Southern Star Cafe and Restaurant

I recently dined at this restaurant and would rate it a 3.5 out of 5. A few weeks ago, my party and I sat in the outdoor seating area of the restaurant, which was lovely on a warm evening. The menu offered a wide variety of options, and we tried the char kway teow, Vietnamese rice noodle, and roasted rice dishes, all of which were delicious and offered at a reasonable price. The only downside was the service, which seemed to be lacking in some areas.

The dining experience was average, nothing outstanding but not terrible either. The restaurant offers a nice view, however, it was open and the air conditioning was not on despite the scorching 35 degrees weather.

The dishes at this restaurant were generally very salty, with the rice not helping to reduce the saltiness. The pork bark was tender and the sauce, although salty, was good. However, there was a shocking incident when a baby cockroach climbed out from the salad. The staff quickly replaced the dish with a new one, but it was much harder than the original. The basil squid was so salty that we had to soak it in water before being able to eat it. Despite mentioning this to the waiter, he did not address the issue. The king prawn was simply seasoned with salt and pepper. My wife enjoyed the tom yam soup, but it was clear that it came from an instant paste. Overall, the dining experience was disappointing.

Rating: 3.5 Food tasted great and delicious. Dishes we enjoyed Spring Rolls, Chicken Wings, Vietnamese Rice Noodles and Prawn Clay Pot. All the dishes were well seasoned and full of flavour, and ingredients used were fresh. The Roast Duck with Egg Tofu was nice; just slightly heavy on the salt for us. The other criticism we have is the ratio of meat seafood to vegetables onions was off. Dishes came out looking generous in size, but really it's because they've been plumped up with loads of mixed vegetables like capsicums, carrots and onions. Our Prawn Claypot had 5 prawns and for 27.90, we did expected more. Overall, a pleasant dining experience.

We arrived in perth this evening and found this place close to where we are staying. We order the pad thai, singapore noodles, chicken fried rice and char quay teow. The favourite was the chicken fried rice. Everything else was ok, not authentic. Ok for a feed