Brother and sister Pauline and Luke Nguyen along with Pauline’s husband Mark Jensen are the minds behind Red Lantern.

Through family recipes, skills and cooking techniques, this family owned restaurant produces some very good quality Vietnamese food in Sydney.

Now I have been to Phamish before and found their food impressive – however, Red Lantern is a few levels above the quality of service and presentation. But does that matter? Well, read on to find out.

I called up Red Lantern on Tuesday, to reserve a table for 4 that same week Friday. I was told the last table available was at 8:30 – “I’ll take it!” was my reply.

After a couple of drinks at the Dome Lounge at the Crown Hotel (just around the corner from Red Lantern) – we strolled along and arrived in time – worried that even a few minutes delay could make us to loose our table. As we took our seat, a waiter with a French accent was assigned to our service, and presented us with a extensive, but not overly confusing wine list and food menu.

As we ordered our wine, we immediately looked at the menu to humour ourselves by attempting to read the dish names in Vietnamese (the alphabets were in English). To start off, we ordered 3 entrees – a vegetarian rice paper roll with glass noodles (Cha Gio Chay – $15), and another of the same but with roast duck instead (Goi Vit Cuon – $16.5). Along with the rice paper rolls, we also ordered a salad of papaya with crispy tofu (Goi Du Du Chay – $17).

I must say that the tofu and papaya salad left and impression on me and is one that I highly recommend. Don’t get me wrong – the rice paper rolls were great, however I believe I’d had better at Phamish.

Our mains included a whole snapper shallow fried (Ca Chien Don – $38), beef cooked in lemon grass and Asian sauces (Bo Luc Lac – $29), Vietnamese marinated crispy skin chicken (Ga Chien Don – $32) and tofu with Asian vegetable in sesame and soy sauce (Dau Hu Voi Nam – $23) – all this served with Vietnamese red rice.

The food in itself comes with some very bold and authentic Vietnamese lemongrass citrus taste. Add that to the various textures of soft meat, crispy skin and well cooked vegetables and you have a mouthful of some very tasty Asian food.

The food felt decently light even after a reasonable second serving, so much so, that I was looking forward to dessert – banana fritters coated with coconut shavings, served with vanilla ice cream (Chuoi Chien – $14). The ice cream was my favourite element in that dish, while I found the fritters a little too crunchy for my liking. The coconut crème caramel would be my recommendation.

Overall, the service was impressive, the food had some memorable tastes, and the interior decor kept simple. Two bottles of wine ($60 and $75) with the above mentioned food (only 2 servings of desserts ordered) comes to about $90 per person.

So let me answer my above mentioned question of whether Red Lantern makes it over Phamish. In my opinion – it didn’t.

You see, there is that impression of Vietnamese food that you have tried before – it’s tasty and it’s cheap. At Red Lantern – it tastes almost the same but it’s more expensive. Phamish allows BYO of your preferred wine (with a corkage fee) and it’s food, while limited in options, is very well priced (mains under $20). Sure you have to wait for a table at Phamish and can’t book in advance – but getting a table at Red Lantern requires a good few days notice.

At Red Lantern, you pay for service, you pay for their margin on wine, you pay for the reputation of it’s chef.

At Phamish, you pay for the quality of food – period.

If you wanted a more comfortable dinning experience for a group of friends and can fork out the extra cash – then go to Red Lantern.

Otherwise, don’t regret waiting that extra longer for a table at Phamish.

Atmosphere – 7/10
Food – 8.5/10
Staff – 6.5/10
Value for money – 7/10

Spice I am is a restaurant where it’s name actually depicts the spoonful of food you are about to put in your mouth – it can be very spicy!

Located on Wentworth street and having opened 5 years ago, Spice I am was started by Padet Nagsalab and Sujet Saenkhan. Recently however, they’ve opened a spin off in Darlinghurst. That is not the restaurant that I am referring to in my below review.

The original Spice I am is not far from central station and it’s one of those fast paced restaurants where you can’t make a booking. It’s based on first come first serve and allows BYO. Be prepared for a crowded dining atmosphere as well as quick, spicy and delicious tasting food. If you feel that your stomach won’t handle a couple of sliced red chillies then I suggest you head to Phamish instead.

The food here is very tasty. I tried the first item on the starters menu – Mieng Kuay Teaw – a pork mince wrapped in flat rice noodle with a spicy dipping sauce and red chillies. It almost looks like a spring roll or a Vietnamese rice paper wrap, but it’s smooth, silky, fresh and spicy. This is a must have and I strongly recommend it.

For mains, we had the red curry duck which was their special as well as a serving of Pad Cha Chicken. My favourite of the two was the Red Curry Duck served in a coconut shell and it is perhaps one of the best tasting red curries that I’ve had. The Pad Cha on the other hand, was a little different from your standard Thai menu and probably isn’t one that I will be ordering again. It’s served with curry paste, peppercorn, basil and Thai eggplant. Majority of this dish was papaya shavings with curry paste, I really couldn’t see or taste much chicken. And most of all it was heavily spiced and didn’t give me an overly comfortable feeling.

I recommend a glass of their Young Coconut Juice – it’s sweet and also comes with shavings of coconut pulp that you can eat while your drink. This definitely cures a burning tongue.

Overall, I found it a great place to have a quick mid week dinner. The food is amazing, the service was decent and you didn’t feel like you were being pushed for the next people in the queue to take your seat. In terms of money, the entree was $8, the chicken main was $14 while the duck was $26 and the coconut juice was $4.50

If you are short of time and can’t wait – you can always get a take away.

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