Victoria Street in Richmond is Melbourne’s Little Saigon. It’s the most concentrated strip of Vietnamese restaurants in Australia, and it’s been that way for decades. The problem isn’t finding Vietnamese food here. It’s knowing which places are genuinely worth your time and which ones are coasting on location alone.
I eat on Vic Street regularly. This guide covers the spots that are actually good, what to order at each one, and the honest truth about a strip that has its share of average alongside the excellent.
The Pho
Pho is the reason most people come to Victoria Street, and the competition between pho houses here is fierce. Every restaurant claims to have the best broth. Here’s who actually delivers.
Pho Hung Vuong 2 – 4.4 ⭐
Address: 108 Victoria Street, Richmond Hours: 9am-9:30pm daily Price range: $13-18 per bowl Google rating: 4.4 (2,000+ reviews)
This is the one most locals will point you to first, and for good reason. The broth is rich, sweet, and deeply flavoured from hours of simmering. They offer three sizes (small, regular, large), and the large is genuinely basin-sized. The spring rolls are excellent, and the three-colour drink (a layered iced dessert drink) is a Vic Street classic.
What reviewers say: “Best pho I’ve had outside Vietnam. Great meat broth.” Another regular describes it as “liquid gold” and notes they come here even on 40-degree days. The staff are friendly and fast, and you can BYO wine for $4 corkage. At $37 for dinner for two including BYO, it’s outstanding value.
What to order: Beef pho (rare beef or combination), prawn spring rolls, three-colour drink.
The honest take: The broth leans sweet, which is a southern Vietnamese style. If you prefer a cleaner, more northern-style pho, this might not be your number one. But for richness and depth of flavour, it’s hard to beat on the street.
I Love Pho 264 – 4.4 ⭐
Address: 264 Victoria Street, Richmond Hours: 9am-9pm daily Price range: $14-18 per bowl
I Love Pho built its reputation on a clean, refined broth that’s lighter than Pho Hung Vuong’s but equally well-executed. The restaurant is perpetually busy, which on Victoria Street is always a good sign. The broth here has clarity and balance rather than richness, and if you’ve had enough heavy, oily pho elsewhere, this is a welcome change.
What to order: The beef combination pho. Keep it simple and let the broth do the talking.
The honest take: Consistently good. Not as much personality as some other spots, but reliable every single time. If you’re bringing someone who’s never had pho before, this is a safe and excellent introduction.
Super Bowl Pho & Bun Bo Hue – 4.3 ⭐
Address: 252 Victoria Street, Richmond Phone: (03) 9043 7458 Hours: 9am-10pm daily Google rating: 4.3 (850+ reviews) Website: superbowlmelbourne.com.au
Super Bowl is known for two things: the supersized pho challenge (a 2kg basin for the brave), and genuinely great regular-sized bowls. The restaurant is cleaner and more modern than most on Vic Street, and the owner actually chats with diners, which is refreshingly unusual for a pho house.
Their pho is solid. The rare beef version is well-regarded, and multiple regulars note it doesn’t seem to use MSG, as they don’t get excessively thirsty afterwards (a common complaint on this strip). The bun bo hue is also excellent here, which we’ll get to below.
What to order: Rare beef and brisket pho (regular or large), salt and pepper crispy chicken wings as a starter.
The honest take: Slightly more expensive than neighbours, but the quality, cleanliness, and service justify it. A great all-rounder.
Beyond Pho: Bun Bo Hue
If pho is the crowd-pleaser, bun bo hue is the connoisseur’s choice. This spicy beef and pork noodle soup from the city of Hue in central Vietnam is bolder, more complex, and less well-known than pho. Victoria Street has some of the best bun bo hue in Australia.
Co Do – 4.1 ⭐
Address: 196 Victoria Street, Richmond Phone: (03) 9427 7429 Hours: 10am-10pm daily Google rating: 4.0 Yelp highlight: “On this, my sixtieth check-in, I can say I am loyal to no other place on Victoria Street.”
Co Do is a bun bo hue institution. The broth is pork-based and spicy (but not aggressively so), loaded with sliced pork, sliced beef, pork sausage, and cubes of pig blood curd. If you’re not adventurous with offal, you can ask them to leave it out, but the regulars will tell you to keep it in.
The bun xeo (Vietnamese crispy pancake) is enormous here, bigger than your head, and the com tam (broken rice dishes) are excellent and often overlooked by visitors who only come for soup.
What reviewers say: “There is only one thing to order here: the bun bo hue. It’s their specialty and they do it better than anyone else in Melbourne.” Multiple reviewers describe the broth as having “a wonderful balance of spicy, salty, and umami.” One longtime Yelp reviewer has checked in over 60 times.
What to order: Bun bo hue (dish #2 on the menu), prawn spring rolls, and if you’re with a group, the Vietnamese pancake.
The honest take: The restaurant looks uninviting from the outside. Walk past the appearance and sit down. This is some of the most authentic central Vietnamese food in Melbourne. The bun bo hue is the star, but the whole menu is solid. Cash is king here.
Super Bowl Pho & Bun Bo Hue (again)
Super Bowl does double duty. Their bun bo hue is a proper contender, with a rich broth and their signature pork loaf that reviewers describe as “different from others” and a must-try. If you want to try both pho and bun bo hue in one visit, Super Bowl is the move.
Banh Mi
A proper banh mi is one of the world’s great sandwiches: crispy baguette, cold cuts or BBQ pork, pate, fresh herbs, pickled carrots, cucumber, chilli, and that perfect combination of textures and flavours.
