Skip to content

tales of brick and mortar (@gmail.com)

Stories about longstanding shops, restaurants and cafes across Melbourne – talesofbrickandmortar@gmail.com

May 21, 2018May 22, 2018

Creative Wigs (est 1957)

Continue reading →
May 5, 2018December 8, 2018

Fresh Connection (est 1960)

Continue reading →
April 23, 2018May 1, 2018

Rosenberg Shoes (est 1903)

Continue reading →
March 19, 2018March 20, 2018

Leo Russell Sports (est 1935)

Continue reading →
March 13, 2018October 4, 2018

Maton Guitars (est 1946)

Continue reading →
March 4, 2018March 15, 2018

Eaglemont Meats (est 1950’s, same owner since 1986)

Continue reading →
February 20, 2018September 30, 2018

T.W. Sands and Co (est 1918)

Continue reading →
February 9, 2018August 2, 2018

C. Maimone Tailor (est 1972)

Continue reading →
January 4, 2018March 15, 2018

Sticky Institute (est 2001)

Continue reading →

Posts navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Menu

  • About

Contact me

aronblewin@gmail.com & talesofbrickandmortar@gmail.com

Recent Posts

  • Hoang Yen
  • Desserts by Night (Springvale)
  • Thanh Phat
  • Bun Bun Bakery
  • YOLO Cafe
  • Cultural Commons

Facebook page

Facebook page

Instagram

(Hoang Yen, p7, photo by @tatiana_c_c_s , full story in bio link) I’m passionate about our recipes. Highlighting the fact that Vietnamese food is more than a bowl of beef noodles is really important to me. Because we are a family business, we can’t pass responsibilities to anyone else. Cooking, cleaning, prep, marketing; we have to take care of every single thing. And I think a lot of people know who we are, and what we are about. If they can’t find us in the shop, customers – especially those who come from far away –  will often ask after mum and I. We are always running out of the kitchen to say hello. #melbourne #melbournefood #melbourneeats #springvale #vietnamesefood #abcopen #abcmyphoto #mudcrab #brokenrice #phở #vietnamesenoodles #claypot #vietnamesepancakes #lemongrasschicken #melbournerestaurant #talesofbrickandmortar @sbsfood @abcinmelbourne @taste_team
(Hoang Yen, p5, photo by @tatiana_c_c_s, @cityofgreaterdandenongn full story in bio link) We’re here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We get a lot of older customers in the morning, students after school and many non-Vietnamese customers at night. Vietnamese food is definitely becoming more popular in Melbourne and – as more people travel to Vietnam – they become closer to our culture and our cuisine. Australia is very diverse and multicultural, so everyone is exposed to lots of different options. As a result, there is a high expectation that our food is authentic and flavourful. Fortunately, we have such good produce here. We have a big #market with fresh ingredients on our doorstep. It’s very convenient, and you can get almost anything. touch. #melbourne #melbournefood #melbourneeats #springvale #vietnamesefood #abcopen #abcmyphoto #mudcrab #brokenrice #phở #vietnamesenoodles #claypot #vietnamesepancakes #lemongrasschicken#melbournerestaurant #talesofbrickandmortar @sbsfood @abcinmelbourne @taste_team
(Hoang Yen, p5, photos by @tatiana_c_c_s) I grew up in #NoblePark, then Springvale. There’s been a lot of development in the area, but Springvale has not changed that much over the years. And while there are over 40 restaurants – and a lot of Vietnamese food – not everyone makes the same things. They might have a few similarities like spring rolls and phở, but we all specialise in different dishes. For example, we’re from the south of Vietnam, so our dishes are a bit saltier than in the north, and our curries include coconut milk. Initially we’d get a lot of Asian customers, but now it’s very mixed. Believe it or not, we get people from Mt. Eliza, Koo Wee Rup, Nar Nar Goon, Frankston, Rosebud, Portsea and Geelong. Some of them find out about us through word of mouth, while others see us as they drive through the main road. Our shop is very bright at night, we are often very busy and we pride ourselves on how clean Hoang Yen is. Once they come in, customers are very loyal and they will often come back. They can see the love that we put into our food.
(Hoang Yen, p3, photos by @tatiana_c_c_s, full story in bio link) We also make a lot of Vietnamese noodle dishes. Phở, wanton dumpling noodle soup, vermicelli with bamboo duck, herbal duck noodle soup and fermented fish vermicelli. That one is a bit smelly, but very traditional. And, with our Chinese food, we make a lot of stir-fry dishes. A signature of ours is the deep fried Darwin #mudcrab that goes in the wok with capsicum, onion, ginger, shallots, homemade chicken stock and mum’s traditional red sauce with #tamarin and #pineapple. If you eat as part of a family gathering, we also have Vietnamese fish soup with caramelised #claypot fish. These are all authentic dishes but – in one way or another – they have our family touch.
(p2, photos by @tatiana_c_c_s, @cityofgreaterdandenong, full story in bio link) Hoang Yen specialises in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, but we mainly sell authentic Vietnamese food. If a family comes here for the first time, I might recommend starting with the mixed entrée. You get a little bit of everything: #springrolls, beef wrapped in betel leaves, fried bean curd prawns and fried #dumplings. Other entrees include #ricepaperrolls, #quail and Vietnamese pancakes. Then I might suggest moving onto the Vietnamese coleslaw with chicken, and the stir-fried noodles with herbal Chinese medicine duck. The duck goes in the slow-cooker for about ten hours and it is very nice. It is also my mum’s specialty dish. Our Hoang Yen in-house #friedrice with chicken is a little bit spicy, but it is delicious. Other options include the #Mongolianbeef, our lemongrass chicken – which is one of our favourites – and the Vietnamese #brokenrice. If you can eat pork, you also have to go for that. You can’t go wrong with that dish
(Hoang Yen, p1, photo by @tatiana_c_c_s, @cityofgreaterdandenong, full story in bio link) My grandmother was a very good chef and an excellent teacher. So Kim – who is my mum – was often catering for functions, and cooking for her 12 siblings. We came to Melbourne when I was 9 or 10, and I learned how to cook Vietnamese food from my mum. We’d go out sometimes, but there weren’t many Vietnamese restaurants when I was growing up. We’d often cook at home, and now there are now three generations of chefs in the family. Before Hoang Yen, we had a takeaway restaurant on the other side of Springvale. We really like the culture of this area, and we always wanted to be in the heart of it. One day, this business went up for sale and it was in the perfect location. We wanted to run a family business, so mum and her business partner decided to open this restaurant. I love cooking, but not as much as my mum.

Twitter

My Tweets

Icons

  • View @brickandmortar.tales’s profile on Facebook
  • View @talesofbandm’s profile on Twitter
  • View talesofbrickandmortar’s profile on Instagram

Blog Stats

  • 44,136 hits
Blog at WordPress.com.
Cancel