Tropical Night cocktail
The opening of a new bar above one of my favourite restaurants, Bay Tinh is always cause for a cocktail. And tonight in the room above the Bay Tinh restaurant my friend Christie from Fig & Cherry and I are sipping some gorgeous little cocktails called Tropical Night which is a delicious combination of Frozen Soursop a creamy cocktail with Cointreau, Bacardi Rum and Vanilla ice cream. For those of you unfamiliar with the Soursop fruit, it is a creamy fleshed green exterior fruit with a fruit salad-ey taste and a creamy texture.
Harry Hoang, carrying a rice pancake to the food critic Cherry Ripe
Who is Harry? Harry is Harry Hoang, the owner of Bay Tinh, a man who came over in 1980 as a refugee boatperson he’s an immigrant success story. The food is Southern Vietnamese which is different from Northern Vietnamese cuisine due in part to its French influences. Harry spent the last 6 months perfecting the dishes here and removing all additives and ensuring that it is replaced with all natural ingredients. Indeed, the food is MSG free which he says, despite its use, is a flavour suppressor as it suppresses the natural flavours of food. Harry is an adorably enthusiastic man whose passion is evident. He tells us of his quest to serve fresh and good quality food and an example is the grain fed only beef used in all dishes.
Vietnamese beers
The trays of cocktail food brought around by a girl in a traditional Vietnamese costume are delicious and a great range showcasing the range and healthiness of the food on offer. It’s almost impossible to choose a favourite.
Lighting fixture, yes you know I love a good lighting fixture…
The decor is chic with gorgeous textured walls and patterned wallpaper and Christie and I particularly like the Zambelli shirts that the staff wear. The crowd tonight is a mix of press, family, friends and locals-even the renowned food critic Cherry Ripe is here.
Pork mince spring rolls: Cha Gio
The spring rolls are delicious earth shatteringly crunchy on the outside and filled with a combination of pork mince, vermicelli and vegetables. I’m not usually a big spring roll eater but I really enjoy these as they’re meatier than most.
Fresh Prawn Rolls – Goi Cuon
A perennial favourite, the Prawn, pork, herbs, lettuce and pickles rolled in rice paper are delicious with clean, mild flavours.
Little Rice Cakes: Banh Khot
These would have to be my favourite items ever. I once stood at a buffet in a hotel in Bangkok and watched them make a dozen of these, only to appropriate 6 for myself! In my defence these are gorgeous, crispy and light with a coconut flavour to them.
Duck Salad – Goi Vit
This was a refreshingly good duck salad with clear, clean flavours such as mint and chili offsetting the rich roast duck.
Tender beef cubes: Bo Luc Lac
The grain fed beef is sauteed served with a salt and pepper sauce with lemon juice. The salt and pepper dip is an interesting revelation and the cubes are deliciously tender. I admit I had quite about 6 or 8 cubes of this as it was so very flavoursome. Suze and Helen also seemed to like these.
Beef rolled: tender beef: Bo Cuon Cha Tom Banh Hoi
My favourite of the night, the tender beef is rolled in prawn paste, bbq’d to golden brown and served with steamed rice noodles, salad and Hoi Sin sauce. These were incredibly moreish with a complex and mouthwatering flavour to them. Harry, you’ve done well indeed!
Harry’s Bar de Ville
Upstairs at Bay Tinh restaurant
318 Victoria Road, Marrickville, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9560 8673
Bar open Fridays from 4.30pm and Saturdays from 5.30pm
Restaurant open 7 days from 5.30pm
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29 Comments | Add your own
Hey Lorraine and Christie…you’ve had splendid times there
Love the fruity-creamy cocktails, pure sweet bliss!
I’ve problem I’m so hungry seeing this I must eat something right now and not precisely these delicious Viet dishes…
Cheers for you,
Gera
All the food looks amazing esp the spring rolls! I’d grab the whole plate to myself!
Good write-up. It’s nice to know a little about the background of the proprietor the philosophy behind the food served there.
