Loc Ky, Canley Heights

Loc Ky wins hands down for most interesting menu of the Vietnamese restaurants in the Canley Heights area. Sea snail salad, stir fried goat, stir fried rabbit, grilled eel wrapped in betel leaves, goat hot pot and cockles in tamarind sauce can all be found on the menu.

However, I didn’t eat any of those exotic dishes on this particular visit…  though I promise to go back and try now that I’ve verified that they can do  mainstream Vietnamese dishes well.

I love Vietnamese salads (gois) and Loc Ky had a really interesting one on the menu – pomelo with pork and prawn in a fish sauce dressing. Yum. This dish was just so fresh, and fragrant and I loved the use of pomelo instead of more common ingredients for salads such as cabbage or cucumber. I also loved that they used fresh (presumably Australian) prawns rather than frozen overseas ones. My only complaint about this dish was that on the menu, it was photographed served in an actual pomelo but in real life, it was served on a regular plate (I’ll survive…)

Loc Ky also had a really decent Vietnamese pancake (banh xeo). I don’t usually eat this dish outside of my mum’s house, but this was a really good version. Super crispy on the outside, a generous amount of pork belly, prawns and beansprouts on the inside and overall, a really nice flavour. They also served it with a huge platter of fresh herbs.

We also ordered their prawns cooked in tamarind sauce and fried rice. The prawns were quite large and cooked in a way where you could eat the shells as well. The sauce was nice and thick, and a good balance between the sour tamarind and a bit of sweetness.

I’m not one to rave about fried rice considering it’s one of the few things I can cook consistently well and frequently do cook, but this was one of the best Vietnamese fried rice dishes I’ve had at a restaurant, like, ever. Firstly, look at that generous amount of non-rice items (Chinese sausage, prawns, carrots, peas, carrots, egg). Secondly, it was really well flavoured. Thirdly, the rice was perfectly cooked – none of this too soggy or too dry rice business.

Prices at Loc Ky aren’t cheap compared to the rest of Canley Heights but I personally think it was worth it for the quality and the consistency across the dishes. Having tried these Vietnamese staples, I can’t wait to go back for the sea snails!

Details: 4/231 Canley Vale Rd, Canley Heights NSW 2166