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96B Cafe & Roastery, District 1

Paul
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96B Cafe & Roastery, District 1

HO CHI MINH CITY | If you’re looking for good coffee in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the best places to visit is 96B Cafe & Roastery. Founded in 2016 by Hana Chai, who was joined by co-owner Thai Dang in 2020, 96B’s mission is introduce coffee lovers to the best quality Vietnamese Arabica, Robusta and Liberica beans. They also source a small selection of beans that they love from other coffee growing regions around the world.

It’s not just sourcing the best beans that makes 96B so impressive, it’s the fact that they’re actively involved in all steps of the farm to cup process. Hana and Thai have worked with Vietnamese growers to produce exceptional quality single lot batches, including their own fermented natural lot batches.

Hana, Thai, and any of the other staff that you might encounter on any given day at the cafe are friendly and knowledgeable, and are happy to guide you through what they do, and the notes and flavours of the beans on offer.

On the menu, you’ll find approachable and experimental beans, available in the full assortment of filter and espresso options. There’s also a few alternative lattes, coffee cocktails, and other drinks, plus a small selection of pastries. You can buy beans for home, of course, and sign up for regular coffee workshops held at the cafe.

96B Cafe & Roastery

96B Phan Ngữ
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam

Telephone: +84 969 758 896
E-mail: [email protected]
Website

Open
Mon – Sun: 8:00am to 6:00pm

Bún Thịt Nướng Bà Thêm, District 1

Paul
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Bún Thịt Nướng Bà Thêm, District 1

HO CHI MINH CITY | One of Ho Chi Minh City’s oldest and best bún thịt nÆ°á»›ng spots, Bun Thịt NÆ°á»›ng Bà Thêm, is easy to miss if you don’t know where to look. It’s centrally located, hidden amongst District 1’s glamourous boutiques and beautifully restored colonial-era buildings.

Look for the art gallery at 88 Nguyễn Huệ, and walk through to the rear. You’ll find along, narrow alleyway, filled with stainless steel tables, small plastic stools, and an open kitchen. The walls are full of character, stained by 70 years of smoke, billowing from the charcoal grill.

Bún Thịt NÆ°á»›ng Bà Thêm was opened by Hoang Thi Them, when she immigrated from Hà Bắc, in Vietnam’s North, to Ho Chi Minh City, in the 1960s. Originally selling northern Vietnamese bún chả, Hoang reworked her recipe due to customer demand, into the similar southern dish, bún thịt nÆ°á»›ng. The result was a slam dunk, and today, 70 years on, you’ll still find a constant stream of locals enjoying Bún Thịt NÆ°á»›ng Bà Thêm’s signature dish.

There’s attention to detail in each bowl of bún thịt nÆ°á»›ng served here, which blends northern and southern Vietnamese elements. Pork sausage skewers are classically southern, grilled hot and fast, using a mix of lean and fatty pork shoulder and spices. The spring rolls, meanwhile, lean northern, by virtue of their rice paper, rather than mung bean paper, exterior, and lack of vermicelli.

Joining the grilled pork and spring rolls in the bowl is vermicelli raw lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumber, pickled carrot and white radish, and a generous handful of roasted peanuts. It’s served with sweet and sour nÆ°á»›c chấm, and chilli on the side so you can make each bite as spicy as you like.

Hoang’s children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren run Bún Thịt NÆ°á»›ng Bà Thêm these days, walking up at 4:00am each morning to start prep. Doors open at 7:00am, and the first set of customers stream in, enjoying the same freshly made bowls of bún thịt nÆ°á»›ng that locals have been enjoying for over 70 years.

Bún Thịt Nướng Bà Thêm

88 Nguyễn Huệ
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam

Telephone: n/a
E-mail: n/a
Website: n/a

Open
Mon – Sun: 7:00am to 2:00pm

Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa, District 1

Paul
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Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa, District 1

HO CHI MINH CITY | Ask 10 people in Ho Chi Minh City (“HCMC”) where to go for the best bánh mì in town, and you’ll get 10 different answers. There are thousands of places where you can find the iconic Vietnamese roll in this city, and standards are high.