Looking at all that food makes me miss my mum’s cooking!
I am also a big fan of banh khot and there is a fabulous place in Victoria St in Melbourne that makes these super crispy. Your photos look good enough to eat!
Looks like it was a fabulous night. Congratulations to Harry for his big success. Vietnamese refugees came here with practically nothing and it is so great to see how far Harry has come.
oh man, i really need to get down to marrickville. so hard to find good food that promises a total lack of msg. plus, harry looks like fun
Mmmmmmmm all my vietnamese favourites
Interesting place to open a bar, love the food at Bay Tinh though seems like a rather strange location for a bar.
I totally need some spring rolls now. That picture did me in.
I’m glad you like the pie story.
Was an absolute delight to hang out with you again darling!
Hooray for Harry! The food and ambiance was amazing – you would never know you were in Marrickville
The pancake Harry is holding is Ban Xeo I think! One of my favourites.
Wahhh once again have to endure the photos of these appetizing finger foods mmmm and it is right before lunch too XD Mmm the Bu Loc Lac sure looks so tastyyy
I love your photo of Harry. You can see his enthusiasm in that big smile.
Ummm….spring rolls….and cocktails! Love Harry’s shirt…very festive!
I like the idea of being able to get a nice cocktail beforehand upstairs. Thanks for letting all of us know about this place!
Spring rolls really need to be crunchy for me to enjoy them. All of the food looks good and good that its MSG free.
If you have tried the Vietnamese food in Bangkok, can you tell me if these taste were altered? I mean some Asian food do have altered taste to suit with Western’s tongues or taste. That are what my friends’ always said. Indeed some Asian people notice that Asian food does tastier in the original places rather than in Australia.
Soursop? My mom likes that very much and I grown up eating soursop, but it is not my taste because of the strong smell. But hey, I like Durian more rather than Soursop
Hi Gera-Thanks, the ice cream is so good in the cocktails, such an unexpected creaminess!
Hi pigpigscorner-Believe me, I wanted to!
Hi Simon-Yes it’s great to be able to meet the person behind it all
Hi Maria-Lucky you! If I ever make it to Melbourne, I’d love to get the name of that place. I love those little cakes!
Hi shez-Definitely! It’s a great area full of some great and some unusual restaurants!
Hi Chris-The selection was really good I have to say!
Hi Cappucino-We didn’t even know it was there, even when we got there we didn’t expect it to be upstairs!
Hi Blond Duck-I know looking at the picture makes me hungry
I am really liking the pie theme 
Hi Christie-You’re my partner in crime!
I agree, it was transformed 
Hi Howard-Yes, that’s one of my favourites too. We always order two as I could easily have 1 to myself.
Hi Ffichiban-Haha of course you love the beef/steak!
Hi Arwen-His smile is rather infectious indeed
Hi Karen-Yes I loved the shirt too but I don’t think I can convince hubby to wear one
Hi Aubrey-It’s a great idea-so you don’t have to go elsewhere for a nice cocktail!
Hi Brianna-I agree, deep fried food should be crispy or crunchy
Hi Lilia-Do you mean Vietnamese food in Vietnam or Bangkok? I really only ate Thai food in Bangkok
I am not sure if it’s been altered to suit Western tastes though as I haven’t been to Vietnam.
Hehe I think I prefer Soursop to Durian-actually I prefer anything to Durian
OOOH Lorraine & Christie, you certainly had a good time, sipping coktails & eating delicious food,….!!!!
boy, harry’s a happy character, yeah?
great-looking food. but then, everything you post looks good. always.
Yumm! Vietnamese food is one of my favorites and this restaurant looks like they do it well! Will you take me here when I come to Sydney next?
Ooooh Vietnamese. I’ve never really had proper Vietnamese before, but this place looks really good. Especially the rolled beef and the pork spring rolls!
Harry is sooo cute n smiley! I want to visit just to see him. And eat those spring rolls too of course….
