My mum makes com tam at home – a Vietnamese dish of broken rice, grilled pork chop, bi (shredded pork), steamed pork and egg cake, and a fried egg on top. Served with pickled vegetables and nuoc mam sauce (a varied fish sauce), this is always a satisfying dish.
On our way back to Canberra after a weekend away at the Hunter Valley (loved Muse Restaurant and its sister restaurant Muse Kitchen), a group of us stopped in Bankstown for some cheap Vietnamese food. My friend tells me Phamous Vietnamese Restaurant is famous for its com tam. At only $9.90, the com tam van phat really is cheap. There are other variations of com tam, and you can also have chicken instead of a pork chop.
Not only that, you get a bowl of soup and a bowl of nuoc mam which I happily poured over everything. Most of us ordered the same dish and there was complete silence at the table which says it all. Soo good. That pork chop was drool worthy and had so much flavour! I have to say, my mum’s steamed pork and egg cake is better 🙂
Some shots of the non-com tam dishes below. The BBQ pork sausage and spring rolls vermicelli noodle salad ($10.90) was served in a huge bowl.
The crispy skin chicken with dry egg noodle ($8.90) looked great and also comes with a bowl of soup and nuoc mam on the side. So cheap!
The three colour dessert drink ($4) of red beans, mashed mung beans and green pandan jelly noodles has shaved ice on top, some coconut milk and is sprinkled with peanuts. This is a yummy cold dessert, perfect for summertime, that mum would put together as well. I know I can just buy all of these ingredients and make it myself. Maybe I’ll try it this summer.
Such a cheap and delicious lunch! I wish we had prices like that in Canberra.
Foodgasm 8/10