One of the most famous bánh mì spots in HCMC, is Bánh Mì Huynh Hoa. I’m a big fan of their famously large and loaded rolls, but if you’re looking for something more manageable, and without the lines, you should check out Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa.

Located just a 2 minute walk away from the former, Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa keeps things low key and traditional. A steady stream of locals popping in for take away, even just for freshly baked rolls without any fillings, means you know that you’re in for a good feed.

You’ll find 8 different bánh mì on the menu, plus a few other baked and steamed things like bánh bao, and bánh giò. For your first visit, go for the signature mixed meat bánh mì thập cẩm. It gets you a filling of pate, mayonnaise, grilled pork, pork sausage, pork luncheon meat, fresh sliced cucumbers, sliced raw onion, coriander, and sweet and sour pickles.

It’s a wonderful bánh mì. Just the right size, with the generous proportion of creamy pate and perfectly soft and crunchy bread, particular standouts. Also notable is the friendly service and welcoming environment.

Washed down with a Vietnamese iced coffee, while sitting on a little plastic stool, watching life unfold on the street, you can’t go wrong with a bánh mì at Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa.

Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa

54 Nguyễn Văn Tráng
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam

Telephone: +84 286 675 5054
E-mail: [email protected]
Website

Open
Mon – Sun: 5:00am to 9:00pm

Busog, West Footscray

Paul
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Busog, West Footscray

MELBOURNE | Myla Valdejueza opened her West Footscray Filipino restaurant, Busog, late last year. It’s become a hit amongst locals looking to get their fix of traditional Filipino food, with a modern touch. “Busog” is a Tagalog word that refers to the feeling of being full and content after a big meal. With the tasty food, generous servings, and keen pricing of the food at Busog, you’ll definitely be busog by the end of your dinner.

Busog is a family affair. Running front of house and helping out in the kitchen you’ll usually find one if not all of Myla, and her children. They’re passionate about the restaurant and the food they’re serving to customers. On a given night you’ll see Filipino expects and families enjoying a taste of home, and locals from other cultures, keen to experience a cuisine that’s new to them.

The menu is a showcase of the greatest hits of Filipino cuisine – traditional dishes presented with flair. The overload lumpia platter is a great way to start. It’s a spread of chips and lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) filled with a mix of pork and prawn, beef mince and cheese, and taro leaves. Dipping sauces come in the form of banana ketchup, and coconut sauce. Sticky marinated meat skewers are another great choice.

For larger dishes, my pick is the pork hock kare kare. It’s a large fried pork hock, with crispy crackling, and tender, fall off the bone meat. It’s served with vegetables inside a bowl of rich peanut curry sauce. Shrimp sauce on the side allows you to adjust the saltiness to your taste. To go with it, order a side of garlic rice. Fluffy white rice infused with chunks of soft, slow-cooked garlic cloves.

Noodle fans should check out the palabok. It’s a punchy share bowl of vermicelli noodles, mixed with a thick seafood sauce, and topped with steamed prawns, crumbed and fried fish, tofu, pork mince, and pork crackling.

Other classic dishes on the menu include things like the sour tamarind soup, sinigang; sizzling crispy pork sigsig; and assorted mix plate silog. And yes, there’s lechon.

For dessert, there’s things like traditional lechon flan, a version with ube halaya, and turon (crispy banana spring rolls). For me, it’s hard to go past the classic halo halo, a parfait of shaved ice, evaporated milk, vanilla ice-cream, ube jam, sweet palm seeds, nata de coco, jelly, macapuno, and leche flan.

To drink, there’s Filipino inspired cocktails and mocktails, plus anything else you might want off-menu as long as Busog has the ingredients behind the bar. There’s also Filipino beer, sodas, and a few other things.

