Thai Viet Bibigo - quick bite for lunch... with "Guest"ronomer, the Cinnamon Stig

(degusted 8th July 2011)

We all like to fine-dine every now and then.. (more now, less then).. but what about the little lunchtime bargains, the little guys - the hole-in-the-wall type of places?.... We reckon these are often the best to find, and in a way they are the true gems of the city of Melbourne, and it’s these that make us want to search for more!
 

One such place is Thai Viet Bibigo in the Capitol Arcade, Swanston Street Melbourne (although some – including a number of people checking in on Foursquare) call it “Thai Viet Bibig” – apparently the circular shaped letter at the end of the sign (the “O”) has long been ignored.  There is not much of a digital footprint for this place - no website, no menu (that I could find) - nothing, except a really basic facebook page offering "$6 Japanese curry with free miso"...

We did not plan to find this place, nor know of its existence. It was found almost by accident – a curious little sign on Swanston St (that you’ll only see if you walk past). The sign points to enter the arcade, and confuses with the name “Thai Viet Bibig(o)” and images of sushi. Confused yet?  We were...  With the sign piquing our interest, we just had to check out this (what might just be the first) “Vietnamese, Thai, Korean Japanese sushi fusion restaurant”!

We quickly learned that this place was quite popular – at lunch time, there were limited seats rapidly disappearing.

To mix things up a little and get some fresh input into the blog – The Degusters have called in a lunchtime bargain “ninja” – who we hope will be a regular "Guest-ronomer" for Just Degusting. 

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…..Some call him the “son of a gun”, but he is a gun in his own right – known to demolish the opposition from Melbourne all the way to Mansfield… Some say he can eat a kebab with both hands tied behind his back, or that he can achive a perfect score singing Bon Jovi's “Living on a prayer” on singstar... All we know is, he’s called our Cinnamon Stig.

Here’s the Cinnamon Stig’s  take on the Thai Viet Bibigo:

If you’re looking for a quick but tasty lunch in the CBD then I highly recommend Thai Viet Bibigo, which  is situated in the Capitol Arcade, just off Swanston Street, in a cosy little enclave with the thoroughfare doubling as table space. 

After finding a table, oddly with three legged stools, I lined up and surveyed the menu.

I ordered the Bulgogi Beef hoping that a warm dish would help with my winter blues. I was not disappointed.

After getting over the initial shock of being served my lunch in a huge stainless steel vessel (that gave the impression that the cast of 101 Dalmations might be joining us), I was nicely surprised with the dish. The beef was tender and full of flavour; there was also a hint of chilli which is always a winner. Accompanying the beef was a beautiful smokey sauce that also went well with the rice and vegetables. On the subject, the vegetables were cooked perfectly with a slight crunchiness, for those of you who can tell if your meal has been cooked in a wok – I can confirm. It also came with a complimentary bowl of miso soup.

Overall the whole package of food, atmosphere and service was really enjoyable - and truly worth the lunchtime bill of less than $10.

Would the Cinnamon Stig go back…?? Yes!!

Unfortunately, the bowl of beef bulgogi was finished
before our camera's shutter could open and close..

One of The Degusters who are with the Cinnamon Stig ordered the fresh Salmon bibimbap – which also came with the complementary miso soup. There was a nice hot sauce that added a good hit of heat – a Korean-style chilli paste. 

Salmon bibimbap. Clean, fresh, tasty, and good value.

Free miso, and yummy chilli sauce

The Cinnamon Stig ordered these strange croquettes – he cannot remember what they were, nor were they memorable in any way. Cinnamon Stig felt that they were not worth mentioning, but we think that in itself is worth mentioning. Just Degustings view - Just stick to the bibimbaps and bulgogi’s and enjoy this little hard-to-find place that pumps out good food with good value!

Worth mentioning is that the metallic chopsticks might be hard for some who are no so adept at the art of chop-stikkery (they didn’t have much grip). Also, all the cutlery and condiments (such as soy, sambal style chilli, etc) are available from a communal area to the right of the servery. This puts some people off, apparently.

All bibbimbaps came with complimentary miso soup, there is relatively quick service, and the quantity and quality of the food is worth paying for. 

This is the sort of place that makes Melbourne tick. It also makes you wonder what other little gems you might be able to dig up around town….

Rating:  Will go back!

Done and Degusted @ Thai Viet Bibigo

Beef Bulgogi
Salmon Bibimbap
 (both with miso soup)
Croquette things that we would not bother trying again.


Thanks Cinnamon Stig! Hope to degust with you again soon!