Address: 185 Boundary Street, West End QLD 4101
http://www.chopchopchangs.com.au/
Z and I were very excited when Chop Chop Chang opened up in West End. There just seem to be a perpetual shortage of good Asian food outside of Sunnybank and the Valley. Our hopes (or at least mine) were riding high on Chop Chop Chang being a knockout restaurant that we'd visit again and again.
When it opened up, Z and I actually visited it separately and we came back with vastly different opinion of the restaurant.
Z went first with a friend of his shortly after the restauarnt opened and unfortunately they both came back with disappointing reviews. Being a Thai Fusion restaurant, they both thought that Chop Chop Chang lacked flavours you'd generally get from a typical Thai restaurant and the prices were twice the price you would have paid for Thai food.
The drinks they ordered were also expensive, however, it wasn't too bad, although it's definitely not somewhere he'd go for a big drinking night out (he'd be broke after that).
Following his 'highly positive' review, I pushed back my planned visit to Chop Chop Chang several times until one day, so homesick for Asian food, I decided to give it a try and see it for myself.
walking into Chop Chop Chang, the black and yellow decor is simple and elegant. Although I don't get the feeling of being in Thailand (other than the chopsticks on the table), it is a very nice environment to dine and drink.
Seated down, after a quick glance at the menu, I do agree that the prices are on the expensive side (sauces and dips costed extra)and its creative menu has left me a bit confused (I guess I was too used to have Asian menus set out under headings like "rice" & "noodle").
In the end, I ordered the crispy roast pork (which came with veggies and noodle).
Given it was during lunchtime on a weekday, I didn't have to wait for very long when my food arrived. And it was a large bowl of noodles and topped with ample portions of roast pork.
I was a little surprised when I didn't see the veggies. That is, until I lifted the noodle and found all of them hiding under the noodle.
This did tickle me a little bit as it reminded me of the story my grandmother use to tell me when I was a child, about poor families hiding drumsticks under rice/noodles for the kids so although on first glance it looked like everyone was getting the same thing, in reality, the kids where getting the superior cuts.
I can no longer remember what the moral of the story was, but I guess there are things are just imprinted in your memory.
Back to the dish, I have to say that the crispy pork was absolutely delicious. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender and juicy. The flavour of the soup was great (a little bit on the light side, which I really didn't mind). There was a lot of vegetables and it was a welcoming change to the usual noodle soup with had a few pieces of veggies floating around.
On the whole, I definitely had a better experience at Chop Chop Chang than Z. And although I agree that it was on the pricey side of Asian food, I'd be happy to go back and try out some of their other dishes.
Curious to Try: The jungle curry with barramundi
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