10 January 2011

Hai Yen ~ Vietnamese - Marrickville [CLOSED]


Hai Yen is another golden oldie Vietnamese joint in amongst that clump of gems on  Illawarra Road in Marrickville. (This place has now closed, replaced by Pho Bac)



(Update 14 Jan 2011: This restauarant has closed and has been replaced by the owners of Pho Bac, two doors down.)

It's a stinking hot night, it's new years day, we walk to Marrickville with something light and fresh in mind. Many of our usual haunts are closed, which gives us an excuse to try a new place (like we need an excuse...)



Lotus Root Salad with prawns and pork. $13. The prawns are sliced in half, the pork light, but I couldn't quite work out where the lotus root was. The dressing was light and delicious, almost drinkable, and the dish was a perfect starter.



Grilled pork, beef and spring rolls. A jazzed up bun thit nuong, very tasty. There was only one little pork pattie, but it was damn tasty. The spring rolls are a great crunchy bonus, they are often found in a number of Vietnamese salads. About $9.



This dish is the surprise hit for the evening - Vietnamese style hot pot fish $12. This dish tasted like caramelised fish fillets, with a hint of saltiness, that classic sweety/salty combo you find in many different dishes like those little sweet fishy snacks. The flavour is intriguing and moorish, and we end up scooping chunks of rice straight from the steamer into the pot to get every last bit of goodness.

Hai Yen Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant is at 308 Illawarra Road, Marrickville. Open 7 days 11am-10pm. Ph 9558 0093.

Hai Yen on Urbanspoon

6 comments:

  1. A shame there wasn't much lotus root in your salad and isn't clay pot fish awesome? I always end up scraping out all the sauce and drizzling it on my rice. lol.

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  2. Wow, looks really tasty, especially the grilled pork, beef, and spring rolls combo and the fish hot pot; it was stinking hot and yet you had a hot pot? Brave. :-)

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  3. Love your blog. These pics look great and the food looks delicious. Hope I can make it to Sydney one day.

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  4. mmm clay pot fish! My favourite thing to get at vietnamese restaurants. They do a good pho there too.

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  5. Wow - we never knew claypot fish was a specialty, we will be exploring that more :-)

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  6. I always love the lotus root salad... not that easy to find outside Cabra

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Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).