Viet De Lites

Viet De Lites
http://www.vietdelites.com.au/



Whenever it's available to me, I'll grab a copy of 'Dining Out'. If you're wondering, this is basically a collection of advertisements for central Brisbane restaurants. Even when I have 2 copies already, I'll go on and take another one to leaf through.

I have a feeling a new issue comes out every season or maybe every half a year. It tends to feature the same old restaurants over and over again and the pages have become very familiar to me over time (especially for the restaurants that don't bother to change their ads).

It's always really refreshing when I spot newcomers. One such place is Viet De Lites. This restaurant is contemporary Vietnamese dining, located in South Bank Parklands.


The photos on the website and in 'Dining Out' were extremely appealing so I filed the restaurant away as a 'must visit'. As usual, the occasion arose. I happened to be going to South Bank so it was convenient to stop at Viet De Lites for lunch.


We arrived in early in the afternoon (2pmish - past lunchtime) and the restaurant was busy but not bustling. I was instantly impressed with the decor which is light, clean and fresh.

The menu has a moderate selection of dishes. We chose 2 items that weren't very typically Vietnamese simply because we didn't want food we could get at other Vietnamese eateries. Viet De Lites is a bit on the pricey side; understandable, considering its location but it makes you think twice about ordering something mundane like pho or rice paper rolls.

Our dishes were: tofu stir fried and king prawn coconut curry. We also ordered rice at $2 per head but it arrived in a smallish bowl.

Fresh tofu stir-fried with seasonal vegetables, topped with cashew nuts

The dishes came at the same time and the first thing I noticed was how healthy everything looked. The stir fry didn't appear oily at all and the vegetables were clean (not heavily coated with gunk and flavoring).

King prawn coconut curry - translucent juicy prawns in coconut cream and vegetables

It was a similar case with the curry, although on curry this is not necessarily a good thing. I appreciate that the king prawn curry was probably the healthiest I've ever had but I really did feel it was under-flavored and not rich enough. I've had a bad run with choosing prawn dishes and probably won't again for a while.


Although Viet De Lites wound up a bit on the exxy side, it was a wonderfully guilt-free experience. There are many low-fat options that are loaded with vegetables. It's nice to know that even when dining out, there are safe options to keep you having a healthy lifestyle.