deliciously inconsistant. ballarat noodle bar servestastylow-priced vietnamese and "anonymous chinese" fast food - good but not exceptional, which makes sense given the cost and type of restaurant.
the standout dish was the shiitake mushroom soup, which was a beautifully rich, thick, seafoody soup with mushrooms, egg drops and chicken. both my father and i commented on how fantastic this dish was. the vegetarian spring rolls needed a bit more time in the fryer to be properly crispy and brown, and i was hoping for flavoured fish sauce, although the sweet and sour was fine. i have had these before, and they were much better the first time.
my grilled pork chop was nicely seasoned, although the outside could have been a touch crispier, but the accompanying tomato rice was very disappointing - oily and eggy, with no discernible tomato sauce. dad's combination stir fried soft egg noodles were nice and definitelytastybut clearly not a specialty.
overall, ballarat chinese & vietnamese food & noodle bar serves appetizing food at a very reasonable price. while the cooking could be more consistent, this has already become a favourite and i know i'll be returning frequently - especially for the mushroom soup!