Viet Royal, East Perth
Last month, we had dinner at Viet Royal in East Perth one night after work. We were in the mood for something simple: Jac craved vegetables, I craved noodles.
A dish of prawn crackers was placed on our table as we perused the menu. I always like it when Asian restaurants serve complimentary prawn crackers. It’s a little touch of generosity – let’s face it, a small plate of prawn crackers wouldn’t cost a restaurant much. As I munched on the crackers, my tummy growled even louder in anticipation of the meal to come. Complimentary nibblies at Asian restaurants always bring back memories of my late maternal grandmother’s birthday dinner Chinese banquets that I attended as a child – I would stuff myself with the complimentary salted peanuts, spinning the lazy susan around to bring the peanuts within reach while waiting for the other guests to arrive. It was all part of the excitement of a grand evening of eating. Sometimes we kids – my cousins, my sisters and I – would finish the whole plate of peanuts, and the waiters would bring more! Even more exciting!
We each ordered soup to start. Jac chose the beancurd and vegetable soup (AU$5.90). The clear broth was loaded with green Chinese vegetables, bean curd skin, baby corn, bamboo shoots and spring onion, with finely chopped fried garlic sprinkled lightly on top. It looked lush and green and very healthy! Jac really enjoyed it.
I chose my favourite, chicken and corn soup (AU$5.90). Viet Royal’s version was abundantly eggy with plenty of chicken and corn. I ate it all but noted it was on the verge of tasting just a little too sweet.
For her main course, Jac ordered the Vietnamese chicken salad (AU$12.90). It was crisp, fresh and laced heavily with coriander and mint, topped with crushed peanuts, sweet chilli sauce and mint leaves. Jac had been craving one of these for a while and it really hit the spot.
I ordered the egg noodles with chicken (AU$12.90). They smelled fantastic and had a tasty wok charry flavour that reminded me of Han’s stir-fried noodles. The saucy noodles were loaded with chicken, fried egg, bean sprouts and Chinese green vegetable (choy sum). My noodle lover friends – you know who you are – you’d love this dish.
It was a pretty good feed. I haven’t felt compelled to rave on to family and friends about any of the dishes we ate, like Hawker Cuisine’s Marmite chicken – now THERE’S a dish to rave about! – but we’d probably eat at Viet Royal again. Next time however, I probably will not be able to resist the temptation to order the bacon-wrapped tiger prawns.
Viet Royal Restaurant
4/81 Royal St
East Perth WA
Telephone: (08) 9221 2388
Lunch – Tuesday to Friday 11.30am – 2.00pm
Dinner – Monday to Sunday 5.00pm to late
Fully licensed and BYO (wine only)
They do lunch specials too
Discounts
Eating WA VIP Card: 15% off total bill (max deduction $50)
