Co Thu Quan

Wandered by there for dinner with a friend. The place has a menu chock full of items I don’t see anywhere else, so that’s a great sign. We ordered the beef offal in coconut broth (Phá Lâu), the pork and shrimp dumplings (Báhn Bôt Loc) in clear rice paper, and a chicken and water spinach soup (Cahn Bûn), along with a fermented apricot drink (Nuôc Mo).
The dumplings were tasty and delicate, and bear repeating. The beef offal was fascinating. It came with a side of baguette and some sort of lemon and chili concoction for dipping. The soup was a bit strange. Good, but the tamarind in the description made me think it would have a bit brighter flavor. It tasted a bit muddy. The apricot drink was delicious. I’ll have to come back and eat my way through the rest of the menu.

Amazing price and super authentic taste. I’ve travelled to South East Asia and this place is definitely reminiscent.
Highly recommend the beef jerky rice paper salad.

A gem of authentic Vietnamese street food in Melbourne. I visit here almost every week. They have 2 type of menus so remember to ask for English menu with images.
Must try special seafood vermicelli, papaya salad with jerky beef, hell meal (Com Am Phu).
If you dare, try intestine soup with banh mi. They are delicious :)

This cute little caf inside the bustling Little Saigon market has us Footscray folk very, very excited. It features authentic Vietnamese street food, and it is completely unique to Melbourne (as far as I know).
I ordered the banh trang tron, a salad filled with delicate bits of rice paper, sugary beef jerky, sour dried mango, dried shrimp, peanut and quail egg. Amazing flavours and textures, and a steal at six dollars. My partner ordered a rice dish «with exotic sides», which is apparently a speciality of the Hue region. It was so darned good that I plundered most of it: A large bowl of rice topped with sweet dried beef was the feature dish. The «exotic» sides included sliced roast pork, pickled veg, fish sauce, marinated springwater crabs that taste like seafood candy, and tiny slices of omelette. It was massive and a sweet 10 dollars.
Co Thu Quan also has an enticing menu of tropical fruit juices. We tried the iced kumquat with salted plum, which was perfect for a warm spring day.
Gorgeous, unique food for under 10 bucks per person makes this restaurant a winner.