one of the most cherished favourites, not just in west end, but probably the whole of brisbane, quan thanh is one of those gems which seems to have been untouched with time. it is just as popular with the vietnamese population as it is with the non-vietnamese population, and at any instance that business is open there will be a whole lot of people dining happily, gobbling up all that they have to offer. the simple reason, the food is simple sublime.
my friend in particular felt like something with noodles and cited vietnamese as what she particularly had a hankering for. having a decent knowledge about the offerings around west end, there were a few places on the main stretch that would offer noodles and a couple of vietnamese places as well; however, for the real experience and darlings, hardgrave road was where to go. that was quite a walk all the way from the bus station, but that was nothing too daunting for her. thus, it was a walk through the familiar streets of west end - seeing new places, and finding where others were - up to the final location, hardgrave road and all its asian glory.
like anything on this stretch of the street, you are not here for the looks of the place. it has an atmosphere to it, a really relaxed one, and they manage to put many tables in without cramping the customers. most are out on the patio, and a few are inside. the atmosphere is a rowdy one, and turnover is really quick. there are now two sections of the restaurant, with a bottle shop between them which helps that quan than is byo.
the service is like something out of a chinatown restaurant. demeanour is not the key focus, but more so the delivery of the food and services that makes it what it is. well not the most friendly, at all times they keep up quite a polite face. the tempo never rests, and is always super efficient. if something isn't available, they will come and inform you apologetically; the food is brought out really quickly, though not efficiently - more so when the food is ready (there is something a tad more charming about that mode). a beat is never missed - drop the chopsticks on the ground and they will rush out, take them to the kitchen and return with a fresh pair.
the long story short is that you are in good, capable hands here.
this menu is massive, and i mean massive. there are two double-side a3, laminated sheets acting as menus. and man, are you spoiled for choice with them. they have one menu that has the original vietnamese cuisine, and the other one is a combination of malaysian and chinese. on either one, you will be hard-pressed even trying to whittle down the best choices to - let's say - a dozen, since there are all kinds of classics on there, plus more different sorts of dishes and whatever meat tickles your fancy, they will have it - and seafood does not cost noticeably more either. chef's specials be darned, as even then it sounds all too good. dozens of returns are necessary to even get a taste of the whole selection; this is why it works as a place to take a lot of people.
regardless, eventually you can find a few things and share between the folks. serving sizes are substantial, which makes this a haven for anyone on a budget and it is a guarantee that you will leave with a contented stomach.
beginning the meal, it was getting a couple of entrees. my friend went for one of her favourites, thai fish cakes, and the one i eyed off was salt and pepper quail. both of these entrees were tasty. the fish cakes were fish cakes, not much to describe about them. they came in a serving of four, and with a small tub of sweet chili sauce on the side. the fish was tender, really hot and mixed with quite a bit of vegetables - it passes well.
going about the opposite route was the salt and pepper quail, which was split in half and cooked till it was crispy. the pieces were served on a bed of seasonings, ranging from salt to pepper, to chili to shallots. mixing these tastes in with the meat helped give it plenty of seasoning. the whole skin on the bird was crispy, and the consistency was dead on perfect for texture. as for the actual flesh, it was tender and juicy. this is not an elegant bird to eat, and will require the use of fingers to get the best out of it. i don't have quail often, but when i do it is always very good.
next coming up, it was the main course. the friend went for a vermicelli salad with sugar cane prawns. this was quite a light meal, that was filled with plenty of vermicelli noodles, a good serving of different herbs including coriander and more than a few pieces of prawns. in addition, a couple of sticks of sugar cane were mixed in to give it flavour. on the side is a small tub of dressing. mix all this together, and you have a fairly simple dish that uses several kinds of natural flavours. it is slightly acidic, crunchy and the occasional bits of meat are always a treat.
my dish was one of the chef's specials: a king prawn and tofu claypot. this was a stark contrast to the salad. this one was hot, it was thick in consistency and it was filled to the brim with all sorts of items. both the prawns and the tofu were both plump, plentiful and delicious; the prawns were sweet and crunchy, while the tofu was soft and moreish doing a great job soaking up all of the sauce. in with the aforementioned items was some crunchy capsicum. the sauce was what held it together. it was a mixture of sweet and sour flavours, with a bit of vinegar mixed in to it. a simple dish down to the bone, but one that had heaps of flavour nonetheless.
it goes without saying again that an iced white coffee was on the agenda; the mathematics was all there: vietnamese cuisine, i like coffee, the coffee was a beverage option, and i complete the formula by ordering it. one personal gripe, and this is personal with nothing against this place, is that the whole show of the coffee is skipped. what i mean by this is that i like to see the coffee slowly drip onto the bed of condensed milk before you stir it together and pour it over ice. again, preferences and it does not stop the coffee from tasting good anyway. it was strong, it was sweet and it was very creamy. this was so good that i managed to sneak another one in during a meal, and it has been a maneuver that i have done before to weasel in a sweet. which leads to the dessert course.
finishing off the meal, a dessert was ordered to split. the first choice was a banana fritter with ice cream (and caramel topping), however they were out of banana and it was deep fried ice cream instead. deep fried ice cream is a lot better than it should sound, and what has always interested me is how they get the ice cream to not melt when it is getting cooked. even more so here, the ice cream was so hard, it could not get split evenly with a spoon - instead it was separated from the coconut coating. the ice cream was creamy, went down a treat and the patterns done on the plate with the syrup were photo worthy.
deep down in this part of town, there is a reason that this place has survived for so many years - actually, make that several reasons. what needs to be said first is that the food is nothing short of delicious and it has a perfect faction - it's honest, the portion sizes are generous and quite good for the price (you can pay a motza easily in west end), plus the variety of items on the menu and no pretentious bullshit. you can rock up there on any day for lunch and dinner without pre-planning, and it will be both busy yet have plenty of tables free for customers.
when it comes to west end, it still stands as one of the most solid suburbs for sheer variety of dining options. it does not really lend itself that well to the trendy scene, as places can come and go in an instance. what it is good for is good and honest fare, where any cuisine will be given a go. among several other institutions, quan thanh is a survivor for the times and it deserves to be so.