Soaking in the authentic flavours of Vietnamese home-style dishes, Mama’s Buoi has been spicing up Sydney from Surry Hills to Crows Nest since ’14. Now restaurant owner, Bao Hoang has taken his inspiration from his mother’s cooking to the boutique food hall of Harold Park Tramsheds, adding a necessary ingredient to the dynamic food precinct.
The Surry Hills’ joint has long been one of my local go-to’s, so I had in mind what sort of dining experience I may expect to have – a restaurant chain is a chain right? Wrong. While incorrect to assume such similarity between the two, I was just as impressed.
Tramsheds Mama’s Buoi is a slight evocation of downtown Saigon, with the restaurant encompassing large cafeteria-style tables and chairs and a row spacious booths with an enclosing vibrantly painted wall. The space is breathing with blooms of hanging vines that interweave with bright light bulbs, adding to the interior’s perfect contrast of crisp modern flare with the Tramshed’s rustic influences.
Dishes are listed on a one-sided A3 flay lay menu with easy to read sections of small to large share plates. Think bowls of vermicelli salads, plates of fresh rice paper rolls, sweet seafood and vegetable stir-fries, coconut prawns and zingy chicken sticks. For the vege lovers, the eggplant dish is a must.
The cocktails are daring but delicious. One to try is the lychee Coconut Martini. Now it may sound like a cruel concoction of creamy coconut milk and fruity flavours, but the blend works really well (meaning no overpowering coconut taste). Chalk that up as another win for Mama’s Buoi.
Mama’s Buoi
Address: Tramsheds Harold Park, 1 Dalgal Way, Forest Lodge
Website: www.mamasbuoi.com.au
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