I don’t like going out if I don’t have to. I’m twenty two but I have an old cardigan wearing soul that would much prefer sitting at home reading than going out and gallivanting with people my age.  However, the easiest way to get me to out if you’re a friend of mine or someone planning to rob me is to tell me about a place that serves good chicken.

So, if I ever need to travel back in time and draw my past self outside. I’ll tell him about Tan Viet Noodle House in Eastwood.

First of all, shout outs to Eastwood for offering hundreds of parking options for people who don’t know that Tan Viet is five minutes away from the train station. There’s a parking lot near the station and a bounty of side streets that offer a spot for your car as you’re feasting away. I had done a lot of research prior to this visit and all the blogs I read urged me to get the crispy skin chicken.

So that’s exactly what I did. Unlike other Vietnamese restaurants that usually place the spotlight on pho, Tan Viet knows where its strength lies.

The chicken.

I did a tonne of research but I froze when the waitress asked me what I wanted to accompany my fried bird. I opted for the dry egg noodles which is strike one thousand for my low carb diet. I also ordered a fresh lemon soda to get my appetite going.

I’m not going to lie; I actually sat there for a solid thirty seconds just admiring the plate of chicken that sat in front of me. Have you ever been on a date with someone out of your league and had a lapse in concentration where you just thought to myself ‘oh wow, I can’t believe I’m here.’ That’s what it felt like to sit in front of this impeccably prepared example of top tier poultry.

An elderly couple sitting next to me asked me if I had ordered duck. The skin looked that amazing; I could already hear the sound of the crunch as soon as I could stop my drooling and get to the chewing. Finally, the chicken made its acquaintance with my mouth.

Wow.

The chicken skin reminded me of the skin you get at fine Peking duck restaurants. The meat was also extremely moist and would’ve been an amazing dish by itself if someone had decided to peel all the skin off. Tan Viet offers some lemon and dipping sauce but I barely utilised it. The chicken tastes fine on its own. As simple as fried chicken sounds, it’s really easy to get wrong. You’ve got to pre-cook the chicken and fry it afterwards. I’ve had this dish at home and it just wasn’t as good as the nice piece of chicken I was enjoying in Tan Viet.

After a little while I realised I still had a bowl of noodles to consume.

Once again, I’m not sure if it’s because of my carb deprivation but the noodles tasted fantastic. I think they would’ve been better with soup (that’s an option) but I still enjoyed them immensely. Tan Viet’s chef designs their servings to complement their chicken which is what the noodles were able to do. The one critique I had about my overall meal was the fresh lemon soda. Though I saw lemon slices in my glass, I couldn’t taste any sign of it on my tongue. Tasted like soda water but once again, Tan Viet knows what it’s doing because it was the liquid Robin to my Chicken’s Batman.

Here’s the TL; DR for people who only wanted to take a look at photos:

– Get the crispy skin chicken.

– As I left, a kid on one of the tables near mine started crying. I have a feeling it was because he didn’t get the crispy skin chicken.

Tan Viet Noodle House, Eastwood (There’s also one in Cabramatta)

206 Rowe Street, Eastwood (Five minutes away from the train station)

Opening Hours

Open 7 days: 10:00 – ‘Til late

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