Tran Tran

If you have a birthday there, you will get a banana fritter served in a suggestive away with sparklers: P

The décor is nothing special but a great place for a hearty soup.
If in Melbourne i usually drop in for a bowl! Stick to the simple stuff.

When it comes to Victoria Street, Richmond, everyone has particular place they know and like and keep going back to. For L and I, it’s Tran Tran, even though we haven’t been for a while.
First things first: This is not gourmet Asian food, crafted with exceptional ingredients with quirky twists of culinary surprise. This is reliable, delicious, Asian food that does what you expect it to — spring rolls, quail, sweet-​n-​sour, Mongolian beef, etc.
To my mind, Tran Tran does these staples well. Nothing amazing, but nothing terrible either. And then there’s the Tran Tran marinated chicken. Honey, cashews, a light (soft) batter, a few vegetables, and a few un-​specified ingredients to balance the sweetness of the honey in the sauce. Served flaming, of course. Yum.
BYO wine, and they have a small list of wines, beers and basic spirits.
And if you’re not prudish, when it’s time for dessert, tell them it’s your birthday.

Eh. I’m glad this isn’t what Vietnamese noodles are usually like…
It is cheap at Tran Tran, but that was all I liked. The food was so bland. When a noodle soup comes out that quickly, there’s no way it was made fresh. The vegetables tasted like they were frozen and then just added to some canned broth and heated up.
The décor is quite odd. Doesn’t really feel like it should be a Vietnamese noodle shop. At first I thought it was nice; very light and airy, clean, interesting artwork. Well, when you’re facing the ‘lighted’ artwork, you begin to wish for sunnies… at night. It’s just too bright and too white.
And the service. Ouch. It was busy the night I went, on a Friday night. But as the restaurant is clearing out, and the line waiting for tables is gone, I couldn’t get anybody’s attention for a long time. We got our food quickly, but were never again offered refills of drinks, or anything else. I had to flag down (after multiple tries) someone working across the restaurant who just happened to look my way, to get a refill on my water.
Lots of other places to try, so doubt I’ll be heading back here.

For most of the remembered portion of my life, my mom had spoken of the virtues of Tran Tran, specifically the Tran Tran Pork. By the time I made it to this restaurant, I had tempered my expectations, despite her all but declaring it a cure for cancer. So what do I think? Well … the Tran Tran Pork is insanely delicious, coming from the kitchen alight and wrapped in foil. Sweet and tender, we ordered a second serving. I needed to lie down afterwards, it was so rich.
All the food was served quickly after we ordered it and other dishes included the vine wrapped beef and the salt and pepper calamari. While not as transcendent as the pork, I highly recommend these options to anyone. And the prices are incredibly cheap. Definitely not over-​hyped, despite the profuse recommendations.

I went to this place by total accident when my now husband arranged a first date for us. I was to meet him at Tran Tran in Victoria St. Or so I thought! How was I supposed to know there were about 5 different Vietnamese restaurants in Victoria St with near identical spelling? Apparently we were supposed to meet at Tahn Tahn… Oh well, we ended up at Tran Tran and had a hell of a meal. The rice paper rolls, beef curry, singapore noodles, everything was sensational and we got a funny story to tell people about our first date.

A friend and I had this spot as our local eating place when we were staying in Richmond.
You’ll find an abundance of Asian /​Vietnamese cuisine on the strip but no other goes down better than Tran Tran.
I know it may sound weird but the food here tastes really ‘fresh’. I find a lot of Asian food to be quite oily but the meals here are cooked really well and taste well… ‘healthy’.
Anything from stirfrys to curries to tofu, the place is popular amongst the locals and you will be back for me. The funniest thing i have seen, at a few occasions when we have been here, there has been a birthday surprise that’s come out and the birthday person in question gets a plate with a banana standing up with two scope of ice-​cream beside the banana with a giant sparkler coming out of the top of the banana… Now i will let you use your imagination to figure out what that resembles.
Tran Tran is one of the finest restaurants on the strip with amazing cuisine, great waitstaff, and prompt service.