Yen Linh
Shop 14 Corner of Regency and Days Road tucked behind the Thuan Phat Supermarket
Regency Park South Australia 5008
W Not available
E Not available
T 8340 2999
F Not available
OPEN Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 am to 7.00 pm, dine in or take-away
hidden treasure Off the main drag you would never find either Yen Linh or Nghi Ngân Quán unless you were lucky enough to have someone in the know drag you there. Both are suburban and utterly hidden. Yen Linh on the corner of Days and Regency Road is invisible behind the massive Thuan Phat supermarket and Nghi Ngân Quán in the middle of suburban Ferryden Park, the only shop in sight. At Nghi Ngân Quán a sea of glossy black heads with one orange exception, that futile attempt to turn Chinese black hair to blonde, a Sunday lunch, Nghi Ngân Quán is reassuringly packed with just four round-eye in sight. Equally Saturday lunch at Yen Linh I am the only round eye. The tradition of eating out in Asian and Chinese culture is deeply entrenched partly brought about by the lack of space and cooking facilities in many homes. Food unless you are venturing into the haute cuisine of their restaurants is fast and inexpensive, and the price pretty much dictates just how long you hang around. Both of these restaurants opening the morning, also culturally based on the sensible philosophy of breakfasting like a king, lunching like a prince and eating like a princess for the evening meal. One little tip, when eating any of these Pho style soups take care when adding fresh chilli. What might at first seem mild after steeping for the five minutes it takes for them to cool enough to eat, the chilli heat can be an altered state. Both establishments are extremely inexpensive and offer very good value for money. Phoning your order in, adding some rice as a filler and picking it up on the way home from work can mean as little as $12 per person and the food isn’t wrecked (or cold) in the time it takes to get home.
FOOD With only one or two exceptions like Hainan Chicken $10 and stir fried beef, chicken or seafood $11 and $13 for seafood, Yen Linh stays firmly in the Vietnamese kitchen with clean hot sour dishes that are full of interesting textural differences. Dried beef and papaya salad $6 is prettily plated, clean and delicious the textures are diverse with the crunch of the finely julienned papaya and roasted crushed peanuts and the soft dry texture of the dried beef. Shredded pork cold rolls (3 per serve) $6 are another favourite and almost a meal in themselves. They also do all the usual combination pork dishes listed as combination rice dish, pork chops, shredded pork, crispy–skinned roast pork and steam pork loaf with rice $10 and $11. We’ve tried lots of things from their menu a particular favourite (apart from the papaya salad) is their seafood rice noodle soup $10. Clear broth laden with rice noodles fish balls, squid and prawns, a quail egg and peanuts and enlivened with the bright emerald of garlic chives and spring onions it also comes with the side dish of bean shoots, coriander, celery leaves, chilli and of course a lemon wedge. Food is clean and delicious and of course tremendous value for money.
This is simple cheap street
food but fewer compromises are made to Australian tastes than most
of these little restaurants meaning that some of Yen Linh’s dishes
may only appeal to adventurous eaters. Their Spicy beef stew with rice noodles ($9.00) is a massive serve full of tender succulent meat that has been slow cooked in the broth it is served with. Stringy and fatty it is rich and filling and delicious. They do make a small compromise and include Hianan (steamed) chicken and rice ($9.00) on their menu, but a couple of dishes that are really excellent and with broader appeal their Combination rice or egg noodle soup ($9.00, $10.00). Packed with thinly sliced pork, prawns, quail eggs, garlic chives and is comes with bean shoots, coriander and lemon and a large container of clear tasty soup. For the really adventurous try the Combination beef noodle soup that comes with tripe, tendon, brisket and beef meatballs ($9.00, $10.00) which all comes in a wonderful clear beef broth.
WINE unlicensed
