Loi Loi Vietnamese Restaurant

Victoria St, Richmond

22 January 2012

Review by Farimah Eshraghi

As the name suggests it, the Loi Loi Vietnamese Restaurant is very characteristic and typical, with colourful lanterns hanging from the ceiling and some exotic decorations.

Our large group had an exclusive room all for ourselves. It was also decorated with red lanterns, some decorative Chinese calligraphy in gold on the wall, plus we were surrounded by some beautiful Chinese artworks depicting scenes, flowers, birds (peacocks).

On a hot day, 31 degrees or more, we enjoyed a pleasant air-conditioned temperature. The food was also matching with the ambience: spring rolls, to be rolled in fresh lettuce as an activity and a refreshing entree; an incredible chicken soup (my favourite); crispy salt and pepper prawns with crunchy noodles; chicken satay skewers; beef and vegies; rice mixed with herbs and prawns; all part of a delicious banquet chosen by the majority of the group.

And for a sweet ending, dessert: ice cream with banana fritters, pineapple fritters or lychees, all with a very artistic presentation!

All of this looked even more appetising in the very friendly, relaxed and `Bohemian’ atmosphere, where we could hear and participate in conversations about art and artistic activities and experiences. I felt almost like to be sitting in one of those restaurants in Montmartre in Paris, and having artists like Picasso and Modigliani around.

Robert was telling us about some strange and curious sculpture he saw at MOMA, the Museum Of Modern Art, and also about an art competition in London, where the sculpture of one of the finalists was selected as a coincidence. Some object was put under the stand to make it more stable, and the actual sculpture, that was a head, was moved away temporarily, so the stand was selected as the artwork!

This lead to an open conversation about some other unexpected artworks, such as rocks as sculptures, which I saw some of at the Contemporary Museum of Art in Bologna.

Altogether, we had fun, ate well, enjoyed nice company; something I was looking for, for some time. Thank you to the organisers.