Aroy has had a facelift and looks a lot more inviting and open compared to what it used to be. I had been to this place a very long time ago and never really rated it, but decided to give it another go since it looks more inviting and more people seem to go eat there.
Veg Spring Rolls
Deep fried handmade spring roll stuffed w/ grated vegetables and glass noodles. Served w/ sweet chilli sauce.
It was great to see these were handmade and also had a nice colour to them. They were of good size and served on a really cool shaped plate. The spring rolls though were pretty doughy for me as the skin was not that crisp and it was hard to distinguish between the spring roll skin and the filling. They had a nice flavour and went really well with the sweet chilli sauce.
Prawn Spring Rolls
Handmade, lightly seasoned prawns rolled and deep fried till golden brown. Served w/ sweet chilli sauce
So I thought I was going to get traditional spring rolls with prawn inside them with some veggies inside. Instead, you get whole prawns wrapped inside spring rolls skins. These were pretty good and crisp but it did miss substance and you needed the sweet chilli sauce to give the prawn roll more flavour.
Fried Chicken w/ Ginger Rice
Crispy on the outside & tender in the middle boneless chicken thigh served on a bed of fragrant ginger rice & sweet chilli sauce.
This looked really good when this arrived. The chicken looked really presentable and as too the rice. However, you soon realise that the chicken is sitting on quite a bit of salad. The chicken looked really good that I could not wait to get into it. The flavours were not overpowering and the chicken was suitably cooked. However, the fried chicken lacked crunch, which looked like it had. The rice was good and the chicken went well with the sweet chilli sauce.
Pad Thai
Rice noodles wok-tossed w/ fresh beansprouts, garlic chives & eggs in our traditional (& very famous!) tamarind sauce. Comes w/ your choice of meat and served w/ chopped peanuts & a lemon wedge.
This looked good and I went with the chicken option without peanuts. I loved the fresh lemon and I squirted it on my noodles. The chicken was nice and juicy, which slightly surprised me as usually these kinds of eateries just overcook it. They used two types of noodles and overall was a good pad thai. However, it did not have the sharpness in flavour you usually get from a pad thai nor the spice.
Aroy is looking good after the refurbishment. Overall the food is alright and can see why people eat there. I am not sure how often I would go to eat there but the service is good. I do feel that they could improve their snack/ sides menu as I feel they are pretty poor offerings. The large plates are better but some authenticity seems to be missing.
Address: 101 Cuba St, Te Aro, Wellington
Website: Aroy
Trencherman's Travels 