142 Victoria Street, Richmond
I've been frequenting Thy Thy for many years now, probably since early 2000. It's situated above an asian grocery on Victoria street, in an area pretty much known as being Vietnamese central...you may come across an occasional Chinese place and maybe one or two poor "white" establishments, but the majority is Vietnamese.
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| Complimentary tea |
The main reason I always frequent Thy Thy is the service...Ok, so that's a lie, but having said that the service is above average for this type of establishment. I go because it's very cheap and it's very tasty...granted, they probably use a whole lot of MSG but you know what, I'll live...Prices have risen steadily since 2000 but are still on the fairly low side and they give you complimentary tea which should be a given, but I know of many places where it isn't...
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| Chicken spring rolls |
Spring rolls are a general favourite starter of mine. It's kind of one of those "you really don't need to ask" type of things. The menu offers either pork, chicken or vegetarian spring rolls.
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| Ooh, look! Visual representation... |
I'm going to assume everybody has had a spring roll at some point in their life so I won't bore you with the particulars of how to eat one. Then again, I suppose I should probably accommodate the most ignorant of readers/diners...
...but I'm not going to...
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| Condiments (Lettuce, Vietnamese mint, bean shoots, chilli and lemon) |
It wasn't until recently that I really embraced the Vietnamese mint as I thought it was just fairly tasty with just the spring roll, lettuce and dipping sauce combination. The mint however as this freshness and balance that perfectly complements the ensemble and now it just seems wrong without it.
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| Bean shoots and mint close up |
(as a total aside, I love my Olympus camera! It has 5 filter settings including pop art, dramatic tone, pin hole, diorama and greyscale. The super macro works a treat too!
<= This is the pin hole setting)
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| Dipping sauce |
I'm not 100% sure what's in the dipping sauce, but I guess saying slithers of carrots wouldn't really help. Oh, it also has some chilli seeds in it too.
All I know is that it's really tasty and gives a subtle sweetness to the overall taste.
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| Egg noodle soup with sliced BBQ pork |
As I've said in previous posts, I'm a creature of habit. For Thy Thy, this usually means a large bowl of sliced B.B.Q (or B.B.O as in the menu) pork with egg noodle soup. As you can see in the photo it's also got some floaty slices of spring onion and celery. If you're lucky (or unlucky, as I see it) you may also get chunks of minced pork balls floating around your bowl. Sound appetising?
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| Phở Tai |
On one particular occasion I decided to fight my laziness and try something different. I went for their Phở Tai (rare beef with rice noodles soup) as it's one of those standard Vietnamese noodle soup dishes that everybody has.
It came with thin rice noodles with coriander laden on top, as well as slices of spring onion and regular onion.
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| Slightly chewing beef |
The beef was lean and above average but I think it was a little on the "hard to chew" side. I'm being particularly picky though, so please don't let that scare you off from ordering it if you go.
The only other criticism I have for the meal was the broth. I've had divine Phở broth in the past that was clear and made you feel cleansed. Unfortunately the Thy Thy one won't get you to that level but may rather leave you feeling a little on the oily side. It's perfectly drinkable and tasty, but have a look at the close up for yourself and you'll see what I mean.
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| Imperfect broth |
All in all, Thy Thy is a great place to bring your friends for a cheap good meal where it doesn't matter how much you order as it won't brake the bank! It's very popular with the "white" community (which is not a criticism, just an observation) and a place that I think you'd thoroughly enjoy!...go for the food, not for the ambience!
(>_<)
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| Mmm...noodles... |
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| Mmm...spooned noodles... |
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| Bye bye Thy Thy |
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