Dinh Son Quan

I really love my beauty salon.  No herbal tea, mood lighting or lifestyle questionnaire here - just line up in the dingy corridor and, when prompted by the little lady in a floor-length plastic apron, tell her (and everyone else waiting) what you want waxed.  Seriously though, their prices and efficiency leave me enough time and money to try a new Footscray treat afterward.  And what better companion, when dining alone, are sexy eyebrows?

The last rays of summer steered me towards a subtropical treat - banh xeo at Dinh Son Quan.

When I sat down, I was given a menu, but luckily I had the hot tip that the corkboard menu underneath the colossus above was the way to go.  Upon choosing banh xeo - coconut/rice flour crêpe filled with prawns, pork and vegies - the waitress exclaimed, "Oh!  Big one for you!"  Erm - at least my eyebrows are skinny!

Banh xeo, $10

This was one of the best (and biggest) banh xeo I've had.  It's absolutely enormous and stuffed with small yet juicy prawns, fatty pork belly, bean sprouts and onions.  You take pieces and wrap them in the accompanying forest of mustard greens, butter lettuce, and your choice of herb, be it common or Vietnamese mint, or purple, aniseed-y perilla.  These little parcels are then dipped in sweet and tangy seasoned fish sauce.  Yum!

I'm looking forward to trying the other dishes on Dinh Son Quan's corkboard, from bo kho (Vietnamese stewed beef) to bun rieu.  I love places that don't have huge menus, but just a few dishes that are their specialties.  I can't say the same for the beauty salon - who knew so many places on a body could be waxed?!

Dinh Son Quan (map)
Cnr Byron & Nicholson Sts, Footscray
Tel: (03) 9689 3066
Hours: 9am - 9pm, 7 days