Tronngan - Inala

A few readers may know of my dismay with the state of social media. With the majority of posts that appear on my feed either explicit advertising or implicit sponsored content, it is increasingly difficult to find genuine foodies who offer well considered and honest food recommendations. Anyway I had bookmarked Tronngan for the occasional chance when I had a day off as it was recommended by BNEofMyLife, whose' reviews I hold in high regard.

Situated in Inala Plaza, I hadn't noticed their opening, but the last I was aware, this shopfront used to hold Chac's and I had previously quite enjoyed their pho. The location was clean, well lit and service was friendly and attentive. 

 

Ordinarily when left to my own devices, I would have ordered a pho, but given the recommendation was for a Bun Bo Hue, that was my selection. 

As usual, the BBH came with a side of shredded cabbage and assorted herbs rather than the usual sprouts.

As per the recommendation, this BBH was exceptional. The soup was beefy and spicy whilst still managing to be delicate with its subtle herbal flavours. I really enjoyed the generous amount of toppings. My favourites included the spicy pork sausage and beef brisket. The rice noodles were also soft but retained a bit of bite. I only wish that portion sizes were a bit bigger.

Wanting a little more, I had a serve of prawn and charshiu rice paper rolls. These were freshly made, generous in size and filling without being overly heavy. I would say that it didn't necessarily stand out from other well made rice paper rolls though. 

Given how hot it was, I also had a Vietnamese Iced Coffee, served less sweet. This was very intense and although already less sweet than usual, considerably sweet for my tastes. 

I really enjoyed the BBH at Tronngan, next time I will make a point to bring Dr L along with me so we can try a couple more other dishes.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10 

Noodle Villa - Sunnybank

As someone who goes to Market Square fairly often, I was pretty interested to see Noodle Villa get built up. Shortly after, I started seeing some pretty positive reviews on chinese social media, so we opted to go on a weekday night to check it out with some friends.

We arrived round about dinner time but the place was full. It took us about 20 minutes of waiting before we could get a table. At least we were given menus to peruse while we waited.  There was an assortment of beef noodles, lamb noodles and a few side dishes. We ordered at the counter and the food still took fairly long to arrive.

 

Luckily while we were waiting, we could still munch on the unlimited pickled radish that was available on a DIY basis. Light and refreshing, it packed a lot of crunch and was very appetizing. Our lamb side dish came out first. For the large portion size, it was very small. At $20, I found it to be poor value for money, although tasty. The bowl appeared not too small but was largely bulked up by veggies underneath. The lamb itself was quite flavoursome and tasty though.

Another side we shared was the braised lotus root. This was deeply infused with the taste of soy and very crunchy. The value proposition was a bit better than the lamb.

 

It took a little while for our noodles to arrive, by which point we had almost finished our starters. With lamb noodles being their signature (and the prevalence of beef noodle), we both opted for lamb noodles. He had the lamb rice noodle whereas I had the lamb offal noodle. Neither of them were spicy, but I took a risk and added a tiny bit of chilli from the table and that was enough to push me over the edge. As for the noodles itself, I found the portion to be definitely lacking for the price, when considering the location. I definitely had room for dessert after our meal and wish there had been an option to upsize our noodles. Dr L's lamb was exactly the same as our side dish, but significantly fewer in slices. My offals were done well with good texture but not much by way of portions either. The rice noodles were tender and the soup was light and delicate. Whilst I enjoyed the meal, it didn't really stand out to me against other options at Sunnybank, so I don't think I'm in a rush to return.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 8/10 

Gwangjang Market - Sunnybank

With the end of the year fast approaching, I can still say that 2025 continues to be a year of many Korean BBQs. Gwangjang Market opened roughly a year ago atop Choi restaurant, opposite Sunnybank Mcdonalds and it started off as more of a drinking spot than anything else, offering more of a focus on beverages with snacks, so I didn't really pay too much attention to it until they promoted their anniversary sale, including an all you can eat KBBQ option. 

We went during this 10 day promotion period and as far as I can tell, Gwangjang market haven't made any moves that would indicate to me they're bringing back the AYCE deal back any time soon. As such, I consider this review to be more about the quality of food on offer more than necessarily a recommendation for the deal we had.

