You often hear that Australia doesn't have a distinct cuisine. It's easy to take this at face value in a nation of immigrants since it's hard to pinpoint an actual national dish, and overseas visitors only hear about vegemite and meat pies. In America, another nation of immigrants, you may think of burgers, fried chicken, BBQ, and so on, all which have made an impact globally.
I believe that Australia's contribution to the culinary zeitgeist is Australian brunch culture, with a marriage of good coffee and food with high quality ingredients and dishes and drinks taking inspiration from all our multicultural backgrounds. Australian cafes can be found in many major global cities now and stepping into one overseas will be just like stepping into one in here. When you think of Aussie brunch in Sydney, it’s very easy to think the best exists in the Eastern Suburbs, CBD, or Inner West, but did you know there’s a fantastic one in Bankstown?
Kinx Cafe in Bankstown by Chef Duc Le has a seasonal menu that has all the Aussie cafe classics but also draws heavy inspiration from his Vietnamese background as well as the environment of the area. Last season’s menu was a blend of Japanese, Chinese, and Turkish with Vietnamese flair and this season’s draws much more influence from Vietnamese classics with a modern twist, though I ended up ordering more Chinese influenced dishes.
On this visit I ordered three dishes:
$20 - The OG (Dry) - Pork, Scallop & Prawn Wonton, Egg Noodles
$22 - Caramelised Braised Pork Belly & Dried Shrimp Cooked in Claypot, Steamed Seasonal Vegetables, Steamed Rice
$16 - McRibs Banh Mi - Charsiu Pork Ribs, Salted Cucumber, Pickles, Herbs, Baguette
The food took quite some time to come out being it was the weekend the new menu debuted. I didn’t mind too much and they comped our coffees to make up for it, so that was a nice gesture.
If you like wontons and egg noodles, the OG is a great pick. The wontons have a ton of flavor and went great with the noodles - the dish isn’t large but it isn’t small either.
If you’re looking for something rich, the claypot pork belly will do the trick. It’s sweet and sticky and the vegetables offset the richness a bit and the sauce goes great with the rice.
I enjoyed the creativity of the McRibs Banh Mi. The OG McRib is a restructured boneless pork patty with BBQ sauce and char siu pork essentially has a BBQ glaze. Really enjoyed the flavour here but the rib was slightly overcooked, without that slight toughness this would be an absolute winner.
I can’t wait to explore the rest of the more Vietnamese centric menu and see what chef comes up with next season. Well worth traveling all the way to Bankstown for to experience a different kind of Aussie brunch.
