New Star

With the dim fluorescent lighting, fish tank stacked with tins of fish food, sizzling woks and soundtrack of Vietnamese love songs, New Star could be a portal to Saigon. Instead it's in an arcade off Balmain's main street and is one of the suburb's best value-for-money eateries. Pick your dish from the faded photos that are plastered above the 100-odd item menu, but take note that the Vietnamese dishes are the stars, the Chinese and Thai offerings falling short on authenticity. While the meat in the pho bo may be a little tough for some tastes, the rich, flavour-dense broth more than makes up for this - as does the price.