Phuc Deli Viet

Phuc Deli Viet is located on the bus stop side of Indooroopilly Shopping Mall and sits adjacent to Pig 'N' Whistle. I cannot believe I have walked past this restaurant for so many years and never stopped to try the food. Forget your cheap local Vietnamese cafe that drowns their stock with MSG - Chef Johnny Tran has a palate of a seasoned chef and doesn't need to cut corners to make a strong, standout stock. 

I was recently invited to try Chef Johnny's signature pho. The more I found out about his history, the more I understood why his food was so good. Chef Johnny came to Australia as a refugee and cooked in restaurants to support himself through school. He has worked at a number of noteworthy restaurants in Brisbane before being approached to open a Vietnamese restaurant next to Pig 'N' Whistle at Indooroopilly. This was way back in 1999.

Over 13 years later, he is still the head chef here, leading the kitchen everyday. There weren't many Vietnamese restuarants around back then and I'm impressed that Phuc Deli Viet stood so strongly when Vietnamese food was not as popular. Speaking to some of my colleagues at work, they recall only seeing asian herbs like coriander for the first time about 5-10 years ago in when they were in their late 20s. Chef Johnny has come very far and it certainly shows in his food. 

Hainan Chicken Rice with Chilli Garlic Sauce, Ginger Sauce and Chicken Broth

The skin had a nice yellow glaze to it and the chicken pieces were sitting on a bed of seasoned soy sauce. The chicken was juicy and incredibly moist. I loved that it was carefully deboned after the steaming process to ensure the meat got that lovely sweetness and retained moisture.The pickled carrots were a good thickness and had the perfect balance of sweet and salty. What I was most impressed with was the chicken broth. My mum hails as the chicken broth queen in our household. But I'm sorry to say, this was much better than my mums and she's been perfecting it for decades. It tasted homemade and had a big kick of chicken flavour. It washed down the chicken and rice nicely.

Rice Vermicelli Noodle Salad with Grilled Caramelized Pork

This is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes. It's actually quite healthy and makes me feel much less guilty eating; yet still feeling satisfied afterwards. The pork was very well marinated and had lots of flavour to it. There were ample amounts of mint leaves (which to me, if it's not in the dish, it's not a Vietnamese salad) and cucumber. I loved that Chef Johnny had cut all the ingredients to similar sizes and even had the meat cut in strips like the vegetables. The only thing it needed was more of a charcoal grill flavour from the meat. 

Pho - Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup

This is Chef Johnny's signature dish. I never thought pho in Australia was comparable to what you get in Vietnam. I speculated in my previous pho post that the top restaurants in Vietnam have a secret ingredient that can only be found in Vietnamese waters, which separates theirs from what we can produce here in Australia. This bowl however, really blew me away. I did not expect it to have so much depth of flavour. I'm told that the soup is simmered for over 12hours - that, plus Chef Johnny's amazing palate and ability to taste and adjust the soup is what produces this amazing bowl of pho. Will and I always add extra hoisin sauce and sriracha chilli sauce to the soup to enhance the flavour before we begin eating but Will noted that we didn't need to in this bowl. It was already seasoned perfectly.

I encourage you all to go and try the food here, especially standout dishes like the pho. It is truly well made Vietnamese food, just in an unlikely location.

Review

Phuc Deli Viet

Indooroopilly Station Rd

INDOOROOPILLY QLD