Bay Bua
2 Springfield Ave
Potts Point, Sydney
Bay Bua is a bit off the beaten track from the hustle and bustle of the nearby main street. It's in a nice quiet intimate area with an almost tropical outlook onto a lovely paved area surrounded by palm trees. It has an understated, simple feel to it with dark furniture and subdued lighting. The fragrant, light, delicate food was amazing too - and once you try it you'll be back for more.
We started with the beef mince. What arrived was so much more than just minced meat balls though.It was finely ground beef that had been mixed with vermicelli noodles, a hint of chilli and a hint of peanuts.
The whole taste was very fragrant and came served on a thick prawn cracker.
They came in a serving of four and the crispness of the oversized prawn crackers went nicely with the beef on top of it.
This was a seriously good start to our meal. At only $6.50 for a serving of four they were also seriously good value.
Our second starter looked like crisp melted cheese balls with a soft gooey filling.
We're still not 100% sure what they were but they had a crisp outer from the cooking process. They had a soft inner filling and each lovely parcel had then been cut in half and then they were topped with a dollop of delicious minced prawn meat. They were so light and tasty and melted in the mouth. A serving of six is only $9.50.
The barramundi salad was next and it was again amazing.It was beautifully presented and oh so fragrant. There was a hint of spiciness but nothing overpowering.
All the flavours worked well and complimented each other.
At $18.95 this is another must try dish.
We then moved on to the stuffed chicken wings and they were oh so nice. They were lovely and crisp on the outside and had a tender tasty filling.
They came with plum sauce topped with sesame seeds.
At $13.95 for a serving of two giant stuffed wings they were again good value for something that tasted so nice.
The stuffed mussels were possibly not something I would have normally ordered from a menu - but in hindsight I'm so glad we had them.
Mlady loves mussels and will often order them if they look like they will be good. These plump, juicy, tasty treats certainly didn't disappoint either - they were so nicely prepared and so delicious.
They were filled with prawns that were also lightly cooked to retain their flavour and texture.
The combination of prawn and mussel meat went well together with each complimenting the other without overpowering.
At only $7.50 for a serving of four these are great value.
The pork crackling belly was lovely. While Mlady isn't a pork eater I really love the stuff!This serving was nicely done as well with a generous quantity of finely sliced pork belly that had such tender tasty meat. However it was the beautifully crisp salty crackling on the outside that took it from good to great. At only $15.95 for this much pork (and crackling) it was great value too.
During our meal we washed all our lovely food down with a bottle of Harvey River 2008 Merlot and also had a side serving of nice Mimosa rice (which was $9.90 for a large serving).
The crispy duck was another great dish. We almost always have at least one duck dish when we have any Asian food - and this was one we would both have again in a flash. It came with a garnish of deep fried ham which surprisingly went very nicely as well as adding colour.
The quantity of duck too - as with pretty much every dish at Bay Bua - was very generous!
We finished our main course part of this lovely meal with tamarind king prawns.
We both love the combination of tamarind and prawns - its a mix that just seems to work so well.
It was probably one of the more spicy dishes we had but still not overpowering at all.
It also came with a good quantity of baby corn and there were certainly plenty of plump juicy prawns in this dish - they don't skimp here at all!
At $18.90 for this quantity and quality its worth getting.
Some people tend not to have dessert when they eat at Vietnamese restaurants and if this was the case they would miss out big time here.
We started with the Vietnamese caramel flan.
It was almost identical to a creme caramel - which is of course not surprising considering the strong French influence in Vietnam and in Vietnamese cooking.
This was probably as good as any you would get in a top French restaurant and was my personal favourite.
Our final dessert was a Vietnamese version of sticky rice which had a real wow factor to its appearance when it arrived at the table.
It had an almost granular texture with plump rice grains that you could clearly feel in your mouth while you were eating this dish.
This was actually Mlady's personal favourite from our two desserts as it reminded her of her fathers delicious homemade rice pudding.
The black rice came bathed in sweet coconut milk and had several large fresh banana pieces in it for more than decoration. It was a great ending to a great meal.
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| Xuan Tran (right) |
Bay Bua is an excellent Vietnamese
restaurant that has an extremely extensive menu - it's actually a book it's that big! The food is extremely fresh, fragrant and tasty. Service for us was attentive and very friendly without being intrusive. We certainly recommend Bay Bua for a great meal at reasonable prices.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Bay Bua. Special thanks to the lovely Xuan Tran for arranging our visit and for looking after us on the night.
