Uncle - Collins Street

Seeing as I wasn't the biggest fan of the food at Uncle in St Kilda, I wasn't walking into their new venue down the Paris end on Collins Street with the highest hopes. But luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. 

To start with, just like its sister in St Kilda, the venue is incredible - dark, with eclectic splashes of colour and greenery - the venue epitomises the Melbourne laneway vibe.  The menu is Vietnamese inspired, serving up all of the usual culprits from banh mi to bao, but also having some more interesting items such as tongue and cheek wrapped in bean curd skin, and crispy pigs' ears banh mi.

 

However, on this occasion we were a little less adventurous and went for some of the more classic dishes. To  start with we had the wok tossed edamame with beer nuts and chilli sauce, and the raw king fish with longan, sesame, wasabi peas, soy and coconut foam. The nuts were a nice touch to the edamame, and the beans were well seasoned. 

 

 

There was no question that the Kingfish was fresh, having the consistency of butter, but the wasabi peas was an odd addition - giving the dish an element of "chalkiness".

 

 

Finally, to stay on trend with the whole pho obsession I seem to have going on, at the moment, I ordered the chicken pho and, even though it's hard to convey in a photo being such an ugly dish, it was delicious. The broth was fragrant, the chicken tender and it was packed to the brim with vegies and noodles.

 

 

Overall, an enjoyable experience and a trendy little addition to Melbourne's CBD. 

 

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Venue: 4.5/5

Total: 11.5/15

Verdict - love, get around to trying it soon