Busog

1/553 Barkly Street
West Footscray
Victoria 3012
Australia

Telephone: 0432 175 128
E-mail: n/a
Website

Open
Wed – Fri: 12:00pm to 9:00pm
Sat – Sun: 11:00am to 9:00pm

Nana’s Green Tea, Melbourne CBD

Paul
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Nana’s Green Tea, Melbourne CBD

MELBOURNE | Andy and Julie Santoso have a knack for bringing quality Asian food chains to Melbourne at the right time. In 2019, the bought a taste of home to Melbourne with D’Penyetz & D’Cendol, followed by martabak specialists Martabak Pecenongan 78 & D’Bakmie in 2023. This year, they’ve taken inspiration from Japan, and have opened Melbourne’s first location of matcha teahouse, Nana’s Green Tea. I recently visited to find out for What’s on Melbourne.

Nana’s Green Tea opened in Tokyo’s  Jiyugaoka neighbourhood in 2001, and has expanded to 84 locations around the world. It’s styled as a modern matcha teahouse, offering premium matcha that’s been blended using traditional techniques. The deceptively large Bourke Street location has been designed by Tokyo-based architects, Sala Design, and references natural materials like metal and stone, washi (traditional Japanese paper), and wood.

On the menu, you’ll find matcha-based drinks, parfaits, cakes, and desserts. Popular items include things like hot or iced matcha latte, iced matcha frappe with matcha ice-cream and shiratama mochi, and the multi-layered matcha shiratama mochi parfait. The quality of the matcha comes through at Nana’s Green Tea, with dishes being well balanced and not too sweet.

Many of the menu items come with the option of matcha, hojicha, or black sesame, and there’s also loose leaf teas and savoury dishes. Savoury dishes are more than an afterthought here, with a surprisingly wide selection of affordable options like chadzuke, udon, salads, and rice bowls.

I particularly enjoyed the chicken nanban, and unagi chadzue. The former is a saucy crumbed chicken thigh cutlet topped with egg tartar sauce, served with a side salad, rice, and miso soup. The latter, a delicate rice bowl topped with unagi and wasabi stem, and a pot of dashi which is added to the bowl to make a soup.

Nana’s Green Tea

165A Bourke Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia

Telephone: n/a
E-mail: n/a
Website

Open
Sun, Tue – Thu: 11:00am to 10:00pm
Fri – Sat: 11:00am to 11:00pm

Taverna, Brunswick East

Paul
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Taverna, Brunswick East

MELBOURNE | Taverna is a new Greek restaurant that’s opened in the space that was previously The Que Club (which still exists, it’s just moved and changed things up), the short-lived Crofter Dining Room & Bar, and Brunswick East icon, Hellenic Republic. Taverna represents a space to the space’s roots, both because it’s once again a Greek restaurant, and because co-owner Angie Giannakodakis, who recently closed her restaurant, Epocha, used to work in the kitchen at Hellenic Republic (and Press Club).

Angie, along with co-owner Guy Holder, haven’t changed too much about the space. A paint job and a change in a bit of the décor returning things for the most part, as they were when it was Hellenic Republic. There’s a great vibe, with friendly service, and a good mix of patrons enjoying themselves.

Inspired by the tavernas of Athens, and Angie’s family recipes, Taverna is about simple Greek food, made using the best quality quality produce, designed to be shared with friends and family. The menu is split into mezethes (appetisers), mikra (small plates), megala (large plates), skaras (from the grill), essentials (sides), and glyka (sweets).

Taramosalata, served with soft, airy bread rolls instead of the usual pita, is a great way to start. I also highly recommend the maritha – pan fried whitebait, lightly seasoned with flour and citrus salt, served with lemon and aioli. Scallops, served in salty tarama butter, topped with tarhana, a dried, fermented grain, is another winner.

For small plates, pickled sardines in olive oil are always a good bet, and you have to order the juicy keftethes (beef and herb meatballs), which are served with yoghurt. I really enjoyed the latter, being very similar to the version my late grandmother used to make.

