Review: Viet Hoa Hot Bread, Cabramatta

I may not know a lot, but I do know better than to ignore my cravings, especially when it’s for something as delicious as pandan waffles! As I needed to visit Cabramatta anyway (in search for a cheongsam for our Chinese wedding banquet later this year), I decided to skip breakfast that day and indulge in the food offerings at Viet Hoa Hot Bread, one of my favourite food joints in Cabramatta.

The store isn’t much to look at, and the middle-aged women who run the store are more efficient than welcoming, serving you quickly and briskly without any smiles to spare.

Sugar cane juice is one of my big indulgences, and what I like about the juice at Viet Hoa’s is that they mix in a little bit of orange/citrus juice – just enough to temper the overwhelming sweetness of sugar cane juice without diluting its unique taste.

A small cup of sugar cane juice (with ice) is only $3.50. They’re also not stingy even if you choose the ‘ice’ option – the cup has a scoop of ice in it, but isn’t filled to the brim so you still get a generous serve of juice. You can choose the “no ice” option for an extra $1, but I quite like the way the ice cools down the juice and gradually waters it down a bit.

This is what I’m here for though! The pandan waffles are only $1.50 each, and the blend of waffle mix, desiccated coconut and pandan essence make this the perfect snack for in-between meals…or a few of them could be a meal in itself. Not that I would ever do that of course…

I also bought one of their steamed pork buns for $3.50. What this photo doesn’t show, is the fact that this bun is about three times the size of a closed fist – it is literally one of the biggest steamed buns I’ve ever eaten!

The bun is a little soggy (it’s been sitting in the steamer for too long!), but this is more than made up for by the surprising filling. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting – a pork mince filling certainly, perhaps with some chives for flavour and interest. I certainly wasn’t expecting this solid pork filling that included vermicelli noodles, a quail egg, Chinese sausage and juicy shiitake mushrooms. I enjoy the bun so much that I find myself lambasting the fact that I can’t buy frozen packs of these buns for future breakfasts at home!

As my favourite food joint in Cabramatta, I’ll certainly be back to Viet Hoa Hot Bread – it’s cheap, cheerful, and constantly delivers delicious snack foods. Next time, I might even try their banh mi, which according to Noodlies, is one of the best in Sydney!