In an effort to restart my strolls through various Brisbane suburbs in ill-fitting pants, I settled on a visit to Inala. The days leading up to the calorie overload drew disparate responses. Friends who had been there were surprised I had not visited earlier – others offered prayers. Their minds had conjured up an amalgam of the opening scenes of Double Dragon and Romper Stomper. These people watch too much A Current Affair – I’m not going there at 2:00am in the morning yelling obsenities to cause a ruckus. That’s the time I make my sleepy stupors to the fridge if I need refreshments. At half past nine on a Saturday morning I think my biggest fear will be an unwanted case of the hiccups.
The memories of my trip to Vietnam were about to celebrate their fifth anniversary. A brush with anything Vietnamese would bring them to the forefront on my mind. Like Glad Wrap on half an avocado which was nearing its usefulness, this will allow me keep the memories fresh for a while longer. Could I recreate a rough approximation with a hint of Australiana? I’d be kidding myself if I though so. It’s not all doom and gloom. The temperature be 20C lower than my time in Ho Chi Minh, there’s little chance of me catching malaria or getting chased by some rogue chickens.
My very good friend who I attend gigs with had been a long time visitor to Inala and today was a day which in some form took ten years in the planning. We had long talked about going to Inala to sample every plate and finally the rice paper rolls had aligned. The main hub of Inala is essentially two large buildings full of restaurants which bookend a food plaza. Much of the exterior decoration looks as inspired by the sails from Expo ’88, the old blue plastic struggling with the ever increasing winds.
My only warning about visiting Inala is the parking can be horrific. The lure of fresh fruit and vegetables is catnip to the locals who clog up the carpark quicker than a half chewed Big Mac blocks your throat and capillaries. The attitude towards freshness is serious when there are security guards outside the fruit and vege stores. Any fruit and vegetable you could think of, and some that you didn’t know existed are being squeezed, sniffed and inspected from any angle. These are usually the actions of an excited buyer at a racehorse auction, not someone that has a hankering for a nice juicy Kiwi fruit.
But there is only so much produce you can push and prod before you roll up the sleeves and dive straight in. It would have been easier to find an Englishmen with perfect teeth than place your bum on a spare seat here. Fortunately our party of two took presentence over a couple of large families who were also eyeing off the table. Let that be a lesson to you people, kids are dead weight. Pho An Dien specialises in the breakfast staple of Vietnam, however we decided to mix it up because we could. The menu suggested this was a meal for two. Rubbish, it could feed a village. Layers of rice noodle netting, some raw veg (Mum will be happy), half a lettuce, a garden of herbs and what used to be half a pig – roasted to perfection. My only gripe was if you didn’t keep an eye out for the small chunks of bone in the pork you could have found yourself on the end of a heimlich maneuver.
The toilets in Inala were easy to find. Only problem is it’s hard to squeeze your way through the small gap to get there after breakfast. For somewhere that is a food hub, it should be mandatory for all toilets to have dual carriageway access. If somebody blocks the alley with a shopping trolley that payphone will be getting more use than it did in 1986! You’ll be making a trunk call, because that’s what you’ll be asking a friend to deliver if you run out of time.
My friend gave me the good oil on the best banh mi so after trying to walk off some of the breakfast we swung past for our second course. Whilst not the best exponent of the art form, it was delightful. The flaky and crunchy roll, the pate, chilli and of course the coriander. I know there are freaks out there with some genetic issue that makes coriander taste like soap. You are missing out.
After looking at this photo I can’t remember having two. But then again my friend wouldn’t want my grubby fingers pawing his sandwich so maybe I was an absolute guts? My only hazy memory was that I had already eaten enough.
If you don’t devour a bowl of pho whilst in Inala why did you even go there in the first place. Pho when done well could cure world peace and even if it is average it will put a spring in one’s step. Those familar with my Vietnamese travels know my obsession with pho. Whilst it looks like dirty dish water, it cures all ailments. You are spoilt for choice in Inala on the pho front, but Hiep & Huong Food Co. know the secrets to a quality pho – you’re in good hands.
And because one visit wasn’t enough I had to head back down for another fix. Different dining companions this time but the food was just as good as I remembered. Pho Queen had a pho that comes out with its own Safety Officer as it can melt six layers of skin off and you get to add in the raw meat, herbs and noodles. I’m pleased to report the scar tissue has healed and that it was all for a worthy cause.
For those in Brisbane, Inala is on your doorstep and you have no excuse not to pay a visit. Don’t listen to the media and you will be rewarded with a full belly and some new experiences. The folk and crows at Darra would protest in the streets with any proclamation of Inala being the Vietnamese food hub of Brisbane but it wins on points because it has more to eat, smell and drink. Before the folk in Darra complain, the banh mi is more delectable over that side of the Ipswich Motorway.
The man selling desserts had set up shop on the path near where I parked the car so I was forced to buy something for the drive home. The odd colour offerings caught me eye and in that split second I convinced myself I would be hungry within the next hour. My car at this point was nearly ten years old with a history of stopping for no good reason in the middle of the street so I figured I would need every possible energy source in case I had to walk a majority of the way. Before firing the car up I lined the desserts up on the boot of the car like some ritual to the car reliability Gods.
The chewy texture of the rice meant that these didn’t have to be bucked down. In the event of an accident, they would have bounced off the windscreen and eventually richochet into my mouth. The sesame balls – always a favourite – didn’t last two blocks before my willpower evaporated. Each sesame ball was staring directly at my soul (or maybe my stomach)?
I’m a sensible glutton, I draw the line at trying to eat rice balls in sugar syrup whilst in control of a moving vehicle without cutlery. Though as soon I returned to the safety of my home garage, all ettiquette disappeared and I inhaled them with such gusto. My body had to be reminded that swallowing them whole wasn’t the best option. That amount of dessert in a concentinaed timeframe left me full and sweaty. Police would have definately mistaken me for a drug mule that swallows condoms full of drugs if I did get pulled over.
Pho An Dien – Breakfast – 37 Corsair Ave, Inala
Hiep & Huong Food Co – Lunch (Pho) Inala Plaza West Entrance, Shop 60/156 Inala Ave, Inala
Pho Queen – Second Visit – Pho