We made our reservation expecting the place to be extremely busy but the space was fairly large and there were still a few empty tables throughout the evening.

At the promo price, it was $45.90pp and included a generous amount of meats as well as a wide assortment of side dishes. Ordering was done on the QR code.

The BBQ came shortly. It was charcoal powered and I really liked the thin but strong wires on it, allowing a far greater access to the hot coals.

 

Soju and banchan were served first. I don't know whether there were unlimited refills but we didn't ask for any as we were pre occupied with the other options.

Starting out, three plates of meat were served. It didn't come out with much by way of introductions so we were left trying to figure out which cut was which based on what we could identify. Favourite cuts were of course, pork jowl and beef ribs. Generally though, each cut was served fresh and didn't have too much of an icy taste, even for those cuts like brisket which had come out of the freezer. Also none of the cuts served were particularly chewy. We enjoyed it all.

 

In fact we enjoyed it so much we got seconds of quite a few things including the beef intestines which were chewy and delicious. 

 

From the side dish section, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the icy noodles which were flavoursome and had just the right amount of chew.

Wrapping veggies were delicious and fresh but nothing to write home about.

 

Rounding off, we also had a tofu salad as well as some seaweed rice balls. I didn't expect to enjoy the rice balls as I was quite focussed on the meats, but it was surprisingly wholesome and homey with a strong sesame oil hit.

We had a really good time at Gwangjang market. I am a little disappointed that their AYCE was only available for such a short time, as I would have loved to go back for more. I guess I'll just have to go back and try their regular menu.

Price Range: $45.90pp (during the promotion)

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10 

Yori - Sunnybank

It's been a little while since I've been excited by the opening of a Japanese restaurant in Brisbane, but when I noticed the menu at Yori when I was walking to my car after it had closed, I knew that I had to go try it out. Luckily Dr L and I were in the area not long after and made a point to check them out for Saturday lunch.

Arriving at opening time, we were the first table to be seated. Despite the fact that they had done minimal marketing and advertising as far as I could tell, it filled up fairly quickly after.

 

The menu was brief with the focus clearly being on donburi with a few side options and a couple of desserts. I had seen the pictures of their donburi and I was super keen on their 4cm katsudon but unfortunately I had just made my own katsu the night before, so we tried other items. Ordering was via counter service which was quick and friendly.

To the left of the counter was a self service station for side dishes and miso soup, which had unlimited refill for patrons. I really appreciated this generous touch.

The full line-up of sides included pickled ginger, radish, chives and cucumbers. Both Dr L and I enjoyed the refreshing crunch of cucumbers the best. The radish was a close second with its vinegary tart flavours. Miso soup was fairly standard but we could add as much spring onions and wakame as we wanted, it was rich and umami.

First to arrive was our side order of Namban chicken. This was fairly large as a side, comprising of what appears to have been one massive chicken thigh that had been butterflied. Battered in tempura batter and then topped with namban sauce, I had expected the chicken to remain crispy, whilst the parts with the sauce were soft. Unfortunately the entire piece of chicken came out fairly wet and I didn't enjoy it too much. Dr L didn't mind it and said the flavours were good so he ate most of it.

Our dons didn't take long to arrive. First was the Negitoro Don. It came with a side pack of seaweed to allow for an interactive element in wrapping your own bite sized handfuls of deliciousness. It was apparent upon the dish being set down that the tuna was not in fact tuna belly but probably the leaner akami. It was well seasoned in soy and was served atop a bed of rice with chives sprinkled on it. Definitely not your traditional negitoro by any sense but I didn't mind it and for the price, it wasn't bad at all. I would think that the topping to rice ratio could be a bit better though.

The Tendon was last to arrive and it was without a doubt the highlight of our meal. Served up just like Japan, it came with a lid so that we could move all the toppings off to get to the rice. The toppings were very considerable and I would estimate there were over 10 pieces of deep fried items including two prawns. Unlike the namban chicken, it was super crispy and we loved the additional tempura dipping sauce with grated radish. 

We had a fantastic time at Yori and I cannot wait to come back and try out their other dishes, perhaps their dinner menu too.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp 

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 8.5/10 

Environment: 8/10