There are many Asian restaurants closer to home than Houng's in Brisbane's West End, but the attraction remains undimmed. Finally we decided to go and check it out.
I'd rate the entrance as authentically Asian international with a dingy stairwell, much in need of some TLC, leading up from a red neon street level sign. The surprise is the spacious dining room upstairs which would accommodate a very large crowd. Check out their web site and you'll see Huong's is actually very well set up for large groups with banquet menus and the like.
We took quite a few moments to peruse the extensive menu and settled on Rice Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Beef $15.50, Sugarcane Prawns (roll your own) $17.50 and Chilli Chicken with Lemongrass $16.50.
I had hardly put the menu down before my dish arrived with the others following in quick succession. Either they have an army in the kitchen or they are a dab hand at preparing. Great for a quick meal but you'd have to draw it out a bit more for a date or proceed somewhere else for a post drink. Plenty of choices close by for that as well.
No complaints about the food - it was equal to any other recent Asian dish in my memory - and my dining partners felt the same.
The menu did include a few of the more 'showy' dishes such as sizzling hotplates and steamboats, both of which were keeping the pre-teenage children on the next table well amused.
Bottom line: Not ground breaking, but decent fare and plenty of room in the dining area for a pleasant experience.
83A Vulture Street
West End, Australia
