Panko-crumbed eggplant bao at Saigon Street Eats.
1/3Panko-crumbed eggplant bao at Saigon Street Eats.Kristoffer Paulsen
Assorted dishes at Saigon Street Eats.
2/3Assorted dishes at Saigon Street Eats.Kristoffer Paulsen
Trouper manager Rachel Bradley and Saigon Street Eats’ Kim Le Tet.
3/3Trouper manager Rachel Bradley and Saigon Street Eats’ Kim Le Tet.Penny Stephens

Vietnamese$

In St Kilda,local favouriteSaigon Street Eats has bunked in with Trouper cafe after operating out of a nearby Carlisle Street shopfront for over 10 years. The Chapel Street corner premises now serves coffee in the morning,then morphs into a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and dinner. At 11.30am,the milk cartons are put away,teaspoons are replaced with chopsticks,and customers come for pho instead of a flat white.

But the upbeat feeling remains at this Vietnamese canteen,always bustling with soup slurpers,spring roll munchers and busy folks grabbing takeaway. Slow-simmered pho is made to an old family recipe,but there’s a keen eye on innovation in dishes like the panko-crumbed eggplant bao and salt-and-pepper tofu banh mi – both vegan and rocking with flavour.

Dani ValentDani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.

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