Ms. G's

Ms. G's, a modern fusion Asian (Vietnamese) place run by Lotus chefs Dan Hong and Jowett Yu. The restaurant is part of the Merivale Group of restaurants owned by the Hemmes family. In this Asian restaurant, you will not find the usual suspects on the menu e.g. Sweet and Sour Pork, Beef in Black Bean Sauce or Crispy Skin Chicken. Instead there are items like Sweet and Sour Lamb Ribs, Mini bánh mì- crisp pork belly or chicken katsu, Spaghetti Vongole” surf clams, summer noodles with chilli and chorizo (not very Asian), Char-grilled Angus scotch fillet, two sauces: hoisin mustard & smoked tomato salsa to name a few.

There were 6 in our group tonight. We decided to beat the crowd and were the first ones to arrive at the restaurant. Service was attentive and friendly. When told of the specials for the night, it took some time for all of us to decide what to order.

My two girls were excited that their cups of water came in the sealed plastic cups you find at the Taiwanese bubble tea shops. The cocktail list was divided into two - packaged and unpackaged. Chris and I tried the cocktails from the unpackaged list, whilst Kevin and Cindy chose cocktails from the packaged list (which were served in sealed plastic cups too).

Ms Magarita and Aloe Vera Cocktails

Miss G's Famous Yuzu Slushee and Good Morning Vietnam Mocktail

For entrees (starters), our girls had the cutest mini burgers.

Mini bánh mì- crisp pork belly or chicken katsu

The rest of us had the daily specials. I love the pork belly pancake, similar to peking duck pancakes but serviced with crispy pork belly and salsa. The other entree was grilled eggplant with sea urchin served on pork crackling, combination of soft eggplant, saltiness of the sea urchin and crunchy crackling.

Crispy Pork Belly Pancake

Grilled Eggplant with Sambal and Tasmanian Sea Urchin on top of Pork Crackling

For mains, we shared a few dishes.

Jow’s Sweet & Sour lamb ribs (it was finger licking good)

“Spaghetti Vongole” surf clams, summer noodles, chilli, chorizo

Grilled king prawns with “Sambal Matah” eschallot, lime & chilli relish (Love the crunchy grilled prawns)

Grilled calamari, bacon chilli jam, potato & lettuce hearts (again another dish I love!)

Ocean trout ceviche “Fiji style (served in light coconut milk - tasty!)

We were undecided on desserts but in the end, ordered two varieties to try. We had to try the pandan chiffon cake dessert which had been featured in this year's Masterchef.

Pandan chiffon cake, strawberries, coconut sorbet

I found the chiffon cake slightly dense, different to the light airy chiffon cake that you find in the shops. The dessert had an interesting combination of sweet and salty.

Ashleigh chose the ice cream sandwich. I thought the chocolate ice cream more like a chocolate mousse.

“Ice Cream Sandwich” vanilla ice cream, chocolate brownie, blueberry

By 6.30pm, the place was abuzz with noise, people and energy.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Miss G's.