If you like spaghetti ragu, you’ll love the Pastitsada Kerkyra. Corfu-style bucatini-like pasta with a rich beef ragu. There’s also things like slow-cooked lamb shoulder, chicken and pork skewers, and spanakorizo.

When it comes to sides, the duo of horiatiki aka Greek village salad, and wonderfully crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, herb-oil fried potatoes, are a great choice. To finish, go for the Kritiki bougatsa. It’s a Cretan take on the classic layered pastry, filled with tangy mizithra cheese.

To drink, its Greek and Aussie wine, beer, and spirits, plus a cocktail menu inspired by Greece. Think Xinomavro, ouzo, and a blue negroni, inspired by the Aegean sea.

Taverna

207 Dryburgh Street
North Melbourne
Victoria 3051
Australia

Telephone: (03) 9036 4949
E-mail: [email protected]
Website

Open
Mon – Thu: 5:00pm to 10:00pm
Fri: 5:00pm to 11:00pm
Sat: 12:00pm to 11:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm to 10:00pm

Bobby’s Bakery, North Melbourne

Paul
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0
Bobby’s Bakery, North Melbourne

MELBOURNE | Sam Iverson has a passion for baking. He used to bake bread in his mum’s backyard, delivering it to friends and neighbours before joining Lune to learn how to make croissants and other viennoiserie. At Lune, Sam was given the nickname ‘Bobby’, and since his time there, he’s honed his craft at places like Sydney’s Bourke Street Bakery and Wild Life Bakery in Brunswick East. Late last year, Sam opened his own bakery, Bobby’s Bakery in a former mechanic’s workshop in North Melbourne. I popped in take a look for What’s on Melbourne.

Bobby’s Bakery is primarily a take-away spot, but here’s a small bench in front of the pastry display cabinet and payment counter that you can sit on if you want to eat your treat. Across from the bench you’ll find wire racking filled with an assortment of freshly baked loaves of bread, and behind the counter, you’ll find the coffee machine, pasty oven, and the expansive baking station and ovens.

Originally from Cornwall in the UK, Sam loves a good Cornish pasty. The version he makes here is based on his mum’s recipe, using lard that’s rendered on site, with a variety of fillings. The traditional Cornish-style pasty, which meets the guidelines set by the UK’s Cornish Pasty Association, is outstanding. It’s filled with at least 12.5% beef, along with potatoes, swede, and onions. It’s probably the best pasty I’ve enjoyed since I visited Cornwall back in 2010, and it was getting the tick of approval from many a customer with an English accent while I was there.

Beyond bread and pasties, you’ll also find a selection of French, Italian, and English baked treats on offer. There’s plain and filled croissants (the almond is especially popular), a rotating selection of Danishes, cookies, pizza slices, and more. I’m a big fan of the cinnamon stars. They’re crispy, flaky, sugar cinnamon treats made using offcuts from the croissant making process.

If you need a morning perk up, there’s a simple drink menu of espresso-based coffee using beans from Allpress Espresso, and batch brew filter coffee made with Fieldwork Coffee beans.

Bobby’s Bakery

207 Dryburgh Street
North Melbourne
Victoria 3051
Australia

Telephone: n/a
E-mail: [email protected]
Website

Open
Wed – Sat: 7:00am to 2:00pm
Sun: 7:30am to 2:00pm

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Dokutoku, Docklands

Paul
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Dokutoku, Docklands

MELBOURNE | Dokutoku recently opened in Docklands, just around the corner from Marvel Stadium. It’s a casual Japanese restaurant, specialising in sukiyaki (Japanese hot pot), gyukatsu (breaded and fried beef cutlet), and teishoku (set meals). I popped in the other day to grab some photos for What’s on Melbourne, and to find out more.

Especially popular with the lunch crowd since opening late last year, Dokutoku features a tight menu, with a focus on premium cuts of Australian meat. The sukiyaki set comes with your choice of 300g of M9 wagyu, with the chuck tail flap being the most desirable option.

