I have been watching the fitout of Mama Tran on Milligan Street for some weeks now and was excited to hear they were open. My bro working in the QV1 building had been watching the fitout even closer and was there opening week. He was raving about it.. so it didn’t take long for me to get onto the Mama Tran!
Mama Tran’s décor is ultra modern and it’s a combination of a Vietnamese restaurant and Asian grocer. I was tempted to buy grapes & coconut juice to take home but had to keep moving with the lunch line - it had looked like everyone in the city had caught onto the Mama Tran.
When it was time to order, my bro and I were faced with the challenge of choosing what we could physically fit as the menu looked great. No surprises, we ended up ordering way too much!
We had the prawn rice paper rolls to start ($7 for a serve of 3)…
The prawns in the rice paper rolls were a good size, there were plenty of fresh ingredients and the sweet peanut dipping sauce was tasty and a good consistency.
Being super boring I had my default Vietnamese meal, Com Tam, which is broken rice with grilled pork, shredded pork and pork terrine ($11). I reckon with this dish I really should have had it in a bowl so that I could have mixed the various elements together properly – we had initially thought we were taking it away as there was no where to sit hence the take-away container but by time our meals were ready, we had found ourselves a bench. The pork was tender and the fish dipping sauce wasn’t chilli despite looking very chilli which I was very happy about - if you’ve been following my blog you’ll know I’m not very good with my chilli.
My bro ordered the Mi Kho which is a dried egg noodles with braised pork, pork mince and prawns ($9). I had a taste and this was delicious, the sauce and the prawns were the highlight of this dish for me.
I had also ordered a Banh Mi Thit which is a Vietnamese pork baguette ($7) to take home for dinner.
I had it that night by putting it in our mini oven for a couple of minutes which was as recommended by bro so that the bread crisps up and the ingredients stay fresh & cold. It was more on the expensive side for a banh mi thit but the ingredients were fresh and there were plenty of it. In the city I normally buy my banh mi thit from City Provisions which taste wise, I think is more flavoursome than Mama Tran’s but it does leave me feeling a bit greasy afterwards. So at least I now have a choice in the city on where to go for banh mi thit!
Mama Tran is owned by the same owners as an Asian Grocer in Northbridge which my mum had been visiting since we were kids. It’s great to see what they’ve evolved their business to and the whole family pitching in. Another great thing about Mama Tran is that they provide garnishes like lemon, cut chilli and mint as well as hot tea on the house which although is offered at some Asian restaurants in Perth, isn’t common.
We’ve started a lunch pin-up board in my pod at work and Mama Tran was the first to be added - I’ll def be a regular diner and the convenience of having an Asian Grocer just down the road from my work is so awesome!!
6 Comments
I have to try this place out! I have been waiting for a good vietnamese place to open in the city for the longest time!
Simon recently posted..Best Barbeque Seafood restaurant, Malaga
Oh I know it has taken ages - so happy mama tran has arrived! Viet Hoa has also opened in the new Brookfield foodhall - a couple of my colleagues had pho there, was ok but heard soup was a bit oily.
Looks great! Gee I wish I worked in the City…..you are spoilt for choice with lunch options
Chompchomp recently posted..Rock Bar & Kisik, Ayana Resort, Bali
hehe yea I reckon sometimes too much choices makes it hard - I have a couple of default city lunch options
have tried Mama Tran twice now - and the most recent time I had my bro’s mi kho in a proper bowl. Tasted even better all mixed up!
Disappointing food when I went too much hype no substance - can’t compare to the Viet joints in the burbs and northbridge.
What a shame to hear Billy. Mama Tran was great when I used to work in the city especially the one near QV1. Although I must admit of late, I’ve just been sticking to my mum’s pho which is second to none.