Bistro Mekong, Castlecrag
Enjoy a travelling feast through the Mekong
Located at 5/100 Edinburgh Rd, Castlecrag NSW 2118
Castlecrag is slowly but surely becoming the next foodie hub, with two favourites from the Kensington Street family joining the suburb’s beloved Quadrangle Shopping Village. The suburb is just ten minutes away from Chatswood and offers a quaint respite from the hustle and bustle of the major North Shore precinct.
Bistro Mekong opened in Mid-March, just behind the opening of the modern Chinese restaurant Holy Duck!. It is the sister restaurant to the award-winning Mekong, and exudes a more casual feel that is suited to the alfresco location and the suburb in general.
The menu is designed by the Tiw Rakarin, who previously headed up Mekong on Kensington Street, Viet and Bang Luck in Spice Alley, Mam’s Buoi in Surry Hills and Alphabet St in Cronulla. With a resume this extensive, he’s certainly a connoisseur of Indochine cuisine. He’s joined by Grant Collins, one of Australia’s most talented mixologists. Collins previously worked at The Powder Keg and Gin Lane and has concocted a set of drinks designed to complement Rakarin’s cooking.
The restaurant boasts an all day breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. Highlights from the all day breakfast menu include the Indochine Big Breakfast. It comes with classic Western ingredients including bacon, eggs and smashed avo. However, it is given a unique Indochine twist with the incorporation of pork floss, crispy fried noodles, grilled cabbage, mushrooms and “kaya toast” made with sweet coconut jam. Grant Collins introduces a range of awesome cocktail creations as part of the dinner collection— a highlight being the lemongrass infused vodka with pressed lychee mint elderflower and ginger. The use of lemongrass and ginger doesn’t sound palatable when one thinks of vodka flavoured cocktails. However, the combination of these interesting flavours miraculously works!
Overall
If you’re looking for a no-stress date or casual, flavour filled family meal, then Bistro Mekong is the perfect spot for you! Residents of the North Shore needn’t travel all the way to Chippendale to sample the classic Indochine flavours. Instead, they need only head to their local shopping village at Castlecrag to enjoy Rakarin’s signature dishes at any time of the day. The breakfast, lunch and dinner options showcase the very best of flavours from the countries that sit by the Mekong River — Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. In many ways, the dining experience at Bistro Mekong is arguably comparable to a travelling feast on a river cruise through the Mekong.
Rating: Yummy in my Tummy
Service: 4/5
Gourmet Gumbo dined as a guest of Bistro Mekong
