New Wind
120 Chapel Street, Windsor Victoria 3181 Australia
Tel: +61 9529 1888
Link

Vietnamese-Thai Bar & Restaurant in the vibrant Chapel Street precinct of Melbourne where we called for a light supper ahead of our night flight home. A soup and a starter each fitted the bill, Seafood Tom Ka Gai and Pandan Chicken Parcels for me and Crabmeat and Asparagus soup and Charcoal Grilled octopus for Nick. A window table meant we could people watch whilst waiting for our meal. Although a BYO wine restaurant we had to drive to the airport so just had a glass each as New Wind is also fully licensed.
My seafood hot coconut soup was delicious although Nick's crabmeat and asparagus soup was in my opinion, more Chinese takeaway than city restaurant, but as Nick pointed out, the crab was real and in Chinese takeaways the choice is usually confined to fake crabmeat and sweetcorn or chicken and something. The grilled octopus was tasty and orientally seasoned in contrast to the very plain or charred octopus you get in Greece. The chicken in my parcels was delicately flavoured with the pandan leaves but inevitably of a less than pleasant texture, having been steamed. Continuing the Greek comparison, I also forgot that these parcels are not like stuffed vine leaves and I should not have attempted to eat the leaf wrapping! I would recommend the New Wind to anyone visiting Chapel Street, but would probably not eat there again simply because there are so many other possibilities in the area.
May 2009