It's been a while since I've been to a BBQ which I can honestly say is both good quality whilst maintaining value for money. In these trying times, it shouldn't surprise you that it took me having to trek out to Inala to find it. When I first heard about the opening of Chac's Lang Nuong, I was very curious about the food, being the only Vietnamese tabletop BBQ in Brisbane that I'm aware of. It took a while but we organised a group to go check it out for an early lunch on a Saturday.
I made a reservation ahead of time and we arrived just before 11.30am, being the second table only. They open early for breakfast too, if you want to have bbq for the first meal of the day. I was a little surprised at how empty it was given how packed the other places in the shopping complex was, but it filled up really quickly by 12 and soon enough there was a queue outside.
Although it was a BBQ restaurant, they also do the standard noodle and rice dishes along with meats for BBQ and hotpot, definitely an all rounder restaurant.
The stove was set up and our table (and the next table) was full within 10 minutes of us putting our order down. It was quite a sight to behold and I couldn't fit it all in one shot.
First up is the signature Chac's set. It comes with ox tongue, marinated lamb chops, pork belly, marinated wagyu topside and banana prawns. As a side, it came with a huge veggie platter, three sauces, four bowls of rice and four bowls of soup. Previously it would have come with marinated thin skirt but instead they substituted in marinated chicken which made for good variety. All the meats were wonderfully fresh (which is no surprise given the abundance of local butchers), I liked that none of the meat was overly chewy and the seasoning was distinctively Vietnamese with strong fish sauce and lemongrass flavours. This set alone could definitely have fed four hungry people. My favourite of the set would have to be the lean but tender marinated topside.
These were the marinated beef wrapped in betel leaves and Vietnamese beef skewers. The wrapped beef was seasoned and mincey, it was a unique flavour to be wrapped in leaves and we cooked them to a wonderful charred texture. I did prefer the beef skewers more as I loved the fragrant onion flavours of each bite. For $12 a serve, this was probably not as good value as the rest of the meal.
This was the serve of wagyu short ribs. Although it wasn't awfully marbled, the meat was very tender and the portion was generous. Paired with the dipping sauces, these were delicious to eat medium rare.
My favourite of the day was actually the special which was not on the menu, these were freshly tumbled octopuses which had just come in. Lightly seasoned and sashimi grade, we were told not to overcook them to make sure they were tender. We did just that and they were amazing. I liked the sweet and spicy taste with hints of sour. The texture was also perfect.
Complimentary scallops also came from the kitchen and we enjoyed them on the bbq with onion oil. Fresh and tasty, they weren't too dry when cooked in their own juices in the shell. Also a dish that I highly recommend.
We didn't know what a large rice vermicelli squares entailed, so we ordered that too. At this point we realised that we had drastically overordered but soldiered on anyway. The set comprised of sausage, bbq pork, spring rolls and rice vermicelli squares to be wrapped with salad in rice paper rolls. This would have been a delicious meal for two easily, but we combined it all with our bbq for a really over the top Vietnamese feast. I particularly liked how fresh the sausage and spring rolls were.
Overall we had an amazing time at Chac's Lang Nuong. Dr L liked it so much he said that it's probably not worth him going anywhere else for BBQ from now on. Whilst I couldn't go that far, I did absolutely love the meal. I can't wait to try some more options like their goat hot pot as well as some more restaurants in the area.
Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 9.5/10
Service: 8.5/10
Environment: 7/10
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