Mama's Buoi - Crows Nest

The service was satisfactory, the staff were polite and attentive.

I previously bought takeaway from this place when it first opened but was turned off by the long (20-30min) wait and half-cooked pork. Hence I was a little hesitant to come here for lunch with friends. I ordered the relatively safe soft-shell crab with green papaya and pomelo salad ($21). The problem point of this dish for me was the soft-shell crab - whilst it was cooked well with a crispy exterior and seasoned with salt and pepper, the gills had not been removed from the crab, which made for messy eating. The salad was light and fresh, sweet and tangy from the fruit, but could have done with some more fish sauce and perhaps a chilli kick. The prawn crackers were a plus. This place appears in the Entertainment Book 2016/17.

The food arrived very quickly, in less than 10 minutes. We ordered banh cuon, duck curry, Barramundi in banana leaf, and papaya salad with dried beef. While the dishes were smaller than anticipated, they had good flavor overall. I particularly enjoyed the balance of flavors in the salad dressing - sweet, salty, and tangy. The dried beef was enjoyable, though some pieces were a bit tough according to my friend. The banh cuon was served with nice pork floss and sausage. The Barramundi was cooked well and flavorful. However, the duck curry was our least favorite dish as it was bland compared to the others.

The banquet menu came with a wide variety of dishes, portion sizes were large and literally every dish was delicious (sauce game is on point!). The food itself would easily warrant 5/5, but the service needed a lot of fine tuning... - They brought out dessert while we were still awaiting another starter (??) - When we told them, they brought out mains. And we had to remind then again about our last starter. - One of the dishes was a curry and they didn't offer spoons, we only had chopsticks. - The server asked if we wanted rice with our curry, we said yes, and it never came. - They would take away an empty bottle of water, but not replace it with a full one. It was quite frustrating because we wanted to love this place - the restaurant itself is stunning and trendy, and the food was immaculate as well. But front of house was very poorly managed and/or just lazy when it came to little details that a restaurant should be on top of. That's said, the food was incredible and is enough to reel me back in. As for wait staff tips - you're walking on thin ice guys!. STARTER DUCK PANCAKE - which folded up almost like a taco. The highlight here was that sauce. That sweet, sticky deliciousness covered the pancake. It was a little bit vegetable heavy compared to the protein, but that's nitpicking. The duck itself was cooked gorgeously too. The PORK BELLY was surprisingly a stand out as well. It was a pork sausage wrapped in bacon and had a subtle sweet chilli sauce to dip in. I'm not usually a big pork eater - let alone pig wrapped in more pig - but the flavours just worked here. I could easily eat 10 of these. The TIGER PRAWN was my favourite dish. It was a giant prawn which was fried till golden, and was accompanied by a coconut cream sauce. It was crispy on the outside but the prawn was cooked perfectly inside. And the coconut flavour shone throughout. MAINS: The DUCK CURRY main was awesome. Similar to the pancake, it was light on the duck, but had plenty of sweet potato, zuchinni and potato which all absorbed that curry sauce perfectly. And that sauce was, yet again, another flavour bomb. The VEGGIE STIRY FRY was probably my least favorite dish. It was still great, but everything else just had a lot more personality. This was more or less a very standard type of dish that you could find at most Asian restaurants. The sauce was nice and the mushrooms were cooked just right. The PAPAYA SALAD (chefs special), like with every dish, was highlighted by the sauce. It was so fresh and just hits you with a bang. The fresh grated veggies were a welcome addition to this meat heavy menu, and really helped balance things out. The STEAMED FISH was stunning. I don't think I've ever eaten such a soft and delicate bit of fish before. The sauce definitely had a kick, but wasn't unbearably spicy. It was beautiful. DESSERT: BROWNIE: . After such a large meal, I'm glad the brownie was only 4 bite sized pieces. It had thick chocolate sauce on the plate as well. The ice cream helped to cut through the sweetness, and crushed nuts gave a bit of texture. It was a lovely way to end the meal. Overall, I was so happy with the food. I'm already trying to figure who I could take next time, and crossing my fingers that we just had an off day with service.

The banquet menu came with a wide variety of dishes, portion sizes were large and literally every dish was delicious (sauce game is on point!). The food itself would easily warrant 5/5, but the service needed a lot of fine tuning... - They brought out dessert while we were still awaiting another starter (??) - When we told them, they brought out mains. And we had to remind then again about our last starter. - One of the dishes was a curry and they didn't offer spoons, we only had chopsticks. - The server asked if we wanted rice with our curry, we said yes, and it never came. - They would take away an empty bottle of water, but not replace it with a full one. It was quite frustrating because we wanted to love this place - the restaurant itself is stunning and trendy, and the food was immaculate as well. But front of house was very poorly managed and/or just lazy when it came to little details that a restaurant should be on top of. That's said, the food was... read more