Phamish, Darlinghurst

Prior to visiting Phamish, I had never had a full Vietnamese meal in my entire life aside from Pho as I rarely walk past Vietnamese restaurants or I just don’t take much notice. It was definitely worth the trek, Mr C and I were fortunate enough to grab a table at this popular restaurant before the queue started. The restaurant is quite small, something you would see in a small takeaway but there is a fairly big outside area.

The photo above is the Duck & Prawn Pancakes that has been generating quite  a lot of positive reviews. I was very excited for the dish as that the previous week I tried my first ever rice roll and started craving for it since then, such a great choice. I was simply amazed how soft and tender the duck was as I expected it to be tough and dry. Along with the large prawn pieces and having them dipped into the not-so-chilli sweet sauce, it was a perfect combination and I really wanted more! The fact that it came as a pretty thick serving was a bonus too and was worth the price! The vegetables accompanied were also very fresh and I was also surprised how it didn’t easily break apart throughout 3/4 of the pancake. I think I’ve become addicted to these cute and delicious pancakes just like I have for coconut juice.

Our next dish were these blue swimmer crab dumplings, and oh my, there was quite a fair bit of meat inside! I think my most favourite part eating these dumplings were the golden, crispy and crunchy pastry as well as dipping the crab meat into the sauce. I just love the tangy taste it had and it was pleasant to eat it without seeing any oil oozing out from the fried pastry like most other fried food.

And finally our main, which I could say was quite ordinary since it gave a similar taste to the barbecue chicken I had in Holy Basil but not quite as sharp (more creamy). I guess the difference would be the more herbs given in Phamish plus the coriander and turmeric that gives a distinctive flavour to it. Another great part of the dish was that it came with many pieces of chicken, great for those meat lovers like myself.

I think I have a new liking for Vietnamese cuisine, so definitely expect to see some posts in that area some time soon. I’ll be looking at trying out some staple dishes that I’d never tried before (even though Mr C has) and hopefully coming back with some really awesome reviews! Phamish was the perfect introduction to Vietnamese cuisine and definitely has me hooked! 🙂