Bambu Asian Eating House

 Situated at South Melbourne Market, with its great location, incredibly friendly staff and an Asian inspired menu that looks absolutely drool worthy, I really wanted to love Bambu Asian Eating House, like really love it. Unfortunately, with some of the dishes not quite hitting the mark , it only scrapes through with a 'like'.

It was not a good start to the night with our chilli prawn dumplings and steamed chicken dumplings coming out cold, tough and rubbery.

 

 

The green curry of bbq chicken with eggplant and bamboo shoots also didn't quite hit the mark - the curry sauce itself was rich and fragrant, but the two pieces of chicken I had were mainly gristle.

 

Luckily the night started to look up from there. The egg net Pad Thai was a unique and clever way to present this old favourite - with flavours that didn't fail to impress. The crispy fish salad with curried rice balls, peanuts, shallots and red nahm was also a creative spin on the usual salad you'd find in Asian restaurants around Melbourne. Whilst probably about as healthy as a Caesar, it was definitely a textual and flavoursome delight.






However, the beef matabak roti with picked cucumber was the stand out dish of the night. Flaky and crisp roti encasing flavoursome and well seasoned beef, the dish was paired perfectly with it light and fragrant Asian salad. It was definitely a dish I would go back for.

 

Whilst there were a couple of disappointments, there were also a few highlights - enough to make me want to return again to give them another whirl.

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 4/5
Venue: 3/5
Total: 9.5/15
Verdict: like - get around to trying it at some point.