Update: Bye bye Bopha Devi....we will never be back. We had one more try hoping that it could live up to its former glory. Sadly it is just not worth it at all. The restaurant was empty on a Friday night when you used to have waited to get a seat. The garlic and chive fish cakes we bland and rubbery. The pumpkin fritters were also tasteless and overcooked. But the greatest tragedy is that they've even managed to ruin their once magnificent chicken wings. Greasy, lumpy and flavourless is the only way to describe them. All this and much too expensive.
Previous Review: Bopha Devi continues to do consistently good food in a gorgeous tiny hole in the wall in Yarraville. All the dishes tend to be a little shy with the traditional spices so don't expect a chilli hit or aromatic hits of lemongrass, lime, coriander or ginger used so strongly in traditional Cambodian cooking.
That said, we keep going back time and time again because even though the mains are bordering on bland, the entrees are sensational. The fish cakes are great but their masterpiece is the stuffed chicken wings. Divine!
Tiny little place, which for lunch is perfect, but dinner is loud and gets very busy.
There is no 'lunch' menu as such which makes for a pricey lunch although the main sized serves are large!
Unfortunately the dish I ordered (fried rice) was lacking in flavour and I had to ask for soy sauce for flavour. The other dish - dropped rice noodles was delish on the other hand and generous with 5 large prawns in the entree sized serve.
Bopha is cool but sometimes hard to get a seat but I presume that's what the new docklands venue is all about!. Very vegie friendly, you can get your dose of tofu and ginger here. Love Bopha, Yarraville staple and well worth it for your tastebuds.