Fa-Fah - You Want Pork With Your Pork?

Asians love pork. Fact. If you're Asian and you don't love pork, you're out of the Asian club. Get out. Now. I think from as young as I can remember, any special occasion demands pork, usually in the form or roast pork. From births to weddings to even funerals, bring out the roast pork. I've always loved pork from a young age. As I was exposed to pork and chicken the most living in Vietnam, I obviously came to love them. Only as I grew up in Australia did I start to appreciate beef, and then finally lamb. While I love roast pork, I tend to dislike char siu. Only in Hong Kong do I love the char siu, which is fatty and has that sweeter flavour. When I got an invite to try out Fa-Fah, I was told they do good pork dishes, including char siu. As I'm always willing to give anything a try, I accepted the invite.

Fa-Fah is another new restaurant that has opened up at Chadstone. I remember the days when the only options at Chadstone were food court stuff or Hungry Jacks or Pancake Parlour. Now there's my beloved Papparich, there's Miam Miam, there's Oriental Teahouse and now Fa-Fah to round out the Asian eateries. The space inside Fa-Fah looks good. I like the decor and it felt inviting. The large open kitchen has become the norm and it's good to see what the chefs are up to. We were greeted by the waitresses, who were very friendly to the point of almost being over the top friendly. We got in our drinks order and picked some items off the decent sized menu which consisted of various roast meats, noodles and rice dishes. There's enough variety to cater to most people and the prices are on the cheaper end.

As I was there to try the roast pork and char siu, we ordered that as a starter. To my delight, the roast pork was really good, with thin crispy skin and soft meat. An even better surprise, the char siu was actually good. I wouldn't go as far as saying they're as great as in Hong Kong, but I did like it. It was in the Hong Kong style with a fattier cut and slathered in a sweet honey type glaze. Strangely it was served with mustard. I tried the combination and didn't like it at all but my work mate loved it and said it was so innovative. You can go and decide for yourself. We also shared a Vinegar Pork dish and some glass noodles. The vinegar pork was awesome. Such great flavours of sweet, salty and sour. This was our favourite dish of the day. The glass noodles were also good, with a nice sour tang.

The Prawns Wrapped in Bacon sounded really good but when we tasted it, it wasn't bad but if anything, the bacon took away from the prawns rather than enhance it. I think if it was just the prawns fried in the batter, it would've been really good. In the background you can see my avocado drink, which was really good. Made fresh with real avocados, it was really refreshing.

This is a good solid place for a cheap meal and I would definitely return. I was impressed with the pork dishes and would definitely order those again. If you're in the Chadstone shopping centre area, I'd recommend you pop in for a meal as the food is good and the atmosphere is relaxing. You'll leave with change from a $20 easily so it's really good value.

We dined courtesy of Fa-Fah.