Thien Nga — Restaurant in Melbourne

Came down here on Saturday night Australia Day eve. We weren’t sure at first as next door had a similar menu and more ratings on google. We chose this place anyway. Here they have a very comprehensive menu that covers Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine, almost has an Asian influence to attract all sorts of tastebuds. The owner and waiters seemed like a family and can speak Cantonese as well which suggests to me has a Chinese influence on the food. We ordered the Banh Khot, pancake with prawns and coconut sauce. Banh Hoi, mixed plate vermicelli that’s beef in beetle leaf, spring rolls. Banh Xeo, egg pancake wrapped with prawns and woodear. Finally the chicken coleslaw. All the dishes are done with great flavours, the crunch on the Banh Xeo was amazing and the salads for each dish were very generous and fresh. Kids love the variety of textures in all the dishes ordered. As for the portions sizes they were generous and tasty. We were definitely full afterwards with no room For dessert. Will be back next time to try the rest of the menu. This restaurant is confident with its offering and stood the rest of time. Speaking of which, Victoria street Richmond is not what it used to be to be. The remove of street parking really hurt businesses and the choices of restaurants has diminished in recent times. Please consider paying a visit to keep the authentic culinary heritage alive...

This place was literally packed - surprising for a Tuesday night.

The staff was a great help in explaining the menu.

Was recommended Bahn Khot ( mini prawn pancake)for an entree - soc trang style - comes with a fish sauce based dipping sauce and coconut milk. Different, crunchy and very tasty. The prawns were very scant over the 7 pieces though. Almost maximum 2 prawns over the 7 pieces.

Got the Prawn and Pork Noodle Soup (Hue Tieu Tom Thit) - a different version from the other places. Accompanied with fresh bean shoots and mint. Had bok choy, Chinese bbq pork, pork belly and prawns as toppings. It was acceptable enough but had none of the more traditional celery/Chinese celery leaves, garlic chives, rendered pork fat, pork mince, quail egg, cashew nuts.

Also ordered the Pho with Traditional Chicken Salad ( Pho Goi Ga). This comes with a bowl of rice noodles in pho broth and a side of free range chicken and salad. The chicken was poached turmeric chicken, served cold which was very tasty but the chicken pieces were mainly bones - little meat - chicken back, middle joint of a chook wing. The finely shredded cabbage was great and the touch of finely sliced kaffir lime leaves were a bonus. The dipping sauce was lovely and complimented the chicken well. The pho soup flavour was very subtle, not a lot of body.

Very good service and food arrived promptly....

Newly renovated, and on par with all the other Vietnamese places on Vic St.

Finally gave them a try (out of sympathy as they are just building up their custom base it seems) and wasn’t disappointed at all. The decor is nice and bright and not the usual tacky SE Asian affair that some places on Vic St lean towards, and even the menus have had a nice graphic design touch which really simplifies the choices for you with nice images. Great if you’re not too familiar with Vietnamese cuisine.

Toaster Girl had the Chili Lemongrass ‘vegan’ noodles (no guarantees on the veganness) which was a really nice broth and lovely tofu and crisp fresh veggies.

I had my go-to (if it’s on the menu) Cơm tấm Dac Biet (broken rice and pork chops with mystery patê sausage). Perfect. Up there with the real deal served in Ho Chi Minh. We got some lovely veggie spring rolls on the side. Not your frozen cheapies, but made in house (we were seated next to the girls making them at one of the tables) nice and fluffy pastry wrap and ok filling. Not the best I’ve had but more than acceptable.

Give these guys a shot. They are lovely and deserve...