Phuoc Hung Bakery – 5.0 ⭐
Address: 180 Victoria Street, Richmond Hours: Early morning to late afternoon
Phuoc Hung is a no-frills bakery that does banh mi the way it should be done. The bread is baked on-site, the fillings are generous, and the assembly-line speed of the staff is impressive. The BBQ pork roll is the bestseller, but the mixed cold cuts roll is the classic choice.
What to order: BBQ pork banh mi with chilli. Under $7.
The honest take: There’s no seating. You order, they make it in 30 seconds flat, and you eat it walking down the street or in the car. That’s the authentic experience.
Lee Lee Hot Bread
Address: 200 Victoria Street, Richmond
Another bakery-counter operation where the banh mi is made to order. Lee Lee is known for generous fillings and bread that’s still warm. The mixed ham roll is the go-to.
A note on Nhu Lan: The famous Nhu Lan Bakery’s Richmond location closed in 2020 during COVID after 12 years. The original in Footscray (116 Hopkins Street) is still going strong and worth the trip if you’re serious about banh mi. But on Vic Street itself, Phuoc Hung and Lee Lee hold the fort.
Modern Vietnamese
Not everything on Victoria Street is old-school. A new wave of restaurants is doing Vietnamese food with modern techniques and presentation while keeping the flavours authentic.
New Quarter (by Hanoi Hannah)
Address: 166 Victoria Street, Richmond
New Quarter is the Richmond outpost of the Hanoi Hannah group, and it’s more refined than the classic Vic Street experience. The space is a kitschy, retro-inspired warehouse with a share-style menu. The banh mi fingers with chicken liver pate and crackled skin are a standout starter. For mains, the beef tartare with pho-inspired jelly is creative and works.
The cocktails are excellent and often infused with Vietnamese flavours, which makes this a good spot for a date night that’s a step up from a fluorescent-lit pho house.
What to order: Banh mi fingers, any of the larger plates, and a cocktail.
The honest take: More expensive than the traditional spots, but you’re paying for the experience and the drinks. The food is good, not life-changing, but the vibe is fun.
Ca Com Banh Mi Bar
Address: Richmond (adjacent to Anchovy restaurant)
Ca Com is the casual sibling of fine diner Anchovy, run by chef Thi Le. During Melbourne’s longest lockdown, they started selling Laotian-inspired banh mi out of a window, and it stuck. The sandwiches here are a step above the bakery-counter experience. More ingredients, more care, more flavour.
What to order: Whatever they’re making that day. The menu changes.
The Hidden Gems
Thy Thy 1
Address: Victoria Street area, Richmond
Thy Thy 1 is a throwback. Family-run, set-menu format, communal tables, and home-style dishes at prices that feel like a time warp. You don’t choose what you eat. They bring out a spread of dishes and you share. It’s chaotic, charming, and the food is simple but authentic.
The honest take: This is the closest you’ll get to eating in someone’s Vietnamese home. Don’t come here expecting a polished experience. Come here expecting real food and a genuine sense of place.
Van Mai
Address: 182 Victoria Street, Richmond Google rating: 4.4
Van Mai gets consistently described as serving “the best Vietnamese food in Melbourne” by multiple reviewers, which is a big call on a street full of competition. The prawn spring rolls and prawn rice paper rolls are standouts, and the sauteed chicken wings are worth ordering every time. Open until 10pm.
What to order: Prawn spring rolls, prawn rice paper rolls, sauteed chicken wings.
Best Vietnamese Groceries
Victoria Street isn’t just restaurants. The Asian grocers here are some of the best in Melbourne for Vietnamese ingredients. If you cook Vietnamese at home, this is where you stock up.
Duc Thanh Grocery and the cluster of produce shops between Lennox Street and Church Street have everything: fresh herbs (Vietnamese mint, perilla, sawtooth coriander), rice paper, pho spice packets, fish sauce, rice noodles, and fresh produce at prices well below supermarket rates.
Stop by the fruit shops for tropical fruits like durian, rambutan, longan, and mangosteen when they’re in season. The prices are a fraction of what you’d pay at a mainstream grocer.
Practical Tips for Eating on Vic Street
Getting there: Tram 109 from the CBD runs directly along Victoria Street. Get off anywhere between Lennox Street and Church Street and you’re in the thick of it. If driving, side streets off Victoria Street have some free parking, but it fills up on weekends.
When to go: Weekday lunchtimes are the sweet spot for the best experience without crowds. Weekend lunchtimes are busy at the popular spots. Late-night dining (after 8pm) is quieter and most restaurants are still open.
Cash vs card: Most places take card now, but a few of the older bakeries and smaller spots are still cash-only. Bring some just in case.
BYO: Many restaurants on Vic Street are BYO, and corkage is typically $2-5 per bottle. This is one of the best value BYO strips in Melbourne.
The vibe: Victoria Street is not glamorous. The restaurants are simple, the decor is basic, and the focus is entirely on the food. That’s the point. If you want polished service and ambient lighting, go to New Quarter. If you want the real thing, pick any of the old-school spots and let your taste buds do the judging.
What to skip: Be wary of any restaurant on the strip that’s consistently empty while its neighbours are full. On Victoria Street, the crowd is the review. Follow the locals.
Order for the table: Vietnamese food is best eaten family-style. Order a couple of soups, some spring rolls, a rice dish, and share everything. It’s more fun, you try more dishes, and the bill stays low.
This guide is updated regularly. Last updated: March 2026.
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