Ria's

Ria's was suggested to Rebecca by many friends and colleagues. I'd never heard of it but heard many satisfied people so we decided to give it a try.

Ria's is located in a little corner of Oxford street near the train station. We parked in the large City of Vincent carpark nearby and crossed over (cutting through Greens and Co) It's a little bit around the corner which is why I had never seen it. Inside was packed, and I was a little alarmed and worried that the Asian / Australian ratio was 3 / 70, not an encouraging sign for someone seeking authentic Asian food (which Ria's prides itself on). Seriously Aussies, white wine with curries?

We had booked a little late and so we waited at the bar. Peanuts were served (which I ate far too many of, which probably killed my appetite).

We began on beef satays as an entree. The beef was quite good quality cuts, and not as tough as I expected. It was very heavy on ginger (which I am not a huge fan of) but came with a very enjoyable chunky peanut sauce. Flanking it was some cooling cucumber, to battle the not negligible heat of the satay sauce. We were off to a great start, but were already feeling close to full.

I ordered a Randang "Terlagi-lagi" (literally translates to: "the again-again", because it is so popular). I found it quite hot although heat is not marked on the menu at all. The beef was authentically dry, and low on sugar which was pleasing. The lemongrass was nice and scratchy on the palate, and eggplant in it too. However, I just couldn't eat much as I was already so full, I must have had less than a quarter of the serve.

I tried Rebecca's Coconut chicken but didn't particularly like it. I'm not a big fan of suspiciously soft chicken, nor creamy dishes and it was both. I'll leave analysis of it to her review.

To be different, we tried Pilau rice with fennel seeds, cashews and a little bit of carrot. It was far more interesting than plain jasmine rice, enough to be eaten on its own. However, when combining with very strong other tastes like curries, I'd suggest the plainer, more traditional rice.

Prices were reasonable, and the food was quite authentic but I didn't have anything to stun me. Four stars.