Fresh Bites, Citi Centre Arcade

Today I picked up my #CookbookThursday twitter prize from Dymocks Adelaide. Thanks guys!



I'm totes going to get my CWA bake on this weekend.

More importantly, I thought I'd check out how Fresh Bites in the Citi Centre Arcade was kicking along. Their karaage chicken roll was almost the roll of my dreams... almost.



The roll of my dreams has the following qualities:
- crunchy yet chewy and moist roll
- lots of crisp, fresh veggies and herbs
- kewpie mayonnaise
- Crispy, crunchy but still juicy chicken.
- I'm talking flavour and texture here people!

What let this roll down was the chicken - while juicy and plentiful the karaage chicken was neither crispy nor crunchy. The chicken had obviously been sitting under lights for too long.

This is a roll worth returning for though - every other element was well executed.

Can anyone help me find the roll of my dreams?

Fresh Bites, Citi Centre Arcade

The food court at Centre Arcade is badly in need of a facelift. Some of those shop facades have been around since at least the 90s and many are probably older than I am. Think places like The King of Sandwich and Mangia Mangia. That said some new blood is slowly starting to seep in - the spud place has closed down and banh mi / Japanese eatery Fresh Bites has opened in its place.

A teriyaki chicken wing was my sneaky lunch entree. The meat was firm, juicy and flavoursome but had lost a little of sweet glazed char flavour that the exterior flaunted. Tasty, but not super value for nearly $2 bucks.



Banh mi / Japanese fusion rolls really makes sense me and the one from Fresh Bite bought together the best of both worlds - sticky sweet teriyaki chicken from Japan; the baguette style bread and crunchy fresh salad from Vietnam; a dollop of kewpie mayonnaise for extra richness; and fresh coriander, spring onion and chilli to provide some cut through.



Hopefully newcomers like Fresh Bites will provide the impetus and bring in the new stalls and customers needed to make renovations at Citi Centre a reality.

Yumalicious, Victoria Square - the third

Today's goal was to complete my trifector of Yumalicious tastings - the banh mi. I ordered a roll with the lot without having any idea what that entailed.



Not knowing what meat went onto the banh mi I found it a little hard to identify. I can tell you that there were two types of meat - at least one of which was chicken. The other - probably pork - had an almost mustard-y flavour to it. Of high quality the roll was crunchy and chewy while the vegetables (including red onion and spring onion - which I haven't seen on a banh mi before) were plentiful, fresh and crisp. The chillies they put on the roll were not particularly hot but the heat was bolstered by what tasted like sweet chilli sauce. I'm not overly fond of sweet chilli sauce but it was applied with a deft hand so added some welcome sweetness rather than overpowering the other flavours.

Once again, the service was impeccable and at $5.00 this roll sits squarely in the middle of the banh mi price range and is definitely one I'd order again.

Miss Mai, James Place

Last week I blogged about wanting to return to new Vietnamese eatery Miss Mai to sample their duck (!!!!) banh mi.

Today I fulfilled that promise. And because I'm a fat bastard I also ordered chicken pho.

The duck banh mi was everything I hoped it would be. A generous portion of warm, fatty, juicy duck stuffed inside a crisp, chewy roll with crunchy carrots, cucumber and handfuls of fresh coriander. The too-brown photo below really doesn't do this excellent roll justice.



At $7.50 this duck banh mi is on the more expensive side but absolutely worth every cent. And I really REALLY like that the meat filling at Miss Mai's is warm - it transforms what I'd usually consider a fresh, crunchy summery roll into something warm, comforting and perfect for winter eating.

Because I felt a cold coming on (but mostly because (as above) I'm fat, hungry bastard) I ALSO decided to order the chicken pho. Logically, if chicken soup cures a cold then a spicy, herby chicken pho should kick the shit out it!



I reckon the chicken pho is actually better than the beef pho. The broth was hot and sweet again but seemed cleaner and clearer; the chicken was tender, juicy and ever-so-slightly fatty in a good way; there was more generosity with the rice noodles (my one bugbear from last time); and once again the herbs were fresh, beansprouts crunchy and chillies spicy. I felt greatly restored after eating my chicken pho - it really moved all the gunk out of my sinuses.

I had selfishly hoped that Miss Mai's would remain one of those hidden gems in the Adelaide CBD - but no such luck. Adelaideans seem to have already cottoned on to the fact Miss Mai is serving up some seriously good Vietnamese food.

Banh Mi - Vietnamese Rolls, China Town Food Court

Continuing on my righteous quest to find Adelaide's best banh mi yesterday I dined at Banh Mi - Vietnamese Rolls in the China Town Food Court. To paraphrase their claim, these guys can definitely roll (bit of a sandwich pun there - get it?) with the best.

I ordered a roast pork roll with a Vietnamese iced coffee which set me back about $11. A little on the expensive for lunch but not so much that it'll break the bank.



There are two things that differentiate the banh mi here from elsewhere. The first is their size - these banh mi are big boys. Much bigger than any of the other banh mi I've seen in the Adelaide CDB. The second is the mayonnaise and pâté combination slathered on the bottom half of the rolls. Occasionally this bottom layer has been so thick, rich and cloying that it makes it difficult to finish the sandwich. Not yesterday - the ratio if pâté to filling was perfect.



Can I just say that I love Vietnamese iced coffee? Iced cold, sweet and almost chocolate-y banh mi's version is refreshingly good. Is it blasphemous to say I prefer it to Farmer's Union Iced Coffee? 



I'm intrigued by the statement on the roll package telling you that the roll is to be eaten within an hour or refrigerated. If you are not eating a roll this good immediately you are doing it a serious disservice.

