Tien Tien Restaurant Review

2/29 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda, VIC 3182
Ph: (03) 9537 0889

I was told by one of the friends I dined with that Tien Tien meant "every day". Special mention and thumbs up to the management as we went to Tien Tien at 'Earth Hour' and they had all their lights out and served all meals by candlelight for the hour.
Food
A large selection of thai, malaysian and vietnamese cuisines. The soups were reasonable and the mains were very enjoyable from our selections of thai lemon grass chicken and malaysian curry with rice. Decent sized portions.
Service
Competent, professional and prompt.
Value
No banquets available. Mains from $13 to $25 generally.
Decor and Atmosphere
Funky lights, but particularly lovely by candlelight at earth hour. Well presented and warm atmosphere. Comfortable seating.

Swan Palace Restaurant Review

96 Swan Street
Richmond Vic 3121
Ph: (03) 9427 8491

Food
Vietnamese cuisine. An interesting selection on the menu. We had plenty of time to look right over it as we waited and waited to be served. We could choose from such interesting dishes as Combianation Seafood and Vegetables, X.O. Sauce Specia, Pork with Black Beab, Sate and Oyter Sauce, a few different dishes with 'prwan', work fried noodles, coleslow and many more.. The soup was pretty ordinary, our water tasted frighteningly like detergent and appeared to be rather blue. The garlic prawns or 'prwans' were about the only redeeming feature in the mains. The calamari was ok but a little strange tasting. I felt a bit sick afterward but not sure if that was due to the food or the taste of detergent I couldn't seem to get out of my mouth.
Service
The one waiter flew around the place like a bumbling bee, with smoking hot dishes flying at people and the man barrelling backwards through doorways straight into customers exiting the toilets, flying so fast in every direction that I felt I needed to duck at times. And yet despite all this frantic flying about, the service was as slow as I have ever come across, and when we were finally served he ran away before we could barely get words out of our mouth to order. When he cleared dirty dishes off customers' tables he just piled them onto other tables and left them there. To be honest I nearly got up and left the restaurant before the mains finally came out.
Value
Reasonable prices. No banquets available.
Decor and Atmosphere
Pretty plain, not a lot of style. A cute row of christmas santas hanging along the wall.. in late March.

Customer complains .... restauranteur - kills him

As if eating the food isn't a gamble enough at some restaurants.
I guess the moral of the story is think twice before you complain when dining ... may be safer to write an email instead.

A DINER was stabbed to death by a restaurateur after an argument about slow service, a court heard yesterday.
The Supreme Court was told Khanh Vo, 35, fatally stabbed customer Anh Dung Nguyen, 54, after the two men argued about the service in Vo's crowded Abbotsford restaurant, Bon Mua, on April 16, 2006.
The men and their friends fought before Vo ran into the kitchen, grabbed a fruit knife and stabbed Mr Nguyen, the court heard.
Vo, of Ivanhoe, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Nguyen.
The court heard Mr Nguyen had been drinking before he and a group of nine friends arrived at the restaurant about 10.30pm.
Prosecutor Peter Jones said Mr Nguyen became upset after midnight about slow service, banged his hand on a table and exchanged words with Vo's wife, Vy Huynh.
Vo became upset when he heard Mr Nguyen had spoken to his wife and a fight erupted, Mr Jones said.
After grabbing a knife from his kitchen, Vo returned and stabbed Mr Nguyen three times.
Mr Nguyen died later in hospital.
Defence lawyer Ian Hill, QC, told the court Vo's actions had not been planned or premeditated and had "erupted spontaneously".
"At the least, the deceased was rude and aggressive in his demeanour," Mr Hill said.
Running a successful restaurant was important to Vo and "to see a person threatening that . . . may well have caused him to act in the way (in) which he did".
Mr Hill said Vo, now a father of two, had fled Vietnam with his family in 1985 and subsequently spent more than two years in refugee camps in Hong Kong.
Vo had been "frequently frightened and possibly exposed to significant trauma" while in the camps, according to a psychologist.
Mr Hill said his client had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity, saving the state expense and sparing witnesses the trauma of having to give evidence.
"It can be seen . . . not only as a legal but also a moral acknowledgment by the prisoner of his wrongdoing, and should be taken as a sign of his true remorse and contrition for taking a life," Mr Hill said.
"He feels really ashamed about his actions.
"The only emotion that he can recall of the night was one of fear."
Mr Hill said Vo's restaurant was sold in December.
Justice Kevin Bell will sentence Vo on a date to be set.

From the Herald Sun.

Melbourne Vietnam Noodle House Review

251 Swanston Street
MELBOURNE 3000
Ph: 03 9639 4911

Food
Vietnamese Pho style noodle house. Being so close to Mekong (a couple of doors further down Swanston Street) it draws inevitable comparisons, though not favourable ones. A good selection on the menu, but the food I had didn't overly impress me. Not more than a couple of pieces of meat in my special combination dish. The drink selection was interesting, but my drink was very thick and powdery and had to be eaten with a spoon.
Service
Ok. The man at the counter where you pay was quite grumpy looking :(
Value
The value is good, all very reasonably priced.
Decor and Atmosphere
Clean and neat, nothing exotic.

Minh Minh Restaurant Review

94 Victoria Street
Richmond 3121
Phone: 03 9427 7891

Food
Vietnamese, Lao and Thao dishes are all available on the menu. All quite tasty and of a good quality. I particularly enjoyed the Phat Bai Ka Phrao which had a hot and spicy flavour.
Service
Frenzied, frantic and forgetful. The place was packed, and the waiters were trying, but struggling.
Value
Reasonable value, no banquets or set menus available other than for large groups.
Decor and Atmosphere
Noisy! A lot of people talking over the top of one another and if there was music I couldn't hear it over the ruckus. Also being so full it was a bit cramped. The decoration was quite nice with a decent paint job.

Mekong Restaurant Review

241 Swanston St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9663 3288

Food
Vietnamese, mainly Phở. Large servings of lovely rice noodle soups and a great selection of vietnamese dishes. Some very unusual and interesting drink choices. Extras on the side and tea always laid out for you at no extra cost.
Service
Prompt service. This is a very busy little restaurant but you'll be seen to quickly.
Value
A small restaurant/café that is great value. Not your full class act, but awesome for the price to stop in for a great lunch.
Decor
Nothing flash to look at. You'll come here for the food and good value.