Best Vietnamese Restaurants Around Sydney

With the plethora of Vietnamese food available in Melbourne, Sydney’s offerings have often been disregarded as lacking in vibrancy and quality in comparison. However we beg to differ, after all it is quality over quantity, and although the selection may be less there is a guaranteed Vietnamese eating experience in Sydney for people from all walks of life. Delicacy is the key, anything too gloopy or fatty resembles westernised Chinese food and is simply not a true Vietnamese experience. This list of the best Vietnamese restaurants around Sydney gives you great options to pick and choose from.

Pho Pasteur

It is not uncommon for fantastic Vietnamese restaurants to offer up the best first impressions. Some say the better the décor; the worse the food. Pho Pasteur can be found in the depths of Sydney’s unapologetic Chinatown, and is a shabby establishment that serves up some of the best Vietnamese food in Sydney. Its speciality is undoubtedly its noodle soup (pho) although the spring rolls are hugely satisfying. Not exactly hot on service Pho Pasteur is a place for casual, fuss-free eating. It gets busy at lunchtimes but there is usually a fast turnaround of tables so you’ll find you won’t be waiting for long.

709 George St, Haymarket, Sydney

Red Lantern On Riley

This place is pure Vietnamese joy… although your wallet will beg to differ. One for special occasions if you don’t want to break the bank, The Red Lantern on Riley is decked out in beautiful French-Colonial décor, with befittingly authentic dishes on its menu for you to choose your Vietnamese experience. It won the I Love Food Award this year as Australia’s Favourite Restaurant in 2012 as well as the national Favourite Vietnamese Restaurant. From charming Vietnamese bar snacks to accompany your drinks from the Red Lily Bar, to the A La Carte and Tasting Menus there is most certainly something for all Aussie tourists and locals alike. The dessert platter with a selection of Vietnamese sweets is a foreign novelty that you’ll soon be recommending to your friends and will put this restaurant on the top of your best Vietnamese food list.

60 Riley Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney
(02) 9698 4355

Bay Bua

A family-run, luxury dining option for Asian food – Bay Bua has received rave reviews over the years for its authentic food. It is a place that remains wallet-friendly, its mains meals costing you no more than $15 a plate. Hence many locals and tourists return here for a quick dinner, or a relaxed evening meal. The service is reassuringly accommodating, so don’t feel intimated if you open the menu and an alien array of meals stare back at you. The chef and waiters are happy to recommend dishes and order for you according to your tastes. The bonfire chicken is a well-known favourite, and is brought out from the kitchen in flames to continue cooking upon your table until the informed waiters extinguish the flames, before removing the meat and showing you the traditional way to wrap it in rice paper with various vegetables and sauces. Here you will be introduced to some of the best Vietnamese food you’ll ever taste.

2 Springfield Avenue, Potts Point, Sydney
(02) 9358 3234

Viet Hoa

For that treasured delight of banh mi tit, or Vietnamese pork roll, Sydney’s Viet Hoa in Cabramatta is our recommended destination for your pork roll needs, be at breakfast, lunch, dinner or midnight snack. A 24-hour establishment, it specialises in the crusty French bread roll filled with shredded pork meat, with a selection of Vietnamese style vegetables and dressings. For a mere $4 it is well-attended by locals, and is an essential indulgence for any traveller passing through.

Shop 3 & 4, 48 Hill St, Cabramatta
(02) 9728 7198

Phuoc Loc Tho

Another one of the not-flashy-but-tasty Vietnamese restaurant types, Phuoc Loc Tho can be found up a flight of stairs on a side street. You’d be lucky to stumble upon it, but thank god you’ve us to guide you to the best-kept Vietnamese secrets in Sydney, eh? This place has a liberating nature; the experience would not be the same if you were unable to pick at and share a selection of dishes, and be a little DIY about frying and rolling your own food. All of it is fresh, tantalising and more-ish. May we recommend their 7 Delights of Beef, which is a typical banquet-style meal that is comprised of beef dishes cooked up and served with a variety of different ingredients, flavours and accompaniments. Be reassured, Vietnamese doesn’t get much better than this.

1st Floor/233 Canley Vale Rd, Canley Heights
(02) 9723 0701

La Mint

La Mint is a contemporary restaurant that has successfully fused fine and casual dining in a vibrant French Colonial Vietnamese. Cosmopolitan at heart it is a few minutes walk from Sydney’s CBD and offers a sophisticated setting to indulge into fresh Asian cuisine. We advise you to set a date on a Tuesday in the near future and save up a few extra dollars. On this Tuesday, starve yourself all day and indulge in La Mint’s 7-course extravagant tasting feast. It’s quite possible it could be the most exciting adventure your taste buds have ever experienced, all for $49 for the night. If that’s not tickling your fancy, make sure you frequent this trendy establishment for the pork belly or their ‘campfire’ beef DIY dish, whilst you enjoy ambient settings and provocative vintage French artwork. Soon enough you’ll be saying it serves the best Vietnamese food you’ve ever tasted.

62-64 Riley Street, East Sydney
(02) 9331 1818

By Alexandra Macleod