Daily Choice, Southern Cross Arcade

I had to grab lunch on the go today. Fortunately, that bastion of cheap, delicious eating - Southern Cross Arcade - just happened to be on my way between here and there and Daily Choice just happened to have the shortest line. That's unusual for Daily Choice because they do arguably the best banh mi in the CBD - although unfortunately they seem to be receiving less custom now that Soonta Rolls has opened up. I don't really rate Soonta Rolls - the sauces are cloyingly sweet and over applied while their rolls always leave a strange metallic aftertaste.

I ordered the stewed beef roll and smashed half of it before I remembered to take a quick snap.



Delicately flavoured with star anise the stewed beef was meltingly soft while the lettuce and lightly pickled carrots provided a bit of crunch and cut through. I suspect the chillies are grown in someones backyard because some of these little firecrackers pack quite the wallop. But the thing that really sets the Daily Choice banh mi from apart is the quality and consistency of the bread rolls. You'll never find a stale roll here. Rather, they are crisp and crunchy on the outside while being light and chewy inside.

The staff at Daily Choice have got banh mi making down to a fine art so that even when the lines are long the wait is pretty short. And at $4.50 per roll - the price is right (see the Larry Emdur comeback reference I made there?).

Zen Kitchen, Renaissance Arcade

I am a sucker for pho. In fact, I’m a sucker for Vietnamese food, full stop. I love the stuff. Zen Kitchen in the Renaissance Arcade has recently become the home of my lunchtime Vietnamese fix.

Research the origins of pho, I learned that the broth is usually made with charred onions and probably has French origins. The French dish put-au-feu also use charred onions in its broth. Feu is French for fire and is possibly epistemological origin of pho.

To start I ordered spring rolls. Part chicken, part Vietnamese pate, these spring rolls were hot and crispy.

I usually favour the rice dishes over the pho, but because I have a cold (and the best cure for a cold is chicken noodle soup) I went for chicken pho. A generous serve of pho emerged quickly from the kitchen, accompanied by a big plate of bean sprouts, basil and lime. The broth was savoury and the herbal flavours of star anise, cloves and ginger came through strongly (and probably did wonders for my cold). The chicken was slightly fatty, but juicy and tender. I like to dip my chicken in a little soy and hot sauce. Delicious.

Zen Kitchen is great place for lunchtime pho. I can also recommend to banh mi and the mayonnaise chicken.

Apologies for the lack of photos with this entry. I got so excited about filling my belly with Vietnamese food that I forgot to take any. I’ll take some next time. Promise.

Pars Kebab, Southern Cross Arcade

A relative newcomer to the Arcade, Pars Kebab offers the hungry diner kebabs as well as Persian dishes. Pars Kebab has recently relocated within the Arcade, and is now next Fresh Choice (who offer some of the cheapest and best banh mi in Adelaide). Their previous location has been taken over by Taste of Europe (which I’ll be trying tomorrow). I’m assuming that Pars Kebab’s new location has a higher rent than their previous location as prices have increased by about $1 across the board.

Probably the cheapest kebab I have come across (around $6) Pars Kebab make a pretty decent, though fairly greasy, kebab. The chicken and lamb seem to be actual chicken and lamb, though I’d steer away from the falafels. They taste like they’re straight out of the box and I’ve seem them warmed up in the microwave. But if you really want to see where Pars Kebab excels, try some of their Persian dishes.

For around $7 you can get yourself a delicious and decent sized lunch. I ordered saffron chicken and spicy chicken with salad and rice.


Chunks of moist spicy chicken thigh swam in a rich tomato sauce. The saffron chicken was savoury and moist. Abundant with fresh parsley, the salad was crisp and clean. The garlic sauce was garlic sauce. But the rice… the rice was something else. The rice from Pars Kebab is possibly my favourite rice. Words simply do not do it justice. Flecked with pomegranate (and possibly saffron), the grains are impossibly long and firm to the bite, while still being light and fluffy and toothsome. If nothing else appeals to you about Pars Kebab, at least try the rice. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Bite into Asia, Wyatt Street

Just as sushi joints appeared like a delicious plague in the late 90’s, in the last 5 or so years banh mi outlets have popped up all over the Adelaide CBD. Amongst other lunch options, Bite into Asia do a pretty good version of the banh mi.

Spawned during Vietnam’s French Colonial period, the favourite son of the salad baguette and native Vietnamese ingredients, banh mi are an affordable, healthy and deliciously exotic sandwich replacement option.

Bite into Asia is a little hole-in-the-wall place in Wyatt Street. It’s seemingly unsuspecting appearance hides one of Adelaide’s better banh mi.


The store is tiny, with minimal seating, so don’t plan to stay and eat your banh mi. However, the lines are usually short and the service is certainly speedy.

Bite into Asia is at the more expensive end of the banh mi price spectrum, setting you back $5.50. However, the price of admission is certainly worth the ride. The rolls are always fresh and unlike other Vietnamese rolls, the bread has the prefect ratio of crunch to chew.


What I really like about the banh mi here is the options of fillings. Sure, they’ve got your standard bbq and teriyaki chicken. But they’ve also got satay beef, grilled lamb and Thai lime chicken (the only filling which I have thus far found slightly underwhelming). I went with the grilled lamb today, which was as tender and delicious as usual. They’re also pretty generous with the salad fillings.


The banh mi at Bite in Asia may not be either the biggest or the best in Adelaide (and you won’t find fillings like Vietnamese ham or headcheese), but like Shane Watson they’re a pretty good all-rounder and definitely worth a try.

Bite into Asia also offer a few noodle/rice/salad options, but these are probably overpriced for the amount/quality.