Hmmm! Everything looks sooo goood!!! The vanilla ice cream comment caught my eye as I love cooking with it. Do you guys make your own ice cream?
I make my own with pure vanilla paste. I buy it at http://www.arizonavanilla.com if you ever care to check it out. (I saw your blog from theirs).
Keep up the good work!
I had a hard time figuring out that lighting fixture – at first I thought it was fish, and then I thought it looked like blood packets. Turns out I was wrong on both counts, but it is stunning. I love red!
Hi Sophie-We sure did!
It’s always nice when you can share times like this with friends 
Hi grace-He is isn’t he. It’s hard to resist a smile like that
Aww thankyou!
Hi Kathy-Absolutely, we’d love to take you here (as well as lots of other yummy places
)
Hi Su-yin-I adore Vietnamese, it’s one of my favourite cuisines. I keep thinking about those spring rolls!
Hi Diamond Lil-Haha two very good reasons to visit I agree!
Hi nilla freak-I make my own ice cream (I haven’t bought any e in ages). I use vanilla bean paste or vanilla beans but rarely use extract and never use essence. I don’t find the extract as good as the pasta or the bean itself!
Hi anna-Haha that’s so cute, blood packets!
They do look blood packet-ish! Touches of red like that are gorgeous 
MY BAD EXPERIENCE
On Saturday 2nd May 2009, my husband and I went to Bay Tinh Restaurant for dinner. We arrived at around 5.30pm. A waitress in Vietnamese dress greeted us at the door and asked if we had booked. I told her that we had not booked. A man came to us with a folder on his hand, it looked like a booking list, and he asked our name. I told him that we had not booked, but said if he could arrange a table for 2 we would very happy. Then he asked my husband, “Will you be leaving before 7pm?” When I heard him ask this I wanted to tell my husband we could go to another restaurant. However my husband looked at his watch and said: “We have plenty of time.” He smiled and invited us to come in.
While I ordered, I asked the waitress is it normal to have to book for a table. She said yes because they are very busy, “We are fully booked tonight.”
After 6pm, people started to come in and it was almost full downstairs. We tried to finish quickly as we understood that the restaurant was fully booked.
While I waited at the counter to pay our bill, there was another man waiting to pay his bill as well.
The phone rang and the owner (I guessed) answered the phone while he was still calculating the bill.
When it was my turn to pay, I handed the owner my credit card and told him that I wanted to enter my Pin Number.
The owner was still talking on the phone. He then passed me the machine to enter my Pin Number. I saw on the machine that it said to remove my card, so I did. The owner told me that I should not have removed my card. He then re-entered my card into the machine and gave me a receipt to sign.
All the time this was happening, he was still talking on the phone. I was not happy having to sign as I would have preferred to have used my Pin Number, but I signed the receipt.
The owner stared at me and said “What is your problem madam? I asked you to sign”. At that moment, I was shocked. I couldn’t actually believe what I was hearing. How could an owner of a restaurant, that was fully booked, speak to his guest like that?
However, I just told him that I didn’t have any problem. What I wanted was to use my pin number, not a signature, but he did not listen to his customer.
He then surprised me more, whilst still holding the phone in one hand, he started pointing to the door and yelling “Get out of my restaurant and don’t come back!”
My husband held my hand and pulled me towards the door. I knew my husband never likes to create a scene. But I wanted to answer back to the owner because it was not right when I came to his restaurant, paid for our dinner and received a bad attitude like that. “Definitely I will never ever come back here. I paid for my dinner so I expect better service, not a rude owner.” He was still yelling: “Get out of my restaurant!”
Some customer looked at me. I told them about this story. A lady customer told me, “Maybe he is in a bad mood today.”????
I could not sleep through that night. I woke up this morning and still feel stressed!!! I still could not believe it. That has never ever happened in my life before!!!!
Hi md-That sounds horrible! Was it Harry (pictured above?). Sorry to hear about that as that sounds awful and would have me feeling very stressed indeed
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