Imagine my surprise, when walking home from the post office, on my way to get a coffee from my local coffee shop to find a big for sale sign on the window of the Loi Loi?
The Loi Loi?
Well, I live just off of Victoria Street, on which there are numerous Vietnamese restaurants including:
- The Min Tan
- The Vihn Ky (Favourite for one dish)
- The Tho Tho
- The Thy Thy
- The Thy Thy II
- The Co Do
- The Thahn Ma
- The Tran Tran
- The Mihn Mihn
- The Vihn Vihn
- I Heart Pho
- The Pacific Barbeque, complete with roast ducks in the window
- And a number of Vietnamese bakeries.
The Loi Loi has been there as long as I've been in the neighbourhood.
Like all good Vietnamese restaurants, the place has rickety chairs, formica tables, various Chinese idolatry, a box of tissues on the table for serviettes, a look of utter despair - and in early days, a child at the back table doing their homework in between serving customer.
This is what a good Vietnamese restaurant looks like.
One thing about the Loi Loi is that it seemed to attract the Anglo crowd, unlike the "meat on sticks" place three doors down, which is always heaving with Chinese students, no matter the day.
The Loi Loi has been a standard for many years.
It's the place when I really can't be bothered cooking that I go for a cheeky takeaway.
The neighbourhood won't be the same without it.
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