Sun Chuk Yuen Vietnamese Restaurant

2 Landale St, Wan Chai
Visited 30th January 2010 A mate and I decided we needed a little substance before heading to Chai Wan to watch the HK Senior Challenge Shield final. Meeting in Wan Chai he suggested we head to Sun Chuk Yuen Vietnamese Restaurant, a little place hidden away with all the other little places on Landale St. Inside it was all pretty basic and we grabbed a table squashed amongst all the others.
I enjoy really the freshness and vibrancy of Vietnamese food however the menu here seems to be all about plates of rice. We decided to share satay beef noodles, spring rolls and pork with mint. I know they're unadventurous, but I love Vietnamese style fried spring rolls. The ones we got were good - crisp, but not oily - the little nuggets of love went down a treat wrapped in lettuce and accompanied by tasty homemade dipping sauce. Next were the noodles with satay beef; the big serve of rice noodles came in a clump topped with the beef, capsicum and onions that had been tossed with a satay sauce. This dish was just OK as the sauce lacked flavour and whole thing was pretty bland. Next was a plate of stir-fried chicken with 'mint'. Fresh herbs are one of the things I love most about Vietnamese food and here they helped to add vibrancy to the dish, though it was basic it was pretty tasty. We were told that they didn't sell beer so made do with a can of soft drink. Our lunch at Sun Chuk Yuen Vietnamese Restaurant was pretty good. The food was certainly nothing special, but offered a pretty filling feed and I was only really unimpressed with the satay noodles. The service was efficient enough and $75 we each paid for lunch seemed fair, though not necessarily a bargain. Though everything about Sun Chuk Yuen Vietnamese Restaurant was kind of OK I can't really see the point of returning; there must be more interesting Vietnamese places around Wan Chai?