Vim's Kitchen Randwick, Sydney

User Reviews of Vim's Kitchen, Randwick

Displaying: 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 8

Booking

This is a tiny hole in the wall, but it’s new, fresh and popular, so booking ahead any night of the week is advised. It’s also that kind of quick-in-and-out place where there is a fairly steady turnover of tables, so if you just pitch up on a weeknight, you may be lucky but I wouldn’t chance it on the weekend.

Food

Once you’ve tried the food here, you’ll soon discover why it’s so popular. Everything we ate was fresh and tasty and beautifully seasoned with all our favourite Malay herbs and spices. Ten of us dined on a busy Sat night and I don’t think there was one complaint about any of the dishes. I had the beef rendang and roti bread. My beef was tender with subtle flavours that were just enough to give it a real zest and zing but not so much as to overwhelm it. The roti bread was beautifully cooked: crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. That and the rice were the perfect complement to my beef.

Ambience

These guys have done the best that could do with such a small awkward space. The interior has a modern look and feel to it, with red upholstered chairs and a stylish colour scheme in muted stone, black and grey colours. There are tables outside as well as inside but as those of you familiar with my reviews will know, we never sit outside on account of the smoking, the traffic noise and fumes and this being busy Frenchmans Rd in Nth Randwick, it was no exception. But we booked well ahead of time and were given prime position at the back of the restaurant. It was a warm summer night but with the windows and doors thrown wide open, there was a pleasant breeze blowing through the place and it never got uncomfortably hot or stuffy.

Service

Despite the crowds, we found the service to be helpful, friendly and polite. We were a table of ten indecisive ditherers, and our pretty waitress displayed admirable patience and fortitude while waiting for everyone to make up their minds. The mains and starters tended to get a bit mixed up in the crush but we didn’t really mind and just ate the dishes as they were brought to the table.

Value

Every person had a main and rice, plus we had a selection of shared starters and a couple of drinks. No coffees or desserts and our bill came in at an average of $22 a head. That’s good value in my book.

Comfort

Despite the small size of the restaurant we were quite comfortable at our elongated and improvised table (or rather bunch of tables strung together) at the back. Lighting was perfect and the menu is well laid out and easy to read. Even acoustics presented no problem. The only problem though is the toilets or rather the single unisex toilet which is at the back of the restaurant. First you’ll need to check with the waitress whether it’s free before you attempt to use it. And then to get there you’ll have to walk through an unmarked door via the kitchen and outside into a small corridor where you will find it. It was reasonably clean but there were no hand towels, not even a dryer so this is one area where these guys need to improve things. A sign on the door and something to dry hands would be a start.

Parking

Vim’s is on the corner of Frenchmans Rd and Roscrea Av. There’s ample free and unlimited parking in Roscrea or you may even be lucky to find something outside on Frenchman’s Rd, but whichever way you look at it, parking here is a breeze.

Summary

Outstanding food in a relaxed and casual atmosphere, reasonable prices, friendly and efficient service and easy parking all add up to a place that merits a return visit. But it would be nice to see the proper punctuation on the signage outside (that should be “Vim’s” with an apostrophe, not "Vims") and some improvement to the toilet arrangements would help make an evening here a tad more comfortable.

Mar 01, 2013

artforartssake
195

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 7 Service 10 Value 8

Beautiful food, curry goat was delightful and the roti always delicious.

Dec 18, 2012

Jendals
8

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 10

Have been to Vim's kitchen a few times now and loved it every time. The food is absolutely fabulous, and excellently priced. Highlights are the roti, fish and chicken curries and rendang, which is quite different to other places.

The place has been redone lately - the TV is gone and it's all a lot nicer. Highly recommended.

Jul 24, 2012

edblax
17

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 6 Service 8 Value 10

What a little gem! We have been here twice now and the food has been excellent both times.

Last night we had to have the Gulai Ikan again (fish curry). The fish is delicious, the curry, light yet so fragrant and flavoursome. We also had the Chicken Korma which was delicious. Much more flavoursome than a Korma in an Indian restaurant.

We had the Lamb Briyani as a rice dish which was lovely. That said, it was huge and plain rice might have been a better idea.

The starter of Murtabak Kambing which was roti stuffed with spicy lamb and vegetables was delicious. I was surprised that it was minced lamb but we all really enjoyed it. The sauce was fantastic (really shouldn't call it a gravy, doesn't sound so good).

We ordered another two roti as we knew from before that they were beautifully light on the inside, with a little crisp on the outside. Gorgeous to mop up the beautiful sauces.

This place has fabulous food but the ambience lets it down a little. It's comfortable and great for a local but I'm never a fan of a TV in a restaurant. You end just watching it even when you don't want to.

It won't, however, stop me going back, the food is too good and excellent value. Dinner cost us $60 for 3 and the staff are just lovely.

Jun 28, 2012

aimeelou
7

1 of 1 reader found the following review helpful

6.5 Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 3 Service 5 Value 9

Went there tonight and we just loved the food! We had the ayam rendang that was particularly hot but good, and the vegetable korma, very mild in comparison but yum. No 1st date restaurant as it is pretty basic looking, but I am so happy to have it nearby, we are looking forward to our next meal from there.

Mar 04, 2012

Nadi
8

5.3 Average

Food 5 Ambience 2 Service 7 Value 7

Honest traditional food and a hardworking business but the food was a bit average overall. Wouldn't go back.

Jan 14, 2012

Sydney Food Nut
4

0 of 1 reader found the following review helpful

5.3 Average

Food 6 Ambience 4 Service 5 Value 6

Dined in here recently with Lil Neecy, the Sort and Big C. Some dishes we selected were quite good while others were bland. Highlights were the Mee goreng mamak, chicken laksa and Kari ikan campur with perhaps the best Roti I've tasted. Kitchen ambience while service was as expected in a suburban eatery, slow but friendly.
Near to home, it could become my 1st choice for authentic malaysian takeaway in future.

Nov 26, 2011