• Tho Tho (Richmond)

With friends visiting from Belgium, a visit to Melbourne’s typical Vietnamese district was compulsory.  And upon getting to Victoria Street, I typically had to ring my token Vietnamese friend to ask for the best place to eat.

Tho Tho’s is slightly cleaner and slightly better presented than the other cheap and cheerfuls on this strip.  But don’t worry.  The food is still well priced, and plates will still be slammed down with it hard to otherwise get a waiter’s eye.  We ordered several dishes to share.

The vegetarian spring rolls were filled with long strips of bean shoots which had been stuck into the folded skins to make eating slightly awkward.  The flavours of Vietnamese mint, lettuce and hot fried goodness rarely go astray.



The pancake was tasty with a crisp coconut base and lots of mixed vegetables inside including bean shoots, carrot and broccoli.  I love the coconut taste of this Vietnamese favourite.


The salt and chilli tofu was deep fried with a heavy, rather than hot-oil-light crust and the tofu inside was firm. The flavours of the salt and chilli were addictive, so I enjoyed this dish despite the harder textures.


Banana fritter was  a tempting dessert and Tho Tho’s was done well.  My pet hate is un-cooked banana in a fritter, but this was done all the way through with the hot, crispy batter doing this sweet justice.  It was served with vanilla ice-cream and child-like banana flavoured topping.


The atmosphere was somewhat jovial with conversations bouncing off the concrete floor and uncovered walls.  And perhaps it was a nice insight for my friends into the influence of Vietnamese culture in Melbourne.  The food was better than some places I’ve visited along Victoria Street but in no way outstanding.  Still, we enjoyed it.  And I will no doubt return when I next need to show off our city to visitors.

Tho Tho
66 Victoria St
Richmond 3121
03 9428 2036
www.thotho.com.au

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