, seating capacity below.
The staff are very friendly and given the size of the restaurant have a good eye for detail to make sure you’re comfortable and well attended to.
We had been to their cocktail bar in both our previous visits, and their selection is well worthy to have a night for just drinks itself. Get friendly with the cocktail maker, and ask if he can treat you to a special taste that you have in mind.
The wine list at the restaurant is exceptional too. What I love was that the waitress actually asked if we needed help. Based on what we were planning to eat or felt like drinking, she could make a good suggestion. I decided to ask for help – I felt like a sweet wine, and she suggested an Italian variety – it was just what I needed. The lady knew her wine.
You get served a bread roll each while you wait for your food to turn up – but its not a bread worth talking about, so I’ll skip this part.
To start off with, I had the Truffle Infused Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with Sage butter. Each bite had so much flavour of the cheese and sage butter with the right al dante cooked tortellini. The cheese wasn’t too strong or overpowering, and neither was the truffle oil. There were a few fried sage leaves which added some crispiness to the tortellini.
Mains was a challenge – a Sweet Bungalow Pork Loin, Soft Polenta and Honey Glazed Pear. The presentation was perfect. The pork sat on a bed of mashed polenta with the pear on the side, and a strip of a pork crackling lay on top over the pork and pear. That wasn’t what I was expecting and hence, a surprise to the dish. After munching on my pork crackling, I picked up my cutlery and it was time to tear into the pork. This has to be one of the best pork loins I have ever had. You have a contrast of tasting a bite of meat with either a savoury side with the polenta or the sweet side with the pear. We also ordered a side of their mixed salad that took the edge of the meaty dish when you wanted to bite on some leaves – but my attention span couldn’t deviate me from the pork.
With a good amount of effort and a appetite to match, I was able to complete my main. However, this left no room for dessert.
Bear in mind, in my past experiences at Verde, the desserts haven’t blown me away compared to the entree and mains. But I was half tempted by the special cheese & fruit plate.
On the money side of things, Verde isn’t your cheap meal. Be prepared to fork out up to $20 for entree and unto $35 for mains. Alternatively, you can request a degustation menu for $110 or $160 with wine.
What you do pay for is quality of food, good ambience, great staff and an overall experience. Verde is one restaurant, that I will always return to for a special occasion.
Oh, and I recommend you make a booking in advance. But on the plus side, if you just turn up you could be waiting in their upstairs cocktail lounge until your table is ready. It’s a win win situation.