It’s sliced thinly, served with napa cabbage, tofu, onion, assorted mushrooms, pasteurised eggs, rice, and translucent shirataki noodles. Perfect for enjoying as a couple or with a group, you cook at the table in a light, sweet, smoky, dashi-based broth.

For gyukatsu, its your choice of a golden crumbed cutlet of 150g of M6/M7 or M9 chuck tail flap, served atop a bowl of rice with pickled cucumber, cabbage, onsen egg, and a side of miso soup.

If you’re after one of the teishoku set meals, you have a choice of protein, served with an onsen egg, miso soup, rice, fukujinzuke, and the side dish of the day. Protein options include things like M9 wagyu, tonkatsu curry, soy garlic tofu, and grilled unagi. The latter, which I tried, is particularly good.

For sides, it’s things like edamame, takoyaki, spicy deep fried octopus, and karaage. You can also buy extra ingredients for your sukiyaki if you wish.

To drink, there’s an assortment of hot and cold freshly brewed Japanese tea, matcha and other lattes, and house sodas, mocktails, and Japanese sodas.

Dokutoku

B11.1/768 Bourke Street
Docklands
Victoria 3008
Australia

Telephone: 0478 542 024
E-mail: n/a
Website

Open
Mon – Thu: 11:30am to 3:30pm, 5:00pm to 9:30pm
Fri: 11:30am to 3:30pm, 5:00pm to 10:00pm
Sat: 12:00pm to 3:30pm, 5:00pm to 10:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm to 3:30pm, 5:00pm to 9:30pm

Peninsula HK Cafe, Melbourne CBD

Paul
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0
Peninsula HK Cafe, Melbourne CBD

MELBOURNE | The fusion of Eastern and Western culture can be seen all over Hong Kong, and this extend to its food. It’s arguably most apparent in the city’s cha chaan tengs, or Hong Kong-style diners. They’re casual affordable spots, offering a variety of Cantonese, and Canto-Western dishes. Newly opened Peninsula HK Cafe, which I recently visited for What’s on Melbourne, draws influence from these cha chaan tengs.

Owner and head chef, Wai Wong, was born and raised in Hong Kong and has years of experience cooking cha chaan teng dishes. At Peninsula HK Cafe, he wants give guests a taste of his home, be it a nostalgia hit for Hong Kong expats, or a new experience for people wanting an authentic taste of Hong Kong.

You’ll find all of the classics on the extensive menu, like pineapple buns, Hong Kong-style milk tea, noodle and rice dishes, and sandwiches. There area few cha chaan tengs in this part of town. Peninsula HK Cafe’s point of difference are his Hong Kong-style roast meats, and focus on premium Aussie produce.

Golden Brick French Toast is one of the most popular items on the menu. It’s a two thick slices of French toast, sandwiched with baked rice, and your choice of protein and sauce. A popular combo is the pork chop and black pepper sauce. Topped with melted cheese, it’s a meal in itself. For a more indulgent meat option, you can go for the pork chop baked in rice or spaghetti with two sauces of your choice, covered in a mound of melted cheese.

The signature roast meats are every bit as good as Wai claims – tender, meat, crispy skin, and loads of flavour. I recommend ordering the Three Combination BBQ plate. It gets you a decent serving of char sui pork, crispy pork belly, and roast duck, along with some greens and your choice of rice or noodles.

If it’s seafood you’re after, the crispy noodles (thin noodles with a crisped top layer), and prawns is a great choice. For a quick snack, try the Peninsula Egg Sandwich, which gets you fluffy folded eggs with your choice of Spam, char sui pork, corned beef or ham. For $1 extra, you can upgrade the bread to a pineapple bun, which I recommend.

The milk tea is wonderful – rich and not too sweet. There’s also things like orange and lemon tea, Horlicks, and a red bean frappe.

Peninsula HK Cafe

191 Russell Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia

Telephone: 0451 961 271
E-mail: [email protected]
Website

Open
Mon – Sun: 11:30am to 9:00pm

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