Profiled by de Groots MediaLygon Street usually conjures up thoughts of Italian cuisine, but meander around the Queensberry Street end and you’ll discover that this area is largely dominated by south-east Asian fare. The latest addition is Mai Thi, a family owned and run Vietnamese restaurant. This clan of culinary whiz kids have owned a restaurant in Footscray for 10 years, so they know something about the food business. Mai Thi is housed in an old building and even though it’s set over two levels it’s quite small. The decorations recall aspects of Vietnam with bamboo-clad walls and scenes of village life yet, in contrast, there is a huge chandelier dangling surreptitiously from the ceiling at odds with the attempted theme. The result is endearing, if not slightly mismatched.
It’s a busy menu, written in Vietnamese and English, with every dish numbered from one to almost a million. There are congees, pho soups, fried noodle dishes, vermicelli dishes and hot pots. People tend to order by number, so you hear quite a bit of, “We’ll have a number 12 and a number 36!” The 55 and 56 seem to be a pretty popular too, although Buddha knows what they are. I would recommend number 19; slippery white dumplings filled with minced pork and cooked in a banana leaf. The fish dishes are also worth ordering. Servings are generous and good for sharing. The wine list, although small, is chosen by Laurie Wetherall, the family member who takes care of the front of house and exclaims, “I won’t serve poor wines.” Cheers to that!
Rita Erlich, April 2008
