Food review at Xic Lo Vietnamese Noodle Bar, Chatswood

This afternoon, we went to Xic Lo Vietnamese Noodle Bar at 17 Spring Street, Chatswood for lunch.  The restaurant is relatively spacious and each table has its own flusk containing hot Chinese tea besides the usual sweet sauce and chilli sauce. We ordered the “summer rolls” (“goi cuon”), charcoal grilled beef with tomato rice (“com bo nuong”), charcoal grilled pork (boneless) with tomato rice (“com thit nuong”), charcoal grilled pork chop with tomato rice (“com suon nuong”) and the special beef rice noodle soup (“pho bo dac biet”).

Summer rolls ("goi cuon")

The “summer rolls” were made of prawns and pork topped with lettuce and herbs wrapped in rice paper served with a peanut sauce. The ingredients were quite refreshing, especially when we heard that beautiful “crunching” sound of the lettuce and herbs when we took a bite. The “summer roll” by itself does not have any significant flavour to it, therefore, you need to dip it into the peanut sauce which was served together with the dish. We would rate this dish 7/10 for its freshness and as a nice appetiser before the main course.

Charcoal grilled beef with tomato rice

Charcoal grilled pork (boneless) with tomato rice

Charcoal grilled pork chop with tomato rice

The charcoal grilled beef, the charcoal grilled pork (boneless) and the charcoal grilled pork chop were all served with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, pickles, fish sauce and soup. We have a choice of either having white rice or tomato rice (for an additional AUD1). We would recommend the tomato rice which we found to be rather tasty. Unlike some of the restaurants that served tomato rice, the one found at Xic Lo Vietnamese Noodle Bar has the right combination of flavour which is not too sweet, cooked just right with a tinge of garlic. The tomato rice goes really well with the grilled meat. Amongst the three different types of meat, the charcoal grilled pork (boneless) was the best. The meat was succulent and well cooked. The charcoal grilled beef was a bit too dry and tough to our liking. The same goes for the charcoal pork chop as well. Therefore, our rating is 8/10 for the charcoal grilled pork (boneless), 6/10 for the charcoal grilled beef and 6/10 for charcoal grilled pork chop. As for the tomato rice, we would give a strong 8/10.

Special beef rice noodle soup

The condiments - raw bean sprout, lime and mint leaves

No one can go away from a Vietnamese restaurant without ordering the “pho” or beef noodle. We ordered the special beef rice noodle soup which consisted of rare & cooked beef, beef balls, tripe and a plate of raw bean sprouts, a piece of lime and mint leaves. We found the sliced beef to be tender, the beef ball to be chewy and the broth to be rather rich and tasty which is the result from hours of boiling the meat in the soup. The best way to enjoy the beef noodle is to soak the raw bean sprouts into the soup really well, sprinkle a few mint leaves and squeeze the lime into the broth to give it a nice flavour. Then dip the slice beef, beef ball and tripe into a small plate of mixture of the sweet sauce and chilli - the taste is simply outstanding.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience at Xic Lo Vietnamese Noodle Bar, we would rate the service 7/10 for moderate efficiency and 7/10 for its spacious and clean environment.