I was first introduced to Miss Chu in Bondi a few years ago, and haven’t stopped thinking about her wonton delights ever since.  Come on now – minds out the gutter, I clearly said wonton, not wanton – jeez!

I loved the place.  It’s very relaxed and beachy, sitting on milk crates with low tables, exposed wood and bamboo with some of Miss Chu’s own particular style of art around the place – I’ve never been to Vietnam, but Miss Chu has succeeded in making me feel like I have.

Unfortunately I live on the northern beaches and Bondi is a massive pain in the arse to get to, so that one brief moment of joy was swiftly snatched away from me and was fast becoming a distant diminishing memory…did I remember it right?  Was it really as good as I think, or have the sands of time built up so high they’ve reshaped false memories?  Uh, how I longed for something similar on the northern beaches.

Then a few months ago it was like the omnipotent, omnipresent Miss Chu heard my cries and placed a restaurant on my doorstep in Manly! Oh how I’ve missed you, Miss Chu!

Now every trip to Manly is punctuated with something delicious from Miss Chu.  “We’re going out to Manly this evening…? OK, well let’s get there for midday so we can take a long luncheon with the Chu’s”

Miss Chu is a tuck shop, you read the menu which is a tick box tear off piece of paper, tick what you want, pay at the counter and it comes to your table.  It’s the sort of place where you get a couple of bits, then go back for a couple more (and then a couple more…and a couple more…) – I love that way of eating.

So what’s all the fuss about…? Its about lots of little Vietnamese delights – the Peking duck pancakes are probably the best I’ve had, they’re just bite sized, but so fresh with a generous amount of duck, fresh pancake and an extra dollop of zing. The shaghai pork steamed dumplings are big and meaty and fulsome and come in a beautifully rounded soy based liquid – I personally have declared that once the dumplings are gone, it’s not rude to drink the stock straight from the bowl – do it!  The pork and wood ear mushroom long rolled dumplings are nice and spicy and taste like Vietnam.  The list of deliciousness goes on – prawn dumplings, pork buns, prawn and crab vermicelli spring rolls (deep fried but so light and crispy) all washed down with various Vietnamese beers…ooft…’scuse me while I salivate.  My best friend lives in New Zealand and I took him to Miss Chu’s when he was last here and I think it’s safe to say he was somewhat blown away.  Now every time I go there I text him a photo and he calls me a bastard.  Writing this I realise how nasty that is when Miss Chu’s is so out of reach.  I’m going to keep doing it though.

Did you know you can tell if a Persian rug is genuine because it will have an imperfection in it. The Persians do this because they believe only the gods can make something completely perfect, and I think maybe Miss Chu thinks the same. There are just one or two pieces on the menu that are by no means bad, they’re just not quite perfect.  Bahn mi is a Vietnamese delight – pork and pate on a french roll with chillis and spring onions, coriander, carrot, etc and I love it…but I was a little underwhelmed with the one at Miss Chu – I’ve had better and cheaper from quite a few little hole in the wall type places – Miss Chu was just a little on the tight side with the fillings.  I had their vermicelli salad once too and it was good, but I’ve had better – try Mr Happy Chef, downstairs in Hunter Connection for that dirty little pleasure.

However, any imprefections are minimal and all in all Miss Chu is a must.  And she’s not just a restauranteur, is our Miss Chu, she’s also an artist, writer and travel agent, and I, for one, am glad to finally have her close by.

www.misschu.com.au