Tra Vinh

LOCATION
At the northern end of Northbridge, off William Street. A few minutes walk from Perth train stations.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
The popularity of Vietnamese cuisine has grown dramatically in Perth over the past two decades for reasons relatively unknown to me. Could it be the increase in cooking shows on television or perhaps the trend towards healthy eating? Who knows. What I do know is that Northbridge has always been home to a plethora of wonderful hawker-style Vietnamese restaurants and these days they seem to be busier than ever. Tra Vinh, however, is easily the best of the lot with the little eatery having been constantly packed for the past ten years.

The shop front and interior is nothing to write home about but as with most hawker-style restaurants, it’s the unpretentious food people flock here for. Gigantic bowls of steaming hot noodle soup laden with fresh herbs, sliced meats and seafood is one of their specialties. The beef pho in particular is arguably the best in town.

There may not be much ambience, but there’s plenty of hustle and bustle as groups of students, families and local residents pack the dining room, all ready to gorge themselves on some of the best Vietnamese cuisine Perth has to offer.

In addition to noodle soups, the restaurant also offers many other dishes like the pork chop with broken rice and egg, and finger-licking good crispy skin chicken – if only there were a way to serve more of that delicious golden skin! Chinese dishes like the seafood ho fun with a gorgeous creamy egg sauce and super fresh seafood creates quite a conundrum when it comes to choosing from the menu.

If you don’t mind a bit of noise and love great tasting Vietnamese food that’s served fast, Tra Vinh is just the ticket.

Karen Bilsby